Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

If you are unfamiliar with disc golf, it is a sport similar to regular golf, but instead of using a club to hit a ball into a hole, you use your arm to throw a disc into a basket. Typically you throw long and straight, and then the disc falls (fades) to one side or the other, depending on how you threw - similar to a big (upside down) “L” shape. Throwing from a tee pad to a hole, using a variety of discs and shot lengths influences the rules of this puzzle. [As a side note, this is the first puzzle I've created. Let me know if you like it or have any suggestions!]

General Rules for Disc Golf Sudoku:

-Normal Sudoku rules apply. (Each row, column, and 3x3 grid must have the numbers 1-9 exactly once in each)

-There are a number of tee pads (marked in blue) and baskets (marked in red) in the grid. Your goal is to “throw” a series of discs from each tee pad cell until you finish the hole by landing on the basket cell. Each set of throws (from any given tee pad to its basket) will create a series of orthogonally connected cells. (Henceforth referred to as the “flight path” which includes the tee pad, any cells the throw covers, and the basket.)

-If your throw does not land in the basket, you must make another throw, starting from the cell you previously landed on, and repeat, until you finish in a basket.

-Each tee pad goes with one basket each. The player must figure out which tee pad goes with which basket.

-Different flight paths will NEVER cross each other (ie, never share a cell). Additionally, a single flight path will never cross itself (except for the last cell of a throw which also marks the starting cell of the next throw, if it was not a basket).

-Refer to the diagram at the end to see the discs you have available to throw (ie, how the flight path is marked in the Sudoku grid). They are referred to by number (1-8) which represents the “speed” of the disc which in disc golf, a higher speed means a further throw. In this Sudoku, it means a longer path. The path will extend X cells beyond the cell you throw from, where X is the number of the disc. Additionally, discs 3-6 will fade one cell (90 degrees from the path) at the end of the flight, and 7-8 will fade two cells. (Discs 1-2 are like short putts, which do not fade at the end.)

-If you are making a throw, then the number in that cell dictates which disc you are throwing.

-In the Sudoku grid, you may throw a disc in any direction (and in any reflection/rotation of the given examples)

-A throw will never go outside the grid.

-If a throw would hit a basket (ie, enter its cell), it MUST end there and have gotten there with an exact throw. (Ex: if you are 2 away from a basket, you cannot throw a 4 at it because it would go over the basket which is not allowed.)

-For the discs that have a fade (3-8), then the numbers along the straight part of the path (indicated by an arrow in the example diagram) MUST be in increasing order as they go away from the initial cell. This does NOT include the initial cell. So if you threw a 6, then the following 6 cells must be in increasing order as you move away from the initial 6. (The fade at the end has no restriction). There is NO such restriction on the 1-2 discs.

-The number in the cell that is also a basket is unimportant to the flight path (it doesn’t mean anything).

-*An example of two non-overlapping flight paths is given to help demonstrate the above rules*

Additional rules for this specific puzzle:

-Each disc is used a maximum of ONE time each. (But not necessarily all discs are used)

-The digit found in the top right tee pad (in row 1, column 9) is not only the disc you throw from it (as per standard disc golf sudoku rules), but it is also the same number of TOTAL throws that are made in this puzzle.

-Of the other two tee pads, one has a higher digit and the other has a lower digit than the digit found in the top right tee pad.

-The 43 in the top left of the puzzle indicates the sum of all numbers along that diagonal.

-The area marked in purple is a “killer cage”, meaning all the digits in this region sum to the number given in the top right of this region. There are NO repeat digits in this cage. (Note in this puzzle, they sum to “X”, an unknown number to be determined by the player.) This region is representative of a “lake” on the disc golf course; as such, you may throw over it (ie, these cells can be part of a flight path(s)), but a throw will never end in this region.

penpa link

Disc Golf Sudoku #1:

Discs / Flight Paths:

Example puzzle:

Blue is a tee pad. Green is the flight path (that comes after the first number). Purple is a cell that is both the end of one throw and start of the next throw. Red is a basket (end of a flight path). The overall flight path is shown by the arrow/line.

Here, you see two pads and two baskets. The upper right pad throws a 7, lands on a 5 (non-basket), therefore the next throw is a 5. This throws lands on a 1 (non-basket), so the next throw is a 1. This 1 lands in a basket and finishes the flight path / completes the hole. The other tee pad is a 4 which lands on a 3 (non-basket) which throws a 3 and lands on a 2 (non-basket) which throws a 2 and lands in the basket. Note the numbers found along the first/straight part of the 7, 5, 4 and 3 are in increasing order as they move away from the initial digit. The 1 and 2 have no such restriction.