HardstyleBeast
Bogey Member
Never played one but it looks like fun.
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How do you feel about "Island Holes"?
- Thread starter cjrogus
- Start date
agreed. Would you rather it be real island where every errant shot is lost disc? Not me.
I'm all for it. And the best part of this? If you are playing casual...WHO CARES!!! But for tourneys/leagues (i.e. more competitive players) it is tougher for the challenge. Great use of land that is otherwise boring (as most city parks are). I'm all for it.
Island holes? Evil. Damn things cost me the MN Amateur championship. Normal hole, I'll park it. Call it an island, I'll throw it 100' off course :/. I love islands.
to whoever was complaining about the aesthetics of hirnets nest island hole...why is it that so many hornetheads seem to never mention the ugliness of road n parking lot holes 4-7 when they say the island hole doesnt fit in with the rest of the course?
I liked the challenge of the island hole although it wasnt visually pleasing it reminded me of the days before baskets where skip shots etc where part of our made up layouts...and be fair the island itself is pretty lol
I liked the challenge of the island hole although it wasnt visually pleasing it reminded me of the days before baskets where skip shots etc where part of our made up layouts...and be fair the island itself is pretty lol
blazerico
Eagle Member
^ I'm the same way
Mabuku1
Double Eagle Member
I have yet to play a true island hole. But the grass in a parking lot islands are awesome and suck balls at the same time. 
we need more island holes.
we need more island holes.
For what it's worth, one of the courses I frequently play has 2 island holes---1 with the island half-bordered by water---and a 3rd hole that plays much like one. Another course I play often has an island hole, too.
Much fun.....as long as they're designed well, including and especially the drop zones.
Much fun.....as long as they're designed well, including and especially the drop zones.
Overall, I'm not a fan, unless the hole is without the rule exceptions. To FORCE all OB shots to a drop zone and not allow the thrower all three options in the rule book, even if you land inbounds and roll or skip OB is not the spirit of the rules of disc golf. Now I know the TD can call it however he/she sees fit (supposedly with approval of the tour manager for sanctioned events) but in answer to the OP question I don't like them. There's too many different interpretations of an "island" hole for me. [note: no such thing exists in the rule book.] Any time I've been at a player's meeting and the TD says "hole # such-and-such plays like an 'island'," I immediately ask him to clarify what he means.
I say this because at one tournament the hole in question was like the OP's -- not a true island defined by water or concrete or definitive OB, but on dry, accessible land with marked OB lines. On this hole, I played a smooth skip hyzer and my shot ended up in the "island" 20 ft from the basket. One of the locals on my card argued me down that I was OB because "they always play" that the shot has to hit inside the "island" and remain in the "island" to be safe. He said, they play it just like the OB was water. To which I replied, "I guess then none of you locals have ever seen someone skip a disc off water. Just because that's played like water doesn't mean I can't skip it." They insisted that was the rule -- I insisted on a provisional, and after the round the TD ruled me OB and the 4p was the one that was counted rather than the 2. Since that time I've had a really negative feeling about "island"-STYLE hole design.
I say this because at one tournament the hole in question was like the OP's -- not a true island defined by water or concrete or definitive OB, but on dry, accessible land with marked OB lines. On this hole, I played a smooth skip hyzer and my shot ended up in the "island" 20 ft from the basket. One of the locals on my card argued me down that I was OB because "they always play" that the shot has to hit inside the "island" and remain in the "island" to be safe. He said, they play it just like the OB was water. To which I replied, "I guess then none of you locals have ever seen someone skip a disc off water. Just because that's played like water doesn't mean I can't skip it." They insisted that was the rule -- I insisted on a provisional, and after the round the TD ruled me OB and the 4p was the one that was counted rather than the 2. Since that time I've had a really negative feeling about "island"-STYLE hole design.
Psicko
Eagle Member
There are two courses that I play regularly that have an island type hole in play. One of them is about 150 feet with a good size landing zone, and the other is longer(don't know the distance, but probably around 200-250ish). I like the risk and reward without the loss of a disc. Plus having a bunch of island holes with water probably doesn't make sense in a desert.
