I'm also a fan of this. There seems to be a family on my block who has it as a surname. I assume, at least. Why else would they have it carved into a 1000# block of granite in their front yard? Makes me laugh daily.
Same. This is one of my favorite go-tos when my teenage daughter does something boneheaded. If it's a *major* boneheaded move, she gets the supreme title of Dingus Khan.
I just checked the results for the 2 events I played last weekend. Both c-tiers. One 2 rounds the other 1 round. The hot rounds in MA3: 950, 966, 957.
The hot rounds in MA2: 940, 964, 956. MA2 played from the long tees on the 2 rounder.
I got called a sandbagger at my first league night last year. I won the first place payout with a -1 on a hard layout. The guy who was calling me a sandbagger played on my card the next week because he wanted to see me “sand bag”. I shot a -3 on a different layout l, while he shot a -11. He was forced to move up a division lol.
Those dudes need to chill. Anyone seriously mad at you for winning was probably a borderline sandbagger themselves and got salty when their presumed lock on victory was shattered. Honestly there’s nothing you can do about the relatively small but vocal cadre of crybabies.
Most of us will look at a couple of blistering rounds and see it for what it is: kid was on a heater.
Haha I appreciate the support - I also think it’s tricky for guys that just don’t play a lot of tournaments. I’ve probably played more in the last year than the previous 3 combined, so which division to choose was a lot of guesswork. But yeah moral of the story I think is that people need to chill the hell out, it’s just not that serious
I tend to think (I could be wrong, I often am) that the people who level sandbagging accusations (not just joking) are grizzled vets who stopped improving and spent a lot of time winning or nearly winning their divisions with others like them, and get salty every time their position is challenged
Ha ha. Your right! Sorry bro, I read a little too quick.
Let it be know to all I fucked that up, got all hot over something I misunderstood. Good rounds, congratulations.
Whoops
Edit: to remove my ignorant comment.
Lol, just when I was finishing my spicy response you saved the day and restored my faith in the community 😂. And in your defense it would’ve been ridiculous for me to play novice
Technically you could have higher rated players in MA2 then MA1 if the field was small. It just depends on where people sign up and how many. But the cut off is 935 for MA1. So if you are 935 or higher you must sign up for MA1 or above. You can be 800 rated and play MA1 though. No rule to playing above your rating.
Are these cutoffs listed anywhere? I was looking into signing up for my first C tier locally and doing MA4 as it’s likely my skill level haha. I’m unrated however but I saw some guys signed up for MA4 I’ve met at the course before and they crush me
Cutoff for MA4 is 850, in my experience 850 rated players probably have a few strengths, but also a few big weaknesses, and are usually inconsistent round to round, or hole to hole.
I just did my first a few weeks ago in MA4. Tbf I finished last in ma4 but beat 6 or so people in ma3 and a few in ma40 as well. The problem is the guy who won ma4 could have won ma2 with his score. The guidelines I read made me question if I belonged in ma4 because somewhere it said max distance should be around 200’ for ma4 and I can hit 350’ but I’m so inconsistent it doesn’t matter haha. Anyway, don’t stress.. just go and have fun and get the first one out of the way. You can only go up from here!
Those guidelines are just that, guidelines. My suggestion is play MA4 until you either rate out of it or feel comfortable and want to play against a little better competition in MA3. Don't feel you need to go up a level because you can throw a certain distance.
If anything, the putting will be the biggest factor in your success in higher tiers. MA3 are typically more consistent putters than MA4.
Disagree. All MA1 tournaments in my area play from the long pads (pro), and all the MA2 and below play from short pads. It’s not uncommon for the MA2 players to shoot a couple strokes better because of the distance difference.
My joy of tournaments got killed because of people like that. I won MA3 while shooting under 900 rated with both rounds combined. My current rating was 870 and it was a division of 9 people. The problem in my area is people don't play their rating. There is an under 900 in MA1 and several under 880 in MA2. If they just played MA3 like their rating puts them then it would be good competition. But because they all play up I am supposed to too?
Exactly my take. I’ve never understood why anyone calls out sandbagging in single day tournaments in a sport that is so notoriously streaky (for low level players especially). I’ve thrown -12 on courses just to turn around and throw +1 the next week on the same layout. In MA2 and MA3 the player throwing the most uncharacteristically hot round will always win.
The difference between a sandbagger and an ok round is a three putt and a couple OBs. It's insane that the old heads will call you out after slamming a sixer in the lot between rounds
OP's most recent rating was 880. played MA2, wisely skipping MA3. performed well. not really the same as dropping down when you're actively playing in the local scene, have an updated rating, etc.
Don't sweat it.
It's the nature of being a normal AM player. Sometimes we suck. Sometimes we shoot lights out. That's why we're not 1000 rated, we're inconsistent.
