There’s been a lot of chatter recently concerning the 2016 PDGA Tour Standards, specifically the Experimental and Non-Standard Rules section. With that chatter often comes confusion and misinformation, understandably. Between the Official Rules of Disc Golf, the Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events, the Tour Standards, and the International Program Guide, there’s much more to disc golf and disc golf events than meets the eye.

What are PDGA Tour Standards?

That’s a simple question, with a complex answer. The Tour Standards and the International Program Guide are documents containing a massive amount of crucially important information for the bold men and women out there taking on the stressful and exhausting role of Tournament Director (TD). As stated in the Tour Standards, the goals of the document are as follows:

Provide a set of event standards so that Tournament Directors are familiar with expectations and players can expect consistency at each tier level.

Ensure PDGA events are classified into their appropriate tiers.

Increase the professionalism and marketability of PDGA sanctioned events.

The Tour Standards and International Program Guide contain information about divisional structures, handling withdraws and refunds, payout requirements, distance requirements between events, target requirements for different tiers, etc. The list goes on and on, and whether you’re a Tournament Director or not, they are both great resources to have.

Experimental and Non-Standard Rules

One of the updates in the 2016 Tour Standards, which will also be updated in the International Program Guide in the very near future, is a section now titled “Experimental or Non-Standard Rules”, after a much needed revision for clarification reasons. Let’s take a closer look and make sure we’re all on the same page, no pun intended.

First and foremost, this section of the Tour Standards should serve as a reminder to Tournament Directors that any rule or tournament procedure which is not specifically allowed by the PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf, Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events, and/or the 2016 Tour Standards requires prior approval from the PDGA Tour Manager.

Such non-standard rules include, but are not limited to a non-standard payout percentage, mulligans, team formats, and of course, limiting a player’s out of bounds options (e.g. Island Greens, Drop Zone Only, Throw and Distance, a “BUNCR” area, a “HAZARD” area, etc.). The bullet points below, taken directly from the 2016 Tour Standards, are what we are here to help explain.

Non-Standard Rules Specifically Concerning Limiting a Player’s OB Options

We have recently seen a disturbing trend of TDs enacting rules that limit a player’s OB options without first receiving a waiver. In some cases those rules have been so punitive that they have caused excessive scoring which produces skewed ratings.

Again, as per the Official Rules of Disc Golf (804.04.D.3), in order for a TD to limit a player’s choice of the three standard OB options – the previous lie, marked one meter from where last inbounds, or within the designated drop zone (if provided) - the Tournament Director MUST request a waiver from the PDGA Tour Manager.

request a waiver from the PDGA Tour Manager. Typical examples of limiting a players OB options include, but are not limited to, Island Greens, BUNCR area rules, HAZARD area rules, and other “Throw and Distance” rules.

Any rule requiring players to re-throw from their previous lie after landing in a marked area, with or without a penalty (Island Greens, “Throw & Distance”, BUNCR areas, etc.) may potentially be unrateable.

When a waiver is requested, the PDGA Tour Manager (or the Game Development Team) will work with the TD to ensure that any such rules will not prevent the event from being rated. This typically can be easily accomplished with the addition of an appropriate drop zone, alternate route to complete the hole, or some other alternative. Note that a waiver for the use of a HAZARD area (Throw penalty only) can usually be rated, however a waiver for the more punitive BUNCR area, where a re-throw from the original lie is required, sometimes CANNOT be rated.

Any event that receives a waiver for a rule where it is determined that the rule will make the layout unrateable will only be sanctioned using the X designation added to the Tier level and the TD will need to include the information that the event WON’T be rated within the event information prior to players registering to ensure they are aware.

Why this change? Why now?

One might ask, why the sudden interest in restricting the use of Throw & Distance (T&D) penalty elements during tournament play? Why is T&D, where a player must continue to re-throw from the same lie plus get a penalty throw each time until landing inbounds, an issue at all?

First off, as stated previously, the current version of the PDGA Rulebook (effective as of January 1, 2013), which includes both the Official Rules of Disc Golf and the Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events, already restricts the use of T&D or any other non-standard rule unless first granted a waiver by the PDGA Tour Manager.

The expectation when a T&D waiver was granted was that T&D would be used on one, maybe two holes, perhaps in an effort to duplicate the dynamics of the now legendary island holes at the USDGC. However, it's been apparent since 2013 that some Tournament Directors have taken liberties with the use of T&D, many of which may have mistakenly believed that doing so was a normal option for increasing the difficulty of the course.

Second, discovering instances where Tournament Directors forgot to apply for a waiver, used T&D improperly, or used T&D on too many holes is a long and complicated process. The update within the 2016 Tour Standards serves as a reminder that T&D elements can only be used in very restricted circumstances if round ratings are desired. T&D is not a generally acceptable risk/reward design element for the game – disc golf and ball golf alike.

Keep. Moving. Forward.

A fundamental principle in the way ball golf has evolved is to play your next shot from where your previous shot landed, and keep players moving forward. If you can't play from where it landed, you get a penalty to relocate your lie just far enough from the hazard based on the options available in the rules, or to a forward drop zone. Playing your next shot from the previous lie is either a choice made by the player or is required only when the ball is lost, or when the ball completely leaves the course property.

Requiring a disc golfer to re-throw from the tee or from a previous lie is an excessive penalty for a shot that the player has already demonstrated they couldn't make. It simply adds extra throws to a player's score, not proportional to a single throwing error which may have been no more offline than a throw into that same rough before the TD marked it OB with a re-throw required.

Typically a one-throw penalty is more than enough to separate scores. Padding a single penalty with extra unearned throws unfairly reduces the player's rating out of proportion to the player's error on the throw. In addition, this player may inadvertently boost the course’s Scratch Scoring Average (SSA), artificially raising the ratings of players who likely didn't play the course any better than they would have if the penalty elements on the course were standard 1-throw penalties.

It is very important that the PDGA reviews any planned use of a non-standard rule so that we can make sure it is in fact being used appropriately and won’t cause a problem for player ratings.

Applying for a Waiver

To apply for a waiver, send an email to the PDGA Tour Manager describing the rule you plan to use and include any pertinent specifics.

For example, if you were applying for a waiver to use an Island Green hole, here are some of the details you would want to include in your email.

Event name, date, and location

Description of the specific rules for the hole

Graphic or image of the hole, if possible

Dimensions of the Island Green Amount of space in front, behind, right of, and left of the target

Distance from the tee to the front edge of the Island Green Is it an open shot from the tee or is it hindered in some way?

If there is a designated drop zone Distance from the drop zone to the front of the Island Green Is it an open shot from the drop zone, or is it hindered in some way?

Divisions that will be playing the Island Green Are different divisions playing the hole with different rules?



The additions and updates to the 2016 Tour Standards are important elements for the growth and development of our sport. As always, we will continue to work with Tournament Directors in every way possible to make sure their events can be rated, even if enforcing a non-standard or experimental rule is something they wish to do.

If you have any questions at all about something concerning an event you will be running this year, or you need to submit a waiver, please contact the PDGA Tour Manager.