Team Golf Rules

MISSION
The mission of the Washington State Team Disc Golf League (TDG) is to provide a social environment to foster competitive and progressive handicapped disc golf play for all skill levels of the players that have contributed to the community to grow the sport of disc golf.  The TDG league is a fundraiser event to benefit the growth of disc golf in the Puget Sound area.

OVERVIEW
The TDG league will consist of 22 Events and 32 Teams.  In order to establish a league of EIGHT Events, there will be a random draw to determine team schedules in each division for the regular season. The TDG league will be divided into THREE divisions (North, Central, and South).
PDGA Rules, PDGA Competition Manual, and the spirit of the game will be enforced. 
 
COST & PAYOUT
Teams will provide a sponsorship “Donation” to the league prior to the start of the season. The North and Central division team “Donation” will be $270.  The South division team “Donation” will be $120. The “Donation” will be used for Expenses, Prizes, and the Course Improvement Fund (donated to local course projects).  Additional Event fees ($130 per Team) apply for Horseshoe Lake Golf Course for lunch and use of carts during the Event.  Changes to a Team’s Roster after FOUR days before the start of the First TDG Event will incur a $25 “Donation” per roster change.
 
TEAMS & PLAYERS
Teams will have at least SIX, but no more than NINE players on the Roster.  There are no player restrictions for a team, although a mixed team of Amateur, Women, and Professional players would be preferred.  Team Rosters must be submitted at least THREE weeks prior to the start of the First TDG Event.  Players shall compete in at least TWO singles matches to be eligible to play at the Divisional Championships.  Players shall only play in ONE doubles match per Event.  Players shall play in ONE singles match prior to playing in a SECOND doubles match.
 
EVENT FORMAT
Each Event will match up TWO teams against each other for TWO rounds.  The format for each round will be FOUR matches of Handicapped Singles and ONE match of Handicapped Doubles.  Before the First Round, a coin flip is used to determine which team will submit their roster for the First Round.  Teams will alternate for the Second Round. If a team is not able to field all the required round matches, then the doubles match is fielded first and all other matches are played as singles, except if a team has less than FIVE players a round, then all matches will be singles.
 
CAPTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES for TDG LEAGUE
1.  Submitting and setting their team roster and collecting funds for the “Donation”.
2.  Coordinating with the opposing team Captain to determine Event match-ups.
3.  Recording their team’s player handicaps on the scorecard for each round.
4.  Recording their team’s player round scores and the “W L T” records on the “Scoring Sheet”.
5.  At the end of each Event, submit the “Scoring Sheet” to the Division Commissioner (DC).
6.  Host (or co-host) ONE TDG Event at an approved course.
7.  The “Host” team will prepare the course, layout, and any special course rules.
8.  The “Host” team will take care of all course arrangements and course full notifications.
9.  The “Host” team is responsible to set the course SSA to the DC one week prior to the Event.
 
EVENT SCORING
Each player in a winning match will earn ONE point for their team.  Teams will forfeit ONE point per player for each match that they don’t field.  Any match ending in a tie will earn a ½ point to each player.  The total team points for the TWO rounds will determine the “W L T” for the Event.  Results from each Event shall determine the divisional standings based on the “W L T” record, TWO Event “Ties” are equal to ONE Event “Win”.  A player with an incorrect player handicap recorded on the scorecard prior to the match start and the error is discovered after the round is completed will receive a ONE throw penalty.  The divisional team standings preceding the Divisional and League Championships shall determine the match-ups at each Championship Event.  For the Divisional and League Championships, there shall not be an Event tie for the CHAMPIONS. 
 
The Tiebreaker Rule used in determining the divisional standings and TDG (Divisional / League) Champions will be as follows:  1) The team with the higher season total team points.  2) The team that won the previous match-up during the current season.  3) The team single Event “W L T” record in a descending order from Event 7 to Event 1 until tie is broken.  4) Coin Flip (best 3 of 5).   
 
ACE POT
The Ace Pot is included with the team “Donation” and is for ALL the TDG events.  At the end of the TDG season, all Aces will split the $500 Ace Pot (minimum $50 per Ace).  If there are no Aces, then the Ace Pot will go to a CTP throw off at the TDG Final Event.  The Final CTP will be available to everyone that participated in a match during the TDG season.  The Final CTP will be awarded to the THREE closest throws by dividing the Ace Pot (50%-25%-25%).

HANDICAPPING
The PDGA rating system is used to determine the round ratings. The TDG handicapping system uses the estimated Course SSA, Official Player Ratings, and TDG Round Ratings to determine a Player’s Event Handicap.   All players must have a handicap prior to playing in a TDG match. Handicaps will be calculated before each Event.  Any rated round that is SIXTY points below a Player’s Rating will not be used to calculate their handicap for the following Event.  Doubles rounds will not be rated.  Handicaps used for the Doubles matches will be determined by using the handicap of the player with the lower handicap (Higher Player Rating) from each doubles team.

