stevomasten
Apr 15 2007, 08:39 PM
some are telling me to go by my rating[867] and one organizer is saying move up[after winning twice] ?

Ethan_Wellin
Apr 15 2007, 09:14 PM
rating is the best way to do it, as the PDGA establishes rating guidlines (and maximums in some cases) for divisions

however, you will improve faster by playing in tournaments against better competition, so if you aren't just in it to win you might play up even before you exceed the cutoff

the top line for intermediate Ams is 915, so I guess thats your call. (maybe I'm not much help)

bcary93
Apr 15 2007, 09:26 PM
some are telling me to go by my rating[867] and one organizer is saying move up[after winning twice] ?



Sometimes your "official" rating will lag behind your current playing level especially if you're getting better quickly. If you're consistently winning in Intermediate or consistently playing above the 915 Intermediate cutoff some people will suggest you ought to move up.

When your official rating is above 915 (or maybe it's actually 915 or higher) then you'll have to move up. Until it's official it's up to you, but sometimes sportsmanship suggests you move up.

cornhuskers9495
Apr 15 2007, 11:33 PM
If your having to ask, It's time NOW!!!

Practice your short putts...

bruce_brakel
Apr 16 2007, 01:04 AM
some are telling me to go by my rating[867] and one organizer is saying move up[after winning twice] ?

I played Rec twice, won once, and had to move up under local rules. Then I spent the next seven years getting pounded in intermediate and am masters because I have no natural athletic inclination.

You should play where ever you are going to have the most fun. Play disc golf for fun and you'll have more fun than the guy who isn't. :D That might mean move up or it might mean stay down.

I'm moving up this year to advanced from advanced master. But if isn't fun, I'll check out pro master.

gnduke
Apr 16 2007, 11:33 AM
I would keep an eye on the round ratings, and when I start throwing rounds above the next break, then it is time to start considering moving up. If you want to get better quicker and have some time to dedicate to practice, the sooner you can move up and keep up, the better it will be.

Apr 16 2007, 12:18 PM
Move up when you get sick and tired of playing with the same 20 people at every event you go to. True story. Last year @ the Shreveport Open, my first round, I played with 3 locals from my home course. We drove 3 1/2 hours to play with the same people we play with every week.. Very disappointed . That has not happened since I moved up. Well worth it ..

Mikew
Apr 16 2007, 04:33 PM
Practice your short putts...



for your rating, this is the truth!
When I was just starting to play tourneys in '04 I was given advice from an Open player. He said, if you make everything inside of 20', you will win. For Rec and Int, this couldn't be more true. Forget putting from 30'+ while practicing, at least not much. Concentrate on those close ones. I still miss at least 1 from inside 15' each round :confused:. When that stops, I'll be ready to move up too.
But, it all depends on what you want to do, don't do it because of pressure!

rhett
Apr 16 2007, 07:00 PM
Ratings should be your guide. BUT.....

If you find yourself on the leadercard a lot when you are not playing well, and you have a win or two, you should probably move up. You know when you're playing well or not. Being on the leadercard when I'm not playing well for me is a bad sign. It doesn't happen for me in Advanced, it happened a lot in Adv Masters.

If you find yourself "merching" when you played like crap, it's time to move up. Again, you know if you are playing well for or if you are playing like crap for you. You shouldn't merch/cash when you play like crap unless you're super skilled and you're playing in Open and playing like crap for you still cashes. Otherwise that's a sure sign you should move up.

grateful24655
Apr 16 2007, 08:55 PM
my first tourney was the 04 Azalea, after I had played casually since 01. I finished 2nd in intermediate. Definite sign for me to move up. I played pretty consistant golf for two years, but still didn't feel like I was getting to the pro level. Developed a better all around game and a confident putt for my style, and won my first adv tourney last summer. After that I felt that I could compete. I went to am worlds and was in the top 15 of A pool until the semis. Lost focus after that and finished pretty low. Even so the experice I got from worlds really made me more confident and driven, so I decided I should move up, it felt right for me. That's all. When you think that your becoming a more consistant golfer and that you could compete in a higher division, step up and try it out. Playing with more skilled golfers will help you develop your game. Good luck man, hope you can figure out the right path for yourself.

stevomasten
Apr 17 2007, 09:07 AM
thank you all for your inputt

jrsnapp
Apr 18 2007, 11:01 AM
Ratings should be your guide. BUT.....

