Titan037
AKA dgfanatic7
Thank goodness no, but i witnessed a 12 speed driver coming full force at one, missed him by about a foot. What a scary situation
For the record I've never thrown when a kid is around and don't plan on ever doing so but I'm against this notion that the entire responsibility lies on the person playing disc golf on a disc golf course. I'm always the one in my group of people who says let's wait and let's yell at them one more time to pick up the kid and walk over there. We've never hit a kid and I hope never do but parents need to start parenting. Parks and elsewhere.
We have this issue on 18 at my home course. I will take the time to walk to where they are and explain that the discs will hurt if they are hit. For the most part, people will pay attention until we are done throwing. If we get an a hole, we throw away, but generally these are not people with kids. I would not throw on a hole where there are toddlers. Older kids are different in my opinion because they can understand that the discs will hurt them. They just need to pay attention to our group when we throw. I think that everyone should have respect for others in general. If I tell someone what we are doing and ask them to pay attention for 3 minutes, it usually works. If they just have no respect for what we are doing, then that is on them. They were warned. If you tell a group of kids that you are about to launch a disc, they will generally stop whatever they are doing to watch. Don't throw on toddlers though, even if their parents are idiots, the consequences by far outweigh the inconvenience of skipping the hole.
Who hasn't hit a kid? I had a little kid bolt directly into the path of a really long putt once. Hit him right in the back of the head. It was a soft Ion and I don't throw putts hard so he just shrugged it off. The mom laughed and called him out of the way.
Memorial day I had to ask a young boy to move away from the basket on hole 3 at Glenn C. Hilton. He was digging in the dirt around the basket with a little shovel and bucket. He looked kind of pissed when he left even though I asked him nicely. That kid could have gotten smacked by a disc easily, he was crouched completely hidden from the fairway.
You're one hundred percent correct currently and that's the problem for me. One, people are too litigious. If a person is walking a dog in accordance with park policies and laws and gets hit by a disc golfer that disc golfer is responsible.
If that dog walker is walking without a leash or in the wrong area or doing anything else that helped lead them to getting hit it's no longer just on the disc golfer.
I'm sure there is a few but maybe you know some specifically or have some links. I'd be interested in reading where a city got sued and decided to pull a course because a disc golfer hit a person and a judge decided that person had zero culpability.
For the record I've never thrown when a kid is around and don't plan on ever doing so but I'm against this notion that the entire responsibility lies on the person playing disc golf on a disc golf course. I'm always the one in my group of people who says let's wait and let's yell at them one more time to pick up the kid and walk over there. We've never hit a kid and I hope never do but parents need to start parenting. Parks and elsewhere.
For the record I've never thrown when a kid is around and don't plan on ever doing so but I'm against this notion that the entire responsibility lies on the person playing disc golf on a disc golf course. I'm always the one in my group of people who says let's wait and let's yell at them one more time to pick up the kid and walk over there. We've never hit a kid and I hope never do but parents need to start parenting. Parks and elsewhere.
Three holes later my wife griplocked a drive right into his stomach.
I don't think it ever got to court, but at Madison Meadows Park in Lombard IL a lady was hit while sitting in the middle of a fairway to watch a football practice on a field adjacent to the course. The city pulled more than half of the baskets out of the park for an entire season, and considered pulling the entire course along with another course in the same city. That was without someone actually filing a lawsuit, just a complaint to the park. Those parents were asked to move on many occasions, but the park still isn't going to side with the disc golfers. We're the ones throwing dangerous projectiles in a fringe sport.
Steeze,
I get what you're saying but I still disagree. I look at it like I look at how I would handle a firearm. If some clueless parent wanders out in between my target and I'm out in the desert somewhere, am I going to yell once, and then fire away? Hell no. I'm the guy with the weapon, therefore it is my responsibility to be sure that I'm not endangering anyone, regardless of what they are doing. The same goes for disc golf. I'm not going to throw on someone just because they are clueless. They aren't endangering me with their disregard, but if I disregard them and throw away, I am endangering them with my actions.
Agree, to disagree, I guess. At least you're making an attempt to let them know. I've seen a lot of golfers that won't even be bothered with that.
Disclaimer: I know equating guns to discs is ridiculous.
I don't think it ever got to court, but at Madison Meadows Park in Lombard IL a lady was hit while sitting in the middle of a fairway to watch a football practice on a field adjacent to the course. The city pulled more than half of the baskets out of the park for an entire season, and considered pulling the entire course along with another course in the same city. That was without someone actually filing a lawsuit, just a complaint to the park. Those parents were asked to move on many occasions, but the park still isn't going to side with the disc golfers. We're the ones throwing dangerous projectiles in a fringe sport.
I think you're missing the fact that none of the people arguing against you are saying it's ok for parents to be clueless. I find it aggravating just like you do, and I hate it when I have to wait on idiots or skip holes. That doesn't matter though, because no matter how stupid those people are it still is likely to hurt disc golfers if I throw anyway and nail one of them. I'm not absolving people of the responsibility to be a little aware of their surroundings, I'm just trying to not be the person who gets a course pulled because I'm in a hurry to throw.
I really shouldn't be laughing at this, but...
If kids or other park goers are interfering with the use of the disc golf course, they are in the wrong. But aside from asking them to move, there's not much you can do. As soon as you begin throwing at them, no matter how obstinate they may be, you are also in the wrong.
If it's a frequent problem, all you can do is talk to the parks department to try to devise a solution.
I'll equate it back to my softball example. A softball field is put in for softball. However, if a group decides to use the outfield for ultimate, or touch football or whatever else, that's their right, it's a public space. If it's a frequent problem, the parks department may consider putting in a new athletic field to ease the pressure, but they're never going to support you hitting balls at them.