Seattle Pétanque Club
Welcome to the Seattle Pétanque Club!
2024 is our 19th year as a member of the Federation of Pétanque USA.
What Is Pétanque?
Pétanque, pronounced "pay-tonk", one of Europe's most popular outdoor games, is a cousin of both horseshoes and of the Italian bowling game called 'bocce'. The game originated in the South of France in the early 1900s.
The object of the game is to toss or roll a number of hollow steel balls ("boules") as close as possible to a small wooden target ball, called a "cochonnet" (French for "piglet"). Teams can be 1, 2, or 3 players. Teams take turns, throwing one or more boules until their boule is closest to the target. When all of the boules are thrown, 1 or more points are awarded to a team for each boule closer to the "coche" than their opponent's nearest boule. The first team to 13 point wins.
Unlike horseshoes, where the stake is fixed, the target ball can be hit (and thus moved) at any time, which can totally change the game. And whereas official 'bocce' rules call for a smooth, prepared court with markers and sideboards, pétanque can be played on most outdoor surfaces, without any setup.