PDGA: The ‘Abandoned Throw’ rule feels too good to be true

Get better at disc golf.

Card lower scores.

Makes sense, right?

Most of the time, yes. But there’s something to be said for knowing more about the game, too. And I’m not talking about the history of disc golf or the Pro Tour’s biggest names or anything.

It’s the rulebook.

I’ll admit it …

I’ve not read the entire thing. But there are a few rules that can seriously save you some strokes on the course. And when they can’t, they’ll at least keep you from a stress-induced migraine. Otherwise known as the “Abandoned Throw” rule, PDGA Rule No. 809.01A is a godsend.

Here’s the letter-of-the-law verbiage for it:

“A player may choose to abandon their most recent throw by declaring their intention to the group. The abandoned throw and one penalty throw are counted in the player's score, and the player plays from the lie from which the abandoned throw was made. Penalty throws incurred by the abandoned throw are disregarded.”

In other words …

• You throw a shot.
• The outcome is absolutely awful – it’s embarrassing.
• Instead of going to your new lie, you throw again from the original one.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Of course, it’s not all kicks and giggles …

There is the tiny matter of that penalty stroke being tacked onto your stroke-count. But on a hole that’s going poorly, this single rule can keep it from crossing over into “cataclysmic” territory.

For example, let’s say you’ve got an uphill, 15-foot putt. Per your personal norm, you clank it off the front of the cage like a simpleton. Then, as sure as night follows day, it proceeds to roll 150 feet back down the hill before (mercifully) coming to rest in an out-of-bounds (OB) pond.

Instead of dealing with the emotional trauma of it all, re-putt with a penalty stroke. In this exact situation, you might well take the same score, but the Abandoned Throw rule makes getting there a whole heck of a lot less complicated. And you just as easily could save yourself a stroke, too.

This works in other settings, as well.

If you’re so deep in the dark of the thickest woods that multiple throws are required to get back to the fairway, simply abandon your throw and start over – with a penalty stroke, of course.

And lastly, getting back to the OB stuff, if the meter you can take inbounds from where your disc exited the course or optional relief along the line-of-play puts you in a terrible spot, abandon your throw and go back to where you were. Either way, it’s a penalty stroke …

So, what’s the difference?

Position.

THAT is the difference.

Many times, when you abandon your throw, you get a better one – it’s as simple as that. Forever keep this ace in your back pocket. You never know when you’ll need to lay it on the table.

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