Reg Bamford (born 11 October 1967 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a croquet world champion from London, England. Although resident in England, he plays croquet for his native South Africa.

Since 2001, he has dominated world croquet. He is the only player to have won both versions of the World Championships (Golf Croquet and Association Croquet) and held both titles simultaneously in 2013. He has won the Association Croquet World Croquet Championship five times (2001, 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2020),[1] And the WCF World Golf Croquet Championship twice (2013 and 2017). He was runner-up on two occasions (2018 in AC and 2012 in GC) and semi-finalist on two occasions (2014 and 2016 in AC). He has won the British AC Open Championship 12 times and the British GC Open Championship 12 times, the premier events in the UK of each code.

Furthermore, he was ranked 29th in the 100 Best Sportspeople in the World for the year 2020 by Sports Media. He enjoys a rivalry with Robert Fulford, whom he has faced in eleven British AC Open singles finals.

He is a businessman and qualified Chartered Accountant (after completing his articles at Deloitte SA in 1992), who founded and runs Sable International, a company that offer services to expats and high-net-worth individuals. He is known throughout the Antipodean and South African communities in London. He has two sons and is married to Adrienne.

Career statistics (Association Croquet) [1]

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Major tournament performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Tournament 1984 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
World Championship A A QF 1R QF 2R QF
Open Championship 1R SF A A A A A W W W 2R SF QF W
Men's Championship A A A A A A A W F A A A A W
Win–loss 0-1 3-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-1 10-0 11-2 6-1 1-1 5-2 2-1 9-0
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
World Championship W* 2R W 1R W
Open Championship F W* W F SF SF F F SF SF W
Men's Championship W W W A W A A A A A A
Win–loss 8-1 10-0 9-1 4-1 7-1 8-1 3-1 4-1 3-2 7-1 5-0
Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
World Championship W SF SF F W 2R 5 / 16 43 - 11 79.6
Open Championship W W W F QF QF W A F 1R W F SF QF 12 / 33 104 - 21 83.2
Men's Championship A SF A A A A A A A NH A A A 6 / 8 33 - 2 94.3
Win–loss 5-0 11-1 7-1 4-1 1-1 4-2 4-0 4-1 3-1 5-1 4-0 3-1 3-2 1-1 23 / 57 180 - 34 84.1

* The 1989 and 2001 World and Open Championships were combined events.

Major Championship Finals: 31 (21 titles, 10 runners-up)

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Outcome Year Championship Opponent Score
Winner 1993 Men's Championship Chris Clarke +tpo, +tp, +tp
Winner 1993 Open Championship David Maugham -25tp, +26tp, +19, -11tp, +26tp
Runner-up 1994 Men's Championship Michael Taylor +26tp, -26tp, -26tp
Winner 1994 Open Championship Chris Clarke +16tp, +26
Winner 1995 Open Championship Robert Fulford +24tp, +26tp, -26tp, -26tp, +26tp
Winner 1999 Men's Championship Stephen Mulliner -17, -17tp, +26tp, +10, +16tp
Winner 1999 Open Championship Robert Fulford +26tp, -26tp, -26tp, +26tp, +26tp
Winner 2000 Men's Championship Toby Garrison +26tp, +1, -26tp, +26tp
Runner-up 2000 Open Championship Stephen Mulliner +25tp, -9tpo, -20tp, -20tp
Winner 2001 Men's Championship Robert Fulford +3, -8tp, +8, -20tp, +17qnp
Winner 2001 World Championship Robert Fulford -16tp, +17sxp, -3, +26sxp, +26qp
Winner 2002 Men's Championship David Goacher +17sxp, +15sxp, +17octp
Winner 2002 Open Championship Chris Clarke +12, +26sxp, +26sxp
Runner-up 2003 Open Championship Robert Fulford -26tp, -12, -18tp
Winner 2004 Men's Championship Peter Trimmer -8tp, +17sxp, +26sxp, -19tp, +26sxp
Winner 2005 World Championship Robert Fulford +17tp, +26sxp, +17sxp
Runner-up 2006 Open Championship Robert Fulford +2qp, -25sxp, -26qnp, +8sxp, -1
Runner-up 2007 Open Championship Robert Fulford -26tp, -25sxp, +16tp, -26sxp
Winner 2009 World Championship Ben Rothman +13tp, +22, +18tp
Winner 2010 Open Championship Robert Fletcher +16 -17tp +17tp -26tp +12tpo
Winner 2011 Open Championship Robert Fulford -18tp, +26sxp, +17, +26sxp
Winner 2012 World Championship Robert Fletcher -12tpo, +17tp, -26tp, +17tp, +26qp
Winner 2012 Open Championship Robert Fulford +25sxp, -14tp, +24sxp, +24sxp
Winner 2013 Open Championship Samir Patel +26sxp, +25sxp, +15qnp
Runner-up 2014 Open Championship Robert Fulford -16, -5qp, -18qp
Winner 2017 Open Championship Robert Fulford -25sxp, -3, +20sxp, +26sxp, +19sxp
Runner-up 2018 World Championship Paddy Chapman -7tp, +26tp, +26tp, -15tp, -17tp
Runner-up 2019 Open Championship James Death -18tp, -18tp
Winner 2020 World Championship Matthew Essick +14tp, -12, +17tp, +26tp
Winner 2021 Open Championship Robert Fulford -3sxp, +25sxp, +24sxp, +19sxp
Runner-up 2023 Open Championship James Death -19tp, +17sxp, -2, -26tp

The 2001 World Championship and Open Championship were a combined event.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Croquet Records". Retrieved 29 January 2017.