Cadillac Square Re-Opens for Petanque Season

The pristine gravel at Cadillac Square officially re-opened for the 2011 Petanque Season, and none too soon! The terrain over at Campus Martius, newly cleared of the skating rink mats, needs a gravel refresher - so it is fortunate that we can return to our usual playing courts across the street!
(The combine parks of Campus Martius and Cadillac Square have about 20 courts worth of petanque play available).
The teams included Buzz C., recently returned from Florida. Buzz was throwing pointing boules like the pro he is. But the VIP award goes to Abu M. who has been shooting and pointing boules expertly. Though we didn't take the win, we certainly did far better score-wise than is Abu were playing for the opposition.

Today's Petanque: a close shave...

Playing boule upon the uneven surface which is mostly hard-packed clay, at Campus Martius Park can be a challenge - but not one that isn't entertaining. Until a fresh layer of gravel is raked in for the season, the players will need to read the ground very carefully. Boules that look like they'll stop close to the cochonnet end up rolling an extra 2 feet; and the pits and "ravines" make for a putt-putt experience at times.

Today's game was excellent. Both teams pretty much exchanged point for point keeping an even pace until near the end. We were "playing near the wall" for a bit - which narrows the available angles for throwing. Sam laid in a close boule with his plombee, but Maury, up to the challenge, took the close spot with his own boule.

Fred has become noticebly more aggressive in his petanque play - shooting multiple times to dislodge a disadvantageous position. Nick was our team's anchor, placing very close pointer boules and keeping our opponents in shooting mode.

Have a splendid weekend.

Jeff

Warm Weather Brings out the Petanque Boules

With a surprise gift of warm weather (65 degrees) and sunshine, the petanque games restarted (at Campus Martius Park). We had only four players (Andonian watched for a moment) but the teams were evenly matched. Mike D. was shooting well, as was Abu - and Sam was plombee-ing in crucial close boules. My shooting has been improving, but is still not up to scratch... Abu and I held out for as long as we coule, but Sam and Mike made their thirteen.