Here is another instance that occurred at worlds this year. Our group is on the green and one of the players is putting for what would be a great birdie. He putts a little short and the discs shoots off and gets the �tourney roll.� We�re on a fairly steep green and the disc catches edge and starts down the hill. Reluctantly looking over at his disc, the putter notices that his missed putt is now rolling towards his bag. At the last moment he attempted to move the bag but to no avail. The disc hits his bag and stopped rolling at about 25 feet from the basket or so. (Approx the same putt as before off to the side.)

What should be done? Is there an infraction? What are the consequences? What if it would have been my bag his disc hit? Same consequences? I know what we did and what the TD told us to do, but I have debated this issue with some fellow players and there is disbelief as to how this was handled.
Thanks.

Long discussions for this very topic are in the following threads (one less than a month old). I'm curious as to what the ruling on the course was (my guess is no penalty).

http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=32205
and
http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=22429
and
http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=23441

He was given the two stroke penalty.

Had he not tried to move the bag, then no penalty would have been warranted. It was the fact he personally interefered with the shot by trying to avoid interference by moving the bag. Better to not take action to move the bag unless you know you have time to get it out of the way and not get struck.

If you are refering to a CO player who had this happen to him on one of the top open cards while a 2 throw penalty was imposed..it was later rescinded.

It does look as if the two strokes were taken away. In my opinion, that is horse puckey. I mean nothing against the player it happened to. But if it happened to me, I would feel the same way. It could have happened to anyone and I would think the same thing about that ruling. His disc was starting to pick up speed on a hole where the disc could have easily ended up 200+ feet away from the pin. Even if it only rolled 20 feet the next shot would have been way more difficult than the one that he had after it hit his bag.

Regardless of attempting to move it or not, I believe that there needs to be strokes assessed. All this trying to move your equipment or yourself moving vs. letting you or your equipment stay in the way is completely ridiculous to me. I don’t know where you can come up with such an idea.

I’m a firm believer that if you let you or your equipment get in the way of what the disc is about to do, then I think you should be stroked.

I throw OB in a creek.
I mark my lie and am preparing to throw.
I hear folks yelling fore.
I turn just in time to see a disc coming towards me.
It hits me, is deflected, hits my bag, and rolls into the creek.
Without hitting me or my bag it would have stayed in bounds.

Your quote was "I�m a firm believer that if you let you or your equipment get in the way of what the disc is about to do, then I think you should be stroked."

So do I get stroked or what?

I’m a firm believer that if you let you or your equipment get in the way of what the disc is about to do, then I think you should be stroked.

What if you just put your bag down? You can't be expected to know where a disc will roll if it missed the chains. Unfortunately, there are so many different scenarios that could happen, one rule can't cover them all.

If I set my bag down, putt, miss, and don't open my crying eyes in time to notice my bags in the way, I don't feel I intentionally tried to break a rule. However, if someone brings a 14' wide camper trailer with them to every hole, and places it behind the basket as a backstop, I think we know their intent.

I think the problem with intent is it's left up to player interpretation. In my opinion, rules decided by someone's perception of what happened can't always be fair. Falling putts, as an example, is one section I think needs to be addressed. I would love for disc golf to have instant replay at every tee of every event, but I don't think member fees are high enough for that.

Looking back on my reply, it just seems like a bunch of rambling. But basically, I agree with whoever made the call to rescind the 2 stroke penalty. Obviously this person wasn't trying to break a rule. In this case, we should write a rule that states you must keep both eyes on your disc until the disc comes to rest. :p

One of these day's I'd like to host a tournament devoted to exploiting all the rules discussed in these forums. You know, like backstopping, interference, self called foot faults/falling putts, playing surfaces, courtesy violations, unsportsmanlike, etc. It would be the highest rated rounds ever for those who made it through without be DQ'd. Unfortunately, with all the re-teeing and re-putting, it would last all night.

Surprised the ruling was rescinded. Player must of adamantly demonstrated a willfull intent to prevent the bag from intereference with the disc. Still, I think it shouldn't matter. Your bag stops your disc from going down a 200ft cliff, how is that not a violation of some sort? I think you should be responsible for your own equipment, espicially if it's your own disc that comes into contact. I've seen it happen once before; the putter's shot that roles back down the hill, and I could clearly tell the players bag was going to stop it. By the time the player turned his head around to look down the hill, he could not of possibly moved his bag in time. However, I could have picked up his bag and let the disc roll (but I didn't). If you see someone 'strategically' placing their bag, (i.e. behind the basket, lol), well, ask them to move it. :-)

If you see someone 'strategically' placing their bag, (i.e. behind the basket, lol), well, ask them to move it. :-)

And what rule do you cite? It's silly to have to take your bag 100 feet away because there's a possibility a disc my roll towards it. I place my bag within 10 feet of my lie 100% of the time.

And what rule do you cite? It's silly to have to take your bag 100 feet away because there's a possibility a disc my roll towards it. I place my bag within 10 feet of my lie 100% of the time. 804.05A(3). Actually you have to sling your bag up in the air when you putt, catch it in mid-air, and then do the Humpty Dance.

804.05A(3). Actually you have to sling your bag up in the air when you putt, catch it in mid-air, and then do the Humpty Dance.

Now that...I would do. Seems like the best resolution yet. :)