John,
There's a discussion going on about the pros vs. cons of water/creek OB on a tournament hole on which I'd like to get your opinion.
Summary
Say you have a medium-to-heavily wooded hole. The line-of-flight fairway slopes down and then back up. At the low point of the slope, about 1/3 of the way up the fairway there's a small creek crossing the fairway. This creek is sometimes completely dry, but sometimes has water flowing at most 3-4' wide.
The creek is close enough to the teebox that no player is going to lay-up in front of it.
Do you play the hole as "OB if surrounded by water"?
My position
My contention is that landing in the creek area is primarily a factor of luck. No players are realistically going to change their shot because the creek is OB or not OB. Making the creek OB does not increase the physical challenge of the hole, it merely further penalizes unlucky players beyond the poor lie and probably additional strokes they already have. I think good courses should test a player's skill more than their luck.
Opposing Position
One viewpoint on this hole is that the simple fact that OB is present adds a mental challenge to the hole/player that is worthy of penalizing unlucky shots.
My Justification
My stance is for casual water because I believe that playing the creek as OB is overly punitive for unlucky shots, and they'd play more fairly with casual water.
OB can be used for protection (e.g.
Tom Bass #14's wetlands or
McDade/
LINKS private property), but mainly for risk/reward. In this case there is virtually no risk/reward decision. Standing on the tee of this hole what are you going to do differently if the creek is or is not OB? I'm guessing most players will answer that question with "nothing". I'll agree that knowing there's OB on a hole will be somewhere in a player's head. But on the holes we're talking about it (a) doesn't change the shot they're going to throw, and (b) doesn't even really make them think about changing the shot they're going to throw.
On this hole no player is intentionally trying to throw a shot that lands anywhere near that water.
- Good shots, no issue; make the gap, get up the fairway. Probably take a '3'.
- Bad shots, will be in the rough with a tough lie almost certainly taking at least one additional stroke. Probably take a '5'.
- Unlucky shots (good or bad) that clip a tree are possibly going to roll down into the creek area. From the creek area a player is looking at most likely and additional stroke vs. a good shot, probably taking a '4', maybe a '5'.
In my opinion, making the water OB is adding extra strokes to an already bad shot that probably has a extra stroke naturally. Why? That's not a "challenge". That's not separating score based on skill, it's luck. If there's little water in there anyway then it's certainly (bad) luck if you end up there. Good golf holes are mostly about skill, not luck. In most games of skill there is an element of luck. But most players will agree that they'd rather have their score reflect their skill that day rather than their luck. Two players can make virtually identical shots and hit the same tree. But the one that lands 6" from the other and in the water gets an extra stroke on top of the bad lie. Unlucky? Yes. Unnecessary? Also yes.
Disc golfers have this (mis)perception that "Ohhhh... it's water, it must be OB". Why? Where's that written?
Fundamentally it should be decided if the hole needs OB there or not. If it needs OB for the intent of the hole then it needs to be strung and played OB regardless of the water level (like is done at Circle-R). Playing the hole as "OB if surrounded by water" when the creek is sometimes/mostly dry is admitting the OB isn't necessary for the hole.
