Hey great content, keep it up! In my experience there are also regional differences in divisions people play in. for example in Florida where I live, we have a lot of so-called baggers that play in divisions all the way up to the cap. where in other states I've played people play up in division more often. Witch goes to your first suggestion of ask your friends advice. my suggestion to newer players is to play leagues and local club events before starting sanctioned tournaments. it's a way to get a feel for it before the next step, especially in the rules department.
Thanks! And I agree, playing in leagues and clubs is great starting experience! I think I played in local leagues for about 2 years before signing up for my first tournament. And the regional differences are huge. It also depends on how big the event is. Like events the size of the DDO or Ledgestone the divisions all play like they are a step up in division from the smaller tournaments. (Intermediate feels like Advanced, Advanced feels like Open, etc.)
So I have an event coming up next month... I've never played in anything official, this would be the first... Can I just sign up in rec or novice? Like I emailed the directors and none have got back to me and it's been a week... I'm just confused.. do I get to select what division I play? I thought it was based on rating and I don't have one. Also do you have to have a pdga membership? Any insight would be appreciated and keep up the great work!
Yes you get to select what Division you play in! So since you don't have a rating you can just sign up in whichever division you think best suits your game and then you can have a better idea which division to play in next time. Also, if you are uncomfortable with any higher divisions then Rec/Novice would be totally fine! And you are always allowed to play up in divisions, you just can't play down a division after you get that rating. And if the tournament is a C-Tier, than you do NOT need a membership, but there is an extra fee of $10 if you don't have a membership. So if you plan on playing a bunch of C-Tiers this year it would be worth getting a membership just for that discount. If the event is a B-Tier or higher(A-tier, Major, etc.), than you are required to have a membership. I have had a membership for a while and I do enjoy having records of your rated rounds to see how you've improved over the years. that's a solid bonus for having a membership.
@@ApolloDiscGolf hell yeah! It's a c tier... Thank you so much for the reply. I can't wait... It's gonna be rec or novice for sure. Happy rounds to ya.
Is it’s just a local league or Non-Sanctioned tournament. It won’t effect any event in the future. You can still go back down to amateur. If you play Pro in a PDGA sanctioned event. It only matters if you cash and accept cash or not. So if you place 3rd and accept the cash reward in a PDGA sanctioned event(C-tier or above). According to PDGA standards you are now a pro and must sign up in the open division for PDGA events. But if you place 3rd and earn cash, the TD may allow you to accept store credit instead to keep your amateur status, so that you can go play MA1 at other events. And I’m some cases even if you do accept cash you can appeal to the PDGA for your am status and they can let you be an am again. But I’m not sure what all needs to happen in order for them to allow that
I've played 2 events in the Novice division and tied in 7th place out of 16 spots with 4 people in one, and then was 18th place out of 26 in another. I wasn't doing so hot in either, but it surprised me how much better most of the players in the division were. I'm not saying anyone was sandbagging, per se, but a round that's rated around 850 is really good.
Some of it just comes with experience, the more tournaments you play the more consistent you can be. I know at first it was frustrating to me because I didn't feel like I played what I was capable of in tournaments. But the more I played, the more comfortable I was and the more I started playing as well as I thought I should be playing.
So quick question, I’ve played in about 5 tournaments and the first four were all pretty rough, I got pretty close to last in MA3 every time. I just signed up for MA4 and actually threw well that day. Ended up throwing a 922 rated round in MA4 and felt kinda bad. Should I jump up to MA2 now? Just don’t wanna get called a sandbagged 😂
First, don't worry about those guys calling people sandbaggers! Especially in MA2 and MA3, there are always players that just go off every once in a while. So it's still up to you if you feel more comfortable with MA3, then I would say MA3. If it was just one round shooting 922, I wouldn't worry about playing in MA3, unless you are consistently shooting 915-925 rated rounds in tournaments, then i would move up to MA2... But just shooting one round that high doesn't mean you NEED to move up. That's a part of the consistency thing... MA3 players can have rounds that are 920-930 range, but just not consistently... Same way Advanced players can shoot 1000 rated rounds occasionally, but they can't do that day in and day out at tournaments. But you can always move up if you want to! There is nobody stopping you from playing up a division!
This is super helpful… I’ve not yet played a tournament, but I’m scoring well at my local courses. I didn’t know about DGcoursereviews Great content bro… keep it up!
Thank you! And yeah, DG Course Review is pretty solid with the Scratch scoring estimate! It's still a little iffy though, because its really dependent on basket placement and conditions! But a pretty good starting point if you are really unsure!
