The 2009 Solomon Cup was played Dec 4-7 in the USA at Mission Hills Croquet Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
and the US Team won its first Solomon Cup defeating Great Britain 11-9
 

US Team Jeff Soo (captain) Jim Bast Doug Grimsley Danny Huneycutt Ben Rothman Jerry Stark Paul Bennett (alt)

GB Team Ian Burridge (captain) Robin Brown Tony LeMoignan Sam Patel Jeff Dawson Stephen Mulliner

See the following links for tournament details:
  CA News
  You Tube Consolation and Victory Speeches [Mike Orgill]
  Final day report [Ian Burridge
  Final scores Report [Jeff Soo]
  Final day commentary [Samir Patel]
  Solomon Trophy Photos [Arthur Bagby]
  USCA Solomon Trophy Report [Jeff Soo]
  Solomon Trophy Croquet Records [Chris Williams]


Some thoughts from our winning team captain, Jeff Soo.

    We happy few, we band of brothers ...

    I have never promised anything but blood,
    tears, toil and sweat. Now, however, we
    have a new experience. We have victory --
    a remarkable and definite victory ...

    Now, this is not the end. It is not even
    the beginning to the end. But it is,
    perhaps, the end of the beginning.


We can sit back and savor this for a while. But just as getting to this point has been the culmination of many years of blood, tears, toil, and sweat, so we have time ahead of us in which we must build on this new experience, this victory, this remarkable and definite victory.

This has always been about winning the Mac. We did what we needed to do last week, but winning the Mac will take more. In the short term, we must do all we can to ensure that the six players called up for August are as well prepared as possible. (I know, if I'm one of those six, I have my work cut out for me.) In the longer term, we need to use our Solomon win as leverage to create more support and enthusiasm for developing new players and supporting traveling teams.

Give it some thought, please.

--
Jeff Soo