ELLSWORTH — The annual Maine and New Hampshire six-wicket croquet championships are being held again this year on the courts of the Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth and one on the Bagaduce River in North Brooksville.

The event is slated to begin today with a reception and BBQ in the museum’s sleigh barn.

Competitive play is scheduled to begin Thursday with entrants divided into four singles flights according to each player’s United States Croquet Association handicap rating.

There are six entrants in the Championship Division with handicaps ranging from 0 to 5.

The top-rated player is Tom Hughes, who summers in Perry. He has a 0 rating.

Close behind is Southwest Harbor’s Larry Stettner with a 1.5 handicap.

The four remaining championship players all have a 5 handicap. One of these, Woodlawn croquetmaster Perry Mattson of Surry, recently won the overall prize at the Berkshire Invitational in Lenox, Mass., besting players will much lower handicaps.

Other event divisions include First Flight (ratings 7-9), Second Flight (ratings 10-12) and Third Flight (13 to 20).

The tournament will also include a doubles championship.

Under the Waterford system, which will be used, players will rotate each game, thus eliminating the need for same partners throughout and resulting in a single winner.

Last summer’s champion, Neil Houghton of Northeast Harbor, is unable to enter this year.

Two division winners from the last event, however, will be contending again this year. They are George Blagdon of Blue Hill and Gary Thomas of Ellsworth.

The entrants in this year’s event represent several clubs in Maine.

In addition to Woodlawn, they include the Mount Desert Island Croquet Club, the Ram Island Croquet Club and the Oakland Croquet Club.

Maine entrants also include those from the Boothbay region, the Portland area, two from Deer Isle and one from Washington County.

Lloyd Hadden of New Hampshire will represent that state again this year.

While most of the play — and the championship finals — will be centered on the Woodlawn courts, some games will be held on the Bagaduce river court of Mary Cheney Gould and Marcia Chapman.

Chapman is also serving as the event’s certified referee.

The Woodlawn court is the only regulation-sized court in Maine, measuring about 85 feet by 105 feet in size.

Except for the final championship games, it will be divided into two smaller courts for most of the games.

The Hancock County area has become a hotbed of croquet with three clubs and three annual tournaments that draw top players from across the United States.

Following the Maine-New Hampshire State Championships, the next event of note will be the annual nine-wicket Claremont Classic held the first week of August at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor.

This popular tournament is now approaching its 35th year and is the oldest croquet competition in the two-state area. Another unique feature of local croquet is the Clark Point Croquet Co., which makes fine mallets in Southwest Harbor.

Local croquet continues to grow and the Sorrento Village Improvement Association court now boasts a new viewing pavilion — the first such structure in Maine.

The state championship games will conclude on Sunday at Woodlawn. These will be followed by trophy presentations. The public is invited to attend.

Tournament director is Larry Stettner, who is in charge of scheduling. Perry Mattson is the tournament manager.

For more sports news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.