‘We’re crazy for cornhole’: Spokane Cornhole club tosses bags for fun, competition

The steady thunk of bags hitting boards filled a ballroom at Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center on a recent Tuesday evening as Spokane Cornhole players warmed up.

Around 50 participants sipped drinks, ate dinner and took aim.

Cornhole, a staple at backyard barbecues and tailgate parties, surged in popularity in recent years thanks in large part to televised matches and championships aired on ESPN.

“Another couple founded Spokane Cornhole, and we stepped in to run it in 2020,” Beth Cunningham said.

Her husband, Kevin Cunningham, serves as regional director of the American Cornhole League. He also made the 16 sets of boards used each week.

“We started playing in 2016,” she said. “We were empty nesters looking for something fun.”

They found it.

“We’re crazy for cornhole,” Cunningham said.

The group meets at Mirabeau Park Hotel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Anyone is welcome. For $10 a player is guaranteed six games. There aren’t any dues, and Cunningham said the best way to sign up is to download the Scoreholio app on your phone. The app features live updates of matches.

Spokane Cornhole also hosts tournaments and matches at local venues and often partners with nonprofits to raise funds. Events are listed on its Facebook page.

“We supply the bags if you don’t have your own,” Cunningham said. “And we provide all the boards.”

The game is simple. Boards are spaced 27 feet apart. Players try to toss their bags in the center hole for 3 points, or on the board for 1 point. First person to 21 wins. Intermediate players are grouped separately from the advanced/competitive players.

Television monitors set up on the ballroom show participants where they’re assigned to play and offer live scoring updates.

Cunningham said the partnership with Mirabeau has been great. Games are played rain or shine, and players can order food and drink right in the ballroom. Masks are required unless you’re eating or drinking at a table.

A merchandise table features Spokane Cornhole T-shirts and hats, as well as bags.

“We partner with Feist Bags out of Yakima,” Cunningham said.

She explained that much like regular bowlers prefer to use their own bowling balls; cornhole devotees often own several sets of bags.

“Some are fast and some are slower,” she said.

Unlike many backyard sets, the Feist bags are filled with plastic pellets instead of dried corn.

“In ACL we don’t allow corn-filled bags because the corn breaks down over time and leaves dust,” Cunningham said.

As April Dinwoodie waited for her match, she chatted about her newfound love of the game. She started playing with the group at the first of March, and though she’d previously only played casual backyard matches, she quickly moved from the intermediate to the advanced group.

“I’m here twice a week, and I play in a Friday night league, too,” she said. “I didn’t realize I was competitive ’til I started to play.”

She grinned.

“I discovered I like to win.”

More important, she enjoys it was something she can do as a single woman.

“You don’t have to have a partner, and everyone is so welcoming,” Dinwoodie said.

Tyler Easley agreed.

“I’ve never met someone in cornhole that I didn’t like,” he said.

Easley is an original member of Spokane Cornhole.

“I started in 2017,” he said. “We used to play at the tennis courts at Audubon Park.”

His passion began when he and his wife got a cornhole set as a wedding gift.

“I got addicted really fast,” he said.

Easley explained there’s more to just tossing the bag – there’s strategy to the game, too.

“Ideally, you want to throw fast and have a rotation,” he said. “You try to block your opponents.”

He also plays in a Post Falls league.

Other venues like the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake offer cornhole leagues, and while the spring session is closed, Spokane Parks will offer cornhole again in summer and fall.

Sandra Barrios was visiting from Chelan, and her sister invited her to cornhole. Barrios hadn’t played before, but she quickly caught on.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “I scored three points my first day on the board.”

That’s what Cunningham likes to hear.

“Our motto is ‘growing the game’,” she said. “Anyone can play and anyone can win.”