NATIONAL CROQUET MUSEUM

When Milton "Doc" Holden, a Hall of Famer himself, went to that great croquet field in the sky, the acknowledged leadership of the game on Southampton's privileged grounds, fell to Andrew Powie Fuller, the handsome, silver-haired oilman from Texas and Princeton.

Fuller is not only an expert student of our game, but also proud owner of one of the world's greatest croquet lawns, a velvet-smooth surface which at all time looks as though trimmed by nail scissors. Yet, with all the majesty of the field and its surroundings, Fuller's lawn has been the scene of sometimes embittered struggles, with tempers held in gentlemanly and lady-like control for fear of knocking over the tea and sandwiches, regally in place.

Fuller himself is a player of restraint and conservatism, with an excellent shooting eye. His stratagem is first to throw you off your game by wearing a navy blue Greek cap, much like the yachtsman he is, so one is inclined to think, because he spends so much time on the seas, his land strokes would be less than devastating.

How wrong! Fuller has won many a tourney, whether playing with his venerable friend Louis Gourd or the more youthful Bob Leidy. And it is Fuller's propensity for "hugging the line" (that string that envelops the course itself) which, more often than not, has frustrated the more aggressive tactics of his opponents.
Although Fuller's middle name is Powie, made famous in a poem written by his wife, Geraldine, it does not describe his game. It is as careful and meticulous as the lawn on which he plays.

Lately Andy Fuller has given more time to the sea and, unless he develops yacht bound croquet, we who have enjoyed competing with him hope he will return to the land of ball, mallet and wicket again. Welcome to the Hall of Fame.

Andrew Powie Fuller was inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in 1981.