How do you “lose” discs?

[Meph]

One disc lost to #3. Disc landed inside a tall fenced in area around a lake. My wife and I could see the disc, but there was no way to retrieve. Luckily it was a disc that both of us bagged multiples of, so the loss wasn't too great.

Of course, I just started playing this year, so I'm sure the disc lost count will grow as I continue

 

[Brockness Monster]

I'm not the only one leaving discs behind because I found 5 or 6 discs this year just sitting in the fairway. On several of them I called the number and they admit they just forgot it after taking several shots.
This probably doesn't happen much on busy courses which my local courses are not.

Definitely not the only one. I had to color code my bag and count my discs every time I get to the next teepad to reduce this to near zero.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

How do you "lose" discs the most?
1. Lose (search, but can't find)
2. Leave (forget to pick up)
3. Can't get (disc lands in water or other unretrievable area)
4. Other (anyone care to share a different way they have lost discs?)

While I have done 1, 2 and 3 more than once each, more often than not it's #2...I throw multiple discs and forget to pick one up.
The "can't find" method is pretty rare for me as I will search HARD.
The "can't get" is also somewhat rare as I tend to throw safely when water is involved.

1, 2, and 4 are interchangeable. 3 takes effort, and then blends into 1, 2. and then 4.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Prairie courses are a big one though too. Nothing more infuriating than looking for a disc on every other hole in tall, prickly garbage. Play em all, and all that. But those are by far my least favorite courses.

Amen!

 

[BogeyNoMore]

There is a disc goblin option #4

Ever lose a disc in the fairway after a good throw or in a place you've landed on your home course a million times but it just disappears?

My son threw a pretty innocuous drive that we "thought" we had a good handle on where it landed. There really wasn't much on that hole to hide it. We spent a good 30 min searching the area... never found it.

It was like Scotty beamed it up.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

There is a disc goblin option #4

Ever lose a disc in the fairway after a good throw or in a place you've landed on your home course a million times but it just disappears?

Tall grass, sliding under rocks and/or landing sideways. I've actually found a few right as I'm going to give up and I stop for a pee and I'm practically whizzing on it.

I had a buddy lose a CE firebird, 8 of us saw it hit about 15' short of the pin... we all looked for 10 min. I came back later and it had slipped under a rock through some moss, I had to overturn about 20 rocks before I found it.

 

[GripEnemy]

Definitely not the only one. I had to color code my bag and count my discs every time I get to the next teepad to reduce this to near zero.

That's why I always go speed+stability so it's easier to spot. Berg far right, Cannon far left. Each speed has stability unless I have multiples such as 2 Comets, doesn't matter if they're not in order as long as I have two Comets in the correct area.

 

[glassila]

I almost had an "other" a few years ago...the other being theft. I was playing a course with a blind tee shot and a dude warned me that some local kids often steal discs when the discs go out of sight. I was playing with my son and we both spotted for each other on the guy's advice. A kid did run out towards my son's disc, but I hollered and he hightailed it out of there.
If my memory serves me correctly the course was in the Lansing, MI area.

 

[Hampstead]

Mostly water, with a majority of those on 3 holes (old pin of #6, #10 and #11) at Alum Creek. Quite a few lost to the curse of the second throw as well.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Most of mine are due to me throwing a disc and somehow forgetting to pick up the disc I just drove with while putting or approaching even though I'm literally using my driver as a marker I still somehow forget to pick the disc up and put it back in my bag.

I've done this enough times for me to wonder if I'm experiencing early on-set Alzheimer's. I have also lost a disc due to getting it stuck on top of this park's fancy office building's roof that doubled as a place to host stuff like Bingo for the local elders. I've thrown discs into trees and didn't feel like climbing up them to get them back down. I've lost discs under leaves during the fall (which is the most annoying imo) and also lost them in snow (which is understandable).

 

[GripEnemy]

^This is why I also try to mark all my casual rounds (used to never do it). Not because I'm "competition ready" or practicing how I'd shoot in a tournament.

I remember that disc before I leave the course (usually like 3 holes later) and HATE running back lol.

