Recently, ADG held its annual general meeting which saw the election of two new Board members, Mathew Wallis and Mark Donnelly. Today we would like to take some time to introduce ADG’s new State Representative Liaison for 2026, Mat Wallis, who is acts as the connection between the ADG Board and the State Representative Committee.

I’m Mat Wallis and I’ve volunteered to the be the ADG State Rep Liaison for 2026.

I started playing disc golf back in 2017 after walking through the Newington Armory and seeing a group of disc golfers throwing frisbees a crazy long way. 6 months later and I already had a bag, a stack of discs and well on my way to a plastic addiction.

My first tournament was the Aussie Disc Golf Championships in Canberra in 2018, where I finished dead last in MA2. Lots of practice and 12 months later, I was MA40 Champ at the next Aussie Championships in Mount Gambier. That is an amazing course and easily top of my must-play list.

Since then, disc golf has been a key part of my life. I’ve run numerous tournaments, been president of Sydney Disc Golf since 2021 and NSW state rep for ADG for the past 3 years. I’ve also dabbled with a YouTube channel called Disc Golf Down Under with a focus on MVP discs that got a shout out from Simon Lizotte when he signed for Team MVP in 2023.

Outside disc golf, I work as an engineer and live next to the Newington Armory course in Sydney. I’ve got 2 boys, who have zero interest in disc golf, but I have managed to drag my wife into the sport and she loves to come out and play in tournaments.

I’m hoping to play lots more disc golf in 2026 and looking forward to my role as state liaison on the ADG board.

Welcome to the Board, Mat. Here’s to fostering a strong relationship between the local clubs, state representatives and the ADG Board in the year ahead.

Recently, ADG held its annual general meeting which saw the election of two new Board members, Mark Donnelly and Mathew Wallis. Today we would like to take some time to introduce ADG’s new Secretary for 2026, Mark Donnelly, who has kindly shared a little about himself and his background.

My name is Mark Donnelly, and it’s a privilege to step into the role of Secretary for the Australian Disc Golf Association. My journey with flying disc sports began back in 2008, when I stumbled into the Brisbane Mixed Ultimate League by pure chance. That moment changed everything for me. A special shout-out to Scott from Denver (now Adelaide)—mate, if you’re reading this, thank you for opening the door to this incredible sport all those years ago.

Over the years, I’ve had the joy of playing in several national tournaments (ultimate) and contributing to the growth of disc golf in a variety of settings. Most recently, I’ve been involved in helping establish disc golf within the Queensland Police Service Police and Emergency Services Games, a project I’m extremely proud of. Before that, during my time living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, I played an active role in growing disc golf and flying disc sports in Mongolia.

With experience serving in secretariat roles across multiple associations, I’m excited to bring that background into this position and support the continued development, governance, and professionalism of our national community.

Outside of disc golf, I’m a proud father of seven, living in Brisbane, Queensland. Above all else, what keeps me inspired in this sport is simple: our people. The spirit, inclusiveness, and passion within the disc golf community are its greatest assets, and I’m honoured to contribute to its future.

I look forward to serving our members and supporting the growth of disc golf across Australia.

I’m sure you’ll join ADG in welcoming Mark as we look forward to the year ahead in disc golf in Australia. Watch this space to welcome Mat Wallis next, who has volunteered as the ADG State Representative Liaison on the Board for 2026.

The ADGTour 2026 is just around the corner.

The ADG Tournament Committee has now finalised the ADG Tournament Directors Guide for the 2026 tour year with several important changes.

By far the most significant change is the inclusion of the MP50 and FP50 divisions as ADGTour divisions for the first time.

ADG receives many requests to add additional divisions to the tour each year. After reviewing the number of qualifying players, ratings distributions of players and likely effects on other divisions we have concluded that MP50 and FP50 have the greatest potential for participation in 2026.

We also believe offering these divisions will improve the competitiveness of the existing MA50 and FA50 divisions by providing a pathway for higher rated players currently in those divisions to level up.

As part of our review we additionally modelled the inclusion of MA60 and FA60 as this has been another division we have seen demand for. While we understand there are many players who would like to see this division included as well, the number of qualifying players and likely level of participation were not as strong as what we saw for MP50 and FP50.

Of course as always if a division, which is not considered an underserved division, has less than four registered players it may not run and players will be relocated to the next divisions they qualify to play in with the ability to keep their tour points in the division they originally registered in.

To assist event organisers with managing potential extra costs associated with offering two additional divisions, ADG has also updated the trophy requirement for ADGTour Major events to require trophies for all division winners rather than 1st – 3rd place. We believe overall this will result in lower event costs and allow organisers to use their available funds where it will make the most difference to players.

We will be continuing to review participation levels and feedback during the 2026 tour year to plan out any further changes for 2027.

There are quite a few other smaller changes for the 2026 tour. The updated ADG Tournament Directors Guide for 2026 is available here:

Tournament Directors Guide

Appendix A at the end of the page lists all of the changes which have been made for 2026 and we encourage both players and organisers to review them before the start of the tour year.

Happy ADGTouring!