I'm running a tournament in a few weeks and was asked by a woman what I would do as TD if she was the only Open woman player? I of course am hoping some more women show up but what have other TDs done when only one person in a division shows up?

Some options I see are:

1. Let her play with the same groups as the Am women but she competes only with herself and she wins her entry fee back.

2. Let her compete with the Open Masters Men (since she qualifies age-wise).

3. Tell her to stay home. *This would suck since the more women playing disc golf the better in my opinion and she's a great person to have at a tournement.*

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Max Maclay
Montrose Open TD
Montrose, CO

Let her play in her own division, but try and talk her into playing in the Int Men's division (MA2) if her rating is less than 915. She should be competitive there and get to play in a big division.

Can she play any am divisions if she's a pro? She has cashed and won money before.

Sorry...misread you post. Let her play with MA2 but prize-wise she's in her own division

-Max

yeah...

the only way she can't is if her rating is over 955.

We had a woman in our event last week. I gave her the option to play and win her division. Or, after the first round, she could choose to play in the Rec division with the other two guys. She lead by one over both guys after one round on the shorter layout. She decided to play against the men and risk getting shut out. She beat them by 5 on the longer course to win Rec. www.pdga.com/tournament/tournament_results.php?TournID=6017#Advanced (http://www.pdga.com/tournament/tournament_results.php?TournID=6017#Advanced)

Pro players may play in amateur divisions if their rating is below:

955 - MA1
915 - MA2 or MM1 if age qualified
875 - MA3 or MG1 if age qualified
850 - FW1 if female
800 - FW2 if female
750 - FW3 if female

They receive no points for competing in Am divisions.

At IOS events we'll always run her division, even if her competitors don't show up. That's one of many small things we've done that has contributed to our success.

TDs' reluctance to run micro-divisions creates a self-reinforcing negative cycle. If you tell that woman you won't offer her division if she's the only one, then all four of them won't show up because you might not offer their division. If you tell her you'll offer her division no matter what, but you aren't doing trophies for divisions that don't pre-register, it's no skin off your back whether one woman or six show up, and maybe four of them do show up.

Players who play in micro-divisions already understand that they might not have a foursome, and might get stuck playing with the extra player from two or three other divisions if that's how it works out. The only issue for the TD is trophy costs, and you can deal with that like i just said.

If you're reading this and he won't offer your division, take a weekend trip to Chicago. Play our tournament on Saturday and go to the museum or Six Flags or something on Sunday. We'll offer your division. But pre-register because we have been filling to fivesomes and turning people away.

Thanks for the great responses everyone. I hope everyone realizes that option 3 was just an option and not what I want to do. I also wanted to get clear on the rules about ratings and such and several people have helped with that. Thanks! I definetly want to see her at this tournement since she won it last year. I will be in contact with her and let her decide what she wants. It may even be best to give her any of the mentioned options just before the tournement begins.

Thanks again!
-Max

Max,
This exact thing has happened at local tourneys here. We had the pro woman compete in the pro open division. She was still in her own 'division' in terms of points and payout.

how can a one person division be sanctionable? i thought there was a minimum of three.

Bruce, you aren't the only one who offers 1 person divisions. You make it sound like the whole world, except you, is out to "get them". :p

Like I said, offer the division but try and talk her into playing Int.

There is no minimum, only a minimum number required to force a TD to offer a division

PDGA guidelines stipulate that events must offer any division for which there are 4 or more registered competitors, unless
advance notice is given. Exceptions are made in the interests of member-player satisfaction, notably in the Women�s and Junior
divisions, where participants are often limited to 3 players or less.



There is a requirement of three players per card, but not per division.


804.06 - Grouping and Sectioning
C. Groups shall not be less than three players, except under extenuating circumstances, as deemed necessary by the director, to promote fairness. In cases where fewer than three players are required to play together, an official is required to accompany the group and may play as long as this does not interfere with the competing players.

I posted on the other thread about this. I choose to play in my own division when it is part of a series. I would most often play in groups with the Open, Master or Grandmaster men. I would also group with the Amatuer women even though PDGA doesn't like division mixing. I don't care who I play with as long as I get to play. Its always fun!!I don't want a trophy, only the points for the series title. Added cash is nice too!! :D

I have never met a TD that didn't offer a sole women competitor her own division.

I always add money to the women's division, regardless if there is only 1. The hope is that other women will see the payout and want to come for the added cash. I also tend to pay deeper in the women's open division. So that if I have 2 players then even the second place gets a portion back. This is always from added cash.

Another suggestion is to offer a trophy only option to some of the am women. This will get them thinking about playing with the big girls.

I don't know who all offers one-person divisions. I do know that it is common in the midwest for TDs to have this attitude against one-person divisions. I've never seen any other TDs promising to offer your division even if no one else shows up, but I can't find anything in my post that suggests that Jon, Brett and I are the only TDs who will do this.

Apparently Rhett will too. And L.A. has museums, beaches, and amusement parks just like Chicago, but their skyscrapes are shorter because the ground is jiggly. So if you can get a better deal on the airfare, feel free to take your weekend vacation to L.A., but pre-register because Rhett's tournaments fill up.

I do know there is one tournament I won't be going to this weekend because I checked and the TD won't offer her a division if no one else shows up. So maybe we'll go to a different tournament where she can play men's rec if no one else shows up, and she's fine with that because she is competitive in men's rec and plays men's rec half the time.

That TD who wouldn't offer a division for one lost two entry fees right there, and they were both amateur entry fees that he was going to make money on or add to the pros. I don't see how that is good for his bottom line, or for any line before he gets to the bottom line, to be telling women to go away and play someone else's tournament.

Just so it's clear, this TD bruce is talking about is not me. /msgboard/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I also like what Discette said...."I just wanna play". This is a points series tournement (Thin-Air Tour) so she may want to play as a one person division.

Thanks again,

-Max

We always guarantee the ladies a division-of-one if necessary, in an effort to encourage them to come out and play. They usually get their money back plus something extra from the club. We would probably also do this for a male or female grandmaster or older, if it was at least a B-tier.

Kelsey and I figured out what to do if the TD won't run a division for two women, but they want to play in a woman's division. I had a lot of fun in my debut in the pro woman's division playing under the pseudonym of Emily Dickenson. On the last hole I had a 20 throw lead, but since i had not shaved my beard, I did not think I would be able to collect the cash, so I DNF'd. I would have totally gotten away with it, but the lady who was representing the course owner at the tournament was genuinely concerned why the other girl DNF'd and was about to go out to the parking lot to make sure she was o.k. So I confessed and everyone thought it was both funny and chivalrous for me to donate an entry fee to the Pro Women so they could have a division. It was the most fun I've had at a tournament in a long time, making excuses for where Emily was, who Emily was, hiding from the TD when his group went by on a parallel hole, and just being Emily. Kelsey and Kim addressed me as Emily all day long, and I did too in the third person.

One of the big jokes in our group all day long was, "Don't tell anyone or we all might get banned from unsanctioned disc golf for life!"

...For a moment there I thought I'd been magically transported to the "funniest things seen during a round" thread. That story made my day.