Installing a Bocce Ball Court

[Emmalani]

Has anyone had any experience installing a Bocce Ball Court? We are in the process of clearing an area is out backyard, but are not sure of the dimensions. I've done an internet search, and from what I'm gathering it doesn't have to be a specific width and length. The one at our recreation center is 7' x 80'. We have the seven feet, but only about 60' for the length in our space. Is that enough?? Also, do you need extra space at each end outside of the court to throw the ball? (I know, dumb question. And yes, we've never played the game!) Why, do you ask are we putting in a court if we don't play??? Friends and neighbors have suggested it, that's why!

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Kayaksoup]

I have only ever played backyard bocce ball and I am pretty sure our friends' backyard isn't 80 feet long. I think, for casual play, it can be as long or as short as the space you have will allow.

[KristaMB]

My godfather has an awesome bocce court in his yard, and I'm quite certain it isn't 80 feet long. I'm sure 60 feet is plenty. I have no idea what the official guidelines are, but here are some details about his court:
He drove 2x4's into the ground to frame in the court. Essentially he made a large rectangular box, the lip of the box is about 2 inches high. I know that he uses crushed oyster shells as the playing surface.

He built an arbor at each end and planted vines so there is some shade. He also put a sort of shelf up that connects to the back arbor posts so we can set drinks and snacks there.

The two team members that are throwing the ball stand on the court and do not step past the front posts of the arbor when throwing. The team on the far side does not stand on the court, as the balls go whizzing down and often times the only thing to stop them are the 2x4's on the far end.

He marked a distance out with a line of paint on the on long side of the 2x4's that the palino (sp?) must pass, so there are no arguments or guesswork. He also built a peg board type scoreboard so we can easily keep track of the score. (He made the scoreboard green, red and white to reflect the Italian nature of the game. :)) To measure the distance of each team's ball to the palino in case of dispute, he keeps an old set of rabbit ear antennae handy.

I hope this helps some. Bocce is such a fun game, enjoy your new court!

[linsleyd]

DH is Italian and grew up playing the game, basically they just play the game all over the lawn without a court. The "paloon" is thrown and the bocce balls are then thrown in relationship to it. This is how its been done in generations of his family. In a very informal manner. If you want strict rules contact a local Italian social club. They should be able to give you dimensions of a court. "according to Dh" :D

[Laurielee]

We have one, DH built it last year, we just love it. Ours is not a full size because of the space, but close enough, It was was a lot of backbreaking work for him so beware! On each end we have about a 5 x 5 area for chairs to sit on. It does keep our geust entertained and just the 2 of us use it a lot

laurie

[Emmalani]

Thanks everyone for your imput. We worked on it this past weekend.... clearing brush and leveling the area. We came up with a space that is going to be 60' x 7'. Next weekend we will put in the framing and order the sub surface material. This has turned into quite the project! Anyhow, we got 3" of snow this morning so at this point the backyard is covered in snow. It's supposed to be back to 80 by the weekend. I love this fall weather!