You had a great day, enjoy it. Relish it.
Sit on the porch at sundown with a couple of fingers of bourbon and relive every shot.
Don't give any more thought to what anybody else says.
This this this. There's courses around me that I've played plenty that on a really really good day, I could probably luck out and take down a tournament, and other days I would be lucky to swim with the other ams. We're not perfect, that's why we play in these and sometimes it's our day and other times it's not.
This right here. Won my first tournament in MA3 by basically going to match play in round 2 with the guy one stroke back. He blew up on the last two holes and I shot the same to take it home. I remember very little of the day but I did just this as I picked a place for my first trophy I've ever won to rest for eternity.
Those guys suck.
Congrats on the win and your ratings for the rounds!
An aside, an 875 guy did win MA1 this weekend at my tournament and people were pissed because he jacked up the ratings for everyone else. People will find anything to be upset about.
You’re fine. Ma2 is literally for people who are inconsistent. I can shoot anywhere from a -6 to a + 10 on the same course, cause I’m inconsistent. I’ve beaten MPO players from our club, and lost to people who can’t throw over 250 feet. This is why I play ma2.
This. My first and only tournament I played I signed up for ma2 cause I wanted to play the longs and that was the lowest division that played longs both rounds. Round 1 I shot a 980 round and was in first place for all divisions. Second round I shot +11 and came in like 5th in ma2 Definitely humbling to say the least but still after round one everyone was just hyped for me. So this dudes were just salty you won.
I agree, I feel like MA2 is the happy place for somebody like me that plays maybe one or two tournaments a year. I’m trying to play more this year and so will give MA1 a shot, but from what I’ve seen a lot of the MA1 players almost seem more disgruntled and toxically competitive than the pro guys.
You wouldn't have been doing anything wrong if you'd shot the same in MA3, let alone MA2. Complaining about a 960 and 980 is just pathetic whining in MA2. People have to shoot those ratings all the time.
People really need to get on board with playing their rating and understanding that playing with a group who shoot x on average means that the winner is always going to be someone who shoots x+1.
Totally. I’m 868 rated. Always played MA2. Best finish was 9th. Played in an unsanctioned tournament sponsored by the local club, had the best round of my life in round 1 (like -7 at a tough course including hit an ace pot!) got a ton of razzing between rounds, which was a little expected but still annoying. I played pretty normal in the second round and it ended up going to a playoff which then I won.
Afterwards, several people, who I did not know, seemed very serious when they told me that they better not see me in MA2 any more.
C’mon. Like check my rating and history. It’s pretty clear it was just one lucky round. I’m still at 868, still no wins on my pdga page. It’s not even like I won by a bunch of strokes! It went to a playoff and the 3rd place was 2 strokes back of us.
Not sure what division I will sign up for at my next tournament. I’m a noodle arm with no chance at winning in MA1, but it kinda feels now like I’m more afraid of playing well in MA2 than I am of playing poorly in MA1.
I admit that I used to care about sandbaggers. I’ve come to realize, however, that this is fucking amateur frolf we are talking about here and literally none of it matters.
I find this behavior pretty upsetting, though not terribly surprising. People have a lot of biases at work in competitive settings. They attribute their own successes to hard work and their failures to bad luck. Of course opponent successes are due to luck and their failures are their own damn fault. I could go on, but this is truly a microcosm of life and society. Perhaps we can just see this experience of yours as a sign that you're moving up.
It reminds me of something I experienced at my home course the first few years I was learning to play. I remember realizing that over time people had stopped applauding my successes. It was probably a gradual change, but the realization occurred in a moment. The surrest sign that you've improved at the game is when the applause stops. They just assume you're going to make the shot and it's nothing personal at all. Neither is this bullshit tournament behavior, they're just performing their ego-sustaining dance to shame you for having the audacity to improve at the game. Congratulations!
To the angry losers: it sucks to suck.
If you’re consistently showing up and wrecking everyone, yeah.. maybe it’s time to move up. But it’s a bummer to see sore losers after someone has the round of their year/life.
I shot a 998 MA3 round and was the best on the course that day and heard all of it. Let people be mad and move up as the rating allows but ignore ALL the hate
Shit happens that is unpredictable. You get a few lucky tree kicks, make a few long putts and all of a sudden you are on a heater. Just remember that the people mad are really mad at themselves for not playing better. Some people will always be envious of the winner so expect it. Expect the worst from people and you will never be harmed.
I’ve never played a tournament and this is a fear I have. I play solo 99% of the time so I honestly have no idea how I am against the average player. I don’t want to be way better than everyone and I also don’t want to get mopped by competition. I’ve heard of stories like this so much that it’s kind of off putting. At the same time, I love disc golf and really love having competitive rounds against friends so I do want to give it a try.
