Who can play?
Any player with any skill level is welcome. Come hang out with people who love disc golf. We are running these events to educate new players and promote the game of disc golf. We run excellent tournaments for Amateur players of all skill levels. We had some of the largest fields in the state as well as female participation.
While PDGA membership is not required, PDGA membership does have its privileges as members receive a discount on events (they are not subject to the $10 fee) and their rounds are rated. Ratings give players a chance to see their improvement and how they stack up against other players.
What’s included?
Every amateur gets a pick-your-own player pack valued at $20. This could be a disc, a t-shirt, a DVD, etc. Each entrant is also eligible for CTPs (Closest-to-pin) for their division. If you place well, you have a chance to win even more prizes and even a trophy.
Everyone plays two rounds. Everyone usually plays the same sets of tees (for some courses, the lowest divisions will not play the most difficult tees). This will give you a chance to compare your scores with those in the higher divisions.
When will I get home?
Tournament rounds take longer than casual rounds. Typically the event will finish around 5:00 depending on turnout and the length of the course.
What rules are used?
These are PDGA events and these rules are followed. If you haven’t played in a tournament before, please let the TD know when you check-in as he will usually have a first-time tournament player meeting before things get going.
What Amateur Divisions should I play?
The IOS team feels that the traditional division names (Advanced/Intermediate/Recreational/Novice) can be misleading. There are serious players in the “Recreational” Division and long time players in the “Novice” Division. Rather than use the traditional names, we refer to these divisions numerically: AM I, AM II, AM III, and AM IV with AM I being the amateur division with the highest level of play.
While some tournaments may be elitist and run only the top divisions, we feel there is a place for all who wish to compete. The IOS pioneered the AM IV division recognizing the number of players that are at this level of play.
Score ranges for amateur divisions are on the event pages, but if you are unsure of which division to play for your first event, please contact the TD and he will be more than happy to help figure out where to begin.
What about prizes or payouts?
Merchandise credits are paid out to all amateur divisions. Our event value exceeds the PDGA standards for B-tiers and typically runs at about 120% of the entry fees for Amateurs.
All Pro’s play for cash. We pay 100% of net entry fees for all events. If an event is B-tier we add $750 to the other pro divisions distributed amongst divisions in line with the PDGA standards.
Event trophies are hand made. They are quite simplistic and represent what place you finish if you win one. This is done to keep the payouts fatter instead of purchasing more expensive trophies that are just as lame and weaken the payouts.
Players can find the value of their prize amounts in the PDGA digital score card after trophies have been awarded. For tee-time events, we do awards as soon as the last card in the division is in .
Merchandise Credits?
Per PDGA rules for Amateur divisions, all Amateurs are paid in merchandise rather than cash. Credits can be used for any of the disc golf related merchandise for sale at the event. By using this method, you get to pick your prize rather than the Tournament Director! Merch credits are good all year long and can be saved and used at subsequent events.
Merch credits are issued by the particular vendor we are using for an event. Each vendor manages their merchandise credits and are specific to that vendor.
For most of our events the Ledgestone Pro Shop is our vendor. They will have Discraft discs and other disc golf related merchandise on site and online. Players are responsible for shipping costs if redeeming their credits online.
Other vendors: Smooth Disc Golf and Lemon Lake Flight Center
Refund Policy
The Illinois Open Series follows the refund policies and procedures as outlined in the PDGA Competition Manual.
How are Series Points calculated?
This series is set up for fun and competition. Overall champions win a trophy and bragging rights. If you play any day of the Illinois Open Series you are automatically entered into the series. It costs no extra fee to enter the series. There will be no deductions from tournament payouts to pay for overall series champion trophies.
Points only count in the division in which they are earned. For example, if Bruce plays Advanced at the first event and receives 12 points then plays advanced masters at the next event and earns 12 points, he does not have a total of 24 points. He would have 12 points in advanced and 12 points in advanced masters.
Participants will be awarded one point for each tournament entered and one point for each player they beat in their division.
A player who DNFs (Does Not Finish), will receive 0 (zero) points for that tournament.
Overall points will be calculated from a players best five events. Players must play in a division four times to be considered competing for series points in that division.
Ties are broken by a sudden death playoff at the final event of the year.
Are there Series Division Qualification Exceptions?
No. There is no division exception for series players whose rating rises during the season. Ratings cut-offs are strictly enforced.
Series Ace Pool
Ace Pool is open all day during the normal rounds. Aces during playoffs do not qualify.
Multiple aces are split.
All ace pools that are not hit will rollover to the next day or event.
If there is money remaining at the end of the series that money will be rolled over to the next year.
Ace Pot is capped at $750, any extra is rolled over to next day or event.
Ironman
Each year we have a number of players that play at least one of the days each weekend we run a tournament. Competing in all IOS events in a year will qualify you for ironman recognition. For these players we try to do something a little special: a custom personalized wood bag tag and some perks for the following year including a chance at early registration for the following year. The division that you play in can vary to qualify as ironman.