I didn't make it past page 8 yet and wanted to post this before I forgot. I was thinking which is easier to "hole out" on, tone poles or baskets. Here are some thoughts.
The tone pole diagram in post #14 shows a 10" wide target. My Aviar P & A is 8 1/4" across, but let's call it 8" to keep it simple. I'm assuming that the tone pole is of the high quality, very sensitive, type that has been mentioned in the thread. So even the slightest grazing of my putter on the pole will allow me to hole out.
That actually makes the target zone approximately 26" wide. That is the 10" wide target, plus the 8" width of my putter added to both the left and right sides of the tone pole. I am taking people at their word that even minimal hits on these quality tone poles are audible. So any throw within a 26" wide area centered around the pole will count as "holed out" because the disc will have touched the target.
The PDGA allowable standard for a basket deflector (chain) support, converted to inches, is between about 21" and 24" in width.
http://www.pdga.com/files/PDGATechStandards_10-17-13_0.pdf Here's where it gets interesting (to me, anyway). Let's assume we're talking about me, a RHBH putter, who doesn't putt hard, putts flat, and is putting on any approved basket.
How much of my putter must contact chains in order to get a consistently successful putt? Starting with right side putts, for arguments sake, let's say 3" of my disc must hit chains. That's a bit less than half of the width of the disc, but the clockwise spin will help "pull" the disc into the basket. Now, how much disc must hit the chains on the left side? Because the clockwise spin is working to "spit out" my putt, I'd say 5" of disc must contact the chains for a consistently successful putt. Putts outside of these zones will be considered missed putts.
So how big is the "success zone" on a basket? Let's use the maximum deflector width of 24". We need to subtract 3" from the effective width of the basket on the right side for discs that will miss right if they don't catch 3" worth of chains. And we need to subtract 5" from the left side for the same reason. So 24" minus 8" means that we have an effective target width of only 16".
I am, of course, making a lot of assumptions here. I'm assuming that the target area height is the same. I'm using the deflector width as the chain width, and the chains actually get more narrow as they collect at the bottom. I'm not counting the occasional dead center spit out or the hard putter spit out. I'm not counting nub misses or top chain link misses. And I just estimated the "spit out" area based upon my personal experience.
So, based upon these standards for tone poles and baskets, and my "less than scientific" methods, it seems as though the tone pole actually has a much larger "success" zone than an average basket. I'm not here to pass judgment on either target, I just found this interesting. Thoughts?
I've never played a tone course, but I have played a lot of target golf. I really enjoy the sound of the chains and the satisfaction of a disc sitting in the tray (or chains). I do believe, though, that I would enjoy playing on tone courses, too.
