Fulford also coaches croquet, particularly in Australia and the Chattooga Club in North Carolina. Robert has made croquet videos with Australian croquet expert Kevin Brereton in which Robert teaches both basic and advanced break tactics. He has won the Association Croquet World Championship 6 times:[2]
Fulford has also won the President's Cup twelve times (1989, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018), the Open Championship eleven times (1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2015) and the Men's Championship four times (1990, 1998, 2006, 2011).[3]
Career statistics
Major tournament performance timeline
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
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
World Championship
4R*
W
SF
W
W
F
W
Open Championship
2R
1R
4R*
F
W
W
QF
SF
F
W
SF
W
F
SF
Men's Championship
A
QF
SF
W
A
A
A
A
A
A
SF
W
A
A
Presidents' Cup
5=
6
W
2
4=
2=
5=
A
A
A
3=
W
W
A
Win-loss
1-1
2-2
5-2
13-1
8-1
10-0
2-1
8-1
9-2
6-0
12-2
10-0
4-1
3-1
Tournament
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
World Championship
F*
W
F
SF
3R
Open Championship
F*
A
W
W
2R
W
W
W
SF
QF
Men's Championship
F
A
F
2R
A
W
A
A
A
A
Presidents' Cup
W
W
3=
2
5=
W
4=
W
W
W
Win-Loss
8-2
5-0
8-1
5-1
5-2
9-0
5-0
8-1
4-2
2-1
Tournament
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
SR
W–L
Win %
World Championship
3R
3R
A
A
W
6 / 15
50–9
84.7
Open Championship
F
F
QF
W
W
A
F
QF
A
A
F
A
A
SF
11 / 32
113–21
84.3
Men's Championship
W
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
4 / 10
32–6
84.2
Presidents' Cup
W
W
6=
2
A
2
2=
W
A
2=
A
A
A
A
12 / 28
Win-Loss
8-1
4-2
2-2
4-0
4-0
0-0
3-1
1-1
0-0
0-0
4-1
0-0
5-0
2-1
21 / 58
195–36
84.4
* The 1989 and 2001 World and Open Championships were combined events.
The President's Cup is played as a 8/10 player round-robin and the number indicates the final position achieved.
Major championship finals: 41 (26 titles, 15 runners-up)
Fulford's playing style includes the ability to play a range of shots. His tactic of peeling an opponent's ball through hoop 1 makes a triple peel as hard as possible for the opponent. His sextuple peels are also more frequent than those of any other player. Robert Fulford uses an Irish grip [rather like a golf grip] and employs "casting" [swinging mallet over the ball] about three times before each shot. He has strong wrists which makes the Irish grip work for him without it causing the R.S.I. that the grip is sometimes blamed for. In fact, Robert admits that he has quite a wrist-dominated technique which contradicts most coaching manuals that advise minimal wrist involvement.
World Championship results
Fulford has played in the following AC World Championships:[2]
1989: Round 4: (lost to John Prince +26tp, -17, -26tp)
1990: won (beat Mark Saurin +26, +24tp)
1991: S/F (lost to John Walters -14otp, -26tp)
1992: won (beat John Walters -5tp, +4tp, +12tp)
1994: won (beat Chris Clarke -12tpo, +12tp, +18tp, +13)
1995: runner-up (lost to Chris Clarke -18tp, +12tpo, -26tp, +26tp, -26)
1997: won (beat Stephen Mulliner +17, -3tpo, +9otp, +11otp)
