There's little doubt that Angry Beaver was the toughest course that the MA1 pools played (regardless of the crappy conditions on Friday). The physical design of the holes didn't bother me that much... yeah hole #8 could lose a tree or two... But the real problem at the Beaver was stupid OB rules, compounded by spotter(s) that didn't know the OB rules.
As Bruce points out #10 was a hard enough hole to hit the gap on, without a thin strip of unnecessary and random luck OB flagged creek. On that hole a very good shot got through the gap, a bad but lucky shot got through the gap. But poor shots with already bad lies had an unnecessary element of luck that they might further be penalized with an OB stroke. If you're going to do that put a DZ on the basket side of the creek.
Even worse though was OB creek on #8/18. As defined in the written rules the only OB was
in the flagged creek, not beyond the creek. A poor throw landing in the creek, or a decent throw with a bad kick landing in the creek get penalized with OB strokes. But a really bad throw across the creek gets no penalty stroke. And a really, really bad throw on #8 getting all the way through to #18's fairway can play down that unobstructed. But the compounding I mention above was the spotter on #8 who would pick up [fair] discs
across the creek, toss them back, and say "this is where you crossed out". I know that cost one MM1 player at least two penalty strokes he shouldn't have taken.
Saying "everyone should have a way to get par on a hole" makes no sense to me. [Ignoring the neverending discussion of "what is par?"] If you have a dog-leg right hole and the RHBH player can't throw an anny or flick does that mean you need to bore out a diagonal path through the trees just for that one player?? Designing holes such that every player can get a par would result in really boring courses.