If you find yourself on the leadercard a lot when you are not playing well, and you have a win or two, you should probably move up. You know when you're playing well or not. Being on the leadercard when I'm not playing well for me is a bad sign.



I've only been playing Disc Golf for about ten months. I joined the PDGA in Feb and have played in 4 tourney's as an Intermediate. In the order that I played them, I have a 4th, 10th, 2nd and 1st. I've had rounds as high as 946 and some as low as 860. I've been on the leader card 3 out of the 4 tourneys I've played. I've been fortunate to play often with highly skilled players in casual rounds and I attribute that to a major portion of my success. However, My last rating update put me at 905 which is not bad for my first rating, but after figuring roughly what my next rating will be it would be close to the same. I do find though that I feel that I am not playing my best at certain times during rounds at tourneys.

Here's the question: If I truly want to get better, improve my skills, strive to be consistent and competitive, should I move up and play against a higher skilled golfers or stay down until I am my game is consistent then move up?

I enjoy playing with my friends in intermediate and that is a big part of the game, but I truly want to be the best I can be in this sport! Thanks in advance for the input!

eddie_ogburn
Apr 18 2007, 11:45 AM
Here's the question: If I truly want to get better, improve my skills, strive to be consistent and competitive, should I move up and play against a higher skilled golfers or stay down until I am my game is consistent then move up?



It's time to move up snapp. You know it but you're scared you wont be competitive in advanced. I think you'll be surprised. There are some really skilled ams in this area that you could learn a lot from and they aren't haning out in the beginners division. Good luck.

tyson99duke
Apr 18 2007, 12:01 PM
Snapp,

Give it time. I have played a few tourneys as an advanced and done okay, but I have also blown up. I want to make sure all my skills are there and figure out my game before I move up. Some rounds I shot 49s and then there is the 86 at Yadkin in the wind for 24 holes!? I am going to take some time over the next few months to learn what disc work for me, and what doesn't (my bag is practically empty) before moving on. But I also think NC has some of the most competitive intermediates around, our ratings are lower because the greats play in our tournaments. If you and I were to go advance we would have the highest PDGA numbers, why? Because everyone else in advanced has learned there game. I have yet to play with you, but it will not be long till we are on the lead card together (if you stick around). If you ask me I would say play your rating, if you want to move up do it on a local course that your are familiar with (learned my lesson at Crosstown this year).

I look forward to playing with you soon!
Tyson

willkuper
Apr 18 2007, 12:02 PM
one organizer is saying move up[after winning twice] ?



not sure what division you play in but if you won twice in intermediate or below you should move up to the next division, at least give it a try at your next event. if you dont think you are competitive or you aren't having fun in the higher division you can always move back down.

if you want to get better move up, if that is not a concern do whatever is the most fun.

cornhuskers9495
Apr 18 2007, 12:19 PM
if you want to get better move up



You learn faster by playing with better skilled players...

bruce_brakel
Apr 18 2007, 12:25 PM
I've never seen any evidence for the often repeated maxim that you will improve faster if you play up. My anecdotal experience seems to suggest the opposite. The donors who constantly get their asterisks kicked get discouraged and don't seem to improve much at all, from what I've seen.

I think being in the leader group and competing for a trophy in the last round is more motivating than being on the next to last card trying not to finish DFL. You might be motivated differently.

c_trotter
Apr 18 2007, 12:44 PM
I, for the most par, agree that playing with better players will help you improve. I believe you will not know what is really possible until you see it done by the best.

