American Flying Disc Open

Randy P and Nate, I think the disagreement here comes from treating three different things as though they are the same: 1. **Eligibility** — whether the player is eligible to register for MA4 und ... show more ›

Randy P and Nate, I think the disagreement here comes from treating three different things as though they are the same:

1. Eligibility — whether the player is eligible to register for MA4 under PDGA rules.
2. Player rating — the official PDGA rating used to determine ratings-based division eligibility.
3. Round rating — how a player performed in a particular round.

This player has played one PDGA-rated round. It happened to be rated 911. But he does not yet have an official PDGA Player Rating.

That distinction matters. A 911 round rating is not the same thing as having a 911 Player Rating.

You can certainly look at that round and think the player may ultimately prove to be better than MA4. He may. Once he establishes an official rating, that rating will determine which ratings-based divisions he is eligible to play.

But I don't think we can take one round, convert it into a player rating that the PDGA has not yet given him, and then say he should be forced out of MA4 on that basis.

Those are different questions:
Was the round unusually good for MA4?
Yes.

Does that one round make an unrated player ineligible for MA4 under the PDGA rating system?
No.

I'm not sure what happened to Randy's post since last night but I am respectfully requesting a refund from this tournament, as one of the TDs said we could yesterday. I've been playing disc golf f ... show more ›

I'm not sure what happened to Randy's post since last night but I am respectfully requesting a refund from this tournament, as one of the TDs said we could yesterday.

I've been playing disc golf for about 2 years. Last year I registered for my first ever tournament, an unsanctioned event. Even in this unsanctioned event the TDs then took a few seconds to ask me what I normally shoot at the course it was being played at and recommended a division for me. $70 is a big ask for me to play in a tournament where the TDs aren't willing to take those few seconds.

I've devoted a lot of time and money into this sport since I discovered it and honestly I'm a little heart broken at the lack of caring that the divisions remain fair. That's the entire point of divisions. To try to level the playing field. While the statement that players get lucky holds true, even my best round of "getting lucky" and shooting more than 100 points above my rating doesn't compare to shooting a round that's 2 divisions above my rating. My udisc everyday rating x2 +500 is very close to my PDGA rating. I bet that holds true for this player as well.

So while protecting one unrated player's division choice based on a technicality and no effort, you have forced another one from not only withdrawing from this event, but from every future event I was registered for because this whole unrated player automatically goes to MA4 paradigm has unfortunately made the field unfair. This won't be the first tournament won by an unrated player this year throwing far above the division cap.

What's been skated around here is the fact that there are metrics to determine which division unrated players should play in for their first tournament. PDGA recommended and otherwise. I will not be renewing my membership next year and I will not be playing in any GRDGC events until this is addressed. I'm honestly very disappointed in how this turned out.

Thank you for everything you do, and I appreciate you approving my refund and accepting my withdrawal.