Apparently this game goes by many names — Blongo-Ball, BoloToss, Cowboy Golf, Redneck Golf, Hillbilly Golf, Hillbilly Horseshoes, The Snake Game, Snake Toss, Ladder Ball, Ladder Golf, Slither, Snakes & Ladders, Flingy Ball, Norwegian Golf, Swedish Golf, Polish Horshoes, Bolo Ball, Montana Golf, Australian Horseshoes, Ladder Game, Monkey Balls, Monkey Bar Golf, Rattlerail Toss, Spin It, Golfball Horseshoes, Arizona Golf Balls, & Ball Dangle… We learned about it in 2003 while on vacation in Michigan. A retired guy at Gunn Lake had built one and was playing outside Rick & Heather’s cabin. He called it Hillbilly Horseshoes, and that’s what it is for our family.
Update: We went to make another set of Hillbilly Horseshoes racks for Grandma & Grandpa last Saturday using the instruction sheet I had made, and in the process discovered a couple of glitches in the measurements and in the parts list. I had originally specified about half the pipe that was needed — less than enough to make one rack! So, I updated the instruction sheet, and am taking the opportunity to bump this post back to the top of the stack. Click on the icon below to download the plans.
It’s horribly simple to build and play; basically two “ladders” made from PVC pipe and fittings, plus six game pieces made from two golf balls each strung together with about a 1-foot length of rope. The ladders are placed about this far apart (yeah, exactly that far!) and the players stand together & take turns tossing their balls toward the far ladder, trying to hang them on one of the rungs. An underhand toss seems to work best. Caleb has tried overhand, and it usually ends up in the neighbor’s garage roof gutter.
Different sites that talk about this game have different scoring rules, but this is what works for us; hanging one on the top rung is worth one point, on the bottom is worth two points, and three in the middle. In our experience, hanging it on the middle rung is the most difficult, so that’s worth more. If you hang one on a rung and your opponent knocks it off, too bad for you.
I made up a set of plans for a set of ladders and had the kids build them for something to do two summers ago, and it turned out pretty well. I just kinda winged it for dimensions, remembering what the set at Gunn Lake looked like; some of the others have a foot of space between each rung and between the bottom rung and the ground; ours has the bottom rung a little higher, and 9 inches between the top rungs. Here is the pdf file with the plans, along with the parts list. Feel free to pay me whatever you feel it’s worth, or maybe make a donation to your favorite charity in my name!
It’s kinda strange to see this game being commercialized now. First I saw of it was Ladder Ball being sold at Menard’s. Others came soon after. I can’t believe that people pay up to $60 for a set; I think the parts for our set cost about $10 or so. There are lots of sites on the ‘net that have instructions for building your own, and rules for playing. But making up your own rules is fun too! One site that I saw had a couple of neat variations on the game. A sleeve over each rung that can rotate freely makes it a bit harder to get your ball to stay on the rung. Also, an “equalizer bar” deducts points if you hang your balls on it. The equalizer is mounted to the front of the base, just a bit lower than the lowest bar. They also had extra fittings and a drink holder that could be added to each ladder. Yeah, I guess I can see how having a beverage in hand would be pretty natural while playing the game.