September 9, 2012

Good times roll at petanque tournament

The annual petanque tournament in Old Orchard Beach caps a summer season of matches on the town's courts in Memorial Park.

Throughout the summer, people of all ages -- and from different areas -- gather three times a week to play the game, which is particularly popular with French Canadians.

Petanque, similar to bocce, is played with metal balls and a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (which translates to "piglet").

Players try to throw the metal balls as close as possible to the cochonnet while standing in a small circle with their feet together. 


Photos by Tim Greenway/Staff Photographer

Lenny Lones of Arundel tosses a boule during the Old Orchard Beach Petanque Club’s tournament at Memorial Park in Old Orchard Beach on Saturday. The tournament concludes the summer season of matches in the town’s courts.


Al Hill, founder of the Old Orchard Beach Petanque Club, prepares to toss a boule during the tournament on Saturday.

 


Competitors are reflected off a steel ball called a boule as they see whose ball is closest to the orange ball, called a piglet.


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