News

2026 European Club Finals

Having made it to its third consecutive Grand Final of the European Golf Croquet Clubs

League (the “Champions League” of European croquet), Carrickmines finally triumphed,

emerging as Champions of Europe.

Sixty teams entered heats across Europe during the summer of 2026, with seven emerging

victorious to advance to the Grand Final held in Carrickmines, to face their hosts.

Squads of between four and six players played for their clubs. The Carrickmines Team

Captain, Alan Looney, injured, stepped aside to allow the Carrickmines elite players to battle through the matches.

Carrickmines emerged as winners of Block A, beating each of the other three teams, with 23 wins out of 30. In Block B, Cheltenham similarly beat the other three teams, winning 22 of their 30 games.

Carrickmines last met Cheltenham in the block stages of 2025’s final in Southwick, where

the result was a draw, three apiece. However, Cheltenham’s two highest-ranked players,

world top 50, James Death and Sam Cuthbert, narrowly defeated Carrickmines' top two, Mark Stephens and Rob O’Donoghue.

This year, revenge was sweet as Rob beat James and Sam, Mark beat James and, in a

doubles game, Mark and Rob beat James and Sam on the golden 13th hoop. With similar

stunning victories from Sandy Greig and Fred Rogerson, Carrickmines trounced the

opposition 10 games to 3.

The final order, after the top two, were Ikskile (Latvia), Balgreen (Scotland), Telc (Czechia),

Tolkis (Finland), Vigo (Spain) and Ealing (England). Special mention should be made of the

youngsters, 18-year-old Jakub Plachý from Dynamo Telč and 19-year-old Eduardo Nuñez

from Club de Campo de Vigo, the latter another world top 50 player, who both played

superbly showing the future of European croquet is bright.

Sincere thanks to all of the Carrickmines staff who helped to make this a most memorable

weekend in our club’s history. A special mention goes to Tournament Manager, Hugh

Spiers, for managing a superb tournament and to our Groundsman, Simon Williams, for

preparing the lawns for play!

Take a moment to watch Carrickmines’ Mark Stephens take the winning shot here!

Alan Looney - Croquet Captain