Here's my thoughts on this year's rules:
1. Teams
1.1. Team Disc Golf 08-09 will consist of 8 teams in 2 divisions: East & West. Each team will compete in Match Play against each of the other teams once.
1.1.1. Each team must consist of 7 players. Any 7 players can make up a team, but players on the starting roster are the only ones eligible to compete for your team all year long.
1.1.2. There are no substitutes or replacement players allowed, even due to injury.
1.2. Division assignment will be determined by seeding by scores at the first event.
1.2.1. The East division champion will play the West Division champion one match for the Team Disc Golf Championship. At the same Championship match all of the other teams will play off for 3rd through 8th place finishes.
1.2.1.1. The team in each division with the most Match Points will be the division champion.
1.2.1.1.1. First Tie Breaker will be Head-to-Head Match Points.
1.2.1.1.2. Second Tie Breaker will be Total Head-to-Head strokes.
1.2.1.1.3. Third Tie Breaker will be higher Team rating total.
1.2.1.1.4. Fourth Tie Breaker will be coin flip.
2. Player Ratings
2.1. Each team member has a Player Rating. A player's current PDGA Rating sets the beginning rating the Team Disc Golf season.
2.1.1. For any player who does not have a current PDGA player rating, the score in the first event shall set their player rating. If they are returning players, that score will be averaged with their final ratings from last year.
2.1.2. Player ratings will be modified during the season based on play. All player's matches will adjust their ratings for the following event.
2.1.3. When a PDGA player rating update happens, those ratings will be used at the next event replacing the modified ratings from the previous event for PDGA members.
2.2. Handicap: When a player with a higher rating plays against a player with a lower rating the higher rated player has a handicap based on the difference between the ratings during their singles match.
2.2.1. Based on the SSA of the course being played the number of rating points per stroke are determined:
SSA of 42-43 = 14 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 44-45 = 13 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 46-47 = 12 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 48-49 = 11 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 50-54 = 10 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 55-59 = 9 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 60-64 = 8 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 65-67 = 7 ratings points per stroke
SSA of 68-71 = 6 ratings points per stroke
2.2.1. Team 1 fields a 940 rated player while Team 2 fields a 975 rated player (975-940=35). On a course with a 50 SSA Team 2 has a 3 stroke handicap (35/10=3.5).
3. Match Play
3.1. We will follow the PDGA Rule Book for Singles and Best Shot Doubles competition with regard to actual play. If it's in their rule book then that's how we'll deal with it. 804.05 A(4) is not used during Team Disc Golf.
3.2. A match consists of two rounds of four singles matches. In each round a team can use any four players on its roster.
3.2.1 Bonus Match - If, after fielding 4 players in any 1 round, a team can field two other players they can compete for an extra point by playing a doubles round.
3.2.2 If the opponent cannot field two extra players, they may have 1 extra player play Cali. If the opponent has no extra players they forfeit the Bonus Match point.
3.2.3 If neither team can field the two extra players the Bonus Match point cannot be earned.
3.3. Each match will have a “Home Team” for the purposes of selecting the match-ups only; there is no other use for the “Home Team” designation.
3.3.1. In Round One the Visiting Team selects the players who will compete in the round first. Then the Home Team selects the players who compete against them.
3.3.2. In Round Two the Home Team selects the players who will compete in the round first. Then the Visiting Team selects the players who compete against them.
3.4. In both rounds the Visiting Team throws first until they lose the tee.
3.5. All tied morning matches will not play to a decision using sudden death. The Match Point shall be split evenly.
3.6. All afternoon matches must play to a decision using sudden death if necessary, starting on the next logical hole from where you ended the match. Do not return to central, just play on to finish it.
3.7. The only exception to this rule is in case of darkness. The match can be called due to darkness as a tie with the point being split evenly between the teams.
4. Scoring
4.1. Each match is worth 1 point for a total of 4 points possible per round.
4.1.1. If less than 4 players are available, you can field what you have and forfeit the match points for matches you don’t have players to compete. All forfeited matches count as 108 strokes towards any tie breaker.