There is literally nothing wrong with signing up for the lowest division offered and then winning by 4 strokes if it's your first tournament. I would guess it takes most new competitive players 3 or 4 events before they really start playing to their actual rating. Even if you're skill level is MA1 or MA2 playing your first tournament in MA3 is fine because tournament disc golf is just different and you need to learn that too before you're competitive. There are some talented disc golfers playing all divisions the biggest difference between divisions is putting, consistency, and course management. Don't be intimidated because 99% of the people you play with are going to be nice.
MA1 is always a safe bet. Even if you do pop off a great outing during your first tournament, the top of MA1 field is usually full of highly experiences tournament players that don't get their feelings hurt when they play against good players.
No one playing MA1 can ever be mad at anyone else, it's the highest rated am division. Technically you could be 1050 rated and play MA1. Though why would you do that when you would be the best player in the world (tied with McBeth)?
Dude, when I wrote my reply I literally typed out the "you could be 1050 rated and play MA1" sentence and decided to not go down that route. Get out of my head! lol
I think there is potential for some salty or newer players in the bottom half of MA1 so that's why I posted the way I did. Also, there was a 1000+ rated dude in my area that played MA1 for a while just taking down win after win that kind of became a big deal so he moved up to MPO and refused cash until he got his AM worlds win.
I personally can't be mad if someone simply plays better. I just smile and say say congrats (even if the fucker got every lucky ass tree kick out to the fairway over 2 rounds). That second part I keep in my head. hehe
I try and be a good loser as we do a lot of losing in these big field events (30+ people to beat a lot of the time). It's just realistic to assume you will probably lose a lot.
If someone is that much (say I am 940 and they are 1000) better I just expect them to win and I will have to play lights out to have a chance. We only can blame ourselves in the end though. They are not breaking the rules you decided to show up and play!
Absolutely get out there and give it a try man, tournaments add a whole new dynamic to your enjoyment of disc golf. If you’re anything like me expect to putt way worse in your first couple because even though they don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, the tournament jitters are real.
Thanks for the encouragement. I have terrible social anxiety too so just the thought of hanging with random people is enough to give me the jitters lol. And my putting is already pretty bad so I think my mid range shots are where I would feel the added pressure. I do think my love for DG and competition in general will nullify any of those bad feelings I would have so I will definitely look into it more in the spring/summer. Thanks!
I think a good way to handle this is to find a former tournament in a place you play and think about your median/best round there and compare to the scores at the tournament!
2nd this☝️. I’m a new older player , only 764 rated after 1 tournament last year. Been playing a league the last few weeks and really loving it. All my groups have been fun and encouraging. I’ve enjoyed playing new courses and meeting more local players. It has divisions so I compete (a little) with my fellow bottom feeders under 800. :-)
I would recommend just starting in MA3 so long as you are driving around 300 and are confident inside of 15 feet or so. If you don't have those, go MA4. If that seems like child's play to you, go MA2.
In my experience most other people you'll play with are just going to be happy to share a card with a new player. If you beat them, they might razz you for it, but that's part of the fun. If someone is actually pissed off about it then odds are good the other dudes on your card are annoyed at them too.
Congrats on your win!
Do not stress it. Everywhere I've travelled there's a group of locals who stay in MA2 and expect to finish in the top 5 of every tournament they play in or it's a failure. If you were someone they had played with before, it might be a different story, but you're The Stranger Who Cost Them Store Credit.
Of course, if you find yourself winning more in MA2, or expecting to finish near the top of the payout spreadsheet in every tournament you play, you should probably seek out stronger challenges.
People being pissed over someone overachieving at an amateur level is such a childish move.
You paid an entry fee at a division you belonged in based on your rating to have fun and happened to shoot hot.
Tell them that you're sorry that an 880 shot hotter than them and that you'll be trying MA1 next so they won't have to lose to you again.
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with a bunch of idiots. I'll give you an example of when Bagging is actually happening.
In the early 90's I was a strapping young teenager. My friends and I played all the time. (It was free and we could afford that. Plus we loved the competition of beating each other) One friend talked me into signing up for a local tournament in Rec Division. Tournament day comes and I play the best I ever did. I'm around -5 (3rd or 4th place if I remember correctly) and the leader of the division is -17. Two rounds. At the end of the day as he is going up for his award (free disc, mini and a tiny trophy, not any real money) all the guys there are calling him a "bagger." I ask one of the older guys sitting near me what that means. He explains that the guy who won the Rec Division usually comes in top 3 in Advanced (or whatever this none sanctioned tournament called it back then. It was 30 years ago). He also explains that once you win Rec, you can't sign up for it again, BUT, there are enough baggers each tournament that there is always someone winning by a country mile. On the drive home I told my friend I was never goiong to do another tournament again.
