Thanks to Crow's Dart Page for these rules:
Par darts consists of 9 holes. The par for each hole is as follows:
- Holes 1 & 4 are par 5's
- Holes 5 & 9 are par 3's
- the rest are par 4's
Each hole is divided into sections. Each section has to be hit in order before you can proceed to the next section. So, on hole 1, you have to hit the 1st dark green section, then the next green section, before you can shoot at the green. On the par 4's, you only have to hit the one dark green section before you shoot at the green (the dark green sections are the fairways). Each dart you throw counts as a stroke. On the par 3's, there is no fairway so your first shot will be aimed at the green.
Once you start aiming at the greens, here's how it works. If you hit the red dot on the green then you holed the shot and are done with that hole. If you hit the green, you then have to hit the bull to sink your putt. The bull is divided up into three sections. This is to help handicap the game. So if you have an 'A' player throwing against a 'C' player, the 'A' player would have to hit the center red bull to make the putt where the 'C' player could hit any of the three rings to sink the putt.
Now lets talk about the sand and water. These only come into play when you are shooting at the green, if you accidently hit one while shooting at the fairway you just ignore it. Also, let's say your shooting at the green on hole 6 and land in the water surounding 5, you do not worry about it. It just counts as a missed dart, no penalty. Here's how the rules work:
- Pond: You add one stroke to your throw. So if on hole 5 your first dart lands in the water, you would add one to your score so your second dart would be your 3rd stroke for that hole.
- Sand: If you land in the sand, you are required to back up 12 inches from the dart line and will continue to throw at the green. You do not have to back up another 12 inches should you land in the sand again. Now, once you have put the ball on the green, you move back up to the line to shoot your putt (bull). If, while standing 12 inches back, you put a shot in the water, you can then move back up to the line to shoot at the green.