The PDGA Board of Directors has approved an update to section 804.01, Mandatory Routes, of the Official Rules of Disc Golf (ORDG), effective as of March 2, 2022. This rule update does not change the concept of restricted routes as defined by the ORDG. It provides clarification of how restricted routes are intended to operate.
Can I throw an extra shot for fun? What's the deal with the mini discs? My drive is under the basket, should I just pick it up and tap the chains?
PDGA tournament or league play can have some differences from the casual rounds you might be used to throwing.
Luckily, all you need to have a successful first event is to know a few basic things. As you play more tournaments – or even run some events of your own – you’ll quickly become well-versed in the PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf (which you should read up on before your tournament, along with the Competition Manual).
Golf, at its core, is a sport of integrity and courtesy to fellow players, the course, and the game itself. It’s a game of personal responsibility — a self-officiating battle between the player, the course, and competitors.
The rules of disc golf are thorough, and the enforcement of the rules are critical to upholding the integrity of the game, which, as you know, has absolutely exploded in recent years.
With the massive influx of new players finding disc golf, both as casual and tournament players, there are a few guidelines that, at the end of the day, protect and uphold the integrity of the game.
Revisions are periodically required to update PDGA rules and competition standards to keep up with the constantly evolving nature of disc golf equipment, courses, tournament management, technology, etc. These updates and edits can range from nearly unnoticeable verbiage alterations to complete rewrites of an entire section. Fortunately, the changes approved by the board of directors for the 2021 revision of the PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf and the PDGA Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events contain mostly the former.
Update December 31, 2018 — After listening to member feedback, the PDGA Board of Directors has drafted and approved language changes to Rule 803.01.B.1, CM 3.03.B.5, CM 3.03.C.3, and CM 3.03.C.4.
Crafting an official revision of the PDGA Competition Manual is no simple task. The PDGA Competition Committee put in hundreds of unpaid, volunteer hours on the 2018 revision, working to clean up and clarify the verbiage while simultaneously creating new items and editing existing ones. The 2018 revision contains updates and edits based on nearly five years of feedback (last revised on January 1, 2013) from PDGA members, tournament directors, Board of Directors members, PDGA staff, State/Provincial Coordinators, etc.
After years of research, debate, and sometimes heated discussions, a new revision of the PDGA Offical Rules of Disc Golf and the PDGA Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events has been finalized, printed, and published. The new version represents many changes, some big and some small, but we believe that all of them were necessary.
The text below is taken from pages 36 and 37 of the new PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf. Links to the current and new revisions are available at the bottom of this article.
