Bolos

• The bolos are the objects that you throw as you attempt to wrap them around three rungs of the ladder. The bolo is essentially two heavy balls secured by a length of rope, allowing it to be thrown but also wrapping around the rungs and adding enough movement in flight to make the game challenging. Each player needs three bolos, so when purchasing materials take into account how many sets you would like to make. For each set you will need six solid core golf balls and several feet of 3/8-inch nylon rope. Making each set of bolos a different color is an excellent idea if you plan on having several people playing at once and can find sets of colored golf balls in the store. Use a 3/8-inch drill bit to drill a hole directly through the center of each golf ball. This is easiest and safest if you use a vice grip or heavy pliers to hold the ball in place while drilling. Tie a knot at one end of a 12-inch length of rope and string a ball onto the rope and snug up against this knot. Then tie a knot directly against the other side of the ball to hold it in place. String the second ball onto the rope and tie a knot at the second end. Push the ball against this and tie a final fourth knot to hold this ball in place as well. You now will have one bolo completed, which should be two golf balls at opposite ends of a 12-inch piece of nylon rope. Repeat this process for all remaining bolos in each set you wish to make.
  
  

Ladders

• In addition to bolos, ladder golf uses two PVC pipe ladders, one at each end of the playing area that the bolos are tossed onto. The ladders are relatively simple, consisting of a base to hold them upright and two sides extending upward and holding three horizontal rungs spaced evenly apart. To construct these you will need 44 feet of 1-inch PVC pipe, 12 T-connectors and four elbow connectors. To cut the PVC pipe you can use any common cutting method such as a circular saw or hacksaw. An electric tool will produce a cleaner cut with less chance of splitting the PVC and is more desirable because of the sheer amount of cutting you will need to do on the pipe. Whatever cutting method you choose, you will need to cut the pipe into the following pieces: six rungs 3 feet each in length, 12 leg pieces 18 inches long and eight side pieces each a foot long. Start assembling from the bottom up, with the base of the structure coming first. Use a T-connector and three leg pieces to form a T-shape with the pipe, doing this twice to create the two legs. Then use a T-connector on top of each of these legs and connect them horizontally with a rung piece. Then extend the ladder upward by attaching a side piece to each T-connector. Place another T-connector on the top of these side pieces and once again connect horizontally with a rung piece. Extend upward once more with two more side pieces and this time top those with an elbow connector, using a final rung piece to form the top rung of the ladder. That will complete one ladder, and you simply have to connect the remaining pieces in the same way for the second ladder. You also can use PVC glue to secure each piece into the connectors and make the structure permanent, but it is better idea to use connectors if you want to disassemble the ladder. That way you can take the ladders apart, carry them in a large bag with you and reassemble them wherever you need to.