College Disc Golf Season Overview

Timeline

1. The official College Disc Golf Season will begin September 1st and end March 31st.

Team Summary

1. A valid roster will consist of at least the following number of players and (for the National Championship) their combined PDGA ratings must average to the following caps:
2. DI – 3 (max 4 players); any rating
3. DII – 3 (max 4 players); max 950 rating
4. DIII – 3 (max 4 players); max 925 rating
5. Women – 2 (max 2 per team; no max teams); any rating

Team Events and Fundraisers

1. Teams are encouraged to run their own events (e.g. invitationals, tournaments, and leagues). However, these will not impact the conference championships or bid allocations to the National Championship. Events with more than three teams can be ranked. Send results for these events to info@collegediscgolf.com.

Conferences

1. Conferences will be formed through the cooperation of various school clubs, programs, and individuals. Potential conferences must apply to College Disc Golf for official status and be composed only of teams located within a reasonable distance for consistent and regular conference play. Apply here. LINK NEEDED
2. Conference events should consist of at least one round of alternating team doubles play and are not required to be PDGA-sanctioned events. Conferences events should be inclusive in nature with a goal of establishing teams in your area. If a conference event is not sanctioned, all participants must sign the liability waiver.
3. Teams are required to compete in a conference event before the National Championship.
4. Conference leadership will determine how bids are awarded to Regionals.
5. Each conference will be awarded 20 bids to Regionals. A bid does not guarantee a spot will be available at registration. It only permits your ability to register. Bids are awarded to each school.
6. Teams are not required to be CDG members to participate in conference events.
7. Conferences should consist of a minimum of at least 3 schools and no more than 10 schools.

Eligibility and Roster Verification

1. All players participating on a team for the Regionals and the National Championship must be listed on the team roster. The ramifications for having a player not on a team’s roster participate in the postseason competition are outlined in the section, Violations and Sanctions.
2. All players listed on the roster must be current CDG members in good standing. Players who are not current members must purchase a membership prior to being rostered. Non-members who do not register by the competition dates will be ineligible to play until they have the appropriate membership. The ramifications for having a non-member participate in competition is outlined in the section, Violations and Sanctions.
3. All players are limited to competing in the College Disc Golf National Championship six times. Players that have competed in their sixth National Championship are no longer eligible to compete in Regionals or conference championships.
4. All players must be certified as amateurs or professionals per the PDGA. Those who meet the standards and qualify as a Premier Professional (formerly Touring Professional) or were designated as a Premier Professional within the past five years of the current season’s National Championship year are not eligible to participate.
5. For schools on the quarter-system, verification of enrollment in two of the three quarters (fall, winter, spring) must be included.
6. All players must be enrolled as a full-time or a half-time student. Students enrolled as less than half-time are eligible only if they are enrolled in the last semester and/or all classes available for their degree program (e.g. prerequisites course needed before remaining classes).
7. Students who graduate in the Fall of the current school year are eligible to compete in Conference events, Regionals, and the National Championship.
8. DI,DII,DII Assignment – Player eligibility for all teams from a school will be verified without respect to division affiliation, in order to allow teams to make final division determinations up until the National Championship. Reasonable movement of such players during the regular season is acceptable.
9. Eligibility status will be checked by College Disc Golf through the rostering process, in conjunction with information from school registrar offices, as well as using information from the PDGA and team records.
10. College Disc Golf reserves the right to use additional relevant information, should it become available, in a fair and consistent manner to ensure player and team eligibility standards are met throughout post-season competition.
11. Player eligibility status may be re-checked at any point prior to, during, or following the post-season. Rosters will be randomly re-verified with school registrar offices following each post-season competition (i.e. conference championships, Regionals, and the National Championship).
12. Failure to abide by any of the above rules may result in ramifications outlined in the sections, Violations and Sanctions.

Gender Division Eligibility

1. Females are eligible to compete in the Mixed and Women’s divisions.
2. The eligibility of transgender athletes will follow the PDGA standards.

College Disc Golf Season Guidelines

Conference Event Requirements

1. The events which are considered to be official conference events will be any events in which college teams play one another in at least one round of alternating team doubles. The event has to be pre-approved by College Disc Golf.
2. Interested parties such as school clubs, programs, and individuals can apply to run a College Disc Golf Conference event.
3. Official conference events must only take place at competitive events which are college-specific.
4. Conference events must conclude at least 7 days before the scheduled Regional Championship.
5. The results of the conference events can count towards Regional bids.

