Thursday, April 20, 2006

Hole in One

Now that I actually have my Par-Darts board in my possession I have taken to putting it up from time to time and tossing a round of golf. Or rather, since it is 9 hole board, a half a round of golf. I am not the master golfer you may have though I was. Indeed, mini-golf in high school and this dartboard is the closest I have ever come to the real thing, but I am satisfied with both and feel no need to hit the driving range.

What you are seeing below is a hole in one on the eight hole. How is this possible? Well, I have decided I do not like the official rules that go along with this game so I have made up my own that I use when I use this board for practice.


The above shot happened like this. It was a fresh round and I was holding three darts. I had just completed the 7 hole the round before and I was just now about to attempt the 8 hole. Normally I would have taken a shot at the red dot on the 8 hole to attempt a hole in one, but I forgot, and so the first dart went to the first fairway. I hit it. The second dart need to go into the second (light gree) fairway that surrounds the putting green, but I missed into the water. Acording to my rules if you hit water you are obliged to start the hole over. So, now remembering that I allow a single dart to be throw for a hole in one (only when you are about to start a hole), and having only one dart left in my hand, I went for it, and nailed it. The regular rules call for a very short lived and probably uneventful game. My rules call for something a little different. Here are some bullet points to my rules:

  • Each hole must be completed in order before moving on to the next
  • When you are starting a hole, you may throw one dart to attempt the Hole in One, if you miss, you must finish the hole the old fashioned way, one fairway at a time.
  • Failing a hole in one, you must first hit the initial darker green fairway, then the lighter green fairway, and then the green fairway that surrounds the water and sand traps protecting the putting green.
  • You must then aim for the putting green. If you hit the red hole you are donne and may move on. If you hit the putting green then you may attempt a put by going for the large red bullseye in the center of the board.
  • If you ever hit a sand trap you must go back one fairway. If you ever hit a water trap you must start the hole completely over (and thus are entitled to another Hole in One shot).
  • The outer red bullseye ring in the center of the board is only used by novices, and is not used when I practice at home.

So that's it. I hope someday I can play against other people online with this board but in the meantime I'll just break it out from time to time for my own enjoyment.

6 comments:

Tommo said...

I think I'd drop the option for holes in one entirely. It's such a rare event I don't think it should be a regular shot in the game.

The flow could be : 1st fairway, 2nd fairwar, putting green, hole. This would always take at least 4 darts (2 full throws), and I'd give each hole a par (e.g. 6 darts).

Any shots in the water would need another shot into the water to "retrieve" it, and once retrieved you continue to aim at the previous target (not sending you right back to the tee).

Zeeple said...

These are some good suggestions. I think though that if you are hapless enough to put a dart in the water you'd be hard pressed to get another in there on purpose. The water areas are small and this would slow the game too much (maybe) I like your idea's though!

jsobo119 said...

Actually.. in real golf a shot in the sand trap would make it hard for you to say hit a 200 yrd shot to the green so I like that you must go back a fairway...

now on the water thing... in real golf you loose a stroke... so that is what you should do... you loose a dart... ... kinda back where you were but you lost a dart...

Now that makes the sandtrap thing seam harsh... So I say hitting the water cost you a dart and you have to go back... like sand +

jsobo119 said...

BTW cool board

jsobo119 said...

On second thought.... I like the idea of retrieval... but for the sand trap... sand traps are hard to hit out of... and sometimes your ball gets stuck... so lets say when you go in the sand you have to hit two in the next fairway to get out of the bunker... (or progress)...

Zeeple said...

Thanks for the ideas jsobo. I have never played real golf but my thinking was this: if your ball goes in the sand, you can walk into the sand and hit it back out. If it goes into the water, you have no way to retrieve it unless you have a rowboat, or a long long stick. Thus for sand you get a one dart penalty and for water you have to get a new ball and start over. I like your ideas though.