Luxury on Lawns

Heritage Isn't Just Preserved. It's Played.

A sport that rewards refinement in everything: the swing, the strategy, the company. Six wickets. One stake. Infinite possibilities.

Our Story

A club within a storied club.

"Whites on green, a desert sky, majestic mountains watch every shot. A civilized setting that rewards patience over power."

Nestled within the grounds of Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, the Mission Hills Croquet Club is home to a vibrant, growing membership playing on championship lawns among the finest in America: four for daily play, expanding to eight for tournaments.

Founded in 1989 by Pat Apple, Mission Hills has been a sanctuary ever since for those who appreciate the finer rituals of life, and for anyone who simply loves a well-struck ball on a beautiful afternoon. The club is still run entirely by volunteers, from scheduling the lawns to running the tournaments.

A proud member of the United States Croquet Association and an affiliate of the World Croquet Federation, we have hosted national championships and international matches, and we run sanctioned invitationals and weekly social play against the backdrop of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains.

Mallets and balls on the Mission Hills lawn with the mountains beyond

A member lining up a shot while two players look on

1989

Founded by Pat Apple

100+

Active Members

Tournament Lawns

Game Variations Played

Ounce Milled Balls

Stubbornly Narrow Wickets

Golf Croquet World Champion

2,500

Avg Steps per Match

Initiation Fee

Heritage

From one lawn to the world stage.

It began with tea, cake and a demonstration game.
It became one of the finest croquet venues in the world.

1989
A club is born over tea
At a charity event at Mission Hills Country Club, Pat Apple watched a USCA player demonstrate six-wicket croquet. Asked if she would start a club, she agreed when Nancy Deupree and Dick Pierce volunteered to help. A lawn behind the tennis clubhouse was mowed down like a golf green, and the Mission Hills Croquet Club was underway.
1990
A second lawn and a mentor
A second lawn joined the first. Stan Patmor, then head of croquet in Phoenix, began making regular trips to teach American and Association rules, and helped put Mission Hills croquet on its feet.
1990s
Inviting the country
The club began welcoming players from across the nation. The US Open settled into its December home here, and the Mission Hills Invitational became a March tradition.
2000–04
Building championship lawns
A third lawn arrived in 2000. In 2004 the original lawns were laser-leveled on 175 tons of new sand, and two more lawns were built beyond the clay tennis courts.
2005
On the national stage
Mission Hills hosted the USCA National Championships for the first time, and the Solomon Trophy, the Great Britain versus USA match often compared to golf's Ryder Cup. That spring, a 5,000-seat grandstand rose over the new lawn for a Davis Cup tennis quarterfinal.
2007–09
The modern layout
A fourth croquet-only lawn and a larger shade pavilion came in 2007. A final expansion in 2009, engineered by a club member, created the tournament layout members play on today.
2010
The Solomon Trophy returns
Great Britain and the USA met at Mission Hills once again.
2017
The Olympics of croquet
Mission Hills hosted the MacRobertson Shield, a 17-day international championship between England, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Players called it the best MacRob venue ever.
Today
A world-class home
Known as one of the best croquet facilities in the world, Mission Hills draws players from across the country and beyond. Some have loved the lawns so much they moved here.

The Lawns

The Art of the Croquet Lawn.

Full-size, tournament-quality croquet lawns are a luxury found in very few clubs around the world. Mission Hills boasts eight. Carefully crafted, the playing surface is maintained with the precision and dedication of a championship putting green.

At Mission Hills, our croquet lawns benefit from an ideal desert environment: abundant sunshine, carefully managed irrigation, and a dedicated grounds team that tends to every detail. The lawns are mowed frequently and at precise heights to create a dense, uniform carpet of grass that allows the balls to roll true and consistently.

The result is a firm, fast, lush, and remarkably true lawn—an exceptional canvas for the game of croquet and a reflection of the care and tradition that define the Mission Hills Croquet Club.