A disc golf course can look great on a sunny Tuesday and completely fall apart at a Saturday tournament. Here's the readiness checklist to host a PDGA-sanctioned event.
Tee pads
Concrete tee pads at every hole, ideally with Gold, Blue, White, and Red markers visible from the tee. Rubber or turf tees are acceptable at C-tiers if maintained. No dirt tees at sanctioned events.
Tee signs and hole maps
Every hole needs a permanent tee sign with: hole number, par, distance by tee position, OB markings, and a clear hole map. A tournament with handwritten hole signs is a red flag for repeat players.
Multiple pin positions
Short and long pin positions on every hole give you schedule flexibility and a reason to host 2-round events. Publish pin positions per round so players know what they're walking into.
OB definition
OB (out-of-bounds) must be defined by permanent markers - white lines on trees, OB stakes, or clearly marked natural boundaries. Ad-hoc "this is OB today" decisions lose credibility instantly.
Player flow and parking
Holes 1, 10, and the practice basket should all be within a 2-minute walk of parking and the players' meeting location. If you have a shotgun start, every hole needs vehicle or cart access for ranger patrol.
Water, restrooms, and shelter
Portable toilets on every 6 holes. Water stations on every 9 holes. A shelter location for weather holds marked on the hole map.
Running the tournament
A tournament-ready course plus a platform like SignUpGo's Sports Tier is the cleanest way to run a PDGA event. $59/mo handles registration, scorecards, payouts, SMS, and merchandise in one system.
Run your Ultimate or Disc Golf tournament on the Sports Tier
SignUpGo's Sports Tier ($59/mo) is built for TDs and league coordinators running tournaments where spreadsheets fall apart. You get unlimited tournaments, 5 user seats, 1,000 messaging credits for round-by-round SMS, pool play & bracket automation for Ultimate, stroke-play division scoring for Disc Golf, captain or group score entry, team or individual registration, entry fees, and merch sales - all in one dashboard.
- Unlimited brackets, round-robin, and multi-round formats across fields or courses
- SMS alerts the moment a round is posted, a tee time shifts, or a weather hold drops
- Score submission via captain tokens (Ultimate) or group scorecards (Disc Golf)
- Custom branding so players see your club or series, not ours
Ready to ditch the paper scorecards and spreadsheets? Start with the Sports Tier or compare all plans. You can also try the tournament builder in under two minutes.