EDGA

This section is looking pretty bare, so I figured I'd post a snippet from the PDGA rulebook from time to time. Not everyone knows all of the rules, and those that do can always use reminders.

Might as well start at the beginning, so here we go. Introduction and Definitions and to start with. I'll post the entire book in pieces, one every few week or so.

PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf

700 Introduction

The growing popularity of the game of disc golf begins with the essential fact that throwing a flying disc with power and accuracy is a marvelous sensation. The constant challenge, the social nature of the game, the good physical and mental conditioning, and the fact that it is inexpensive to begin play are also attractions. Disc golf is a recreational sport for everyone, regardless of age, gender, or ability.

The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc. Each consecutive throw is made from where the disc came to rest after the last throw. Score is determined by counting the number of throws made on each hole plus penalty throws and then summing all holes. The winner is the player who completes the course with the lowest score.

The course consists of a series of holes laid out so that when the player completes one hole he or she proceeds to the beginning of the next until all the holes have been played. The player is provided with a teeing area from which to begin each hole and a target to complete the hole.

Disc golf courses are normally laid out among wooded areas with diverse terrain to provide natural obstacles to the flight of the disc. These natural obstacles are very much a part of the game and must not be altered by the players in any way to decrease the difficulty of a hole. Disc golf courses are normally 18 holes in length, but there are other combinations as well, including 9-hole, 22-hole, 24-hole and 27-hole courses in existence. Disc golf courses can be found in each of the 50 United States and in Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Guam, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Hungary, United Kingdom, Peru, Belgium, Czech Republic, and Taiwan.

Disc golf is a game that expects high standards of etiquette and courtesy. Among the basic considerations of etiquette are such things as concern for spectators and other players and respect for plant life on the course. These rules have been designed to promote fair play for all disc golfers. In using these rules, players shall apply the rule that most directly addresses the situation in question.

If in doubt, players shall consult an official. Applications of the rules to particular situations can be found at: www.pdga.com/rules

800 Definitions

Approximate Lie: A lie established by the player’s group in order to resume play: to correct a misplay from out-of-bounds (801.04 B (4)), following the thrower’s election to throw from the previous lie after declaring a lie unplayable (803.06 A), following the thrower’s election to throw from the previous lie after throwing out-of-bounds (803.09 B (1)), following an instance where the thrower’s disc has been thrown and removed by another player (803.10 B), following a lost disc (803.11 B), following a lost marker disc (803.11 D), or following a rain or hazardous conditions delay (804.04 C).

Away Player: The player whose lie is farthest from the hole and who shall throw next.

Casual Water: Bodies of water other than those that have been specifically designated by the director prior to the start of the round as out-of-bounds or those that have been specifically designated by the director prior to the start of the round as not being casual water.

Completion of a Round: The round has been officially completed for all competitors when, in the director’s opinion, the last group on the course has completed their final hole and has had reasonable time to travel from their final hole to tournament headquarters.

Director: The person in charge of the tournament or event. The term “director” may be used to refer to the tournament director or the course director in multi-site tournaments. The Director may designate an official to rule on appeals.

Disc Entrapment Device: A target used to complete the hole, usually consisting of an upper entrapping section of chains, cables, tubes, etc. and a lower entrapping section of a basket or tray.

Drop Zone: An area on the course, as designated by the course designer or director, from which play is resumed after the preceding shot (1) was thrown out-of-bounds, (2) missed a mandatory, or (3) landed in a protected area (governed by 804.01, Special Conditions). The throwing area from within the drop zone shall be clearly marked and played in a manner similar to the marking and playing of a teeing area.

Fairway: The in-bounds path or field over which a player throws while advancing from the teeing area to the hole. Group: The competitors who are assigned to play a round together for the purpose of verifying scores and proper play in accordance with the rules.

Hole: The target that must be reached in order to complete that segment of the course. The term “hole” also refers to the numbered segments of the course that are separate units for scoring.

Holed-Out: A term used to signify completion of a hole. A player has “holed-out” after the removal of the at rest disc from the chains or entrapment area of a disc entrapment device or after striking the marked area of the designated object target.