However, I do believe that in this game of disc golf we have forgotten the value of learning how to win. I was pretty much forced to move up after I won 2 local tourneys in the same year. I won both by landslide. As as am, I never felt the pressure of trying to win a tourney with people on my heels. I think that if I had spent another 6 mos. to a year playing advanced, I would have gained a lot of valuable leading and winning experience. I think that would have helped me in a few tourneys earlier in my pro career.

gnduke
Apr 18 2007, 01:18 PM
I think that if you are rated at 905 and are dominating the division, then everyone else is playing in the wrong division.

You can hold the line and play where you should according the PDGA and your ratings, or you can go with the local flow and play where the other 900ish players are playing.

I agree that playing with better players will help you to improve, but only as long as you are close enough in skill to be somewhat competitive with the other players in that division. You need to feel challenged, but not to the point of futility.

PirateDiscGolf
Apr 18 2007, 01:31 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is if you will be playing a different course set up as an Adv player... I know of a particular layout where PRO/ADV usually play long tees and long baskets, INT and down play Short/Short... this can make a big difference if a player's long game hasn't developed.

Also don't forget that there is no upper limit to Adv, so in theory you could be competing against 1000 rated players if they just don't want to go pro.

rhett
Apr 18 2007, 03:46 PM
I think that if you are rated at 905 and are dominating the division, then everyone else is playing in the wrong division.


Agreed.

Also, if you are rated 905 and improving you will quickly hit 915 and have to move up anyway. You could gain some valuable experience of the kind mentioned by lvdiscgolf between now and the June ratings update that you might never sniff again in a long while. Taking a small lead into Sunday's final round and defending it can really build confidence and give you a sense of what it takes in that situation, just as giving that lead away and dropping out of the trophies can help you identify weaknesses in your game to work on.

bruce_brakel
Apr 18 2007, 04:05 PM
some are telling me to go by my rating[867] and one organizer is saying move up[after winning twice] ?

If you look at Michigan stats, very few players are playing up anymore. At the Northern Waters opener it was about one per division. At the Lumberjack in a field of 57 Advanced players there were about a dozen Intermediates and they finished in the bottom 15 spots. It used to be in Michigan that to prize in Advanced all you had to do was beat the Intermediates who were playing up.

You shouldn't feel any peer pressure to move up. Most of your peers aren't. And the ones that are, they're the losers. Never accept peer pressure from a loser. :D

tyson99duke
Apr 18 2007, 04:26 PM
You shouldn't feel any peer pressure to move up. Most of your peers aren't. And the ones that are, they're the losers. Never accept peer pressure from a loser. :D



Trust me, losing sucks...I hope you play with us till June, then reevaluate. There are several good tourneys between now and then. But, I am thinking about playing up for the one dayers (Yadkin and Greensboro) - These are in June, maybe we could both make the move?

MTL21676
Apr 18 2007, 04:51 PM
An article a wrote a few years back about when I knew it was right to go from adv. to open....


"I tell ya what Mike, I just didn't have it today. Too many missed putts and other crap. Oh, let's not forget when I threw in the water twice on the stupid short hole. You know, number 8. The one where all you gotta do is throw a 200 foot hyzer to get over the water."

I will never forget that conversation. It was about 11:30 Saturday night at the hotel bar with a buddy of mine, Mike Nelson. I hardly ever drink at a tournament, but I was getting drunk that night. The whole tournament had been a nightmare. I was supposed to split a hotel with two other guys. I reserved the hotel on my credit card and after the cancellation date had passed, the two guys backed out. Also, this tournament was in Charleston, SC. Charleston is about 5 and half hours from Greenville NC, where I was living for school. I didn't want to make this drive alone, so I found someone to go with me. He backed out. So I headed out early Friday morning by myself going to a hotel with two beds all for me.

Everything was going wrong. I told myself as long as you play good this weekend and pick up the win (I was playing advanced at the time) that all would be cured. It's like if a team is having all kinds of problems, and they start winning, the problem is fixed. In sports, winning cures all. So I woke up Saturday morning and headed out to the course. Fast forward to the conversation at the bar. The next morning we headed out to another course. This course had lots of birdie opportunities, but lots of trouble as well. My score of 54 didn't feel all that good, mainly because of how poorly I putted, but it moved up into third place. After the fourth round, Mike came up to me. "How'd you ended up today? You didn't sound too happy last night."

