Ladder toss is a popular outdoor lawn game, where bolas, or two golf balls tied together with rope, are tossed at a plastic "ladder" with different point totals for different rungs. It is available to purchase in many outdoor sections of department stories, and you can also easily purchase the materials needed to assemble a ladder toss set, too. Ladder toss is known by many other names as well, including hillbilly golf, ladder ball and lasso golf. Ladder Golf is a trademarked brand name for the game.
Bolas
In a normal game of ladder toss, two teams each have two players, with one player facing toward each ladder. Each team should have its own color of bolas. If you are making a ladder golf set on your own, simply drill through the center of each golf ball and connect two with a rope, and then mark each team's bolas by color or design. There should be 1 foot of rope between the two balls after the knots are tied on each end.
Ladders
The ladders are used for scoring, and are generally made of plastic or a PVC-pipe type of material. The ladders have three rungs that are 36 inches wide and are spaced at a height of 12 inches apart. A base is normally needed at the bottom of the ladder so that it does not tip over when the bolas are thrown at it.
Scoring
With the players alternating turns, each team throws their three bolas for the round. Getting your bola to hang on the top rung is worth 3 points, the middle rung is worth 2, and the bottom rung is worth 1 point. Most games are played so that the first to 21 points wins.
There are variations on scoring, where bonuses are awarded for hanging all three bolas on one rung, or where only the difference between the two teams points per round is kept. You are free to adjust the rules to what you are comfortable playing.
Game Play
With one player from each team per side, those players alternate tossing their bolas underhand at the ladder. After all six bolas are thrown, the second teammate from each team collects the bolas and starts the next round. Be sure to watch out for flying bolas, and only an underhand toss should be used to avoid bolas flying at a dangerous speed.
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