Croquet mallets and balls in Invercargill
The short answer: Invercargill and Southland players can have an Invictus mallet built to their handle length, or buy Invictus X championship balls, with delivery from Australia. For golf croquet on Southland's soft, cool lawns, the Invictus Rise is the sensible starting point.
Croquet in Invercargill
Queens Park Croquet Club is Invercargill's only croquet club, playing in the city's main park. The Otago Daily Times has reported its club days as Tuesdays and Saturdays, with have-a-go evenings on Mondays planned, and lawns resown over the winter break ahead of hosting the Southland tournament in January.
The club has been growing. The Southland Times reported in January 2020 that Queens Park had gone from 10 or 12 players in 2015 to 33, while registered players across Southland had risen from about 40 to 93 in five years. Most of that growth came through golf croquet, which needs no bending down and has drawn in former golfers and bowlers.
What Invercargill's lawns and weather mean for your mallet
Invercargill is one of New Zealand's southernmost cities: cool, windy and frequently showery, with long, light summer evenings. Lawns here rarely bake hard. More often they are soft and a little slow, especially early and late in the season. That suits a mallet with real weight in the head, which carries the ball through grass and holds its line in a breeze. Rain and cold have no effect on an aluminium head.
Which Invictus mallet suits Invercargill players
Most players here will be best served by the Invictus Rise, our most popular mallet. It has an aluminium head close to 3 lb and a sweet spot slightly larger than usual, which makes it a little easier to control. We recommend it with an 11 inch head in most cases.
The RF Pro is our flagship, developed alongside World Champion Robert Fletcher. Brass weights and composite faces are fitted into a head 3D printed in aluminium, about 2 lb 12 oz overall, for a lighter mallet that is very precise.
Each mallet is made for you to your handle length, with a head of 11 or 12 inches. Graphite Black is the standard colour; Snow White, NRA Blue, Rose Gold and Deep Purple are extra. The weight of each model is set. Read the mallet fitting guide before ordering.
Balls for Invercargill clubs
Invictus X has World Croquet Federation approval for championship play. Each ball is 450 g, and all of it is made in Australia. A club hosting a regional tournament would usually want one first-colour set and one second-colour set for every lawn in use; how to choose croquet balls for a club has more.
Delivery to Invercargill
Mallets are built only after you order and are sent from Australia, usually taking 4 to 8 weeks from order, which is an estimate. If you order ball sets, we confirm the delivered price to Southland before payment.
Questions Invercargill players ask
I have come over from bowls. Which mallet? Usually the Rise: the extra weight and slightly larger sweet spot are forgiving while you learn the stroke.
What if it does not suit me? The optional 30-day satisfaction guarantee lets you use it in club play before you decide to keep it.
How do the two compare? Our compare mallets page sets them side by side, and the product pages carry current prices.
More New Zealand places: croquet mallets and balls in New Zealand.
Designed in Queensland, made in Australia.