Conference Competition Guidelines

1. Event formats, tournament rules, card allocations, etc. are all at the discretion of the event leadership, provided they meet the event requirements for a CDG event as outlined in the guidelines for a conference event.
2. The event must meet the PDGA definition of disc golf.
3. For all non-women’s divisions, there must be at least 1 round of 18 holes, of alternate shot team doubles completed (4 person team play)
4. Events that are suspended due to inclement weather or other unavoidable reason will be counted only if the teams have completed at least one full round of disc golf.
5. If one team (or individual) is not ready to play at tee-time, strokes may be assessed, in accordance with the PDGA rules.
6. Teams that withdraw from the conference event within 7 days of the event without approval from the tournament director may be subject to sanctions.
7. The safety of athletes is a top priority and must be considered when determining whether a conference championship should be played and under what conditions.
8. Tournament formats and event schedules must fall within the guidelines set forth for PDGA-sanctioned events.

Rankings

1. Team and player rankings are created from data collected from collegiate disc golf team events within the current season and the last National Championships. All rostered players with PDGA numbers and current College Disc Golf Memberships are included.
2. Results from events with two or more teams are included in the rankings.
3. For individuals, tournaments are given a base placing value of 750 points. Players receive points according to the percentage of players that they finished ahead of multiplied by the total placing points. Teams also receive 150 points for participating and 100 points for finishing. The winners of the event receive a 100 point bonus. The average of points earned from each tournament with the team’s worst finish only counting half and the player’s best finish counting twice plus 20 points for each event played in.
4. Players’ averaged PDGA round ratings from College Disc Golf events will count towards the rankings. For players with more than 1 event, their best rated round counts twice.
5. The sum of tournament points earned and the averaged PDGA ratings points determine the Player Rankings. Rankings gender separation will be based upon their play in gender protected divisions according to PDGA guidelines.
6. Results from events with three or more teams are included in the rankings. The last National Championship berth at the end of the regular season will be awarded to the highest ranked team that is not already qualified.
7. For teams, tournaments are given a base placing value of 1,000 points plus 5 times the number of teams participating in the event. Teams receive points according to the percentage of teams that they finished ahead of multiplied by the total placing points. For example, if a tournament has 13 teams attending there will be 1,065 placing points (13*5=65).
8. The average of points earned from each tournament is used to calculate each team’s season average. That total counts towards 60% of a team’s adjusted total. Each team’s point total from the last National Championships counts as the other 40% of the adjusted total. Teams also receive 25 points added to their adjusted total for each event they play in.

Sanctions

1. College Disc Golf reserves the right to sanction teams that are disqualified or forfeit conference events. These may include, but are not limited to: bid allocation penalties, team and/or player/coach suspensions, and team and/or member conduct hearings.
2. Forfeitures will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all pertinent facts and perspectives.

College Disc Golf Post-Season Overview

Regionals

1. Interested parties such as school clubs, programs, and individuals can apply to run a College Disc Golf Regional.
2. The format must consist of rounds of alternating team doubles play and singles.
3. Events are required to be PDGA-sanctioned events.
4. All singles rounds will count towards the overall team score. Singles scores from each player on a team will be averaged and rounded to the nearest whole number (.5 and .75 round up, .25 rounds down)
5. The results of these events will determine bids to the National Championships.
6. A total of 46 DI and 92 DII bids will be given out for the National Championship. Regional allocation of bids depends on the percentage of active teams in a region.

Women’s Division

1. Female players have an automatic qualification to both the Regionals and the National Championship. They may also bring an unlimited number of teams.

Alaska & Hawaii Exception

1. These two states are not required to participate in a conference and will receive automatic bids to their respective Regionals (which are not included in the 18 bids awarded per region).

Eligibility and Roster Verification

1. College teams will be required to submit their registrar-certified roster of participating players to College Disc Golf one week before participation at both the Regionals and the National Championship. College teams participating in the Regionals will be expected to do so only with players who meet, or who will meet, the College Disc Golf Eligibility Rules for the College Disc Golf National Championship.

College Disc Golf Post-Season Guidelines

Timeline

1. The National Championship will be held the first week of April.
2. Regionals will run throughout the College Disc Golf Season.

