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Wednesday night league at the local course: twenty players, a few dollars into the ace pot, cards handed out, and a shotgun start at 6 p.m. A week later, one of them plays her first sanctioned tournament and gets a PDGA rating in the mail. A few years on, she’s watching the pros battle on the Disc Golf Network and wondering how far up the ladder she could go. This page maps that ladder: the PDGA, how PDGA ratings and divisions work, the pro tour and Majors, college disc golf, and the local clubs and leagues where almost everyone starts.
New to the sport? Our disc golf hub explains the game, and the rules page covers what you need for your first event.
The PDGA: the sport’s governing body
The Professional Disc Golf Association was founded in 1976 by “Steady” Ed Headrick, the father of disc golf, who sold the first lifetime memberships for $10 at tournaments. Despite the name, it governs the whole sport, pros and amateurs alike. It writes the Official Rules of Disc Golf and the Competition Manual, approves discs and baskets for play, keeps a course directory with more than 11,000 entries, and sanctions more than 10,000 events a year for over 108,000 active members. Its headquarters, the International Disc Golf Center in Columbia County, Georgia, also houses the Disc Golf Hall of Fame and three championship courses open to everyone.
Internationally, the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) governs all flying disc sports, including disc golf and ultimate (see our ultimate frisbee guide). It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, though disc golf is not on the Olympic program. The PDGA also runs PDGA Europe, PDGA Canada and an international program that helps bring the sport to new countries.
PDGA ratings, explained
Your PDGA player rating compares your average tournament rounds with the difficulty of the courses you played. A player who averages exactly the course’s scratch score is rated 1000, a “scratch player”; better than that and you’re over 1000. Every round in a sanctioned event or sanctioned league counts, your first rating can be calculated after a single round, and only current members’ ratings are published. Since 2002, ratings have been used to keep amateurs in fair divisions, so a strong player can’t win trophies by “sandbagging” in a lower one. It’s similar in spirit to a golf handicap (see our golf leagues page), but it measures your level rather than giving you strokes.
PDGA divisions
Pros play for cash; amateurs and juniors play for trophies and prizes. Women can play in women’s divisions or in the mixed divisions. The main divisions, from the PDGA’s current divisions table:
| Division | Who it’s for | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| MPO (Mixed Pro Open) | Open pro division, all ages and genders | 970+ suggested |
| FPO (Women’s Pro Open) | Open women’s pro division | 875+ suggested |
| MA1 / MA2 / MA3 / MA4 | Mixed amateur, advanced to novice | MA2 under 935, MA3 under 900, MA4 under 850 |
| FA1 / FA2 / FA3 / FA4 | Women’s amateur, advanced to novice | FA2 under 825, FA3 under 775, FA4 under 725 |
| Masters (MP40, MA50, FP60 and so on) | Pro and amateur age divisions from 40+ to 80+ | Varies by division |
| Juniors (MJ18 to MJ06, FJ18 to FJ06) | Age 18 and under down to 6 and under, mixed and girls’ | Any |
| Collegiate (MC1–MC3, FC1–FC3) and Scholastic (varsity, JV) | College and school team events | Any |
Age divisions go by the year you turn that age: if you turn 40 in October, you’re eligible for 40+ divisions all year. Points earned in sanctioned events lead to invitations to the PDGA World Championships: Pro Worlds (invites based on rating for MPO and FPO) and the Amateur, Masters and Junior Worlds (based on points).
Tournament tiers
- C-tier: local, often one-day events and the usual first tournament. PDGA members pay $15 less than non-members at C-tiers in the US and Canada.
- B-tier and A-tier: bigger regional events; the PDGA approved 262 A-tiers for 2026 in the US and Canada.
- Elite Series: the pro tour events for MPO and FPO (the Disc Golf Pro Tour).
- Majors: the PDGA’s premier championships, including the five Pro Majors and the Amateur, Masters and Junior World Championships.