Lie: The spot on the playing surface upon which the player takes his or her stance in accordance with the rules.

Line of Play: The imaginary line on the playing surface extending from the center of the target through the center of the marker disc and beyond. This line has no thickness; therefore one support point must be directly behind the center of the marker.

Mandatory: An object or objects that the disc must pass in a designated manner on its way to the hole. A mandatory functions to limit the allowable path the disc may take to the hole.

Marker: A term used to indicate either the mini marker disc or the thrown disc at rest, both of which can be used to indicate the lie from which a thrower’s next shot shall be played.

Marker Disc: See Marker.

Mini: See Mini Marker disc.

Mini Marker Disc: A disc used to mark the location of the lie. (See 803.03 marking the lie, and 802.03, size restrictions).

Obstacle: Any feature of the course that may impede any aspect of play.

Official: A person who is authorized to make judgments regarding the proper application of the rules during play.

Out-of-Bounds: An area designated by the director prior to the start of play from which a disc may not be played. The out-of-bounds line extends a plane vertically upward and downward. The out-of-bounds line is itself out-of-bounds. An out-of-bounds disc is not a lost disc.

Par: As determined by the director, the score an expert disc golfer would be expected to make on a given hole. Par means errorless play under ordinary weather conditions, allowing two close range throws to hole-out.

Penalty Throw: A throw added to a player’s score for violating a rule, or for relocation of a lie, as called for by a rule.

Players’ Meeting: A meeting of players with the tournament director or course official prior to a tournament, where players are given instructions about the tournament procedures, courses, and any special conditions which will apply during the tournament.

Playing Surface: The area below where the disc came to rest from which the stance for the next shot is taken. The playing surface is generally the ground but can be any surface deemed suitable for play by the tournament director or course official.

Practice Throw: During a round, the projection of a disc of a distance greater than two meters, or of any distance toward a target, intentional or not, which does not change the player’s lie, either because it did not occur from the teeing area or the lie, or because the player had already thrown competitively from the teeing area or the lie. Throws that are re-thrown in accordance with the rules are not practice throws. Provisional throws made pursuant to 803.01 C and 803.01 D (3) are not practice throws. A player shall receive a penalty for a practice throw in accordance with sections 803.01 B or 804.02 A (2).

Provisional: See Provisional Throw.

Provisional Throw: An extra throw, agreed upon by a player’s group, that is not added to a player’s score if not used in the completion of the hole. Additionally, a set of provisional throws that will be allowed to complete a hole as an alternative to the original play of the hole, when there is a disputed ruling. Only one set of throws will be counted as the player’s score when a final ruling is made.

Putt: Any throw from 10 meters or less as measured from the rear of the marker disc to the base of the hole is considered a putt.

Putt (falling) – Falling Putt: A putt after which a player touches his or her marker disc, or any object beyond the lie, including the playing surface, before having demonstrated full control of balance.

Relief: A change made to the player’s lie or surrounding area, such that an obstacle is removed from the vicinity, or when that is impractical, the lie is relocated away from the obstacle in accordance with section 803.05C. Obstacles may not be moved if any part of the obstacle is between the lie and the hole.

Supporting Point: Any part of a player’s body that is in contact with the playing surface or some other object capable of providing support, at the time of release.

Teeing Area: The area bounded by the edges of a tee pad (if provided); otherwise, the area extending three meters perpendicularly behind the designated tee line.

Throw: The propulsion of a disc that causes it to change its position from the teeing area or the lie.

Thrower: The player who has made, or is about to make, a throw that is the aspect of play being considered by a particular rule.

Two meter rule: Where designated by the director, a one throw penalty for discs that come to rest two meters or higher above the playing surface. The director may declare the two meter rule to be in effect for the entire course, or just for individual obstacles.

Unplayable Lie: A lie from which a player decides that obstacles to stance or throwing motion make it impractical or unsafe to attempt a throw. The lie is relocated with a penalty.

Warning: Where prescribed by a rule, the initial advisement a player is given for violating that rule, making him or her vulnerable to receiving a penalty throw for subsequent violations of that rule within the same round.