Island holes are the bane of every disc golfer, and will likely continue to be as long as new courses are being built. Island holes bring a level of technical difficulty that many other styles of holes do not have. Not only does the disc golfer have to make the required distance, but must also hit a pinpoint green compared to the other holes on the course.

There has been some recent confusion in the last few days regarding a particular hole at Jones East park. Hole 7 is an island hole with no water set at 555’. It has a sea of Kansas grass surrounding nearly the entire hole save a parking lot, and a moderately sized lay-up fairway littered with coniferous trees. According to both the GBO and 2016 Pro World’s rules, any shot that doesn’t land safely on the island green, or the fairway on the drive will be played from a drop zone. If a player opts for the fairway on the drive he/she will have to shoot their second shot at the island green, and if missed, must be played from the last spot it came to rest in bounds. Tuesday’s first round of open play saw a simple miscommunication regarding this rule.

OB Description/Course Notes taken from Caddy Book

Tall grass, fairway divider, parking lot (defined by wire). (If OB off tee, proceed to Drop Zone. All subsequent throws proceed to last place in bounds. Must come to rest on island to proceed to play from island. Once safely on island, regular OB rules apply).

The reigning champion, Paul McBeth, landed on the fairway with his drive. He then shot for the island green, missed OB, and was marked on the fringes of the green. His next shot was taken from that fringed spot. Instead, the correct ruling on playing this OB shot is from the last spot in which it was safely in bounds. Paul himself made PDGA officials aware of his misplay a day later ultimately costing him a two stroke penalty on his overall score going into the third round on Thursday. The proper channels were informed, the proper penalties were assessed, and the final outcome is nothing if not a fair/honest result for all competitors. So far, McBeth is still on the lead card, but could this potentially cost him down the line? Saturday, we will all find out.

Video from Jomez Productions of round 1. Link is time stamped for hole 7.