The short answer
A standard golf croquet court is 35 yards long and 28 yards wide: 105 by 84 feet, or 32.0 by 25.6 meters, give or take 6 inches. It holds six hoops and one peg. Allow at least 39 by 32 yards (117 by 96 feet) of flat lawn, borders included. You don’t need all that to play: keep the five-by-four shape and shrink the court, and about 50 by 40 feet works on an ordinary lawn.
How big is a court?
The standard court is 35 yards by 28 yards, with 6 inches of tolerance on each measurement. That is the size in the current rulebook, the World Croquet Federation’s (WCF) Rules of Golf Croquet, 6th Edition. The United States Croquet Association (USCA) has no separate golf croquet rulebook and uses the same edition.
The corners are numbered clockwise from the southwest: I southwest, II northwest, III northeast, IV southeast. Play starts at corner IV, where each ball is first played in from within a yard. The compass names are conventions that apply whichever way the court really lies, so pick the “north” that suits your lawn.
Where do the hoops and peg go?
The peg goes in the exact center, the four outer hoops sit 7 yards (21 feet) from their two nearest boundaries, and the two inner hoops sit on the center line, 7 yards north and south of the peg. All six hoops are set parallel to the north and south boundaries, so balls run through them heading north or south. American six-wicket players say “wicket” for hoop and “stake” for peg.
The table measures east from corner I along the south boundary, then north. Hoops are numbered in playing order.
| Hoop | Place | East | North | First run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwest | 7 yd (21 ft) | 7 yd (21 ft) | North |
| 2 | Northwest | 7 yd (21 ft) | 28 yd (84 ft) | North |
| 3 | Northeast | 21 yd (63 ft) | 28 yd (84 ft) | South |
| 4 | Southeast | 21 yd (63 ft) | 7 yd (21 ft) | South |
| 5 | South of peg | 14 yd (42 ft) | 10.5 yd (31 ft 6 in) | North |
| 6 | North of peg | 14 yd (42 ft) | 24.5 yd (73 ft 6 in) | North |
| Peg | Center | 14 yd (42 ft) | 17.5 yd (52 ft 6 in) | – |
Hoops 1 and 3 sit on one diagonal and hoops 2 and 4 on the other, and the peg lies on both. The rules let any hoop or the peg sit up to 12 inches off its mark if the pairs of hoops stay lined up.
Why do other sizes show up online?
Some of the numbers you will see belong to other games. The figure 100 by 50 feet is the USCA’s standard court for nine-wicket, the backyard game, scaled to the space available. It is not a golf croquet size. Some pages quote 100 by 150 feet. We found no support for that in the golf croquet rulebook or the USCA pages we read, so we don’t use it. Our backyard croquet guide explains the nine-wicket court.
How much lawn do I need?
Plan on at least 39 by 32 yards, or 117 by 96 feet, per court, borders included. That figure comes from a facility guide hosted by the WCF, and it leaves roughly 6 feet beyond each boundary. In area, it is about 11,200 square feet, against about 8,800 for the court itself.
How do I lay out a court?
Set the four corners, check that they are square, then place the peg and hoops from them. You need a long tape, flags or stakes, string, the hoops and peg. Distances below are in feet, measured from corner I.
- Pick the flattest patch that holds about 117 by 96 feet and decide which way is “north.” The east and west boundaries are the 105-foot sides. North and south are the 84-foot sides.
- Mark corner I. Measure 84 feet along the south boundary and mark corner IV.
- Square each corner with a 3-4-5 triangle. Mark 30 feet along the south boundary and 40 feet along the line the west boundary will follow, then swing the second mark until the two are exactly 50 feet apart. Repeat at corner IV.
- Measure 105 feet along each new line to mark corners II and III, and check that the north boundary between them is 84 feet.
- Check both diagonals (next section), then string the boundaries and add corner flags if you’re using them.
- Drive the peg in 42 feet east and 52 feet 6 inches north of corner I, where the diagonals cross.
- Set hoops 5 and 6 on the center line, 21 feet south and north of the peg. Set hoops 1 to 4 from the table, each 21 feet from its two nearest boundaries.
- Sight along each line of hoops (1 and 2, 5 and 6, 3 and 4). They should line up.
How do I check it is square?
Measure both diagonals. On a true 35 by 28 yard court each is about 44.8 yards, or 134 feet 6 inches. If they differ, move a corner until they match. With all four sides right, equal diagonals prove the corners are square. The rules allow 6 inches of slack, so don’t chase perfection.
What if my lawn is small?
Think of a full court as 5 units by 4 units, where one unit is 7 yards. For a smaller court, keep that shape and choose a shorter unit. Use your unit wherever a full court uses 7 yards.
| Court | Unit | Length by width |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 7 yd | 35 × 28 yd (105 × 84 ft) |
| Six-yard unit | 6 yd | 30 × 24 yd (90 × 72 ft) |
| Five-yard unit | 5 yd | 25 × 20 yd (75 × 60 ft) |
| USCA suggestion | 10 ft | 50 × 40 ft |
The USCA suggests 50 by 40 feet for ordinary lawns and advises scaling down unless the grass is 1/4 inch or shorter. Tournament organizers may approve other sizes.
A “half court” of 28 by 17.5 yards is a lawn for Short Croquet, a shorter form of Association croquet, not golf croquet’s five-by-four shape.
How short and flat should the grass be?
A facility guide hosted by the WCF puts competitive grass at about 3 millimeters (roughly 1/8 inch), cut with a cylinder mower at 3 to 5 millimeters, on flat, level ground.
You don’t need that to learn. Roll a ball across the court: it should run straight. Walk it, checking for soft spots, bare patches, ruts, roots and hidden sprinkler heads, and mow short before you play.
Our advice: don’t wait for a perfect lawn. A flat, firm, closely mown patch is plenty to start on, and the people who started this club played for over ten years in a public park. The Birmingham Croquet Club plays on lawns around Birmingham, Alabama. Come to an event to see a court in use.
How are the corners and hoops marked?
Corner flags are optional. If you use them, they go blue, red, black and yellow on corners I to IV, on posts about 12 inches high, set on the boundary or up to 12 inches outside it. The crown of the first hoop may be blue and the crown of the final hoop red. Sizes of hoops, pegs and balls are in the equipment guide, and the offside lines and penalty areas are in the rules in plain English.
Sources
Last updated November 2026.