Search engine for tournies?

[krallbd]

i was just wondering if there is a way to search out tournaments for a specific area, besides on this site.

I want to start playing in a few, but do not see a bunch in my neck of the woods, twin cities area

[scarpfish]

Best way would be to find an online DG forum specific to your state or local area. Some areas are better than this than others. The second option would be the PDGA tournament calendar, but that limits you to PDGA events.

Offline, check the bulletin boards at courses in the area or at stores that sell DG equipment.

[CaptainAnhyzer]

Local club message board/website or for PDGA events, go to: http://www.pdga.com/tour-schedule

[Ryan P.]

I would just ask on here. Tell people about where you live and how far you are willing to go. They will know the events better than PDGA's site. They'll have info about unsanctioned events, weeklys, and anything else that goes on.

[DavidSauls]

On the PDGA website, used "Advanced Search" to narrow down by state or states, and dates.

This is the most comprehensive source for sanctioned events.

Not sure about Minnesota, but South Carolina has a state organization that lists all events, sanctioned or non-sanctioned.

Many local clubs have good listings of sanctioned, non-sanctioned, & local minis.

[jb22384]

this may be a dumb question, but can anyone tell me what all the tournament classifications mean and what the difference b/t them are?

[DavidSauls]

Generally speaking, from top to bottom

Majors---speaks for itself. The biggest events, including World Championships.

NT---"National Tour"---a series of events geared for the top players to tour.

A---formerly, and sometimes still, called "Supertour". Pretty big local/regional events.

B---an intermediate level between A & C.

C---the lowest level of events. Which is not to say some aren't pretty good.

X---experimental, so that XC is a C-tier played under different rules or format.

There are standards these tournaments are supposed to meet. C-tiers pay out roughly the same as the entry fees they take in. B-tiers must add $500 to the Pro purse. A-tiers must add even more ($2500?). There are also standards for players packages; C-tiers aren't required to give one; B-tiers must give at least $10 players package to Ams; C-tier, $25. There are expected attendance requirements and number of holes, which increase with the higher tiers. You must be a PDGA member to play Majors, NT, or A.

There are less important differences, to you as a player; the higher tiers must pay more to the PDGA for sanctioning, there are distance requirements (you can't hold another sanctioned tournament within so many miles of an A-tier, etc.), and other things.

Vaguely speaking, expect the higher tiers to have more people, more payouts, higher entry fees, and for the C-tiers to be smaller. There are, of course, tons of exceptions.

And don't let me mislead you---C-tiers are worth playing, they just don't have to meet the higher standards of the higher tiers.

[jb22384]

thank you, that was really helpful. considering ive never played a tournament (but im really hoping to play in one soon), do you know if all the different tiers have recreational divisions?

[scarpfish]

do you know if all the different tiers have recreational divisions?
This is a decision that is usually left to the tournament director's discretion. You would have to see an entry fee schedule for the tournament to find out.

[DavidSauls]

Yes, it's tourney-by-tourney on the Rec division (or any other).

Majors and NTs won't have it. Some A-tiers, or B-tiers in heavy demand, may not have it. I'd guess at least 80% of B-tiers and virtually all C-tiers would offer Rec division, unless there is a very specific reason not to. (We run a match-play, single-elimination bracket tournament with only 2 divisions, Pro & Am, due to the odd format).

The rule is a TD will provide a division if there are 3 or more entrants, unless in the tournament notice the divisions are restricted.

[NatiBuckeye]

are you sure that A tiers dont offer the 10$ non pdga member fee?

[XxInnovaxX]

Generally speaking, from top to bottom

Majors---speaks for itself. The biggest events, including World Championships.

NT---"National Tour"---a series of events geared for the top players to tour.

A---formerly, and sometimes still, called "Supertour". Pretty big local/regional events.

B---an intermediate level between A & C.

C---the lowest level of events. Which is not to say some aren't pretty good.

X---experimental, so that XC is a C-tier played under different rules or format.

There are standards these tournaments are supposed to meet. C-tiers pay out roughly the same as the entry fees they take in. B-tiers must add $500 to the Pro purse. A-tiers must add even more ($2500?). There are also standards for players packages; C-tiers aren't required to give one; B-tiers must give at least $10 players package to Ams; C-tier, $25. There are expected attendance requirements and number of holes, which increase with the higher tiers. You must be a PDGA member to play Majors, NT, or A.

There are less important differences, to you as a player; the higher tiers must pay more to the PDGA for sanctioning, there are distance requirements (you can't hold another sanctioned tournament within so many miles of an A-tier, etc.), and other things.

Vaguely speaking, expect the higher tiers to have more people, more payouts, higher entry fees, and for the C-tiers to be smaller. There are, of course, tons of exceptions.

And don't let me mislead you---C-tiers are worth playing, they just don't have to meet the higher standards of the higher tiers.

i always wondered the difference in A, B, and C tiers was....i vaguely had an idea but thatnks for clarifiying everything

[DavidSauls]

are you sure that A tiers dont offer the 10$ non pdga member fee?

Yes.

[scarpfish]

are you sure that A tiers dont offer the 10$ non pdga member fee?
There are a few "split tier" A/B tournaments here and there, the B part usually applying to Am players or just the lower Am divisions, since players in those divisions are less likely to be PDGA members. This way the those players can just pay the $10 fee, and the TD can increase his volume. Here's one such example.

http://www.pdga.com/tournament-results?TournID=8504#Open

In some other cases, a TD will do the same thing by technically running two concurrent tournaments (I would assume with two separate sanctioning agreements) although functionally they are the same event. One being an A-tier for the big guns, the other being a B-tier for the lesser skilled Am players. This is what we did for our Supertour earlier this year. Again, it allows non-PDGA players to play in the lower divisions.

http://www.pdga.com/tournament-results?TournID=8507
http://www.pdga.com/tournament-results?TournID=8988