Bocce & Croquet

Bocce Ball and Croquet are perfect for outdoor parties, team building or just spending time with friends and family.

In 2015 our Members funded two Bocce Ball Courts and a regulation Croquet Course which is considered the best artificial course in the south. The croquet course also serves club members for a great game of kickball and soccer. This space is often used for many club events such as Fall Fest, Easter Egg-stravaganza, 4th of July and Labor Day Cookout. This is also a popular site for all kid related activities during the summer months, weather permitting. It is incredible venue for private events such as post toast parties, outdoor cocktail receptions and many more. For more information regarding event inquiries please email [email protected] or call 901-722-3716. Please note, approval from the General Manager is needed to reserve space for a private event.

Both Bocce and Croquet are complementary to our members. The Croquet Course may be reserved through the Tennis Department.

Basic Rules Bocce is played with eight large balls and one smaller target or object ball called a pallina. There are four balls per team and they are made of a different color or pattern to distinguish the balls of one team from those of the other team.

The game is played with two teams, with each team having one, two, or four players. For four player teams, each player throws one ball. For two player teams, each player throws two balls. For one player teams, each player throws four balls. When there are multiple players on a team, a playing rotation is determined at the start of a game and is maintained throughout the entire game.

A game begins with the toss of a coin. The team that wins the coin toss can choose to either have first toss of the pallina or the color of the balls they will use. To start a game, the pallina is rolled or tossed by a member of the team having won the coin toss. A player can toss the pallina any distance as long as it passes the center line of the court and stays within the boundaries of the court. If the player fails to toss the ball properly into play, a member of the opposing team will toss the ball into play. If the opposing team fails to properly toss the pallina into play, the toss reverts to a member of the original team.

The player tossing the pallina must deliver the first ball. If the ball lands outside of the boundaries of the court, that team must roll again until the first ball is put into play. Otherwise, that player steps aside and the opposing team will then deliver their balls until one of its Bocce balls is closer to the pallina or has thrown all its balls. The "nearest ball" rule governs the sequence of thrown balls. The side whose ball is closest to the pallina is called the "in" ball and the opposing side the "out" ball. Whenever a team gets "in", it steps aside and allows the "out" team to deliver. The other team throws until it gets its ball closer (not ties) to the pallina. This continues until both teams have thrown all their Bocce balls. After both teams have exhausted all their balls, a frame is over and points are awarded. The game resumes by teams throwing from the opposite end of the court. The team that was awarded points in the previous frame begins the next frame by tossing the pallina into play.

All balls must be thrown underhanded. A team has the option of rolling, tossing, bouncing, etc. its ball down the court provided it does not go outdide the boundaries of the court or the player does not violate the foul line. The foul line is used to deliver all balls down the court with the intent of getting a ball closer to the pallina, knocking the opponent's ball away from the pallina, or hitting the pallina so that it ends up closer to your team's ball. A player should not step on or over the foul line before releasing any ball. If a player steps over the foul line, the player will receive one warning. For a player that commits a second foul line infraction, the team fouled against will be awarded points as they were immediately proceeding the foul and the frame will end. The team committing the foul will be awarded no points for the frame. Or, the fouled against team may have the option of declining the penalty and completing the frame.

Any ball that goes outside the boundaries of the court is considered a dead ball and is removed immediately from play until the end of a frame. At the end of each frame, points will be awarded.

Only one team scores in a frame. One point is awarded for each ball that is closer to the pallina than the closest ball of the opposing team. In the event that the closest ball of each team is the same distance from the pallina, no points will be awarded and the pallina returns to the team that delivered it. Only balls which are distinguishably closer to the pallina than any of the opponent's balls are awarded points. All measurements should be made from the center of the pallina to the edge of a Bocce ball. Games are played to 16 points with the first team reaching 16 points being the winner of a game.

Croquet is played between two sides –the blue and black balls versus the red and yellow balls. In singles, each player plays two balls; in doubles, each player plays the same ball throughout the game.

The object is to be the first side to score seven points. A side scores a point when one of its balls is the first to pass through the next hoop in sequence. Note that each hoop is only scored by one ball so both sides are contesting the same hoop. If after scoring twelve points the game is tied at six all, hoop #3 is contested again to break the tie.

Play is made by striking a ball with a mallet. The striker’s ball may cause other balls to move and score points. However, the striker must never strike any ball other than their own.

 
Starting the Game

The side that wins a coin toss chooses balls. The blue ball plays first. Each ball is played into the game from any point on the court within a yard from corner IV.

Scoring Points

A ball scores a point for its side by passing through the next hoop in sequence. If the striker’s ball causes another ball to run the hoop, the point is counted for the side whose ball ran the hoop. If two balls pass through the hoop on the same stroke, the point is scored by the ball that was closest to the hoop at the start of the stroke.

Boundaries

If a ball goes out of bounds as soon as its center lies directly over a boundary When a ball goes out, it is placed just inside the boundary where it went out.

The Halfway Rule

At the end of a turn in which a point is scored, any ball more than halfway to the next hoop is an offside ball, unless it reach its position on the stroke just played, or through contact with an opponent’s ball or was moved to a penalty spot. When you have an offside ball, your opponent has the option of making you place that ball on one of the two penalty spots before you play it again, the opponent choosing which penalty spot. The penalty spots are oth the East and West boundaries, even with the peg.