Tournament Directors Guide

Tournament directors (TDs) are an integral part of what makes our sport great. It is thanks to the hard work, enthusiasm and dedication of TDs that events are able to run. With the exception of the event requirements, TDs are free to run their tour event as they see fit.

1. Who can run events

Leagues and events on the ADG tour must be run by clubs affiliated with the ADG.  We are currently working on guidelines to allow Businesses to run events. One requirement will be that the business insurance to cover the event.

2. First time TDs

First time TDs should consider doing our TD mentoring program. Under this program you will be paired with an experienced TD to guide you through the process of running an event. The program includes a checklist to follow your competencies and a certificate at the successful completion of the program.

3. TD requirements

All TDs running a PDGA sanctioned event must be PDGA members and certified officials. There is an exam which must be passed to become an official. This consists of 25 questions on the rules of the game, is open book and costs US$10 to complete. Certification lasts 3 years unless a major rules change occurs in that time period. The exam can be taken online here.

TDs must also be familiar with the PDGA tournament procedures.

NOTE: The above PDGA tournament procedures must be read in conjunction with the PDGA International Program Guide and not alone. For International events certain parts of the competition manual are modified to be more suitable in contexts outside the United States. This includes the level of required prize money and several tournament procedures.

4. Safety

Safety should be the primary concern when planning an event. You should think about measures to ensure the safety of other park users (For example requiring the use of spotters on certain holes and signs warning of flying discs placed around the park), players (for example ensuring holes don’t cross over and alerting players to any hazards) and volunteers. TDs should complete a risk assessment during the planning phase of the event. Think about what conditions will be like at that time of year and plan accordingly. ADG has a bad weather policy that should be followed. TDs should make players aware of how the TD will alert them in the event that play needs to be suspended (eg an air horn or car horn). All events should follow local regulations and restrictions at the time of the event.

5. Insurance

ADG event fees include third party insurance coverage for the event. To ensure that ADG/AFDA insurance coverage applies to you, please check that your course is covered under the list of included council areas. These lists are periodically updated so please contact your ADG state representative to check. If your course is not currently covered contact secretary@australiandiscgolf.com with the council area at least 2 months prior to the event.

6. Fees

ADG Event Fees cover event Insurance, event preregistration page and calendar and point tracking. ADG have attempted to keep the fees as low as possible to ensure maximum participation. The fee schedule for events is as follows.

  • $1 per player per league day
  • $3.50 per player per day for ADG non-tour events
  • $7.00 per player per day for ADG tour events
  • $8.00 per player per day for Major Tournaments
  • $15.00 per player per day for Australian Disc Golf Championships.

Following completion of your event ADG will issue the TD an invoice based on the reported number of players. All event fees are required to be paid to ADG in full not later than 30 days after receiving an invoice. Payment details will be included with the invoice. Any questions about payments can be made to treasurer@australiandiscgolf.com.

7. Registering an event

Events can be registered with ADG by emailing the event name, date, TD, associated club, location, event format and any relevant details to competitions@australiandiscgolf.com. The complete list of details required is as follows.

  • Event Name
  • Organising Club or Body
  • Format (ADGC, Major, Tour, Non-Tour)
  • PDGA Sanctioned or not
  • City
  • State
  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • Tournament Director Name
  • Tournament Director ADG Number
  • Email contact (optional if the same as the Tournament director)
  • Event information website link
  • Event registration link (optional if using our system)
  • Event player list page link (optional if using our system)
  • If your event is a tour event (i.e., not X-Tier or Non-Tour) the standard set of ADG tour divisions must be offered unless you request an exception which will be assessed by ADG.

If any of the required (non-optional) information is missing from your submission you may be asked to check the details and resend. The volume of events we now run prevents us from chasing down missing information from various sources so we need it in a single submission from TDs.

Most events will also need PDGA sanctioning. The major reason for PDGA sanctioning is to generate round ratings. In order for events to generate accurate PDGA ratings certain minimum requirements need to be met: The round must consist of at least 13 holes and there must be a minimum of 3 PDGA members with a rating over 799 whose rating is based on at least 8 rounds. Make sure you keep the email you receive from PDGA with sanctioning details as you will need it to manage the event. Note that ADG will no longer reimburse the cost of PDGA sanctioning.

8. Player registrations

Player registrations are needed for planning and managing your event, to collect player information and to ensure everyone is an ADG member. Preregistrations can be collected through the ADG system or you can use an alternate system and provide the link to replace the usual signup page. If required, the event can be added to the ADG calendar and open for registrations at a later date.

Some events are filling fast so you may want to manage this by advertising significant dates like when registrations open, when payments are due or cutoffs for receiving a players pack.

Player lists will need to be uploaded to the PDGA site. The below video explains how to do that.

How to upload your registration list to the PDGA Event Manager

9. Scoring

Online scoring systems such as PDGA live, Metrix or UDisc are a convenient way for players to keep score during a round and for you to manage the scores and player groupings. Make sure this is set up prior to the event. Paper score cards should also be available to groups.

10. Prizes, Payouts and Trophies

TDs can award whatever prizes and trophies they wish, provided the event requirements are met.

11. Results submission

Results should be submitted to the ADG and PDGA, if a sanctioned event, as soon after the event as possible. It is recommended that results are uploaded to PDGA the night of any day’s play where possible. PDGA guidelines require this to be done within 2 weeks of event completion. Players should be reported in the division in which they played. Instructions for loading results into PDGA are included in the sanctioning email

Results also need to be submitted to the ADG. ADG tour points can’t be calculated for an event until the results are sent to competitions@australiandiscgolf.com . We need

ADG number, Firstname, Lastname, State, PDGA, Division, Country, Place, Rd1, Rd2, Total

One way to get this is to export the results from the PDGA tournament manager and add ADG number by combining with the players list exported from the ADG registration page.

 

12. Quick Guide to running an event on the ADG tour

Before the event

  • Pick a date and location for your event
  • Decide on the event format and look up requirements
  • Make sure your course is covered by the insurance policy
  • Work out registration fees, cut off dates and player capacity
  • Register your event on the tour
  • Register event with PDGA
  • Collect preregistrations and payments
  • Organise your event: scorecards, maps, prizes, lunches etc
  • Set up online scoring system (if using)
  • Ensure all players are registered in the correct division
  • Notify affected players if any are merging
  • Upload player list to PDGA
  • Sort out groups
  • Publish expected payouts prior to final round starting

 During the event

  • Check in players
  • Organise groups
  • Run players meeting and start event
  • Check scores after first round
  • Organise groups and start second round
  • Check scores after second round
  • Repeat if second day of play
  • Give out prizes

After event

  • Submit results to PDGA
  • Submit results to ADG
  • Payout Pro players who cashed within 2 days
  • Post stories and photos from event
  • Pay ADG invoice
  • Follow up on any feedback

 

13. Important Contacts and websites

Australian Disc Golf – Director of Competitions

competitions@australiandiscgolf.com

PDGA Country Co-ordinator Australia

pdga@australiandiscgolf.com

Australian Disc Golf Website

http://www.australiandiscgolf.com/

ADGTour Points Leaderboard

http://www.australiandiscgolf.com/leaderboard

PDGA International Program Guide

https://www.pdga.com/international/international-program-guide