Ambient DGC, in Lakewood, WA is basically a 18 hole pitch and putt course squeezed onto a church property. # 9 and # 18 both play to the same basket which is set on a island in the middle of the parking lot. The island measures maybe 25' x 55'. The holes are both under 200'. # 9 gives you both a big hyser option or a softer throw with a little anhyser on it. # 18 gives you the choice of throwing a low straight shot under some tree branches or a big hyser around the trees.
Both offer great challenge for most of us and # 18 makes for a great finishing hole. Consistently, I see more discs end up in the parking lot than on the green. Far more bogies than birdies on these two holes. I think they're great!
Both offer great challenge for most of us and # 18 makes for a great finishing hole. Consistently, I see more discs end up in the parking lot than on the green. Far more bogies than birdies on these two holes. I think they're great!
That sucks.
It's an argument for written ground rules, which should be standard at all tournaments. It's also a long way from just restricting re-throws to drop zones---it's creating a novel concept that what the disc touches in flight matters, not just where it flies or where it comes to rest.
It still comes back to well-designed vs. poorly-designed. I can think of some island holes that only play well with a mandated drop zone.
cjrogus
I bet I could throw a FH here.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Messages
- 290
That's ridiculous. If the hole consisted of real water I'm sure no one could have argued that since your disc was damp that you were O.B. and in the water. It should be played wherever your disc comes to rest. If you roll off the island an into the water then your O.B. Doesn't make sense that the opposite wouldn't apply.
Grungedude42
Double Eagle Member
I love water islands. OB islands, eh, not so much. But I prefer a contrived island hole to a hole in a bland flat field.
sugarnot
Eagle Member
Natural island holes I would play and take seriously just simply out of fear of losing discs. That being said, man made ones with rocks or some other type of barrier would depend on the setting. In competition I would take is serious and actually try to play it smart. Otherwise I have a tendency to try to make a mockery of such a circumstance and throw a skip shot (fh or bh doesnt matter) or a roller at it just to make a point that it doesn't matter how you get it to the island as long as you do.
wow youre awesome
Whenever my someone in my group TD's, we always have a written set of ground rules. However, even in the situation listed, I suspected that he likely would have just had printed "OB marked, play as an island hole" which still doesn't clarify.
I do agree with you on poor vs well-designed. IMO if a hole only plays well with a mandated drop zone, then make sure as a designer that the DZ is the best option in your design. But don't FORCE everyone to go tot he DZ no matter what.
Disc Frenzy
Par Member
I witnessed a water skip to a safe landing on an island hole during the Eastern Amateur Nationals in 2012. We were playing Treasure island on the Old Glory course at the Hippodrome, a card mate skipped his drive off the water onto the island and carded a 2.
This hole plays about 200' with a small(15' diameter) pond adjacent and directly in front of the basket, the drop zone is 30" away and shoots directly over the basket.
Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
If going to the drop zone after missing your drive is not your best option, whether required or not, then the drop zone is not positioned well. That isn't necessarily true in ball golf where many tour players don't go to the drop zone primarily because the short wedge shot from there can sometimes be tougher than a re-tee (macho factors aside). That's unlikely the case in DG where a re-tee would be better than playing from the drop zone. Again, assuming the hole and drop zone are designed well.
Crooked Creek has a short hole with a small island, and a drop zone off the island, about 30' from the basket. Without mandating use of the drop zone, any shot that crosses or skips off the island would result in a very close lie, and an easy 3. That would be the "best option", but it wouldn't make the hole play particularly well.
It's a hole that's well-served by limiting the lie to the drop-zone, and with a well-placed drop zone. It produces a good spread of 2s, 3s, and 4s.
It's a hole that's well-served by limiting the lie to the drop-zone, and with a well-placed drop zone. It produces a good spread of 2s, 3s, and 4s.
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