It was this moment when I realized what many North Carolina golfers had been telling me. You see, before the Charleston tournament, I had been playing the best golf of my life. I had won a supertour, cashed and denied in a B tier in open, and won a different B tier by 6. Jason "cuTT" Land had recently moved up to pro full time. We were talking about him moving up and why he did it. I figured it was because he had a lot of wins and had won the prized possession of all North Carolina Amateurs, the North Carolina Point Series Championship. He said, "I didn't really matter that I won this or won that, but it was just a feeling you get. When you get it, you will know it. It's really hard to explain. But when you get it, you know you are ready to move up." I finally felt it when Mike came up to me in Charleston.

You see, I had come back and won that tournament by two strokes. I couldn't imagine playing much worse at the tournament, and I still won. I realized the feeling that cuTT had talked about. It wasn't when you play your best and win by five. It wasn't when you play horrible and finish 5th (both of which I had done in advanced). That feeling comes when you play horrible and win. Although winning is great, when you really feel like you didn't earn it, the feeling sucks. I really think that this is a feeling that everyone has had at one point his or her career in their respective division. When you get this feeling, it's time, move up. So my weekend from hell turned out to be a good one. Brian "Mad Dog" McRee was looking for a roommate at the hotel and crashed with me. The long drive by myself sucked, but the ride back was memorable. I spent that entire time with no music on. I just sat there and thought. I was finally realizing the message the cuTT had told me. I was realizing that my amateur career was ready to come to an end. Don't play this game for the discs, the prizes, or the money. Play it for a moment that only driving 5 hours on 95 alone can provide. A feeling of accomplishing a goal you set for yourself when you were 13. The feeling that shows you are the best in the your area, ready for new goals, new challenges, and new experiences.

TheGatewayKid
Apr 18 2007, 05:05 PM
before ever moving up in divisions, wait for a sign from god. once that happens, you will be the ultimate player.

Jeff_LaG
Apr 18 2007, 05:23 PM
Nice post, Robert. I know exactly what you are talking about. Although I never won a PDGA-sanctioned tournament as an advanced player, there were many times in 2001 and 2002 that I would play horribly by my own standards and still finish in the top five. I played in the Mid-Atlantic AM Championships at Seneca Creek DGC, which I considered the premier amateur tournament on the East Coast at that time (this was long before Bowling Green) and finished 5th in 2001 and 2nd in 2002 and decided it was no longer appropriate to play Advanced. The local club paid my PDGA pro membership in 2003 which was a sweet prize! :cool:

rhett
Apr 18 2007, 06:08 PM
before ever moving up in divisions, wait for a sign from god. once that happens, you will be the ultimate player.


Hey, this is PDGA Disc Golf DISCussion. Save that for the UPA website! :)

bruce_brakel
Apr 18 2007, 08:52 PM
There's a lot of truth in this. I played horrible and won in the Am Master division last year at Aurora. I had the series points thing taken care of so I played my last few tournaments in Advanced and Pro Master to see what would be more fun.

Knowing that I'm moving up to a division where I'll just be one of many players trying to play his best and maybe get on the lead card has motivated me to work on a new trick or two. My lunge putt is coming along. I'm really too heavy to think about jumping. I could trigger tsunamis or something. :D

jrsnapp
Apr 20 2007, 09:52 PM
.I agree that playing with better players will help you to improve, but only as long as you are close enough in skill to be somewhat competitive with the other players in that division. You need to feel challenged, but not to the point of futility.



This is kinda how I feel right now. I do want to play against more skilled players and I know I'll probably won't have a choice soon. The things that keeps jumping out at me is that I'm not bored where I am at. Yes, I've been fortunate to do well, but it hasn't been easy by any means. I am still having to focus, play smart and the big thing is I am still enjoying the competition! I know the time will come to move up and I will embrace it and go at it full tilt, but I feel there are still things that I need to learn and experience that will make me an even better advanced golfer when it is time! Thanks to all for your responses! You gave me a lot of different perspectives to look at and I thank you!

otimechamp
Apr 23 2007, 08:42 AM
Stay INT until you win one or two more. Get you rating up. If you are not confident yet stay where you are!

