jeffnichols
Feb 20 2010, 12:54 PM
Sorry if this has been discussed before. Couldn't find it on a search.

Players A&B are in a sudden death playoff for 1st place in front of a large gallery of players and the TD. Player A misses his putt for a 2 on a hole and player B makes his putt to apparently win the tourney, but with his excitement he throws his driver in the air in celebration before retrieving his putter from the basket. The driver lands more than 2 meters away.

I contend that player A has the right to call a practice throw with the associated 1 stroke penalty. According to the rules Player B threw a disc before completing the hole and should get a 3 on the hole and their playoff should continue on to the next hole.

Applicable rules.

803.13 Holing Out
B. Disc Entrapment Devices: In order to hole out, the thrower must release the disc and it must come to rest supported by the chains or within one of the entrapment sections. This includes a disc wedged into or hanging from the lower entrapment section but excludes a disc resting on top of, or hanging outside of, the upper entrapment section. The disc must also remain within the chains or entrapment sections until removed.

803.01 General
B. Practice Throws. A player who throws a practice throw or an extra throw with any disc any time after the
start of his or her round and prior to his or her finishing the last hole of the round (except
for throws that must be re-thrown in accordance with the rules, provisional throws made
pursuant to 803.01 C and 803.01 D (3), or throws during a suspension or postponement of play) shall receive
one penalty throw. The practice throw or extra throw must be observed by any two players or an
official.

Do you agree that Player A has the right to make this call? If so, should he make the call,
or would you consider it poor sportsmanship and he should just let Player B win?

Does anyone know the rationale behind rule 803.13 (B)? Why is it not enough for the disc to just come to rest in the basket? At least the wording of the rule seems to allow someone else to retrieve your disc from the basket without it being interference.

cgkdisc
Feb 20 2010, 01:10 PM
Rationale for the rule was probably due to wedgies that may pop out before the player gets to the basket to remove them. That rule may be addressed in the current process to review the rules.

I would say Player A could make this call but would be roundly criticized for making it. It likely would haunt them for years as players remembered it and brought up the topic, especially if Player A went on to win the playoff from there. A related example from Minnesota a few years ago was the big putt Cale made to produce a playoff with Climo in the Majestic. Cale removed the putter, and in celebration, appeared to drop or toss it to the ground. Climo briefly questioned whether he could call the practice throw. But the drop was after the hole was completed and the round was technically over so no practice throw even if he had really thrown the disc.