Club Profile: Sky Valley Croquet Club

Sky Valley Croquet Club

Year founded: 2018

Interestingly enough, we had a meeting in 2017 with about 40 people attending, and by the end of it, we had enough money pledged to build our lawns. After architectural plans were drawn, construction began soon after.

Location: Sky Valley, Ga.

Number of members: 130

Type of grass: A-1 Bent grass.

Overview of club schedule: Our season starts off with a big party in the beginning of June, followed immediately by twice weekly Wine and Wickets Social Croquet, plus Men’s Play and Ladies’ Play once a week each. We have our closing party mid-October, but our lawns are open all year, weather permitting. We play in 6-7 InterClub matches each year, we have a three-day Club Championship each year and we participate in the Mountain Challenge, a 2-3 day tournament between 11 clubs in the mountain area.

Website: We don’t have one specific to croquet.

Do you use social media? We use Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/219006645379756/

What makes this club special? We have great involvement from our members:

Every Wednesday and Friday from June until the end of October we have Wine and Wickets Social Croquet.

Once a month during the season we have big parties after Wednesday’s Wine and Wickets.

Last year, we had Croquet Olé, a Mexican-themed dinner and party, a Croquet Beach Party complete with a giant lit-up surfboard, our Club Manager dressed as a lifeguard, beach umbrellas in sand buckets and seashell table decor, plus a DJ, buffet dinner and dancing. Our End-of-the-Year Party was a buffet dinner served under the pavilion at the croquet lawn. We had fun contests on the lawn and awards were given. Some awards were serious, such as “Most Improved” while others were funny, like “Most Likely to Play in the Wrong Direction” and “Spends the Most Time at the Bar.”

We even had a Tailgate Croquet night where you wore your favorite football team’s colors and ate true tailgate food.

Ken Scoggins, our Director of Croquet, starts off every Wine and Wickets with a mini-lesson for us to work on while we’re playing. Scoggins also conducts clinics on Strategy, Croquet 101 for new members and Skills Clinics.

Approach to growing membership: We feel our social activities attract a lot of attention to club members who didn’t join croquet right away. We also have a mentoring program where croquet board members “adopt” new players and meet them on the lawn to play a few games.

We offer Introduction to Croquet, led by Ken Scoggins, for anyone who thinks they might be interested in trying out the game before they commit to joining.

And everyone is so friendly and welcoming, most nights after playing croquet, a few dozen players will head over to the clubhouse for a cocktail and/ or to have some dinner on the patio.

Are USCA members welcome? Yes welcome! No fees to play. Please contact our Pro Shop at 706 846-5303 to reserve a lawn.

Best restaurants to visit in the area? Three miles down the mountain is Julep Farm, a great place for lunch, dinner and/or a cocktail, plus a great coffee bar and snacks. A few miles past that is Clayton, Ga., which has Fortify and Universal Joint.

Ten miles up the mountain is Highlands, N.C., which has a plethora of great places to eat, including Old Edwards Inn, Meritage and Wild Thyme.

Best places to stay? Julep Farm rents beautifully-appointed Tiny Home Cottages. Old Edwards Inn is an award-winning hotel.

There’s also 200 Main and The Park on Main in Highlands.

Clayton, a 15-minute drive, boasts the Beechwood Inn with a charming coffee shop attached.

Other than the club, what do you have to go see in Sky Valley? Sky Valley has one of the top public golf courses in the country. We have a beautiful waterfall hike that is an easy stroll. Just outside of the neighborhood, there are too many hiking places to count, from easy to strenuous, many ending with a beautiful waterfall or a stunning Mountain View. Or sitting on the deck of a rental cabin in Sky Valley looking at long range mountain views is something hard to beat. Most every visitor spends time shopping in Highlands and/or Clayton, and Sky Valley is conveniently situated right in the middle of those two towns, about 10 miles either way.