Mulligans: What is your philosophy

[Tripper]

My buddies and I allow "two off the first" in the spirit of warming up. I only play casual so I don't care if my buddies empty their bag in order to practice but since I don't keep score I rarely take them to save my arm for second and third rounds, It's all about playing as many holes as I can. I just love chucking circles in the woods.

 

[Getty]

Many of us here in the Seattle area play by the "Geezer's rule" in honor of Ralph Williamson #0010. That means you get two drives on the first tee and you take the best one.

 

[markmcc]

I voted "I try to limit my self to obvious errors on the tee and putting maybe two per nine." but I'm trying to do better than that.

I travel and play a lot of courses cold, and on those I tend to re-throw shots that I've clearly screwed up in an attempt to give myself a better idea of how the course "should" play.

But I've realized that in my normal casual rounds, I am forgiving too many shots and not forcing myself to play out of tough lies. So I've decided more and more to play it straight, with no mulligans and I am obviously shooting worse scores. But I'm getting a better idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are.

 

[brutalbrutus]

I used to use a lot of mulleys while playing by myself or even one or two during my weekend group. The fellas are usually pretty good about letting someone try to get their mind right after a extraordinarily bad throw. But I noticed that I tend to either forget those discs when walking up the fairway or just that I threw them so bad they would get lost. Nowadays, I leave the practice throws to the practice field...

I guess I should clarify that these are practice throws not actual mulleys...

 

[IHearChains]

Casual rounds with my brother, we always play one mulligan on the first drive. Plus one mulligan per round (tee shot only). Actually adds a little strategic interest, deciding whether to use it or save in case something worse happens later. If I'm having a great round I'll skip the mulligan so I can shoot for a PR without any asterisk. On a nearby 24-hole course, we do one mulligan per 12, no carryover if you don't use it. Adds to the fun in my opinion.

 

[Chaz58]

When playing a round or 2 solo, or just casual/rec rounds with family and friends, there is a do over (mulligan or as we call it "the glitch rule") rule we use but only rarely. We allow for just 1 re-throw or mulligan per round (not per hole) and if you do take your "glitch" (as we like to call it) you MUST play the re-throw even if it comes out worse than the original attempt. We also grant gimmes (no need to actually make the putt) tap ins from within 5 feet during casual rounds. Not even the newest noob is gonna miss a putt when all you have to do is pick up the disc and reach over the edge of the basket to place it in.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

In casual rounds I will throw multiple drives off the tee if there isn't an open-enough area to warm up, declaring which one I'm ready for as my "real" drive, and then it's tournament rules from there. Couldn't care less if people with me do whatever they want, though. Playing by tourney rules is fun for me. This game is supposed to be about fun, right?

 

[uncle pennybags]

In my "casual" rounds on my home course I'll shoot up to 10 different disc, per shot. But I always play the first shot like I would during a "real" round, and that is what I score. So I voted for throw the whole bag, because it's kinda like that.

 

[Keller]

There is a group I play with that always takes two off the first tee, and that's it. I'm fine with that.

My pet-peeve with mulligans is when you play with someone who takes one mulligan for every nine, beats me by one and then brags how good he is.
Call him on it and he says, yeah, I could have scrambled for par. Yeah, in that case, you would have lost, so shut the F up!

I play a lot of one disc rounds, so I don't play mulligans. I'm not running back and forth to keep throwing!

 

[trout_smith]

I want to know my true scores, so I never take a mulligan. I count every poor throw, OB, lost disc, etc. I just want to know how I'm actually doing. Sometimes I consider not counting an OB or something, but I always talk myself into counting it. I do throw second shots at times though.

And I don't care at all what others do. As long as we're not competing.

 

[Motorpro]

If I am practicing by my self sometimes I'll throw a bunch on drives but I will also throw approach shots on all of them
In order to practice scrambling and putt them all in. I would never take a mulligan playing with someone else.

 

[swhite]

I rarely keep score, so taking a mulligan should not make any difference to me, but I almost never choose to. I just accept the consequences of my throwing choice.

On occasion, a person I play with may suggest I re-throw a drive that rebounds of a tree, and comes to rest about four feet in front of the tee where I am standing. My response is generally, "Okay, whatever." That was my drive. If I am now going to re-throw, then the score for the round is not legit.

But, like I said, I rarely keep score, so why should I care either way. I guess I just want to keep it real.

 

[Hal9000]

I mostly play alone and typically take multiple throws. In order to place consequences on each rethrow, I always play from the worse throw. This also forces me to practice new and unusual lines.

 

[BrotherDave]

Unless I'm working on something (I.e. forehands) I typically play as if I'm playing a tourney. I usually take two drives off the first tee for a warm up in casual rounds and will sparingly use a mulligan if it will save me a lot of time I don't have.

 

[gradus]

2 off the first tee, but that's it. Will sometimes throw a 2nd shot for practice, but always play the first throw.

 

[Um...]

I never 'play' mulligans, but in casual rounds will often throw additional practice shots from my original lie (including the tee). I will always play my original shot, regardless of how bad it was.

That said, my buddies and I have a funny mulligan rule that if you can throw your shoe further than your drive than you can take your mulligan. Entertainment for all when you're having to hop on one foot to get your shoe and your disc!

 

[zendragon]

Needs to be a poll option of throw mulligans but always play first shot. When solo or depending on the group, I will take practice throws on certain holes that I tend to struggle with, even if my first throw was good. That's what practice is for, right? If I want to master the course, more throws is better. But when I go out, even solo, for the intent of keeping score to check my skill, I won't throw mulligans.

 

[Vintage Folfer]

I see a lot of responders here do what I do and treat the first tee as warm-up. As long as I'm not holding anyone up I see no problem with hitting the reset button and starting over, I'll even replay the entire hole if I do badly enough and call it practice, especially if I'm by myself. But after the first hole I consider myself warmed up and rarely take mulligans. I get a lot of satisfaction from finding a way to recover from a terrible tee-off to save par. And if I'm on a course I play a lot I get to play some interesting lies I wouldn't normally see.

 

[Rumpled]

I mostly play alone and typically take multiple throws. In order to place consequences on each rethrow, I always play from the worse throw. This also forces me to practice new and unusual lines.

I take this same approach. In addition, I use mulligans to compare discs that are similar. This has been helpful in reducing the number of discs I carry. The discs that don't make the cut go back to Pias, and I use the trade in value toward buying backups for the molds that won the contest. There is no substitute for comparing discs against each other on the course under the same conditions.

 

[_MTL_]

My favorite is when someone throws a horrible shot or misses a short putt. And they take a mulligan and say "Gosh, I've never done that" or "I've never missed a putt that short."

Um.

You just did. Literally 4 seconds before.