The Disc Golf Pro Tour and the Majors
The Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) runs the PDGA Elite Series. As of the 2026 season it has 18 Elite Series events plus the five PDGA Pro Majors, 23 stops from February to October, starting at the Supreme Flight Open in Brooksville, Florida. Players earn World Standings points: 150 for winning a standard event, 200 at DGPT+ events, 250 in the playoffs and 300 at a Major. The season ends with the DGPT Championship, renamed the DGPT Powerball Cup in 2026. Coverage runs on the Disc Golf Network and JomezPro, which added its own JomezPro Series of events in 2026, and there’s a separate DGPT Europe season.
| 2026 PDGA Major | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| PDGA Champions Cup | Bedford County / Lynchburg, Virginia | April 9–12 |
| European Open | Tallinn, Estonia | June 18–21 |
| U.S. Women’s Disc Golf Championship | Salt Lake City, Utah | July 16–19 |
| PDGA Professional World Championships | Milford, Michigan (Kensington Metropark) | August 26–30 |
| U.S. Disc Golf Championship | Rock Hill, South Carolina | October 8–11 |
| PDGA Amateur World Championships | Buffalo / Niagara area, New York | 2026 |
| PDGA Junior World Championships | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | July 2026 |
Pro Worlds goes to Portland, Oregon, in 2027 and Amateur Worlds to Huntsville, Alabama. Since 2024 the PDGA has also published Official Disc Golf World Rankings, built with Mark Broadie, a developer of golf’s world ranking formula; they weigh results over the previous 104 weeks, with recent events and Majors counting most.
Amateur tours
Amateurs have their own big stages. Beyond Amateur Worlds, the National Amateur Disc Golf Tour (NADGT) runs more than 220 qualifying events a year in the US and Canada, leading to the week-long North American Disc Golf Championships in Austin, Texas, and offers partial pro tour cards to top MA1 and FA1 players ready to turn pro.
College disc golf
College disc golf is club-based, not NCAA. College Disc Golf runs local conference events, regional qualifiers where teams earn bids, a summer series and the College Disc Golf National Championships each spring. The 2026 Nationals were April 8–11 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on five courses including Winthrop University, with Division 1, 2 and 3 team divisions and women’s Division 1. If your school has no team, the usual route is to start a student club and register it. High school players have PDGA scholastic divisions and state championships; see our youth disc golf guide.
Local clubs and leagues
This is where most disc golfers live. Local clubs maintain courses, install baskets and run weekly leagues and C-tiers. Clubs in the PDGA Clubs Program (US and Canada) must run at least one sanctioned event a year and help look after at least one course, and their members save $5 on PDGA membership.
A PDGA-sanctioned league runs 6–10 weeks with one singles round a week on the same course. It costs the club $25 to sanction plus a $1 fee per player per round, half of which stays with the club for things like new baskets. You don’t have to play every week, and members get an official rating from each league round, which helps you pick the right tournament division. Many clubs also run unsanctioned doubles and handicap leagues for newer players. To find one, check your local course’s club, UDisc or Disc Golf Scene.
Heading to your first league or tournament? Bring a bag that holds your discs plus water and a snack, a reliable midrange, and if you want to practice putting at home, a portable basket. Three picks: the Dynamic Discs Trooper backpack (holds 18+ discs, about $40 in October 2026), the Discraft Z Buzzz midrange (flight numbers 5, 4, -1, 1) and the Innova DISCatcher Traveler (15 pounds with a tote bag). Tournament days are long, so read our round day and tournament day page and recovery page too.
Dynamic Discs Trooper Backpack
- Holds 18+ discs
- Padded shoulder straps
- Water bottle holder
Discraft Z Buzzz Midrange
- Speed 5, glide 4, turn -1, fade 1
- Durable Z plastic
- 175-176 g
Innova DISCatcher Traveler
- 12 steel chains
- 15 lb with tote bag
- Five-leg base with stakes
Disc golf leagues and associations FAQs
Do I need to be a PDGA member to play a tournament?
Not for most local events: many sanctioned tournaments let non-members play (sometimes for a small extra fee), but members pay $15 less at C-tiers in the US and Canada and get an official, published rating. The World Championships require current membership.
How do I get a PDGA rating?
Play one round in a PDGA-sanctioned tournament or sanctioned league as a current member. Your first rating can be calculated from that single round and appears on your profile at the next ratings update.
What do MPO and FPO mean?
MPO is Mixed Pro Open, the open professional division anyone can enter; FPO is Women’s Pro Open. They are the divisions you see on the Disc Golf Pro Tour broadcasts.
Which amateur division should I play?
Go by your rating. New players usually start in MA4 or FA4 (or the lowest division offered), then move up as their rating rises. Age divisions (40+ and up) and junior divisions are options too.
Is disc golf in the Olympics?
No. The World Flying Disc Federation, which governs disc golf and ultimate internationally, is recognized by the IOC, but disc golf isn’t an Olympic event. The sport’s biggest stages are the PDGA Majors and World Championships.