A player without an official rating, calculated from events with round ratings, will use a "Captain Rating" established by their Team Captain.  If a player with a "Captain Rating" performs better than +3 throws than their TDG Player’s Rating, then the match will be forfeited.  The "Captain Rating" will be removed from the TDG Ratings Calculator after playing TWO singles matches.  Players with a “Captain Rating” shall play in TWO singles matches prior to playing a doubles match. 
 
Player Handicaps will be different for each Event due to the course difficulty and Player Ratings being updated after each Event.  The TDG Ratings Calculator does the complex calculations and handicaps are shown on the Event Scoring Sheets.  A Player’s Event Handicap will be determined by using a Player’s Rating (PR) from the TDG Ratings Calculator and the Event Course estimated SSA to set the Rating Points per Throw (RP/T).  The calculated handicap values will be rounded to the nearest ½ increment and used to determine a Player’s Event Handicap.   The ½ increment handicap could result in some matches that will not end in a tie.
 
The estimated Course SSA will be used to determine the “Event Handicaps” for each Event.
SSA = Rating Points per Throw; 45 = 11.5, 46-47 = 11, 48-49 = 10.5, 49-51 = 10, 51-54 = 9.5,
54-56 = 9, 56-58 = 8.5, 58-62 = 8, 62-66 = 7.5.
 
Player’s Event Handicap = (1000 – PR) ÷ (Event Course Estimated RP/T)

PLAYER RATINGS
The starting Player Ratings are established for WA Team Disc Golf by using an objective order of preference from known calculated round ratings. During the TDG season, Player Ratings will be updated after each Event based on the player’s performance in singles matches.  Using the PDGA December update, the starting player ratings will be determined by the following criteria, in a descending order, until a Player’s Rating is established.
 
1.  Current PDGA Rating with 8 or more rated rounds.
2.  TDG Rating with 6 or more rated rounds (previous two years, priority to last year).
3.  Current PDGA Rating with 7 or less rated rounds
4.  Non-Current PDGA Rating.
5.  TDG Rating with 5 or less rated rounds (previous two years, priority to last year).
6.  A Player’s rated rounds from a recent PDGA sanctioned event(s).
7.  If NO history of rated rounds, then a “Captain Rating” will be established.
 
CAPTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES for EVENT DAY PLAY
1.   The TDG website is the official source for Handicaps, Standings, and Results
2.   Captain winning the coin flip will decide which round to submit match-ups
3.   Captain will submit scorecards to other team: (8:30am & before lunch break)
4.   Scorecards – Pick up in the morning from Division Commissioner (DC)
5.   Scoring Sheet – Pick up in the morning from DC
6.  Players with a “Captain Rating” have special rules to follow
7.   Players shall only play in ONE doubles match per Event
8.   Players shall play in ONE singles match prior to playing in a SECOND doubles match
9.   Handicaps recorded incorrectly on scorecard after round start will receive a ONE throw penalty
10.   Players shall play in TWO singles matches as soon possible
11.  Scoring Sheet - Use “W L T” to indicate a player’s match result.  If NA, leave Blank
12.  Scoring Sheet - Each player Win is (1) point. Each player Tie is (½) point
13.  Scoring Sheet - Record the actual player’s score (Not the Handicapped score)
14.  Scoring Sheet - Do not record doubles scores (Only 4 scores per round per team)
15.  Scoring Sheet – Competing teams will submit ONE scoring sheet
16.  Scoring Sheet – The official record and final results for the Event
17.  Scoring Sheet & Scorecards – Shall be submitted to the DC at completion of Event
 
DAY OF EVENT PLAN
Round 1 Players’ Meeting = 9:00am
Round 2 Players’ Meeting = ONE hour after last group completes AM Round

DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Teams are seeded based on the divisional standings before the Divisional Championships

Event 7 for the North and Central Divisions & Event 8 for the South Division
 
Team #1 vs. Team #2
Team #3 vs. Team #4
Team #5 vs. Team #6
Team #7 vs. Team #8
Team #9 vs. Team #10
Team #11 vs. Team #12

 
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS   (EVENT 8)
Teams are seeded based on the divisional standings before the League Championships
  
Central #1 vs. North #1
NW Course – SE Course

Central #2 vs. North #2
NW Course – SE Course

Central #3 vs. North #3
NW Course – SE Course

Central #4 vs. North #4
NW Course – SE Course

Central #5 vs. North #5
NW Course – SE Course

Central #6 vs. North #6
NW Course – SE Course

Central #7 vs. North #7
SE Course – NW Course

Central #8 vs. North #8
SE Course – NW Course

Central #9 vs. North #9
SE Course – NW Course

Central #10 vs. North #10
SE Course – NW Course

Central #11 vs. North #11
SE Course – NW Course

Central #12 vs. North #12
SE Course – NW Course

South #1 vs. South #2
Ray Sieck Course - Ray Sieck Course

South #3 vs. South #4
Ray Sieck Course - Ray Sieck Course

South #5 vs. South #6
Ray Sieck Course - Ray Sieck Course