What is mondo croquet? Croquet played with sledge hammers and bowling balls! Crazy you say. Who would play such a game? It turns out that the mondo croquet experts are in Portland, OR. In fact, the 10th annual Mondo Croquet World Championships and Mad Hatter Picnic were held in Portland this August! Who knew.

Click here for the official website.

Here's a great video of a round played in Marquette County. Here's another video that shows more of the technique of the game. Of course, there is another viewpoint that calls this redneck croquet. Whatever label you choose to put on the game, it does look like a lot of fun and it would be great event to add to Kitsap Pride next summer.

Here are the basic rules. The rules are essentially the same as for the more traditional form, except for the last rule. If you split your ball, you need to finish the game with the largest piece or use a replacement if you agree to buy everybody a beer!

Each person playing would be responsible for their own equipment. Bowling balls can be found at Goodwill, St. Vincent dePaul's and Value Village, but they seem to be in limited supply. It's my understanding that a light-weight ball will go further than a heavy ball but is more likely to fracture. The going rate for bowling balls at the above locations ranges up to $5, which may include a carrying case. Just in case you're wondering, I wouldn't suggest you use your prize bowling ball for mondo croquet if you ever plan to use it for its intended purpose again.

The mallets are long-handled sledge hammers of between 8 - 16 pounds. Heavier should hit further but may be tiring in a long round. WalMart has ~10 pound sledges for $14. At Ace Hardware, the price goes as high as $30.

We made some tests with my dad's old heavy bowling ball (shhhh....he doesn't remember that he ever bowled) and a somewhat lighter ball, using a 6 - 8 pound splitting maul as the mallet. The best hits on the heavier, older ball were limited to about 12' while the lighter, newer ball easily went twice that distance.

Depending on how far the average bowling ball travels when smacked with a sledge hammer, up to twice the area used for conventional croquet may be required. The field should be grass, and should be pretty close to level. Some separation to the street or a barricade of some kind is recommended because the balls take off on the payment, especially if there is some slope.