College Disc Golf Membership

1. Collegiate teams competing in College Disc Golf Regionals are required to have all players be members of the College Disc Golf organization for the current season.
2. Memberships remain active for the entire season and are assigned to the individual.

Post-Season Registration Guidelines

1. The events which are considered to be official Regionals and the National Championship will be PDGA-sanctioned events coordinated by College Disc Golf in which rostered college teams play one another.
2. Official Regionals and the National Championship must only take place at PDGA-sanctioned competitive events which are college-specific.
3. The results of the Regionals will count towards the National Championship bids provided that the teams’ rosters pass the regular season eligibility check.

Team Information

1. A team’s registrar-certified roster should be updated periodically and any changes must be submitted at least one week before participation in both the Regionals and the National Championship through the process on the website.
2. Teams may not be allowed to participate in the Regionals or the National Championship if their roster is not updated by the roster deadline.
3. After the roster deadline, roster additions or flight changes are only permitted by contacting College Disc Golf at info@collegediscgolf.com
4. Teams should make a copy of their roster prior to sending it to College Disc Golf for their records. The copy should be brought to the Regionals and the National Championship in case it needs to be referenced.
5. Upon request, College Disc Golf will provide all teams in attendance with access to the rosters of all teams competing at the Regionals and the National Championship.

Post-Season Eligibility

1. College teams participating in Regionals and the National Championship will be expected to do so only with players who meet, or will meet the College Disc Golf Eligibility Rules for the College Disc Golf National Championship.
2. Only Regionals where a team’s roster included only CDGNC eligibility-verified players on their registrar-certified roster will be included to determine bids to the National Championship. Eligibility verification includes not only verification of required academic status through the school’s registrar, but also adherence to all aspects of the college disc golf eligibility rules, including the 6 years rule and other requirements.
3. Teams that are found to have violated the letter or spirit of these rules or whose behavior undermines the competition structure (e.g. misrepresenting the composition of a team at a specific event, misrepresenting the composition of a team over the course of the season, intentionally playing with ineligible players, etc.) may be subject to ramifications as outlined in the College Disc Golf Season Guidelines section, Violations and Sanctions. Roster violations should be reported to College Disc Golf at info@collegediscgolf.com.

Clarifications and Exceptions

1. In the event that there are less than 4 players on a team, in team doubles, the individual without a partner will only have one throw per turn. For singles scores, the 4th person’s score will be the highest score in the field +2 throws.
2. For Regionals, female players will engage in regular doubles play with a partner. However, if there are less than 2 players on a team, the individual without a partner will only have one throw per turn.

Registrar Certification Clarifications and Exceptions

1. All players participating on a team for the Regionals and the National Championship must be listed on the team roster. The ramifications for having a player not on a team’s roster participate in the postseason competition are outlined in the section, Violations and Sanctions.
2. All players listed on the roster must be current CDG members in good standing. Players who are not current members must purchase a membership prior to being rostered. Non-members who do not register by the competition dates will be ineligible to play until they have the appropriate membership. The ramifications for having a non-member participate in competition is outlined in the section, Violations and Sanctions.
3. All players are limited to competing in the College Disc Golf National Championship six times. Players that have competed in their sixth National Championship are no longer eligible to compete in Regionals or conference championships.
4. All players must be certified as amateurs or professionals per the PDGA. Those who meet the standards and qualify as a Premier Professional (formerly Touring Professional) or were designated as a Premier Professional within the past five years are not eligible to participate.
5. For schools on the quarter-system, verification of enrollment in two of the three quarters (fall, winter, spring) must be included.
6. All players must be enrolled as a full-time or a half-time student. Students enrolled as less than half-time are eligible only if they are enrolled in the last semester and/or all classes available for their degree program (e.g. prerequisites course needed before remaining classes).
7. Students who graduate in the Fall of the current school year are eligible to compete in the Regionals and the National Championship.
8. Eligibility status will be checked by College Disc Golf through the rostering process, in conjunction with information from school registrar offices, as well as using information from the PDGA and team records.
9. College Disc Golf reserves the right to use additional relevant information, should it become available, in a fair and consistent manner to ensure player and team eligibility standards are met throughout postseason competition.
10. Player eligibility status may be re-checked at any point prior to, during, or following the postseason. Rosters will be randomly re-verified with school registrar offices following each post-season competition (i.e. conference championships, Regionals, and the National Championship).
11. Failure to abide by any of the above rules may result in ramifications outlined in the sections, Violations and Sanctions.

