Whether you're out on the course playing in a casual round or participating in a tournament or league round, there are some common courtesies practiced to help ensure players have a good time and don't get upset by minor inconveniences.
Let's check them out!
No Talking (sorta)
Okay, so we don't mean that you can't talk during the round.
In fact, a lot of the enjoyment of playing with the other players is being able to make small talk and talk disc golf.
What we do mean is:
Don't talk during someone's throwing phase
Give that person his/her time to set up their shot and execute it before continuing with the conversation that was at hand.
Also, talking excessively can raise irritation among the players in your card.
While we all enjoy disc golf, it helps to keep the group from getting upset at you by not explaining every decision, mistake, or disc you did or should have used throughout the entire round.
To go with this point, there should also be a reasonable amount of volume to your talking/outbursts. Players on other holes don't want to hear your talking while they're playing a hole or two ahead or behind you.
Obviously, take who you're playing and the situation you're playing into consideration as well.
When playing casually with friends, there can be more leniency within these recommendations whereas playing in a major tournament is going to call for less leniency.
So judge the situation accordingly!
Taking Turns
While this one is more of a rule as it can cost you penalty strokes in actual events, it's great practice in casual rounds to play when it's actually your turn.
When teeing off the box, players play in order of who scored the best score on the previous hole to who performed the worst. Should there have been a tie, then turn order is based on the last person who had the best score on a hole previously.
Technically, after the tee off on subsequent throws, the person furthest from the basket is the next player to go. Players progress through the hole like this until every player has made their putt or throw-in.
Should you want to play ahead of someone, it's good etiquette to ask the group if you can go ahead and take a turn out of order. In a casual round, this will probably be okay.
Touching Other Player's Discs or Bags
Many people are particular about their property, especially if they don't really know you. As a general rule of thumb in life, it's not proper to touch something that belongs to someone else unless you ask them first.
Same goes out on the disc golf course as it's going to make things less hostile if players practice not touching someone else's discs or bags.
With the current issue of spreadable viruses throughout the world, it's more important than ever to focus on your own property and let each person care for their own.
See Also --> "How Do I Disc Golf During A Pandemic? <--
Should you want to be helpful, again, ask first if you can grab someone's disc for them after they've made a basket.
Please, under no circumstances is it cool to just grab a disc out of someone's bag to look at it without consulting with them prior.
Trash
For the love of the world in which we play disc golf on,
PLEASE
bag out the trash you take in with you.
Help those courses stay beautiful for anyone coming out to enjoy them by taking not only your trash, but also trash you find from others, out with you or to a nearby trashcan (if there is one).
Course Maintenance
While it isn't your job to perform heavy maintenance to the course you're playing on, it can be very helpful to remove debris such as fallen branches or twigs from fairways to limit the amount of obstructions for the players behind you.
Should you come upon a fallen tree on the fairway or walking paths that you are unable to move safely, you can try to contact the care takers/owner of the course to have it dealt with safely.
Playing Through
In some instances, you may come up upon a slow group in front of you, or perhaps a group rolls up on you while you're playing a hole.
Within proper disc golf etiquette, it's polite to allow the faster moving group to play ahead and if so, players usually do this at the next tee off area.
However, it is not a requirement that the slower group must let you play throw. So either wait patiently, or consider going and playing from the opposite 9 before returning to the hole you're "stuck" at.
Standing Around
Another way to help keep distractions minimal to the other players on your card is to make sure you're standing out of their vision during their throws, usually behind them if possible.
Moving around can be easily distracting to someone when they are concentrating on performing an athletic movement such as rotating their body and throwing to a specific point with accuracy such as when putting.
And that's all you need to know about disc golf etiquette!
As you can see, there are not many "etiquettes" and unspoken rules in disc golf, which is one of many reasons
But the ones we listed are very reasonable and easy to abide by to make a round of disc golf more enjoyable for everyone on the card or in your group!
If you feel we missed anything on our list, please let us know in the comments! We'd love to hear!
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