Your first speed round

The 60-second version

1. Choose a course you already know, at a quiet time.
2. Pick up to seven discs and decide how you'll carry them.
3. Start your watch when your first tee throw leaves your hand.
4. Jog between throws. Slow down before putts.
5. Stop the watch when your last putt comes to rest in the basket.
6. Add your throws to the minutes, and keep the seconds. That's your Speed Score.

Before you go

• Pick a course you know. Knowing where the next tee is saves more time than running faster. Your home course is perfect.
• Go when it's quiet. On most public courses, weekday mornings are emptier than weekend afternoons. Fewer groups means less waiting and fewer people to run around.
• Check the weather. Springfield summers are hot and humid, so from June through August, early morning is your friend. Storms can build fast in spring and summer. If you hear thunder, stop (SDG 3.07).
• Check the rules where you play. Follow park and course rules. If a course doesn't allow running, don't run there (SDG 14.07).
• Start with 9 holes. You'll learn your pace without emptying the tank.

What to bring

• up to seven PDGA-legal discs, each marked with your name or number
• a timer: a phone stopwatch or a GPS watch
• water
• shoes with grip; tee pads and wet grass get slick
• a scorecard and pencil, or a scoring app
• optional: a mini marker (it doesn't count toward your seven)

Pick your seven

You may carry up to seven discs (SDG 4.01). You don't have to carry all seven. Four or five can be faster: less weight and fewer decisions. Here's one way to fill a full set.

How to carry them

No carts, caddies, or helpers carrying discs (SDG 4.06). Everything you start with finishes with you; each disc left behind costs a throw (SDG 4.07).

Set up your clock

• Start: when your first tee throw on hole 1 leaves your hand. In a group, everyone's clock starts on the group's first tee throw (SDG 3.02).
• Never pause it for searches, waits, or bathroom breaks. Only a safety stop pauses the clock (SDG 3.05).
• Stop: when your last putt comes to rest in the tray or chains. A disc that hits chains and falls out doesn't count (SDG 3.04).
• Write it down before you leave the basket. A GPS watch file is also good timing evidence if you ever chase a course record (SDG 15).

Play the round

• Jog, don't sprint. A steady jog from first throw to last beats a sprint that leaves you gasping over putts.
• Walk the last few steps into a putt. Two slow breaths cost about five seconds. A missed putt costs sixty.
• Throw the safe line. One throw equals one minute. A layup that stays out of the rough is almost always the faster play.
• Leave your disc and throw another. Your thrown disc marks the lie. Throw a different disc from behind it, then scoop it up as you go (SDG 6.02).
• Inside 10 m, stay put until the putt settles. Then run (SDG 5.05).
• Know your next tee before you hole out.
• Pick up what you drop. A drop is free (SDG 10.01). Leaving a disc behind isn't.

The two-chance guide: provisional throws

If your disc might be lost or OB and you can't tell from where you're standing, throw a provisional right now. You get two chances, and you never walk back to the lie.

When you can

All three must be true (PDGA 809.02.C.3):

• you don't know where your disc ended up
• it might be lost, OB, or in a required relief area
• a provisional would save you from walking back

How to call it

Tell your group three things (809.02.E): it's a provisional, why, and which throw you'll use when. For example:

"Provisional. My first one might be OB in the creek. If it's in, I play the first one. If it's OB, I play this one."

What happens next

• First disc is fine: play it. The provisional doesn't count. Pick that disc up on your way.
• First disc is OB (or lost after a 3-minute search): play the provisional. Your count is the first throw, plus 1 penalty throw, plus the provisional. Off the tee, that makes the provisional your third throw.

When you can't

• for a possible missed mandatory (809.02.D.1)
• when you're thinking of abandoning the throw
• when the only question is whether a penalty applies

A provisional that doesn't qualify is a practice throw: 1 penalty throw (SDG 9.08).

Playing with friends

• Nobody downrange. Never throw if anyone could be hit, including the friend who ran ahead (SDG 7.01).
• Ready disc golf. Whoever's ready and safe throws. If two are ready at once, the away player goes first (SDG 7.03).
• Stay together. You watch each other's throws, so the group sticks together. Pairs work best (SDG 7.07).
• Pick a timekeeper and keep your own watch running as a backup (SDG 3.06).
• Yield to everyone who isn't racing. Ask to play through; if the answer is no, wait (SDG 8.04).

Score it

Say you finish 9 holes in 29 throws and 17:48. That's 29 + 17 = 46, keep the :48, for a Speed Score of 46:48. Next time, try to beat it. The calculator does the math and can add up hole-by-hole scores for you.

On your card, write each hole's throws (penalties included), your finish time, and your Speed Score (SDG 12).

Running a small event

• Get permission from whoever runs the course or park (SDG 13.03).
• Start groups 5 to 8 minutes apart, 6 by default, fastest first (SDG 8.05).
• At the players' meeting, announce the clock start, passing, OB and mandos, the tiebreak, and the safety-stop signal (SDG 13.02).
• Offer the suggested divisions, or your own (SDG 13.01).