Post-Season Competition Guidelines

Spirit of the Game

1. Disc Golf has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility for fair play on the players themselves. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players or adherence to the agreed-upon rules of the game. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate adverse conduct from the disc golf course. Such actions as taunting of opposing players, dangerous aggression, or other ‘win at all costs’ behavior are contrary to the Spirit of the Game and must be avoided by all players.

Bids to Regionals and the National Championship

1. Teams must participate in a Regional to earn their bid to DI or DII.
2. Any team may play in Regional tournaments in any region.
3. DI bids are awarded to the highest placing school at each Regional event. The highest-ranked team that has not already qualified will earn their way in.
4. Disregarding the teams that earned their DI bid, the highest placing school that has not earned a DII bid will be awarded a DII bid.
   Example: results and bids for an event with 3 bids to DI and 3 bids to DII.
5. Unaccepted Bids/Disqualification – In the event a bid is declined by a team (or the team is disqualified), that bid will be awarded through rankings at the end of the season. The highest-ranked teams that have not already qualified will be awarded the remaining bids.
6. The highest-ranked team that has not already qualified will be awarded a DI bid.
7. For the purposes of tournament logistics, College Disc Golf may impose a deadline by which teams must decide whether or not they will attend a Regional or the National Championship. The deadline may be associated with submission of a tournament entry fee. College Disc Golf event organizers may keep entry fees from teams that pull out of the tournament beyond a certain date, provided that date and the fee are reasonable, in accordance with the PDGA refund policy.

Name/Logo/Uniform Guidelines

1. College Disc Golf reserves the right to alter, or require a team to alter, a team name, player or coach nickname, team logo, jersey graphic, or uniform and/or suggest alternatives at or in conjunction with a College Disc Golf event should College Disc Golf personnel determine that the existing name, logo, graphic, or uniform might hinder the mission of the organization or the goals of a specific event. This includes, but is not limited to: sexual references, profanity, drug references, and any discriminatory language or graphics. Alterations must meet with the approval of College Disc Golf personnel.
2. All players are required to wear a matching school branded shirt for each round at Regionals and the National Championship. Collared shirts, names on jerseys, matching outfits, and school branded apparel is encouraged.

Miscellaneous Rules

1. College Disc Golf will follow PDGA standards and guidelines for conducting a sanctioned event.
2. Rules changes (i.e. those outside of the current edition of the PDGA Official Rules) may be permitted, but must be communicated in detail during the sanctioning application process and must be pre-approved by the PDGA.
3. Forfeit rule
4. A team must play all rounds of the regional championship and the National Championship. A team that forfeits a round will forfeit the entire tournament.
5. Any team that attempts to decide a round by any manner other than playing disc golf on the course will forfeit that round. If all teams on a card choose not to play, then they will be disqualified.
6. If a team falls under the minimum number of participants requirement, due to injury or any other reason, they will be disqualified from the tournament.
7. At the discretion of College Disc Golf, consideration may be given to situations that might warrant an exception being made, provided it does not affect the fairness or integrity of competition.

Spectators

1. Spectators (that are not caddies) are permitted to follow a card to watch. However, they must stand at a reasonable distance and cannot intrude on pace of play.
2. Those who are found to distract players may be asked to leave the event.

Violations and Sanctions

Failure to abide by any of the College Disc Golf Season Guidelines may result in sanctions.

1. These sanctions may be imposed on a team or individuals associated with a team deemed to be in violation of the guidelines, and may include, but are not limited to suspension or disqualification from College Disc Golf competition. To help teams follow the Season Guidelines and avoid violations, College Disc Golf will continue to work to improve registration procedures and communication of information pertaining to the season. As these improvements are made by the organization, teams will continue to be held more fully responsible for following policies and procedures. Because consistency in holding all participants to the same administrative and competitive standards is vital to the integrity of the College Disc Golf Season, because many violations lead to unfair advantages in competition, and because it is often difficult to determine intent, guideline violations will result in serious repercussions. Such repercussions will provide an incentive for players and teams to understand the guidelines fully, follow the guidelines carefully, and avoid intended or unintended violations in the future.
2. Competing without CDG memberships – if a team chooses to compete with team members that are not members, they will be disqualified from the current season’s National Championship and DI for the next season. Any bids they earn will be vacated and the bids will be awarded to the next highest placing team that is eligible.