Spectator distraction

[kerplunk]

A friend of mine told me this situation came up in a tournament he played this weekend:

Teeing off on a par four with a dogleg left (Manor, TX #17) a spectator came walking around the corner in the middle of his drive. The distraction obviously sucks, but more importantly at that point his main concern was not to hit the spectator. Should he be granted a re-throw?

I have no idea what the correct call on this is, the fair thing seems to be to let him re-throw but I don't remember seeing a precedent for this in the rules.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Cgkdisc]

No rethrow. Play it where it lands. If it hits the spectator, you mark it where the disc lands.

[chrisoz]

I'd imagine there would be a slippery slope if you allowed a rethrow.

All of the sudden, disc golfers 'round the world are far more "concerned" about spectator's safety, and constantly intentionally shanking their drives to avoid them.

[BogeyNoMore]

I agree that while a rethrow seems fair in the above case, doing so would open up an ugly can of worms. Poor form by spectator to be sure. Perhaps lack of control by TD?? bu probably not - I wasn't there, I don't know how foreseable this sort of thing might have been.

In many ways, no different that someone behind the tee box sneezing/coughing/farting, a dog barking, or a random sound at once you're well into your motion. Only thing I can say is maybe spectators need to be warned, but that may not be feasible. Most courses are in public parks where a hiker/walker could innocently pop out onto a course from the woods. Thems the breaks.

[New013]

I was playing dubs at a temp course the day before a tourney once and of course there were all kinds of people just walking through the park. I was up and went in to my reachback and when my head turned backwards there was suddenly a latino woman literally right beside me, i barely missed her on my reach back.

She was completely oblivious to what was going on, even the fact that she just walked a foot from a guy throwing something. She just walked right past me up the fairway to the basket and then started to turn around and come back before we waived her off.

[Agricolae]

Originally Posted by kerplunk

... Should he be granted a re-throw?

Only if he missed the guy.

[jenb]

Originally Posted by BogeyNoMore

In many ways, no different that someone behind the tee box sneezing/coughing/farting, a dog barking, a dgtv commentator joking about the camera zooming in on your ass, or a random sound at once you're well into your motion.

ftfy

[BogeyNoMore]

^ I'm not saying it was right, but every cloud has a silver lining Jen: at least he thought your ass was worth zooming in on.


* yeah, I'm willing to bet the culprtit was a heel.

[JoakimBL]

If the spectator is there early enough for the player to be concerned about hitting him, I would think you would be able to not throw at all?

[kerplunk]

Originally Posted by Agricolae

Only if he missed the guy.

Best answer so far!