New Divisions

As the sport of disc golf continues to grow, so must the way in which it is organized. One of the changes we saw in 2017 was the debut of a dedicated World Championships event for professional age-based divisions and, as many of you already know, we'll see our junior divisions getting their own dedicated World Championships event in 2018. So we're excited to announce another change for 2018 that affects players of all age-based divisions and introduces a couple of new divisions as well.

Starting in 2018, the Professional Disc Golf Association will be adding two new age-based competition divisions for both Professional and Amateur class players. These new divisions will split the previous Grandmasters and Senior Grandmasters age-based divisions into a total of four divisions with minimum PDGA competition ages of 50, 55, 60, and 65. These age breaks are being implemented to better align the PDGA with physiological age breaks used in other sports, including the National Senior Games, which uses a system of divisions starting at age 50 in 5-year increments.

New Division Codes/Names

So what do we call these new divisions? Senior Masters? Baby Grandmasters? Super Grandmasters? Junior Legends? We came to realize that our current naming convention simply doesn't work. In fact, after months of consideration, the decision was made to scrap it almost entirely and go with something that can grow with the sport while retaining the word "masters" for historical reasons.

For the division code, the first character denotes whether the division is a female-only division (F) or a mixed division (M) where both males and females may play. The second character denotes whether the division is an Amateur or Professional class division (A or P). The remaining two characters denote the minimum PDGA competition age for the adult divisions and the maximum PDGA competition age for the junior divisions. As for as the division names, all adult age-based divisions will now be referred to as Masters (plus the appropriate minimum competion age) instead of the eclectic patchwork of names we've used in the past. No more confusion over what age qualifies for Senior Legends! 

One last minor change to note is that the Junior Boys divisions are now simply called the Junior divisions. The word "Boys" has been dropped because all of the Junior divisions are considered Mixed divisions; e.g. MJ18 division code stands for Mixed Junior with a maximum PDGA competition age of 18. 

Amateur Adult Age-Based Divisions

Women Only

Professional Adult Age-Based Divisions

Women Only

Junior Age-Based Divisions

Girls Only

Determining your PDGA Competition Age

As always, a player’s PDGA competition age is determined by just their birth year, not their full birthdate. 

Example 1 - Adult Age-Based Divisions

A male amateur player is born in October of 1963. In October of 2018, he will turn 55 years old. This means that for the entire calendar year of 2018 he is eligible to compete in the Masters 55+ division (MA55 = Mixed Amateur, minimum PDGA competition age of 55), despite not actually turning 55 until October.

Example 2 - Junior Age-Based Divisions

A female junior player is born in December of 2002. In December of 2018, she will turn 16 years old. This means that for the entire calendar year of 2018 she can only compete in either the Junior Girls ≤18 (FJ18 = Female Junior, maximum PDGA competition age of 18) or the Junior ≤18 (MJ18 = Mixed Junior, maximum PDGA competition age of 18) divisions, as 2018 means that her PDGA competition age has now surpassed the maximum for the Junior Girls ≤15 (FJ15 = Female Junior, maximum PDGA competition age of 15) or the Junior ≤15 division (MJ15 = Mixed Junior, maximum PDGA competition age of 15).

Q & A

Won't this make it harder to fill up the Masters and Grandmasters divisions?

The answer depends on the event of course. Some events struggle to fill the current Masters and/or Grandmasters divisions, it's true. But not all of them. With the number of events, the number of PDGA members, and the number of players competing in each event all growing at a rapid pace, now is the time to implement the changes needed for a better, more organized future.

Although the PDGA recommends that Tournament Directors (TDs) offer all age-based divisions at their events, we understand that some events are designed for a specific demographic (women, juniors, etc.) and/or that some divisions offered may not reach the minimum of four players needed for TDs to hold that division. 

It's important to note that, if there are less than four players for an offered division, whether or not that division will be eligible for the event comes down to the TDs discretion. If the TD chooses not to allow the division, he/she must follow-up with the players to see which division they would prefer to be moved into, or if they would simply prefer to not compete at all and receive a full refund instead.

Does this change the way "playing up" (or "down") a division has always worked?

No. Players may still choose to compete in any division that they are eligible for. For example, a male amateur with a PDGA competition age of 60 can choose to compete in MA60, MA55, MA50, or MA40, not to mention the equivalent professional adult age-based divisions of MP60, MP55, MP50, and MP40. This same male amateur player could also choose to compete in any of the non-age-based amateur divisions for which he is eligible for based on his PDGA Player Rating (e.g. Novice, Recreational, Intermediate, Advanced). 

How does this affect 2018 Am Worlds and 2018 Pro Masters Worlds Invites?

The 55 and 65 age-based divisions will NOT be offered at 2018 Am Worlds or 2018 Pro Masters Worlds. The divisions offered at 2018 Am Worlds and 2018 Pro Masters Worlds will remain based on the original age-breaks from the 2017 season. Starting in 2018, PDGA members will earn points towards invites in those divisions which will then be offered at the 2019 Am Worlds and 2019 Pro Masters Worlds.