OT: Anyone Play Bocce Ball?

About a year ago I started a backyard renovation. Since we had the room, my friend talked me into including a bocce ball court. It would serve as a place to play other backyard games, as well (cornhole, ladder golf, darts, beer pong, giant Jenga, backyard bowling, and a few others).

The "construction" is still in progress, but we're getting closer. Drainage rock has been installed, and decomposed granite is next. Oyster shell will be applied over that.

I have three arbors with grape vines planted to eventually shade the ends and center in case we play "half court."

Size is 100 feet long and 12 foot wide.

Share your pics and experiences here. I have lots of progress pics, but here's just a few.

20170112_162720 (resized).jpg

20180429_163444 (resized).jpg

20180430_071420 (resized).jpg

20180430_071416 (resized).jpg

#4 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Here's a few more.

20171213_162221 (resized).jpg

20171223_092607 (resized).jpg

#7 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Quoted from Cheddar:
Not very often but my wife works for an Italian organization so we spend some time at the Italian Athletic Club and the Gun and Bocce Club. Additionally the Festa-Italiana in Lodi (Late July) has Bocce with some ranked competitors teaching people how to play.
Fun to play but hard to find a place to play without a drive.

You're 45 minutes from my house. When finished, the Lodi crew will need to make a drive!

#10 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:
My wife and I play in a league in Clayton. Your new court looks fantastic. The whole yard makeover is great.

Thanks! My wife and I have talked about hosting a couples league 5 or 6 times a year. We're getting to an age where we don't go out as often as we used to, and this seems like a good excuse to get together more often.

#14 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Quoted from John_I:
People down here in Florida seem to play Extreme Bocce. Basically that means free style with no court. They work their way across a field and then into the woods! Wherever you throw the ball that is the direction and distance you go next! They look at me strange when I talk about the courts my relatives all had when I was a kid up north.

I've only played on the beach, "open court," but it was more of a lob game because of the sand. I'm looking forward to "refining" my game with the long rolls. If we have other games set up on the court, we can play from the shade of the middle arbor and cut the court distance in half.

#16 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Here's another game we can set up on one end of the court: "Duff Pong," where we play with a high net and paddles. Hit the cup for a point, in the cup for 2, play to 5 points in a game. Win 2 out of 3 in a set to move on.

20180502_151010 (resized).png

#22 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Quoted from trunchbull:
Bocce ball is great! My mom's side of the family is aggressively Sicilian so of course there were plenty of family events involving bocce. Some relative or other had a great setup in their backyard, all covered in grape vines like yours will be, with one open end facing the vineyards to the west, which was really kind of dramatic because the balls and everyone shuffling around would be kicking up dust, and in the light from the sunset it was like playing in a mist of gold. I don't know if I'll ever own a house, especially with one that has space for a bocce court, but it would be high on my list of backyard additions. Always a nice way to spend the evening.

This was a nice image. Thanks for sharing.

1 month later

#23 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Father's Day gift. Custom engraved with my "logo."

20180617_113047 (resized).jpg

1 month later

#24 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

36559 (resized).jpeg

IMG_20180815_060433_296 (resized).jpg

IMG_20180815_060433_300 (resized).jpg

1 month later

#26 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

It took several adjustments, but I finally got it to work! Too fast and the balls fall off. Too slow, and the balls don't make it over the hump.

1 week later

#27 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

20181002_181911 (resized).jpg

#31 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

Quoted from luch:
odd you play with different rules under gameplay rule 5 , we play, you can get a maximum of 4 points , which is how many balls each team has ,hence 4-0 on the end , we play to 21 points, and also play if you win the end, you control the pallino , till you loose the end

When it's just two players or doubles playing for fun, we play the way you described. However, for Bocce Club, we have up to 14 couples, and that style of scoring was taking way too long for single-elimination bracket-style tournaments.

By only allowing 1 point per round and eliminating the potential need to have all 8 balls thrown, the games finished faster. Ending the game at 5 points also eliminated the prolonged back-and-forth scoring, but it ensured both players on a team to play between two to five rounds.

Teams winning the end still control the pallino, but it gets passed to the teammate.

We had a lot of discussion regarding the scoring, and our "house rules" have worked out a lot better. Before we changed the rules, couples were leaving before they were knocked out because they were waiting around so long.

#33 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky

IMG_20181004_065239_335 (resized).jpg

#34 5 years ago

MEM

Sparky