Here is a good question. If a stream is classified as OB, and your disc comes to lie within the banks of the stream but is supported above the water by a rock so that the disc is not considered to be "wet" is the disc still OB? If it is supported above the stream by a branch it is dry and it is not OB. So what are the criteria to determine OB in this case?

803.08 Disc Above the Playing Surface

a disc in a branch above an ob stream is also O.B.

: ) :

Everywhere between the stream boundaries from the water and vertically upwards is OB unless otherwise indicated by the TD. So your examples are all OB. Doesn't matter whether wet or dry.

To rephrase, the OB status of the disc is determined by the whether the area directly beneath it on the playing surface is surrounded by OB area. If any part of the area beneath the disc is in bounds, the disc is inbounds.

Just curious, because we have some small creeks and drainages that we play as if it lands in the water it is OB, but if it is dry it is not. The above the surface rule is a little lame, especially if you can play the lie. Just my 2-cents.

OB areas aren't about whether you can play the lie or not, they are areas you shouldn't be throwing into, either because it's not park property, most lies are unplayable (street, water, schule) or simply for the risk/reward challenge in the hole design. Having an OB area that changes its size due to water levels is weak design since it's an inconsistent element that can change each time the hole is played.

Water lines should be avoided to define OB if possible. More permanent methods such as posts should be used where feasible so a hole consistently plays as intended. Granted, wind and precip are some elements that change how a hole plays. But marking OB properly is at least a controllable design element.

That's cool until the water rises above the OB line and creates a casual obstacle that has OB behind it.
This happened at the NT Vibram Open last year.
OB lake 150+ feet, on line of play behind 1 foot deep casual water.
What might the call on this be?
The player I saw with this dilemma chose to stand in casual water and play.
But what options where available?

TD can grant extended relief from casual water or temporarily accept the water line as OB versus the regular OB line or add a temporary line of flags beyond the water line to mark OB. That's what we've done on occasion on a shallow marsh whose boundaries can move up to 3 or 4 feet while drying and receding during a 3-hr round. The temporary flag line remains the OB line for the whole round even if the water recedes far back from the flag line by the end of the round.

The two options are pretty much stand in the water or take an unplayable (and go back to the previous lie). Taking the unplayable would be close to the way it would be played if it was OB with limited lie options.

Hi Chuck,

You wrote:
"Everywhere between the stream boundaries from the water and vertically upwards is OB unless otherwise indicated by the TD. So your examples are all OB. Doesn't matter whether wet or dry."

If the water undercuts a large bank that you can safely stand on (and, in this case, is actually part of the path to walk to the pin), is it still OB? I thought the rule of verticality did not extend up through the bank of dirt. I seem to recall this in a Q&A scenario. This came up a couple of times at the St Patty's event this year.

Thanks,
Steve

You are correct when you have the equivalent of stacked surfaces such as undercut banks or bridge surfaces called IB that go over OB water. www.pdga.com/faq#299n821 (http://www.pdga.com/faq#299n821)

In the example cited above though, it was apparently just vertical planes projecting up from the water/land border and a branch over OB, not a playing surface.