he Baroness’s Bocce Tournament takes place Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM on the Bocce Green near the Main Pavilion. All are welcome to enter, although we request that participants be at least 10 years old. There will be a youth bocce tournament at 11:00 AM for all those interested in joining in before lunch.

The Court

The NOWM Bocce Green is 10′ wide by 40′ long. In order to make the tournament more challenging, all natural landscape irregularities have been kept in place. (Seriously, have you TRIED manicuring a campground?)

The Rules

As bocce is a game that has evolved over time, we have created our own variation of modern bocce rules to simplify the game and make it more enjoyable for all contestants:

  1. The Baroness throws out the pallino (target ball) for all rounds. The pallino must pass the mid-point of the bocce court (20′). If the landed baroness is either unavailable or competing in a current round, all efforts will be made to acquire a stand-in baroness for that round.
  2. Rounds will consist of sets of four contestants. Each contestant will have two bocce balls of the same color. Balls will be thrown alphabetically by color in two phases. Contestants may throw their bocce balls from any position within the court up to the 5 ‘marker stake.
  3. The contestant whose ball is closest to the pallino will receive 1 point. If the second ball of the same color is the next closest to the pallino, the contestant will receive two points. Points are awarded only to the individual whose bocce ball is closest.
  4. If two (or more) bocce balls if differing colors are equidistant from the pallino, those contestants will re-throw 1 ball each to break the tie. The pallino remains in its original location during the tie-breaker.
  5. The tournament will consist of five (5) rounds. The contestant with the most points after five rounds will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, one additional round will be played of two balls each to break the tie.

The Prize

NOWM_BocceThe winner of the Baroness’s Bocce Tournament will become the guardian of the coveted Brass Elephant on a Bocce Ball until the next tournament.

Past winners include:

    • Lady Cebelia de Namaria – NOWM XV, XVI
    • Sir Lorimer MacAltin of the Garioch – NOWM XVII
    • Lord Sergei the Jester – NOWM XVIII
    • Lord Hákon Hrafnsson – NOWM XIX
    • Baroness Constanza de Mendoza – NOWM XX
    • Lady Lynette la Rousse – NOWM XXI
    • … You? – NOWM XXII