As a newbie, would you not just start with the easiest for your first tournament. I have been playing since Aug so I would probably start in Rec. I feel like I would be ok playing in Int but who is to say. I would get smoked but I would still like the challenge.
Yeah, playing up a division for a challenge is always fun! I enjoy pushing myself that way, I am just a competitive person like that. And yeah, if you are new than signing up for Rec is a good place to start! I just know there are people who play a couple years before playing in a tournament. Like I think I played a year or two before playing in a tournament, so I actually started in Advanced, it really just depends on your game and how comfortable you feel with your game. Because you can always play up divisions!
I used to play novice division when I started back in the late 90's, early 2000's, but never made a serious try to improve my game much, other than playing. I quit for about 10 years to focus more on family, but wanted to get back into playing the game I loved after my dad passed in early 2021. I had past experience , but still felt like a beginner trying to get back into my game. Being older in age as well, I felt Amateur Masters +40 would be the division for me. I never had a rating, so I probably should be playing in recreational division, but not really sure it maters for me anymore.
Sorry to hear about your dad… and I’m not super familiar with how the masters divisions play, and I’m sure they are very dependent on region! But rec is a solid choice for anyone! Unless you absolutely shred.. then you should be playing higher!
@@ApolloDiscGolf thank you. I'm in the KC area and haven't played any tournaments so I'm not sure how the masters division is either, but I don't really shred. If I'm lucky I can shoot close to par, depending on the course.
I have definitely had some pretty rough rounds out at WaterWorks! One of the most frustrating rounds I have every played has been out there! Those hills can be brutal...
Yeah, that can be really helpful for people on which division they can play in. It’s just even that is a grey area depending on conditions and such. People really won’t know fully until they play in a couple events! Even if it means people might call them a bagger if they play well 😂
This is exactly what ive been looking for, thanks man
Hey great content, keep it up! In my experience there are also regional differences in divisions people play in. for example in Florida where I live, we have a lot of so-called baggers that play in divisions all the way up to the cap. where in other states I've played people play up in division more often. Witch goes to your first suggestion of ask your friends advice. my suggestion to newer players is to play leagues and local club events before starting sanctioned tournaments. it's a way to get a feel for it before the next step, especially in the rules department.
Thanks! And I agree, playing in leagues and clubs is great starting experience! I think I played in local leagues for about 2 years before signing up for my first tournament. And the regional differences are huge. It also depends on how big the event is. Like events the size of the DDO or Ledgestone the divisions all play like they are a step up in division from the smaller tournaments. (Intermediate feels like Advanced, Advanced feels like Open, etc.)
Never played a rated round before but am getting 2 events in this summer! Excited to see how well I do... or don't do haha
The competition is fun! I have found that I play best whenever I go in with absolutely no expectations on how I should play!
So I have an event coming up next month... I've never played in anything official, this would be the first... Can I just sign up in rec or novice? Like I emailed the directors and none have got back to me and it's been a week... I'm just confused.. do I get to select what division I play? I thought it was based on rating and I don't have one. Also do you have to have a pdga membership? Any insight would be appreciated and keep up the great work!
Yes you get to select what Division you play in! So since you don't have a rating you can just sign up in whichever division you think best suits your game and then you can have a better idea which division to play in next time. Also, if you are uncomfortable with any higher divisions then Rec/Novice would be totally fine! And you are always allowed to play up in divisions, you just can't play down a division after you get that rating.
And if the tournament is a C-Tier, than you do NOT need a membership, but there is an extra fee of $10 if you don't have a membership. So if you plan on playing a bunch of C-Tiers this year it would be worth getting a membership just for that discount.
If the event is a B-Tier or higher(A-tier, Major, etc.), than you are required to have a membership.
I have had a membership for a while and I do enjoy having records of your rated rounds to see how you've improved over the years. that's a solid bonus for having a membership.
@@ApolloDiscGolf hell yeah! It's a c tier... Thank you so much for the reply. I can't wait... It's gonna be rec or novice for sure. Happy rounds to ya.
@@dylanandrich1949 yeah for sure! enjoy the event! Tournaments are awesome! a whole different beast to tame!
thank for this question as im doing the same thing
If I sign up for Pro div, will I be stuck playing in that category or can I go back down to MA1 or whatever?
Is it’s just a local league or Non-Sanctioned tournament. It won’t effect any event in the future. You can still go back down to amateur. If you play Pro in a PDGA sanctioned event. It only matters if you cash and accept cash or not.
