Punga, the first Otago croquet club to reach the milestone, celebrated making it to 100 with a luncheon and a club day on Saturday.
Taylor (88), a retired professor of physiology at the Otago Medical School, joined the Punga club in 1966 and is a life member.
"I played a bit as a boy and have always liked the game," he said. "It combines physical and mental skills. You use your brain as well as your hands."
Taylor, who joins the regular club day most Saturday afternoons during the summer season, was the guest speaker at the centenary, which was attended by 40 past and present members.
He won the club champion of champions singles title on four occasions, and in 1991 and 1993 was the Otago champion.
Taylor was president of the Otago Croquet Association from 1995-98 and also served on the New Zealand Croquet Council.
Len Logan wrote a history of the first 50 years of the club. An interesting point was that men were not allowed to join until 1956.
The first men admitted to the club were Norman Wright and Claude Kerr. Taylor and Ivan Turnbull joined in 1966.
"When I joined, the club was run by a group of very strong-minded ladies such as Elsie Anderson and Marion Peake," he said.
One of New Zealand's top classical composers, Anthony Ritchie, and Chris Shilling are New Zealand representatives now playing for the club. Other top players today are June McDougall and Richard Bone.
Other internationals who have played for the club include Dennis Bullock (1970s) and Joe Hogan (1980s).
Hogan, who played for the club for five years when he was a student at the Holy Cross Seminary in Mosgiel, was a member of the New Zealand team that won the McRobertson Shield to become world champion in the late 1980s.
He was also the world singles champion.