Greg_R
Apr 24 2007, 07:38 PM
If you are winning Intermediate then you will likely be placing in Advanced with the same score (and get a higher payout).

pbmille3
Apr 24 2007, 10:01 PM
If you are winning Intermediate then you will likely be placing in Advanced with the same score (and get a higher payout).



Not in North Carolina, lol

MTL21676
Apr 25 2007, 09:13 AM
If you are winning Intermediate then you will likely be placing in Advanced with the same score (and get a higher payout).



Not in North Carolina, lol




ding ding ding ding

sillycybe
Apr 25 2007, 09:59 AM
I wish there was still an INT Master division... /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

flyingplastic23
May 30 2007, 11:39 AM
I decided I should move up when I played pro this weekend and shot 90 points above my rating. I have a tendency to play to the level of my competition. by trying to keep up with the pros instead of trying to run away with the advanced division has produced the best golf I have ever played. Cant accept cash until after am worlds tho. Playing up is the best thing i have done for myself, This year I have played in four different divisions, int men, adv womens, adv mens, and pro women... Ratings are skewed when you are just starting, I was playing crappy when the last ratings came out, I am not playing that kind golf anymore.

MOVE UP!

kenmorefield
Jun 23 2007, 10:20 PM
You should move up the first time someone calls you a bagger. Then you should make sure to call everyone who finishes ahead of you a bagger and tell them they should move up.

Remember: if you don't finish last, you're bagging.

sammyshaheen
Jun 27 2007, 10:16 AM
I have had a lot of pro golfers tell me that they never
even won an advanced am tournament. They didn't start
winning until they turned pro.

I will be moving from Inter. to adv. this year. I never won a rec tournament but after moving up in 2006 I would have won every rec. tournament if I played in that division.

I agree with what the one fella was saying about winning or placing even when you play bad. I did this in Lexington, Ky. I thought I had played terrible and I ended up placing and beating a lot of people.

I did not win but the baggers who did could have placed in the top ten of the open division. I played bad but still placed. That tells me I am becoming more consistent.

denny1210
Jun 27 2007, 12:45 PM
You should move up the first time someone calls you a bagger. Then you should make sure to call everyone who finishes ahead of you a bagger and tell them they should move up.

Remember: if you don't finish last, you're bagging.

:D

Liz_Lopez
Jun 27 2007, 10:54 PM
When everyone on the planet calls you a bagger!

rollinghedge
Jun 28 2007, 09:38 AM
Or when you start shooting the same score as Kenny! :D

Boneman
Jun 28 2007, 03:20 PM
Looking at the ratings guide, I see that Am Masters cut off is 915. I've played MANY tournaments where the Am Masters division had many players over this recommended cut off (some at the top of the Advanced cut off). Is this because TD's allow the players to play down ... I'm not sure I understand how the guidelines work, or if they do anything at all.

dfee
Jun 28 2007, 04:03 PM
The cutoffs for advanced and advanced master are only for those players who have cashed in pro divisions, but still want to play down for some tournaments in advanced/advanced master. A player who has not cashed in a pro division is not required to move up beyond advanced no matter what their rating is. It is their choice. The only hard breaks where people are forced to move up are the breaks from rec -> intermediate at 875 and intermediate -> advanced at 915. There may be similar breaks for intermediate women's, but I'm not sure.

Jul 02 2007, 12:23 AM
i have a friend playing intermediate in all pdga events. his new player rating is 942. does he have to move up to advanced or can he keep playing intermediate?

krazyeye
Jul 02 2007, 12:48 AM
915 is the cut off.

cantrell
Jul 10 2007, 04:36 PM
He should move up. I just got my first rating and I'll move up. But, I think I'll be moving back down soon. My rating was only based on two tourneys, one on my home course so that score scewed my rating (945). The reason I think this is the case is becasue a player with a rating of say 965 should be able to beat a 945 player by about two strokes on any given day and on any given course, if I understand the ratings correctly. I play DG with another local with a 967 rating and man he routes me all of the time but he has dozens of rounds that have gone into his rating so I think his is more correct than mine. Anyway, even though I don't think my rating will hold up I will still play up a division until my rating drops below 915, if it does.

