Michael Grasser sends photos from his bocce travels in Italy. Pictures are from two big tourneys - the Pallino d'Oro and the Navigare Tourney.

Dante D'Alessandro, the eventual Pallino d'Oro winner gets ready. The venue is the Rinascita Budrione Bocce Club, Modena, Italy.

Georgio Moreno (USA) pointing. The Pallino d'Oro featured 32 players (by invitation only). There were 28 from Italy as well as one each from the USA, Switzerland, San Marino, and Austria.

Lots of hardware for these events. While the Pallino d'Oro was limited to 32 players, the Navigare was open to all - men and women - a whopping 1124 competed. Both events were "singles" (head-to-head) tourneys with Punto-Raffa-Volo rules and the format was one loss and you are out. More than 1100 participants in a single elimination event - makes March Madness seem tame.

Another look at the "hardware." Maurizio Mussini won the Navigare tournament. According to Grasser "The Navigare was played in one day using approximately 50 bocce clubs and 240 bocce courts. The final match of the Navigare and the entire Pallino d'Oro was played at the Rinascita Burdrione Bocce Club in Modena, Italy. This club has four international size synthetic courts."

The actual Pallino d'Oro (gold pallino) taken home by Italy's Dante D'Alessandro.

One of the Navigare Tourney venues. Says Grasser, "This is where I played my first (and last) game in the Navigare Tournament."

Looks like plenty of international size courts with Plexiglas® barriers.

Yikes! Eleven hundred+ entrants - that's what I call a bracket board!

Says Grasser..."That's Maurizio Mussini, the Navigare winner, on the far left. Navigare is a high end yachting clothier manufacturer in Modena."