It's whatever you want. I'm an old newb, too. I kinda want to understand the PDGA rating system, even though I compete against myself and don't feel competitive.
I played a local C-tier thinking I could extrapolate a rating. No go. It was fun, and I had a sense I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. TD never even posted final scores, so I didn't learn anything.
More recently, I figured out I could get PDGA sanctioned league nights. That is a single round rather than 40 holes over a whole day or whatever. This morning I can see my first points and see how my round was rated. The unexpected benefit that I see, besides showing up and adding some cash to the event, is getting an idea about what I should/could be shooting on some smaller, local courses. Put another way, I shot one over last night, but that is a 788 rated round. That's a novice sort of rating, but I can now see that par on that course is probably around 800. I can see that I need to set an interim goal of -2 or -3.
Soon I'll have a real rating. That will give a TD something to go on, and they can place me where they want me based on how they think things should run. I'm definitely not the old guy that used to be competitive, but I sort of don't care who is on my card. Nothing wrong with showing up, paying, and supporting the local scene.