2008 MERCER COUNTY FAIR

Official Cornhole Tournament Rules

  1. All contestants shall pitch from the pitchers box behind the foul lines.


  2. Each contestant is responsible for making sure the court is in good playing condition prior to starting the match. During the match, a contestant shall not be allowed to alter the Cornhole court in any manner without the consent of the opponent or a tournament official.


  3. In doubles play, two contestants are partners against another team of two contestants. One member of each team pitches from one Cornhole platform and the other members pitch from the other Cornhole platform.


  4. Every Cornhole match is broken down into innings of play. During each inning of play, each contestant must pitch four corn bags.


  5. A corn bag in-the-hole (or hole in) is a corn bag which is thrown through the hole in the Cornhole platform or otherwise comes to rest inside the Cornhole platform (knocked in by another player or an act of God). A corn bag in-the-hole has a value of three points.


  6. A corn bag that is not in-the-hole but lands with any portion of the corn bag resting on the Cornhole platform is in-the-count. A corn bag in-the-count has a value of one point. For a corn bag to be in-the-count, it must not touch the ground or any other portion of the court prior to coming to rest on the Cornhole platform. If a corn bag touches the ground before coming to rest on the Cornhole platform, it is a foul and must be removed from the Cornhole platform prior to the continuation of play.


  7. A corn bag which comes to rest anywhere except in-the-count or in-the-hole is out-of- the-count and has no scoring value. A corn bag which is declared to be a foul is considered to be out-of-the-count (no matter where it comes to rest) and must be removed from the Cornhole surface prior to the continuation of play.


  8. In doubles play, the first side of contestants alternate pitching corn bags until they have thrown all four corn bags, then the remaining contestant (pitching from the other platform) continue to alternate in the same manner until all four corn bags are delivered and the inning completed.


  9. A contestant may deliver the corn bag from either the left or right pitchers box, but in any one inning, all corn bags must be delivered from the same pitchers box. A contestant shall pitch the entire tournament with the same hand or arm, except in the case of a medical emergency.


  10. Each individual contestant shall deliver the corn bag within 20 seconds. The time shall start when the contestant steps onto the pitchers box with the intention of pitching.


  11. The contestant who scored in the preceding inning, shall pitch first in the next inning. If neither scores, the contestant who pitched second (last) in the preceding inning shall pitch first in the next inning.


  12. The pitcher must maintain constant contact with the designated pitcher’s box during the entire address and release of the corn bag. The opponent, while not pitching, shall stand behind the Cornhole platform at least 2 feet to the rear of the contestant who is pitching.


  13. If both contestants use the same pitcher’s box to deliver the corn bags, the contestant pitching first should cross over to the other pitcher’s box in front of the Cornhole platform and then move to the proper position. As the first contestant is crossing in front, the second contestant should be crossing over in back and mounting the pitcher’s box from the rear. If both contestants use opposite pitcher’s boxes, the contestant who pitches first should step directly back to the proper position as described earlier.


  14. A foul corn bag is a corn bag which was delivered in non-compliance with one of the rules of the game. It scores as a corn bag out-of-the-count and is to be removed from the Cornhole platform before any more corn bags are pitched. Corn bags already in the court, that have been knocked into foul territory by a foul corn bag, should be returned to the scoring area. Additionally, corn bags that are in-the-court, but are knocked into the hole by a foul bag, must be returned to their original scoring.


  15. The following are rule violations that must be spotted and called by a contestant or assigned judge. The penalty is to declare the corn bag a foul corn bag, which requires the corn bags to be removed from the court prior to resuming play.


    • A. Any corn bag pitched when the contestant has crossed over the foul line before the corn bag is released.


    • B. Any corn bag pitched when the contestant has started or stepped completely outside the pitchers box before releasing the corn bag.


    • C. Any corn bag not delivered within the 20 second time limit.


    • D. A corn bag pitched from a different pitcher’s box than the first corn bag during that inning.


    • E. Any corn bag that contacted the court or the ground before coming to rest on the Cornhole platform.


    • F. Any corn bag which struck a previously defined object such as a tree limb, wire, court ceiling, etc.


    • G. Any corn bag that leaves a contestant’s hand once the final forward swing of the delivery process has started, shall count as a pitched corn bag. A corn bag that is accidentally dropped by a contestant before the final forward swing has started shall not be considered foul and may be picked up and pitched.



  16. A contestants’ corn bags shall be called foul if the contestant removes any corn bag before the scoring of that corn bag has been agreed upon. A judge shall be called if a decision cannot be reached. The judge shall determine the scoring for the inning.


  17. If a contestant desires to make a protest, the protest shall be made to the judge or tournament official at the time the problem occurs. The tournament judge/official ruling on all protests will be the final ruling without exception.


  18. The Cornhole match shall be played until the first team of contestants reaches (or exceeds) 21 points at the completion of an inning. The winning team does not need to win by 2 or more points.


  19. The Cornhole match can never end in the middle of an inning. Thus, if a team that pitches first, reaches or exceeds 21 points, the game cannot end until the other side is allowed to pitch all of their corn bags and the inning is completed.


  20. If the Cornhole match is tied at 21 or more at the end of an inning, play continues until one team or the other achieves a higher score at the end of an inning and wins the match.


  21. A game shall be played to 21 points unless a team scores 13 points prior to the other team scoring any points (13 to 0). In this case, the game is declared a skunk and that team with 13 points is declared winner of the game.


  22. In cancellation scoring, corn bags in-the-hole and corn bags in-the-count pitched by opponents during an inning cancel each other out. Only non cancelled corn bags are counted in the score for the inning.


    • A. A corn bag in-the-hole of one contestant shall cancel a corn bag in-the-hole of his competitor and those corn bags shall not score any points. Any non-cancelled corn bag in-the-hole scores 3 points.


    • B. A corn bag in-the-count of one contestant shall cancel a corn bag in-the-count of the opponent and those corn bags shall not score any points. Any non-cancelled corn bags in-the-count shall score 1 point.



  23. The points of both contestants are calculated for hole-ins and in-the-count corn bags.


    • A. The points of the lowest scoring contestant for hole-in corn bags are subtracted from the highest scoring contestant for hole-in corn bags. The result is the hole-in score for the highest scoring contestant.


    • B. The points of the lowest scoring contestant for in-the-count corn bags are subtracted from the points of the highest scoring contestant for in-the-count corn bags. The result is the in-the-count score for the highest scoring contestant.


    • C. The hole-in score and the in-the-count score for each contestant are added together to derive the recorded score for the inning.


    • D. In this manner, hole-in and in-the-count corn bags from each contestant or team are cancelled out and only non-cancelled corn bags are counted in the score.



  24. In tournament play, the score sheet shall be the official record of the game. Contestants are encouraged to pay close attention to the score at all times. If a question or discrepancy occurs regarding the correct score, the contestant (contestants) may approach the scorer between innings to rectify the situation. If the discrepancy cannot be corrected to the satisfaction of both contestants, a tournament judge shall be called to make the final decision.


  25. Throughout the tournament we ask every contestant and spectator to respect the rights of the different contestants and teams.


  26. While in competition, no blatant noises or movements which could distract an opponent, will be allowed. One warning will be given, upon a second offense the distracting team will forfeit that particular game. Any further offenses from same team, will be grounds for disqualification.


  27. The Mercer County Fair & Horse Show Cornhole judge/committee reserves the right to change or adjust any or all rules as the situation warrants.


  28. By participating, contestants agree to these official rules and the decisions of the Mercer County Fair & Horse Show Cornhole committee and the judges which shall be over the whole tournament.


  29. All decisions of the Cornhole tournament judges will be final without exception.