Croquet mallets and balls in County Durham

The short answer: players in Durham, Chester-le-Street and Bishop Auckland can order an Invictus mallet or Invictus X balls online, with delivery anywhere in County Durham. For clubs where golf croquet dominates and lawns are shared with bowlers, the Invictus Rise is our first suggestion.

Croquet in County Durham

Croquet Durham was formed in 2008 and plays at Riverside Park in Chester-le-Street, sharing the greens with Chester-le-Street Bowling Club. Golf croquet is its main game, with sessions on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons from April to September, mostly social, and the club also enters regional leagues and national competition. Further south, Auckland Croquet Club opened on 10 May 1998 and took its present name the next year. It has moved more than once, from the grounds of the Bishop's Palace to Henknowle and then to the Chilton Miners Welfare Recreation Ground, where it plays on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoons. Both clubs belong to the Croquet North Federation, alongside Tyneside, Bamburgh and Middlesbrough.

What County Durham's lawns and weather mean for your mallet

Durham's climate is cool and changeable, with the Pennines to the west and North Sea air from the east. Seasons begin and end on cold, moist grass, and a lawn slows sharply after rain. Golf croquet asks for firm, accurate hitting at every turn, so a mallet that keeps its line when you catch the ball slightly off-centre, and carries enough mass to push through damp turf, is worth having.

Which Invictus mallet suits County Durham players

Invictus Rise, £525. The best seller in our range. Its aluminium head is in the region of 3 lb and the sweet spot is slightly enlarged, which makes the Rise a little easier to control. Take the 11 inch head; that is what we usually recommend.

RF Pro, £975. Our flagship, created in collaboration with World Champion Robert Fletcher. The aluminium head is 3D printed, weighted with brass and faced with composite, for a mallet of about 2 lb 12 oz: lighter and very precise.

Every Invictus is built to order at your handle length, with a head of 11 or 12 inches. Choose standard Graphite Black, or pay £89 more for Deep Purple, Snow White, NRA Blue or Rose Gold. Weight is not something you can specify. Use the mallet fitting guide and compare the two.

Balls for County Durham clubs

Invictus X, at £479 a set, is a 450 g ball made entirely in Australia with World Croquet Federation championship approval. A club should plan, as a guide, on one first-colour and one second-colour set per lawn it uses. Read what WCF approval means.

Delivery to County Durham

Each mallet is made once ordered and sent to the UK; the usual time from order to your door is 4 to 8 weeks, which is an estimate. For balls, the delivered price is confirmed and agreed before you pay.

Questions County Durham players ask

Is the Rise a good golf croquet mallet? Yes. Its weight and forgiving sweet spot suit the repeated hard strokes golf croquet asks for.

Can I play some league games before deciding? Yes, with the free satisfaction guarantee: 30 days of play.

Will a wet afternoon at Riverside Park damage it? No. Dry the faces when you finish; see product care.

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Designed in Queensland, made in Australia.