So if you place 3rd and accept the cash reward in a PDGA sanctioned event(C-tier or above). According to PDGA standards you are now a pro and must sign up in the open division
for PDGA events. But if you place 3rd and earn cash, the TD may allow you to accept store credit instead to keep your amateur status, so that you can go play MA1 at other events.
And I’m some cases even if you do accept cash you can appeal to the PDGA for your am status and they can let you be an am again. But I’m not sure what all needs to happen in order for them to allow that
I've played 2 events in the Novice division and tied in 7th place out of 16 spots with 4 people in one, and then was 18th place out of 26 in another. I wasn't doing so hot in either, but it surprised me how much better most of the players in the division were. I'm not saying anyone was sandbagging, per se, but a round that's rated around 850 is really good.
Some of it just comes with experience, the more tournaments you play the more consistent you can be. I know at first it was frustrating to me because I didn't feel like I played what I was capable of in tournaments. But the more I played, the more comfortable I was and the more I started playing as well as I thought I should be playing.
So quick question, I’ve played in about 5 tournaments and the first four were all pretty rough, I got pretty close to last in MA3 every time. I just signed up for MA4 and actually threw well that day. Ended up throwing a 922 rated round in MA4 and felt kinda bad. Should I jump up to MA2 now? Just don’t wanna get called a sandbagged 😂
First, don't worry about those guys calling people sandbaggers! Especially in MA2 and MA3, there are always players that just go off every once in a while. So it's still up to you if you feel more comfortable with MA3, then I would say MA3. If it was just one round shooting 922, I wouldn't worry about playing in MA3, unless you are consistently shooting 915-925 rated rounds in tournaments, then i would move up to MA2... But just shooting one round that high doesn't mean you NEED to move up. That's a part of the consistency thing... MA3 players can have rounds that are 920-930 range, but just not consistently... Same way Advanced players can shoot 1000 rated rounds occasionally, but they can't do that day in and day out at tournaments.
But you can always move up if you want to! There is nobody stopping you from playing up a division!
This is super helpful… I’ve not yet played a tournament, but I’m scoring well at my local courses. I didn’t know about DGcoursereviews Great content bro… keep it up!
Thank you! And yeah, DG Course Review is pretty solid with the Scratch scoring estimate! It's still a little iffy though, because its really dependent on basket placement and conditions! But a pretty good starting point if you are really unsure!
As a newbie, would you not just start with the easiest for your first tournament. I have been playing since Aug so I would probably start in Rec. I feel like I would be ok playing in Int but who is to say. I would get smoked but I would still like the challenge.
Yeah, playing up a division for a challenge is always fun! I enjoy pushing myself that way, I am just a competitive person like that.
And yeah, if you are new than signing up for Rec is a good place to start! I just know there are people who play a couple years before playing in a tournament. Like I think I played a year or two before playing in a tournament, so I actually started in Advanced, it really just depends on your game and how comfortable you feel with your game. Because you can always play up divisions!
I used to play novice division when I started back in the late 90's, early 2000's, but never made a serious try to improve my game much, other than playing. I quit for about 10 years to focus more on family, but wanted to get back into playing the game I loved after my dad passed in early 2021. I had past experience , but still felt like a beginner trying to get back into my game. Being older in age as well, I felt Amateur Masters +40 would be the division for me. I never had a rating, so I probably should be playing in recreational division, but not really sure it maters for me anymore.
Sorry to hear about your dad… and I’m not super familiar with how the masters divisions play, and I’m sure they are very dependent on region! But rec is a solid choice for anyone! Unless you absolutely shred.. then you should be playing higher!
@@ApolloDiscGolf thank you. I'm in the KC area and haven't played any tournaments so I'm not sure how the masters division is either, but I don't really shred. If I'm lucky I can shoot close to par, depending on the course.
There’s always badasses even in ma3 that beat most players in ma1 and ma2 on a given day.
bogie golf is good for me a WW
I have definitely had some pretty rough rounds out at WaterWorks! One of the most frustrating rounds I have every played has been out there! Those hills can be brutal...
The last point about scratch scores is exactly what people need to know!
Yeah, that can be really helpful for people on which division they can play in. It’s just even that is a grey area depending on conditions and such. People really won’t know fully until they play in a couple events! Even if it means people might call them a bagger if they play well 😂
What division do you tend to play in?
I usually play in Advanced, but with how I have been putting recently I have definitely not deserved playing there!