 

[donatdiscs]

My main one is when I throw like 30 discs for practice and forget how many I actually threw and unsure if I found them all. Now I use a bead dealio to keep track as I pick them up.

 

[Casey 1988]

There is a disc goblin option #4

Ever lose a disc in the fairway after a good throw or in a place you've landed on your home course a million times but it just disappears?

My Dad did this in 2006 but he got a #3 Sidewinder a Wasp like disc from Lighting in Dupont added Baseline soon after Pro-D plastic went oop for Wasp and problem was only one he could get online was in black with gray flecks after losing his non Dupont #3 Sidewinder in a mistake tan color. He could not use a DX or KC Pro Roc as mold is not comfortable being a smaller width rim so for Forehands my dad could not throw a Roc as mold big bead was in a poor spot in his forehand grip. My Dad moved to a Wasp in Z for his main midrange disc as he could finally throw disc mold in Z as a beefier disc. My dad he has not played ever since 2009, except one time since in 2016 using two of my discs.

 

[Hampstead]

Same

 

[discerdoo]

Same

You last played in 2016 using two of Casey's discs? Shark3 and Magnet?

 

[DavidSauls]

^ This.

But I think it depends on what courses you play most often.

If you frequently play a course with a significant water carry/large pond, etc, you'll likely lose more in an "irretrievable area'" than someone who usually plays in dense woods and doesn't encounter water too often.

There's really not that much intimidating water in play on courses in SE michigan, so most of the discs I lose are in leaves or brush. This can be compounded if you play courses with blind holes where discs can skip off the fairway after they turn or fade out of your line of sight, particularly if the terrain drops off after the hole bends.

Most of the discs I've lost in water have been on road trips.

I feel for those that frequently play courses that have the double whammy of dense, brushy fairways that also feature large ponds that come into play.

So yeah, I've definitely given some thought on the specific circumstances that contribute to disc loss.

Yes. Other than water, I doubt I lose a disc per year. But I have lots of opportunity to lose them in water, and I do.

I rarely play doubles anymore, but a few months back was reminded that it's a good way to forget a disc -- when you go back and forth to choose the next shot, decide on using your partner's lie, and forget to go back and pick up your own. It would have been a lost disc, too, if I hadn't needed that disc for a shot a few holes later, and realized where it was.

Other than that, failing to count discs before starting fieldwork is my favorite method of leaving one behind.

 

[Nick Pacific]

Nearly every disc is left. Cannot remember the last disc I could not find. I will simply wade into most water to get a disc, if I must.

Same here! I think most experienced players like us are pretty good at keeping an eye on our discs and have a knack for finding them, it's forgetting to pick one up, usually playing doubles in a big group or sometimes if I'm practicing somewhere and throwing multiple shots.

Those retractable disc retriever things are awesome not just for reaching into tall trees or the water and mud, but actually just fetching errant shots out of the shule instead of crawling in there. Highly recommended!

 

[uncle pennybags]

For me the answer is yes. All of 1-4 happen to me. On my home course I throw multiples on almost every throw, sometimes I forget how many. I also have tall prairie grass and deep nasty water too.

 

[DumfriesLizzie]

There is a disc goblin option #4

Ever lose a disc in the fairway after a good throw or in a place you've landed on your home course a million times but it just disappears?

Goblin option is real. Drove a Deputy putter at no. 2 at Green Lakes outside Syracuse this past winter. Yes, in the snow. Unfortunately, with no ribbon taped on. Deputy landed in same spot of the fairway as the Judge I had just thrown. Never found the Deputy -after an hour or so of looking, plus the help of two other disc golfers on the course with me. Spring thaw didn't expose the disc. Or perhaps it did, and someone decided to just keep it.

 

[DumfriesLizzie]

Definitely not the only one. I had to color code my bag and count my discs every time I get to the next teepad to reduce this to near zero.

Over the years, I've found several discs left in the basket. All with numbers and returned. Or the courses in question have lost-and-found dropboxes. I've myself left discs in the basket or on the ground, but quickly remembered them with the recount at the next teepad (as Brockness Monster notes). That's a good habit to have to minimize loss. I do that recount at the end of play as well.