If traditional or miniature golf does not appeal to you, perhaps a game of hillbilly golf--also known as bolo golf or ladder golf, among other names-- will pique your interest. Like the classic horseshoe toss game (with which it shares similarities), you can enjoy the relatively easy game of hillbilly golf either in the comfort of your own backyard, or out during a camping trip or picnic.
What You Need and Game Basics
To play the game, you need a hillbilly golf set that consists of 6 bolos (two golf balls connected with a rope) and two three-rung ladders made of PVC pipe. You can buy the set at an outlet like Walmart (in which you need to assemble the pieces for the ladder) or you can make your own set.
If you buy the game set and take it back home, head outside to your front or back lawn and assemble all the pieces. When you're ready to play, place the ladders 20 to 25 feet apart and distribute 3 bolos of the same color to each player or team.
If just you and another person are playing, you each stand at one end and toss the bolos, and then head to the other end for your next toss. If you are playing with teams, 1 player from each team stands on each side.
Object and Scoring
You want to toss your bolo in such a way that it wraps around the ladder's bars and hangs onto them; it's fine if your bolo touches the ground before it contact with the ladder. As you throw your bolo, you also want to--if you can--knock your opponents' bolos off the bars. You have to be careful, though, because one wrong toss may knock off your own bolo. If you should miss the rack, you don't get another try with that particular bolo.
After each player has tossed all of his bolos, you add up the points for the round. If your bolo lands on the top bar, you get 3 points. If the bolo lands on the middle bar, you get 2 points, and if it lands on the lowest bar, you get 1 point. If one of your bolos lands on each of the three bars in a round, you get 1 bonus point. You also earn 1 bonus point if all three of your bolos land on the same bar in a round.
If both players land a bolo on the same bar, they cancel each other out; so, if you have 2 bolos on the top rung and the other player has 1 bolo on the same rung, you get 3 points rather than 6. If your opponent kncoked any of your bolos off the rack, you get no points for those bolos, but only those left hanging and wrapped around the rack.
The first player to score exactly 21 points- no more or less- wins the game. If you should score more than 21 points on your last turn, those points do not count for you. If there is a tie between players, those players play one more round, and the player with the highest score (with at least a 2-point lead) wins.
Tags: your bolo, your bolos, assemble pieces, bolo lands, bolo same, bonus point