JackCO
Jul 25 2007, 02:28 AM
Ratings lag badly. Definitely pay close attention to how you are playing NOW. If cashing in ams is really important to you then play where you are allowed to and will do the best. If you want to eventually take your game to the open level then move up to advanced. The bottom of the advanced card is never good enough to win intermediate anyway. I played int all last year and never placed, but I worked on my game alot and have placed in the top Five of three advanced tournies this year. Playing up will really help your game if your serious.

mikeP
Jul 25 2007, 08:10 AM
He should move up. I just got my first rating and I'll move up. But, I think I'll be moving back down soon. My rating was only based on two tourneys, one on my home course so that score scewed my rating (945). The reason I think this is the case is becasue a player with a rating of say 965 should be able to beat a 945 player by about two strokes on any given day and on any given course, if I understand the ratings correctly. I play DG with another local with a 967 rating and man he routes me all of the time but he has dozens of rounds that have gone into his rating so I think his is more correct than mine. Anyway, even though I don't think my rating will hold up I will still play up a division until my rating drops below 915, if it does.



I started out exactly the same as you, getting slapped with a 939 rating after my first one day tourney on my home course. In my second tourney across the state divisions were decided by player rating and I was forced to play Pro2 (no longer exists) and got DFL. Its a good thing that I really liked competing, or this could have turned me away. Ratings are not that accurate yet, especially if you have not played A LOT of rated rounds.

cantrell
Jul 31 2007, 01:14 PM
Both of my tourneys were played in the intermediate division. The one on my home turf I took first place, so of course I was called a bagger by the other locals. The second tourney was on three courses in Sarasota, FL and I had never played any of them before. I played int. again and tied for 8th (out of 32 I think) even though I felt like I played pretty well. Based on watching the adv. players at that tourney I think I would have gotten killed by those guys. Even at my home course there seems to be a large gap in scoring between int. and adv. players and I tend to fall somewhere in between but closer to adv. I think. I think my game would be best served by playing against slightly, if not much, better players than myself so I agree with you totally. I recently started playing a round a week with some of the top advanced players at my course and although I'm not as good as they are, I think I'm already getting better.

lien83
Jul 31 2007, 01:44 PM
Regrardless of rating and "PDGA guidelines" moving up is a great way to get better and learn the game faster...don't listen to the bagger call and move up when you're not mentally ready but also don't stay in intermediate and destroy the competition. Your improvement will greatly suffer from either. I moved up before I could compete with the best in both Advanced and Open but it helped me learn faster and last year I won 2 advanced tournies and this year have cashed in 4 out of 6 open events I played in...moving up before I should of (mentally I was ready b/c I wanted to get better) made me observe as to what better players were doing and that more than anything has helped me get better fast...

JerryChesterson
Jul 31 2007, 04:33 PM
Both of my tourneys were played in the intermediate division. The one on my home turf I took first place, so of course I was called a bagger by the other locals. The second tourney was on three courses in Sarasota, FL and I had never played any of them before. I played int. again and tied for 8th (out of 32 I think) even though I felt like I played pretty well. Based on watching the adv. players at that tourney I think I would have gotten killed by those guys. Even at my home course there seems to be a large gap in scoring between int. and adv. players and I tend to fall somewhere in between but closer to adv. I think. I think my game would be best served by playing against slightly, if not much, better players than myself so I agree with you totally. I recently started playing a round a week with some of the top advanced players at my course and although I'm not as good as they are, I think I'm already getting better.



