One of my friends told me a few months ago that if you go OB you can't use that disc for the rest of the hole. I haven't been able to locate this rule in the rule book though several other people have told me that they think this is a rule. The closest I found was under stances/faults (H.). Can anyone point me to that entry, or tell me if it has been struck from the rules, or point me to a thread, if one exists, covering the issue.

I did try to search this forum to see if the question has been asked, but I couldn't come up with good enough terminology to limit search results to anything manageable. Please forgive me if this has been covered.

Was that friend an old wife? That's quite a tale. Did they also tell you that if your disc gets wet that you can't dry it if for the rest of the hole either?

If so then be careful if they have some waterfront property in Florida to sell you.

...........

Don't spend any more time looking in the rules for an answer, it does not nor has it ever been part of the rules. You did find the closest rule. Other than that no problem reusing the disc for the rest of the hole.

The friend may have confused the rule you found 801.04 (G - H). If the second (third, fourth...) occurrence of a valid stance violation is called then

G. Any throw that involves a validly called
and seconded stance violation may not
be used by the thrower. Re-throws must
be taken from the original lie, prior to
subsequent play by others in the group.
H. The player may not retrieve the
originally thrown disc prior to the
re-throw, except in the case of a putt
from within 10 meters. Where a disc is
retrieved in violation of this rule, a one
throw penalty shall be imposed without
a warning.

I've never heard that NON-rule rule.

One of the best things to do when told a rule that you are not sure of is to ask them to show it to you in the rule book.

If that is a non-rule-rule, I know some pro's that would do things differently on hole 17 at USDGC

It's not directly a rule but there may be circumstances where you can't use it for practical reasons. If you can't retrieve it in time to make your next throw, you can't delay the game in order to use it. Some OB areas are restricted by the TD for some reason such as landing in a fenced area that's private property or maybe the electrical company who has forbidden going into the area to retrieve it.

If that is a non-rule-rule, I know some pro's that would do things differently on hole 17 at USDGC



I'm thinking as long as they can sprint down and get back in time to throw within 30 they should be fine.

on that note... anyone know if they could have a friend down by the straw bales toss a disc or 2 back up to the thrower? (assuming everyone else has thrown and they're not distracting anyone and the friend isn't registered or playing so no practice throws)

At the USDGC, there are specific course rules covering the non-retrieval of your disc for hole 17 (and others) if it lands in a BunCR. The course rule also only applies to the re-throw, not subsequent throws. This is not a general rule.

on that note... anyone know if they could have a friend down by the straw bales toss a disc or 2 back up to the thrower? (assuming everyone else has thrown and they're not distracting anyone and the friend isn't registered or playing so no practice throws)



Players are responsible for the actions of their caddies and will be penalized for their actions. If a friend throws you a disc and it breaks a rule, such as practice throw, I believe it could be argued that you broke the rule.

If you can't retrieve it in time to make your next throw, you can't delay the game in order to use it.



I know what you were thinking Chuck and I thought you had 30 seconds (even after a previous Excessive Time infraction was called) but now 801.04 H specifically states

H. The player may not retrieve the
originally thrown disc prior to the
re-throw, except in the case of a putt
from within 10 meters.

If you can't retrieve it in time to make your next throw, you can't delay the game in order to use it.



I know what you were thinking Chuck and I thought you had 30 seconds (even after a previous Excessive Time infraction was called) but now 801.04 H specifically states

H. The player may not retrieve the
originally thrown disc prior to the
re-throw, except in the case of a putt
from within 10 meters.



That is actually from 803.04.H and it applies to stance violations, not discs that have gone OB. For OB, one must determine that the disc has indeed gone OB. There is no time limit to determine that (and hence usually one can retrieve their disc in the process of determine the OB status of the disc.).

on that note... anyone know if they could have a friend down by the straw bales toss a disc or 2 back up to the thrower? (assuming everyone else has thrown and they're not distracting anyone and the friend isn't registered or playing so no practice throws)



Players are responsible for the actions of their caddies and will be penalized for their actions. If a friend throws you a disc and it breaks a rule, such as practice throw, I believe it could be argued that you broke the rule.



I'm not sure that any throws of a disc by a caddy can be construed as a practice throw. Courtesy violation, yes; a throw for the player, no.

in certain events, isn't a TD able to make a similar rule for specific "island holes" (at td discretion, of course)

for example... an event that i have played in had a marked "island hole" there was no actual water, but it was treated as an island marked off by three concrete ditches and a rope line. if you didn't make it onto the island off the tee box, you went to the drop zone (with a stroke) and continued to throw from the drop zone taking strokes untill you made it onto the "island". BUT you could not retrieve or use the "wet discs" untill you completed the hole.

True, I mistyped 801 for 803. It was correctly noted in my initial post here.
Chuck and I have seen variations on the rule over the last two decades. At some point you could recover any thrown disc in the 30 second allowable time. Now stance violations outside the 10 meter target circle do not allow any retrieve.

There is a 3 minute time to find any thrown disc, OB or not.
Lost Disc 803.11 so there is a time limit.

I think I was on point for HansA in my first post
" no problem reusing the disc for the rest of the hole."

He is a new Rec player and found the closest reference. Well done Hans. There are lots of "Rules" that are not really "Rules" and it is hard to find something that does not exist. Especially since we now have

* Official Rules
* Competition Manual
* Online Q & A

All that may apply.

in certain events, isn't a TD able to make a similar rule for specific "island holes" (at td discretion, of course)

for example... an event that i have played in had a marked "island hole" there was no actual water, but it was treated as an island marked off by three concrete ditches and a rope line. if you didn't make it onto the island off the tee box, you went to the drop zone (with a stroke) and continued to throw from the drop zone taking strokes untill you made it onto the "island". BUT you could not retrieve or use the "wet discs" untill you completed the hole.



TDs can make specific ground rules for OB and discs that land there. For example, "If you go fetch your disc from OB, you will be disqualified on the spot". (e.g. in property owned by a non-friendly land owner.) Contrived rules that limit discs for the entire hole (as in your example above) tend to be gimmicky and really do nothing to affect risk/reward and how someone might approach a hole. Restricting the disc for a rethrow is one thing. Restricting it for throws following that just becomes annoying. The ground rules which prevent the fetching of a disc for a rethrow (and it only effects the rethrow) at USDGC #17 are mainly for speed of play, though it does have a side effect at messing with people's minds.

Thanks for all the feedback. I do carry a rulebook so I can do the "show me" thing if necessary. My dad, who just started DG marvelled at a few rule differences from ball golf so it's good to have a rule book handy.

The friend who told me this was at the women's national tourney in Alabama last year (written up in Flying Disc, but I don't remember the name). His GF was playing and someone brought it up to them when she went OB and played a similar looking disc from where she dropped in.

A disc thrown OB should go in your opponents bag for the duration of the round.

A disc thrown OB should go in your opponents bag for the duration of the round.



then i would only have a putter by hole 12

A disc thrown OB should go in your opponents bag for the duration of the round.



Dude, your bag wouldn't fit all of my discs, esp the Zephyr.