Wirecutter's top cornhole board pick, which it calls the AllCornhole Tournament Series and whose buying links lead to these ACL Comp 2x4 boards. Wirecutter found the birch boards barely budged when bags hit them and that the smooth finish let bags slide without catching. Its two complaints are weight and price: each board weighs more than 25 pounds, and the pair costs about $300.
Full review
Wirecutter's pick for a pro-level board
Wirecutter names AllCornhole's Tournament Series the best cornhole boards in its guide, and the buying links for that pick lead to the ACL Comp 2x4 boards listed here. The guide says the boards are built to ACO regulation specs and that the ACL uses them for professional tournaments.
Wirecutter judged boards on how bags slid across the face, whether bags bounced, and whether the boards themselves moved when a bag hit.
Stability and finish in testing
In Wirecutter's tests these boards barely budged, in contrast to a cheap set of portable boards that shook and popped bags back into the air on impact. The reviewer credits the crossbeams under the deck, which keep the board from bending or bouncing when a bag lands, and notes the legs fold down for more compact storage.
Wirecutter describes a birch plywood surface with a smooth finish free of nails, screws or stickers that could catch or slow a bag. It tested a version carrying the ACL logo and found that, because the logo sits underneath the finish, it did not slow bags down. AllCornhole's own listing gives a 15mm Grade-A Baltic birch playing surface with routed edges, a four-step UV-protected top-coat, dual cross beams and an H-leg design.
Heavy to move, and about $300
Wirecutter lists two flaws. The sturdiness and extra bracing make the boards heavy and cumbersome: they measure 4 by 2 feet and each weighs more than 25 pounds, which is a lot to lug around if they are put away after every game or taken to picnics and campsites.
The second is price. Wirecutter writes that $300 is not cheap for a lawn game but judges the finish and sturdy construction worth the extra cost, and it points buyers on a budget to the GoSports Solid Wood Premium set instead.
Strengths
- +Wirecutter reports the boards barely budged in its tests, while a cheap portable set shook and popped bags back into the air
- +Wirecutter found the smooth finish does not catch bags, and a logo printed under the finish did not slow them down
- +Fold-down legs and crossbeams under the deck keep the board from bending or bouncing, per Wirecutter
Watch-outs
- −Wirecutter calls the boards difficult to store and travel with: 4 by 2 feet and more than 25 pounds each
- −About $300 for the pair, which Wirecutter flags as expensive for a lawn game
How it compares
Wirecutter's cheaper alternative, the GoSports 4x2 Solid Wood Premium set, has one crossbeam to this board's two and costs less than half as much with bags and a carrying case included. The $399.00 Slick Woody's All Weather boards are the weather resistant alternative to this wooden board.
Rating sources
Our 4.5 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