4.1.1.1. In Doubles: One person can play California, picking only one shot on each hole to take a second throw.
4.2. Match Point: The team with the most points earns 1 extra point for winning the match.
4.2.1. Ties: In the event of a tie, all strokes, including handicap strokes, from the round are added up by each team and the team with the lowest number of total strokes wins the match point.
4.2.1.1. If that is tied then lower total team rating wins the match point.
4.3. GBP Team Bonus: One bonus point is awarded to any team that plays all 7 of its team members in a match. In other words, if your team has seven people and all seven of them play in at least one round during a match, your team receives one bonus point. The Team bonus point is not awarded until after the Match Point is decided.
5. Schedule:
5.1. All teams will play 7 matches over the course of the Team Disc Golf season from October to February. All teams will play their matches on the same day at the same course. The 7 courses to be used in Team Disc Golf this year are: Riverbend, Timber, Dabney, Pier, Adair, Sorosis and Trojan.
5.2. The start time for the first round starts at 10 am. In the months with shorter daylight that can be as early as 8:30 or 9 am. The start time of the second round is 1 pm allowing for a lunch break.
5.2.1. Optionally the second round can start immediately after the first round with the approval of the two team captains.
5.3. Team Disc Golf matches will be held on Sundays:
5.3.1. Prelims - Sunday October 19th: Pier Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.1.1. Match-up: All play singles to set ratings and seed divisions
5.3.2. Week 1 - Sunday November 2nd: Sorosis Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.2.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.3. Week 2 - Sunday November 16th: Riverbend @ Milo McIver State Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.3.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.4. Week 3 - Sunday November 30th: Adair County Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.4.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.5. Week 4 - Sunday December 7th: Dabney State Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.5.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.6. Week 5 - Sunday January 4th: Timber Park - 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.6.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.7. Week 6 - Sunday January 18th: Pier Park - 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.7.1. Match-up: TBD
5.3.8. Week 7 - Sunday February 8th: Trojan Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
5.3.8.1. Match-up: TBD
5.4. The 2 teams that win their divisions will play one match to decide the Team Disc Golf Championship. The second place teams play off for third, the third place teams play off for fifth and the fourth place teams play off for seventh.
5.4.1. Championship Week - Sunday February 22nd: Championships: Riverbend @ Milo McIver State Park – 2 rounds of 18 holes
6. Late Penalty:
6.1. When start is called you may begin your round. Score each hole of the opposing team with 7's until they arrive at the tee of a hole that no second shots have been taken.
6.2. If the opposing team member has not arrived by the time you have reached the 18th hole of the first round they forfeit the opportunity to play in the second round.
THINKING OF DROPPING THIS RULE
After some talking at WOX I have come up with this set of rules for the new year. Instead of coming up with a change for handicapping doubles, I decided to just make the whole thing singles matches. This also should help with ratings as every round played will effect your rating. No more hiding in the dubs to keep an artificially low rating, Chompy.
So this is the official call out to all teams! Get your line-ups in ASAP. The league went from 12 openings to only 8.
I know lineups for 3 teams:
Good Bad & Sassy
Jordan Lewis 923
Gawain Stern 919
Jeff Elliott 937
Jamie Gibson ???
Sam Gibson ???
Teresa Bellinger 891
Cris Bellinger ???
Green Bowl Packers
Same Baggers as last year
Vapor Trail
George Adams 841
James Moore 967?
Chris Graham 901?
Patrick Darr 890
Jim Nims ???
Roger Anderson ???
Lonel Greene 878
I have heard talk from Putt This!, Dark Horse and Big Winds. New teams like Asshole Casserole, Lunchtime Leaguers and Rockwood Roughnecks. If we had a Saturday league I know of a couple of other teams that might join.
I need final rosters from any other returning teams and then maybe a few new teams can join in. I did get a couple of inquiries about running the Saturday side of Team Disc Golf. I think that there will be teams left out again this year if nobody steps up.
YAR!