PDGA TD School | Episode 2 | What Kind of Event is This?

Video Transcript

Hello and welcome to the first episode of TD School, our video series for tournament director training. In today's episode, we're going to start from the very beginning, choosing what kind of event to run. It may sound like a simple concept, but there's some questions and tools that can help you make sure your event is set up for success. There are three basic formats for a disc golf tournament, singles play, doubles play, and team formats. Singles stroke play is the most common individual play format for PDGA events. In this format, each player counts one stroke for every throw of the disc, and the total number of strokes is added up to produce their round score. This format is eligible for the widest variety of sanctioning tiers, and barring some limited exceptions, players competing in a sanctioned singles event will receive PDGA Round ratings. In doubles and team events, throws from multiple players contribute to your overall round score. While match play, doubles and other types of team formats, such as those used by the Collegiate National Disc Golf Championships, are not eligible for PDGA ratings, they can be a popular alternative to solo stroke play and are still eligible for high level sanctioning all the way up to PDGA majors. When choosing which format you want, a helpful consideration when deciding your next event format is who are you trying to serve with your event? Consider the player demographic. Would you like to cater to Pros, Ams, juniors, club members, women only, seniors, or everyone? Maybe you want your event to be a fundraiser for a local charity or pay for course improvements. In general, charity and other fundraiser events will be by their nature less competitive, having lower expectations for payout and player packs return to the participants. It may be a good idea when thinking about your player demographic to also consider your venue and how large a field size it can handle. If you are going to use a shotgun start where everyone begins play at the same time... ... how many players can fit on the course at once? If you are using tee times, how many people can get through the course in one day? Considering first light, twilight, group size, tee time intervals, anticipated round length, and the possibility of weather delays, we recommend finding a course with good flow,...