Hey Rules Guys,

I was reading the rules the other day (yes... my life is that boring) but read through 803.10 :
"A. A player who has thrown from another player's lie shall receive two penalty throws, without a warning. The offending player shall complete the hole as if the other player's lie were his or her own. No throws shall be replayed."

I started thinking about this and the following scenario came to mind. Say I'm on a terribly difficult hole...Such that If you hit your line you will be parked, but if you miss you are looking at a 5 minimum. Now let's say one guy on my card parks his drive under the basket while I fly by in a position where I'm looking at a 5 in the best case. Say I go up to his disc and just putt from there. By the rules it would seem I'm taking a 4 and can move on.

Now this does not seem like it is in the spirit of the game to me so I'm hoping somebody will show me how this isn't OK. I'm really wondering if this is a scenario where "knowing the rules" pays off or if this is going against the intention of the rules and you get stroked for a practice throw, etc. I've read scenarios where calling an "unplayable lie" can be categorized as "knowing the rules", but a few of the scenarios I've read where this is used don't seem to be in the spirit of the game to me. If there is a scenario for "unintentionally" vs "intentionally" it would be a bit clearer to me, but as it stands now I'm looking for somebody to clear this up for me.

Thanks,
Jon

804.05 Disqualification and Suspension

A. A player shall be disqualified by the director for meeting any of the necessary conditions of disqualification as set forth in the rules, or for any of the following:

(3) Cheating: a willful attempt to circumvent the rules of play.


BUT, you need to read Part B as well:

B. The player whose lie was played by the offending player shall be given an approximate lie as close to the original lie as possible, as determined by the offending player, a majority of his or her group, or an official. See section 803.11 C if the disc has been declared lost.


To me, this reads that the player in question used another player's lie, which could have involved picking up the other player's disc. So, if somebody putted like you said, they probably putted out of turn, etc, as well as using someone else's lie. So I would point out his mistake, and ask him if he wanted to keep the score plus 2, using 803.10 as a justification, but risking DQ, using 804.05A(3), or does he want to get the appropriate penalty for a practice shot, then go back and play from their disc? It's his choice.

That's it. Willful circumvention takes you out of the tournament.

If you think you can hit the line with a second drive, use 803.07 and try for a 4 instead of a 5.

Gary,

803.07 is Interference. How does that apply to this situation? Maybe you were up too late last night, and were a little tired when you posted.

Thanks guys... That's sorta what I was thinking...

Sorry, dyslexic fingers. 803.06 Unplayable lie

Yeah, you are right. I forgot that there are two options as far as where your next lie might be following the declaration of an unplayable lie.