Junior disc golf is the pipeline for the next decade of the sport. Done right, a junior tournament is a great Saturday for families. Done wrong, it's a group chat apocalypse. Here's the 2026 playbook.
Age divisions by year of birth
Junior divisions are by age at the end of the year: U19, U15, U12, U10, U8. Publish the year-of-birth cutoff so parents know which division their kid belongs in before they register.
Parent-first registration
Parents register juniors, not the other way around. Collect junior PDGA number, parent name and cell, emergency contact, and photo consent in a single form.
Short tees by division
U19 plays Gold tees, U15 plays Blue or White, U12 plays Red or Kids tees, U8 plays in a modified format (9 holes, short tees, no penalty strokes). Publish the tee assignments in advance.
Parent SMS is mandatory
Parents don't check websites. Every round assignment, tee time, weather update, and finish notification goes by SMS. 1,000 SMS credits covers a 40-junior event with room to spare.
Payouts: merch only for juniors
PDGA rules require junior payouts to be merch-only (discs, bags, apparel, gift certificates). Never hand a junior cash. Your platform should generate the merch-voucher payout sheet automatically.
Safety and weather
Juniors come off the course at the first sign of lightning. Your weather-hold protocol should include an SMS to parents and a designated shelter location on the scorecard.
Why junior TDs use the Sports Tier
The Sports Tier handles PDGA integration, parent SMS, merch payouts, and photo consent in one system. $59/mo is less than the cost of one set of replacement discs.
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.