You hit the nail on the head. You'll never get better playing against people you can beat. You get better by playing against people bette than you and seeing what is truly possible with your game. Golf is such a mental game, half of the battle is knowing what you want to do and actually believing you can do it.

kellerthedog
Aug 04 2007, 09:16 PM
if you won your division or say placed in the top 10 in MA1 at AM worlds do you normally move up to Open? What have past players done? Do a lot of good ams move up to Open after worlds in general? thoughts...

Pennekamp
Aug 14 2007, 04:22 PM
I played my first tourney in '05, played AM and won the event by 4 strokes. I haven't played any other sanctioned tourneys but still play quite a bit of golf. My question is this...my rating is 979, can I play advanced in an upcoming sanctioned event or do I have to play open?? What is the rule on this?

Thanks for the advice!!

95impss
Aug 14 2007, 04:45 PM
Since you are registered as AM with PDGA you can still play Advanced.

You can play Advanced for as long as you wish, provided:

1) You don't change your PDGA membership to Pro
2) You don't cash in a Pro division at a PDGA sanctioned event.

To be extreme, even if you play advanced in 20 tournaments in a row, won ALL of them, and managed to work your rating up to 1030, you could still play AM.

The first time you cash in Pro field, you become a Pro...even if you tied for last cash at your home course and walked away with $10. You're a Pro. After that, the only way you can play in AM fields is if:

1) Your rating drops below 955
or
2) You petition (successfully) the PDGA for AM status
or
3) You take advantage of amnesty if/when it is offered again.

If I made any mistakes, someone please correct me.

Pennekamp
Aug 14 2007, 04:47 PM
Thanks bagtag...

ck34
Aug 14 2007, 04:50 PM
If you are not current, the TD can prevent you from playing am and offer you only entry in a pro division.

Pennekamp
Aug 14 2007, 04:55 PM
I am current...I was planning on playing advanced but wanted to get some clarification.
This tourney should be fun one...even with the 100+ degree temps we are having in OK.

95impss
Aug 14 2007, 05:20 PM
I just looked at the event you won. You played Intermediate in that event.

To clarify, you are no longer eligible for Intermediate (rating is over 915) and can only play in Advanced (or Advanced Masters if your age permits) Am fields.

You stated that you were going to play Advanced in an upcoming event anyway, just making sure you know that is the only division you are elegible for.

Good luck.

gang4010
Aug 14 2007, 06:10 PM
Dave,
come on man - rating of 979 and you're debating between two AM divisions? Play Open dude - if you're able to devote a little time to play - the exposure to pros in your area will do you a WORLD of good.
Worried about jumping in and paying hefty entry fees? Play the local monthlies or mini's as a starter to get your feet wet. But if you're rating is accurate - have no fear! If that one event was a fluke? Go for it anyway! But by all means do it for fun!

gdstour
Aug 14 2007, 09:35 PM
If you have a full time job, wife and mortgage I don't see a problem with staying am your whole life!

This sport needs to embrace players who wish to play as amateurs and allowing them to create a higher level of amateur play.

The term sand bagger should only be used to move ams through the am ranks and not from am to pro!

Playing Disc golf is not a profession yet ( besides maybe 10 guys in the world) and wont be until someone wants to pay for advertising time during a televised event, which is still 10-20 years away, maybe longer!



This is coming from a guy that only played 1 am event ever back in 1983 and has played pro ever since!

denny1210
Aug 15 2007, 02:28 PM
Well said, David! :cool:

johnbiscoe
Aug 15 2007, 02:59 PM
ditto

terrycalhoun
Aug 15 2007, 03:03 PM
me2

Pennekamp
Aug 16 2007, 12:29 AM
Gang...I think you might have misunderstood me. I am planning on playing advanced...I just wanted to make sure that I could, with my current rating. I play the local minis when I can, as I work everyday and don't have time to make it to the course for the 6:00 tee times. When I am not working, I am playing/practicing dg, and have been doing so for several years.
About playing open and gaining exposure to pros...I play open in all of the Tulsa minis and hold my own. I think you are referring to it helping my game..which I suppose I agree with, but this depends on the " weaker" player (not the pro) and their attitude.

"But by all means do it for fun!"...
exactly right!! :cool: