Don’t throw your drive yet.

This article is to address the importance of not throwing your drive at the wrong time. Let me start out with a story or two to help set the groundwork.
Myself and a group of 3 other golfers were throwing a round at one of our local courses on a nice day with no wind or rain, just lots of sunshine. All but one of the guys in the group were fairly good players. We step up to the tee and get ready to drive. I throw mine no problem. As the next guy is getting ready there is an older couple walking down the sidewalk a long ways away. After assessing the situation, it is determined by the player that it would need to be a terrible shank shot for him to hit them, and that that would not happen. So he shoots and, whoops, grip locks it straight down the sidewalk right at the couple, and yes, one got hit.

Next story. Again myself and another fairly good, above average player, are playing a round on a nice day. He throws his drive with a girl headed towards us on a bike. She was a long ways away with no way to reach her. Woops, she turned her bike right into the flight path of the disc and it nailed her right in the chest. The bad part is she had just had heart surgery and it hit her right in the scar.

The reason I mention these two stories is that both accidents were done buy good players, confident in their throwing ability. I believe that it is better to wait until there is NO! possibility of hitting someone, rather than to take a chance, even a small one, and hit someone. Nothing will get a course pulled quicker than hitting someone with your drive. And hitting non-players is not good for the sport either. As players we need to take extra precautions to insure the safety of everyone in the park, in regards to disc golf. So please, when in a group, everyone should be on the look out for possible problems and make each other aware of them.