Justin Michaud: Is it Sanctioned?

Justin Michaud Is it Sanctioned? Mar 26

Blake Hohlbein Apr 1 No, this is not a PDGA sanctioned event. We do use PDGA rules though, with the exception that we allow photo evidence to help with making discretionary calls.

Nate Burmeister May 4 Is there anyway you could make it a sanctioned tournament? I have a couple friends that would be much more interested if it was.

Blake Hohlbein May 11

I would love to make it sanctioned, but the PDGA has told me that I would need to put a drop zone do ... show more ›

I would love to make it sanctioned, but the PDGA has told me that I would need to put a drop zone down for every single mando. As you know, the course has plenty of mandos and based on the course rules, the course does not play with drop zones except for on a couple of holes that have islands. The course mainly uses the "infinite mando" which I designed. I am not a big fan of drop zones, and thus at this time I am unwilling to alter the course to cater to the PDGA sanctioning guidelines. If your friends want to come and experience a fun and unique course, we would love to have them, but this will not be sanctioned.

Aron Griffis Jun 8

I think you would get a lot more interest (likely including my own) if it were sanctioned. PDGA rule ... show more ›

I think you would get a lot more interest (likely including my own) if it were sanctioned. PDGA rules do not require a drop zone for missed mando. PDGA Rule 804.01.C says "If no drop zone has been designated, the lie for the next throw is the previous lie." Have you explored whether your infinite mandos might actually just be normal mandos turned 90°? Since it's not allowed to traverse backwards through the plane, it seems like you could keep mostly the same course design but reorient the mandos conceptually to make the course compliant.

Aron Griffis Jun 8

Btw, I think it's a fun design and I don't mean to be presumptuous. I've played the course a couple ... show more ›

Btw, I think it's a fun design and I don't mean to be presumptuous. I've played the course a couple times and it's a lot of fun. I just think this tournament would get a lot more participants if it were sanctioned, so I'm just trying to explore how out of spec it truly is, and whether there's a way to keep the design while still satisfying PDGA requirements. It seems like infinite mandos and PDGA mandos (now that they include the restriction against breaking the plane from the back) might just be two ways of saying the same thing from a different angle.

Blake Hohlbein Jun 9

This is an interesting take. Though I don't think we are completely on the same page with the differ ... show more ›

This is an interesting take. Though I don't think we are completely on the same page with the difference between the mandos, I would consider the idea of making a missed mando result in a rethrow from the previous lie with a stroke penalty. Ultimately, this would make the course play even harder, but I could get on board with that in order to make the tournament PDGA sanctioned.

2026 Keyblade Open

Singles tournament · Sat, Aug 8, 2026Aug 2026 · Adrian, MI