Fun, Easy Disc Golf Lawn Game to Help You Improve!

Today’s post features a disc golf lawn game that will also help you improve your skill out on the course. It’s fun, easy, free (with discs) and can be played by players at different levels.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Summer, shortly after I start thinking about lawn games. And really, I haven’t found one that I don’t like. I enjoy them all.

Depending on what I’m looking for, some are more appropriate for a given situation.

If it’s just the friends renting a house for a weekend, we may ratchet up the intensity. Poleish horseshoes or Kan Jam should do the trick there. Both, incidentally, are disc related games…

Other times, I just want something casual. Beer in hand, relaxed. Something to do when the Adirondack chair has imprinted it’s design into your back from sitting in it too long.

Today’s disc golf lawn game falls into the latter, casual category. It improves your game, is easy, free, and can be played with lots of people all of varying skill levels.

Today, I introduce to you the game of “Disc Golf Bocce”! Let’s get into it and start with a review of real bocce…

Review of Bocce

red and green balls in green field — *The game of bocce has a lot to offer when modified into a disc golf lawn game!*

Bocce, pronounced Botch-chi, was invented in the year… No, not going to do that to you… Okay, that was a joke but just looked it up and it was apparently around circa 5200 BC! Here‘s a quick write-up with a rules explanation as well…

Essentially the game goes like this. Someone starts by throwing out the smaller ball (called the “pallino” (the white ball in the picture)) to a distance of their preference.

Side note: It occurs to me that in bocce, the pallino is smaller so that the player throwing can’t get an unfair advantage by gauging distance. This connects to a putting tip I posted on getting 1% better without changing your form. Give it a look!

Then the teams or individuals (represented by the different colored bocce balls) take turns rolling the balls in an effort to get as many as they can as close to the small ball as possible.

The team with X amount of balls closer to the small ball than any of the opponents gets X amount of points.

So, if my team has 1 ball closest and your team has the second closest, I get one point. If my team has the first and second closest with your team having the third closest, I get 2 points.

In the picture it looks like red team has at least 3 points because 3 of the red balls are closer. The 4th one is close and would need to be measured…

You can decide beforehand, how many points the game will go up to. Usually, based on what I saw, it’s between 7 and 13 points.

Once you understand these simple rules, our disc golf bocce lawn game falls right into place.

Disc Golf Bocce Rules

Disc Golf Bocce is a lawn game with very similar rules to bocce.

First, determine how many points will win the game ahead of time and how many discs each team will throw (I like 4 per side). Next, determine what the target you are aiming for will be. This could be a mini-disc (discino?) or it could just be a disc that each side agrees upon (preferably with bright colors to make it easily visible). It could also be a predetermined target like a tree.

Next in bocce, one player or team member puts that target out into the field at a distance of their choice.

Teams then take turns throwing their discs and trying to land it closest to the target disc. The player or team with the closest disc gets a point. If they have the two closest discs, they get two points and so on…

After each side has thrown all their discs and points have been determined, a different player throws out the target disc and the next round begins.

Once a player or team has the predetermined winning total of points, the game is over and you start it up again!

The Many Benefits to Disc Golf Bocce

You can rank these any way you want. But one major benefit to disc golf bocce is upshot accuracy. In the past, I’ve talked about being careful when “running the basket” and going for the glory.

Sometimes it’s better to lay up. Instead of missing and overshooting by a wide margin, you are trying to land the shot in whatever your one-putt radius is around the basket.

In disc golf bocce, you can think of the target as the base of the basket. The closer you get to it, the better chance you have of making the next shot. And it just so happens that in this game, the closer you get to it, the better shot you have of winning. Hopefully you can see how this game might be helpful… Your practice with precision in this game can really pay off on the course.

Then, throw in the fact that it’s a fun, low-maintenance, laid back summer disc golf lawn game, that can be played with a beer in your hand (optional), and it’s a win-win.

It’s also quite inclusive. It can be played with a lot of players, and you can adjust the rules based on skill levels. Let’s get into that next.

Adjusting Your Disc Golf Lawn Game Rules for Skill Level

If you are an advanced player, playing with someone who has never thrown a disc before, you might be a little skeptical. But this game can be altered considerably to fit your needs. Incidentally, this is also why disc golf is a great game to play with your kids (if you have kids). You can actually get better while you’re having fun together. You can read my complete thoughts on the matter here.

With our disc golf lawn game, the better player could practice more advanced shots and still find themselves in a very competitive match. Then, with the game on the line, there is a lot riding on each shot and you have to execute. Just like when you are out on the disc golf course.

It might take a little feeling out to assess skill level, but the player of a higher skill level could exclusively throw, hammers, grenades, thumbers, modified rollers, opposite handed or some other shot they’ve been meaning to work on. If the other player is allowed to throw backhand, for example, you might have yourself a game.

Similarly, if both players are similar in skill level, they could declare a round to be exclusively played with one shot or the other (such as a roller) so they can both improve in that particular area.

Considering Space for your Disc Golf Lawn Game

Not everybody necessarily has a lot of space to play disc golf bocce. Depending on what you have you can modify somewhat to fit the area you are working with.

With a lot of space, almost anything goes. Though, it’s only fair that one player doesn’t throw the target disc farther than an opponents upper limits for driving. That’s like playing H-O-R-S-E with a person that only dunks when you can’t. Not fun. Not cool either…

If the area you are playing in is only moderately sized, maybe it’s better played with thumbers, hammers, modified rollers or with the opposite hand.

Another option is to meet up at an open field and play there.

If the area is quite small, then break out the basket and just play H-O-R-S-E (which is of course an entirely different game, but still keeps you having fun and getting better).

Always be Careful

Just, when you are playing make sure you are well out of range of hitting people, pets, windows, cars, or anything else that wouldn’t do well to be hit by a disc.

That’s it… Let’s go out and play!

Disc Golf Lawn Game – In Summary

Disc golf bocce, is a fun, relaxed game you can play with people of varying abilities. It can also help you improve your scores out on the course. Upshot accuracy is the first thing that comes to mind with this game.

When you throw in the fact that it’s completely free and low maintenance, as long as you have a few discs, then it becomes a really great option for a disc golf lawn game.

Give it a try and see what you think! Then, let us know how it goes.

Put disc golf bocce on your summer to-do list. Relax, have fun and improve all at the same time. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading everyone. I’ve played this game a fair amount and it’s been good fun each time. I also think it’s paid off on the course. Let me know if you play it and what your thoughts are. I’m also interested if you have other games that you play that are in a similar vein. And while you’re here, think about subscribing if you haven’t already.