Photo by: Justin Edmonds

” The first rule of bocce is that it is a gentlemen’s game” David Newell pointed out, acknowledging that this game of “lawn bowling,” for both gentlemen and gentle ladies, is a mellow outdoor activity. The bocce gentlemen were found playing on the green space by Penrose Library on a crisp September afternoon.

The game of bocce is an Italian game, and also a very leisurely sport. To start the game, a player throws a small white ball, known as the pallino, out into the grass. Each player has two bocce balls, which they toss or roll it towards the pallino, the goal being to get it as close to the pallino as possible. The player that gets it the closest, wins a point, two points if their bocce ball actually touches, or as these gentlemen say, “kisses” the pallino ball. The first player to reach twelve points wins the game.

Vliet, Smeltz, Newell and Burrows are interested in founding a bocce club here at the University of Denver. They already have a mascot, a squirrel that player Smeltz already named “Boch,” who seemed interested in the game by following the gentlemen around while they were playing.

In the meantime, these gentlemen from Johnson-McFarlane Hall hope to have some of the other residence halls start up some bocce teams so they can have some opponents to play against. Likewise, anyone who happens to stumble upon them playing on the lawn is welcome to join.

The game of bocce is a great opportunity to unwind after classes, meet new people, learn a new game, and enjoy the DU campus and the beautiful fall days in Denver.

But, if Italian sports aren’t your thing, go back to an old classic with a game of campus golf. Campus golf, a popular fair-weather sport, is played by picking targets around campus and hitting them. Targets include ‘that tree’ or ‘that bench.’ Swing away.