New and More than I can Chew...?

[DiscNorth]

Hey all. Just started disc-golfing this month, but I'm already pretty addicted. Not the best idea considering work and taking graduate classes.... But whatever. It's an excuse to get outside and get some walking in, right? So it has to be healthy and necessary.

A friend of mine and I are looking into wanting to just "try" a tournament. We're both pretty new-ish, but we want the experience. I've noticed there is "qualifying" and getting "ratings"... Is there a quick run-down for how tournaments and all that works? Are there tournaments just for novices, or at least, for any range and level?

 

[CreemCheese]

Most odd the local tournaments don't have qualifying. Ratings are something that cone among with a pdga membership, which you don't need, just pay an extra fee at pdga sanctioned events. Almost all have a recreational, some have novice divisions.
What area are you from, someone on here can probably suggest a local event or club. The other suggestion is Facebook search for (your town) disc golf

 

[clard]

The easiest way to do this is to go to a local league event, and ask those folks if there are any tournaments coming up in the area. Also, you can do an event search on pdga.com for your area to find any tournaments around you. You will not have to qualify, and you don't have to worry about ratings. Good luck!

 

[Future_Primitive]

Majority of tournaments offer multiple divisions based on skill level with a few age restricted divisions as well. Sounds like your best bet is to find a tournament and see if they offer AM4 (Novice) or AM3 (Recreational) divisions. You don't need to qualify as anyone can sign up for the majority of tournaments offered, both Unsanctioned and PDGA sanctioned.

It would be very beneficial to head to the PDGA website and review the online rule book to familiarize yourself with the rules. Marking your lie, throwing from your lie, foot faults, putting circle, etc... You don't need to memorize but at least grasp a general idea of proper tournament rules and general course etiquette.

Hope that helps a little, good luck!

 

[Pymm]

Hey all. Just started disc-golfing this month, but I'm already pretty addicted. Not the best idea considering work and taking graduate classes.... But whatever. It's an excuse to get outside and get some walking in, right? So it has to be healthy and necessary.

A friend of mine and I are looking into wanting to just "try" a tournament. We're both pretty new-ish, but we want the experience. I've noticed there is "qualifying" and getting "ratings"... Is there a quick run-down for how tournaments and all that works? Are there tournaments just for novices, or at least, for any range and level?

My regular playing partner and I played in a local, non-PDGA-sanctioned doubles tournament sponsored by my university 3 months after we started playing. Needless to say, we were pretty terrible. We ended up 12th out of 20 teams I think but there were some ties so we were actually 16th or so. It was a ton of fun and a good experience for people new to the sport. We were actually paired up with the eventual winners of the tournament; pretty amazing and educational to see those guys discuss the lines they were looking at and then to watch them throw.

 

[armiller]

Hey all. Just started disc-golfing this month, but I'm already pretty addicted. Not the best idea considering work and taking graduate classes.... But whatever. It's an excuse to get outside and get some walking in, right? So it has to be healthy and necessary.

Welcome. Healthy and necessary, for sure! As long as you're enjoying it, you're doing disc golf right.

A friend of mine and I are looking into wanting to just "try" a tournament. We're both pretty new-ish, but we want the experience. I've noticed there is "qualifying" and getting "ratings"... Is there a quick run-down for how tournaments and all that works? Are there tournaments just for novices, or at least, for any range and level?

A good place to start might be local "mini" tournaments. I don't know where you're at in Texas, but it shouldn't be tough to find a local group that does evening or weekend organized rounds. Where I'm at, that means paying $10 or thereabouts for a round of golf, with an ace pot and that kind of thing. Look on local facebook groups or just ask around when you meet people at local courses.

One advantage of that is you can start to play semi-competitive rounds without the steeper registration fees (and effect on your PDGA rating). In other words, you'll get to measure yourself against players that probably ARE playing tournaments. Several things can happen: 1) you realize you're amazing and just need to sign up to start cashing in tournaments; 2) you're not as good as those other guys and find certain areas of your game that need particular improvement; or 3) somewhere in between.

Personally, I still don't have a PDGA number and haven't played a real "tournament." That's partly because I don't like blocking off a whole weekend for a tournament, and I enjoy playing at my own pace so that I can squeeze way more holes into a smaller time period. Nevertheless, I've played some of those local "mini" tournaments, and I frequently join up with good players on the course if they'll accept me onto their group. Combine that kind of regular experience with some solid field work sessions, and that has resulted in serious improvements over my short playing time. Once again: find what works with your life and what makes for the most fun experience while playing. If competitive rounds are what do it, great.

 

[DiscNorth]

Great Responses!

The responses have been fantastic! Thanks everybody for the tips and suggestions!

And if any of you are in the southeast Texas area near Houston and want to play a game some weekend, hit me up!