Women in tournaments

[Aalkene]

Hello,

I am a new disc golfer (started this summer) and I was wondering what competitive scores are for women? I shoot from 70 - 85 and play courses all par 3. Usually I get all 4's some 3's, some 5's and I've gotten a couple birdies!! But I wanted to enter the tournament scene and was wondering if women shoot much better than that or if I can compete and stand a chance.

I play in the Northern Chicago area and have yet to see and disc golf girl who seriously plays and doesn't just hyser the disc crazily or throw it thirty feet in front of herself.

Thanks for the help!

- Shannon

[keltik]

It depends on your area/scene. some places have a big competitive ladies' field and others you may be the only one. If there is a large enough ladies field it should prove to be an enjoyable experience. but if you are one of two or three ladies to show up you will either get stuck in Men's Rec or Int or they'll make a special ladies group and you will automatically cash. and if you do get stuck on a men's card you'll probably get hit on or made fun of or a bunch of "advice" or a combination of all three from one dude. when you do register for a tourney check the registration page on pdga.com and see who's signed up. you may also want to join a local club/league and get a feel for competitive play.

another note: how you score playing alone can often be different than how you score in competition.

[Dag]

Northern IL doesn't have a particularly large number of women that compete but the Illinois Open Series tournament events usually mange to field a card or two. Something you should strongly consider, if you've not yet done so, is league competitive play in your area. If you're N Chicago, Discontinuum would be local to you. If you're farther west, Disc Golfer's Union playing Streamwood / Crystal Lake. The message boards on the Discontinuum site will provide you with a good idea of what's going on locally tournament-wise, like a fun one at Sinississippi out in Sterling this coming weekend.

[jsun3thousand]

what courses are shooting 70-85 on? dag's advice is solid. discontinuum is a good site for ios information and meeting people if you live in lake or cook county. if you're close to the auroa/oswego area the fox valley metro disc golf club is a good start.

[Aalkene]

Thanks, I signed up for both because I'm somewhere in the middle of those two areas Just this past week I shot a 75 at Shady Oaks, The last two times I played Lippold I shot a 70 and Fairfield I shoot in the low 80's. I basically shoot 4's and take 3's when I can... It's hard for me to drive far though--I'm still learning power/anhyser. On par 4 holes I usually shoot 6 (or 8 at Fairfield). And Aurora might be a bit far... I live in Island Lake, close to Crystal Lake. About 20 minutes from both Fairfield and Lippold.

[jsun3thousand]

if you play in any of the tournaments in northern illinois or southern wisconsin you would be fine playing in the rec women's division (if they have it) or in novice. the novice division will be the bigger of the two. the people that played in the novice division when i lived in illinois were middle aged and older guys that loved disc golf but were blessed with the coordination of a toaster that had no chance in the aged protected divisions, women that didn't have a division to play in, younger kids that didn't have a division, some first timers too scared to play rec, and of course the local baggers. rec women's division will probably be the more fun of the two because it would be all ladies and no guys staring at you or the guy that thinks he needs to turn everyone of your throws into a teaching moment.

[Dag]

...middle aged and older guys that loved disc golf but were blessed with the coordination of a toaster...

oh..so you've met me...

[ashley]

I think that you should start out in the lowest division that you can find. I would think that a low 70 score would keep you pretty competitive in int women. When I first started, the only division they had around here was int women.

USWDGC is one of the biggest womens tournaments in the pdga, so I pulled a few averages from that to give you an idea.

Top Open woman avg 52
Middle avg 55

Top Adv woman avg 59
Middle avg 63

Top int woman avg 65.6
Middle avg 68.8

Top rec woman avg 67.8
Middle 72.6

Due to the number of players in your area, these will probably be lower than what you are playing against, but it should give you a gauge of what to expect. I would encourage you to play with the women when possible, you will be amazed at what you see. You will find some girls out there with game and it will show you what is possible for you to achieve.

[JHern]

We have a very rich field for ladies disc golf here in California. One of the things that helps a lot is to find a group of lady golfers and get them out for ladies-only doubles events, and the like. Its great for women to play with the guys, but its a totally different experience for ladies (particularly newer players) when they can play with other women. There are many top pro women (e.g., Valarie Jenkins) who would love to help you out, too...don't be afraid to contact them.

[Dookville]

We have a very rich field for ladies disc golf here in California. One of the things that helps a lot is to find a group of lady golfers and get them out for ladies-only doubles events, and the like. Its great for women to play with the guys, but its a totally different experience for ladies (particularly newer players) when they can play with other women. There are many top pro women (e.g., Valarie Jenkins) who would love to help you out, too...don't be afraid to contact them.

My daughter is going to be playing in the Ladies of La Mirada Tournament in Sept., are you playing in that one? She wil be in the FJ3 division with the youngins.