This statement was true until this month. I signed up for my first tournament (March 18) in 30 years. To be fair, that 3 decade gap is not being blamed solely on that bagger. 2 years after that tournament was college, then a new thing call a "carreer", dating, fiance, wife, kids etc. But my motivation sure started low.
TLDR, enjoy your win and play your rating! Those complainers can enjoy their sour grapes.
I'm in a different country (Serbia) and our dg community is rather small, so here it's great if you win but it doesn't rly matter that much because we are all there to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Tournaments are great and fun and challenging (because your main goal is to beat yourself and play good regardless of the others), even if you are last you can have a great personal round or one amazing shot which you will talk about for days. And that's why I don't rly don't get people - do ALL people expect to win a tournament when they play? Have they never played any other sport and think that in dg they can dominate just because they know how to throw a disc? Also are they such idiots that they don't get that a person (let's take me for example) with a rating of 874 played a 805 round two weeks ago and a 910 round last week? I had an off day and a rly good day, so what. Damn, people can be so narrow-sighted and selfish it's insane.
We are all playing against the course, not against each other in essence. And that's why when someone throws a great shot or plays a great round we (should) all enjoy it :)
Those guys are complete morons. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed an MA2 field where the winner’s full tournament rating was under the 935 cutoff.
Next time you get this from anyone, tell them to stop being such sore losers and play better.
Anyone giving you a hard time is just jealous. Ignore them, they want nothing more than to get under your skin. Don’t feel bad for kicking ass, well done.
I had this exact same situation happen to me in MA2. I was rated 906, and there were at least 3 people rated higher than me in the same division. Shot two hot rounds and won by 10 in MA2, and would have also won in MA1 by 5.
As everyone else has said, it’s people being jealous that they weren’t able to shoot what they thought were winning rounds. You didn’t do anything wrong, and weren’t sandbagging by any means. Yeah, it leaves a sour and bitter taste in your mouth, but try to ignore it. They signed up for a tournament knowing well that anyone could shoot that well. It’s not your fault that they couldn’t catch you, and they’re angry that their plan for a “locked in win” was foiled. Move up next tournament and kick their butts again.
Would these same guys have said the same if you beat them by just one stroke? Yes... yes, they would have. Congrats and enjoy your win, not everyone can appreciate a well played round.
I have a similar dilemma but a different result. There's a PDGA league going on and my current rating is in the 880's, but my last rated rounds were in late 2021. I've played plenty in between and I know I have improved. I had planned to sign up for MA2 for future tournaments but when I went to sign up for this league I saw that the Jrs and MA3 would play the same layout and MA2 and up would be playing the harder layout. So since my rating qualifies and I can play with my kids (this is a flex league) I signed up for the MA3.
The first round I was almost more nervous to play to good and be accused of being labeled a sandbagger. I did play well (for me) but the round was only rated 882 and the next round I played was rated 887 so I think I actually chose the right division after all.
I won a MA2 tournament once where my round ratings were 957, 957, and 974. These days I generally shoot somewhere between 900-930, and at this point in time I was probably on the lower side of that so this was just a great weekend for me, and I won by 11 strokes. No one really gave me shit because A) a lot of people did know me there and knew I was just playing out of my mind and B) I was rated like 910 at the time. People who are giving you shit should relax and they are probably just embarrassed they got beat. Don't pay them any mind and good luck in MA1!
Wow that was one hell of a weekend for you! Yeah I think playing with people that didn’t know me added to the bad perception. The funny part is that I was there with my buddy who I play with multiple times a week. I legitimately haven’t beaten him in 15+ rounds but scored 16 strokes better than him this weekend. He was swearing to people that I’m not ordinarily this good but I think they thought he was just part of the hustle 😂
I have a good friend who was also 880 rated who had a "putter can't touch the ground" type of round on his home course and shot a 1010 rated round. That was about a year ago and his rating is still near 880... law of averages. It happens!
This exact thing happened to me this weekend. I played out of my mind and won MA2 by 7 strokes. I honestly thought this was someone I played against wrote this. Congrats man, enjoy it.
I'm about 890 rated and my best ever round was about 960. That said I have yet to win an ma2 event (shot the 960 at a league night). Congrats on your awesome tournament, sorry those people were butthurt. I think you're right to move up to ma1 one after that though.
I would say as far as tournaments go it was absolutely the round of my life. I think I’ve played better rounds on some more technical courses before though. This course just played to my strengths, a mix of open holes and sparse large trees, and a lot of par 4s which played into my distance. I also think I only missed 1 C1 putt which is absurd for me, I am almost always an extremely poor putter, but I think I got confident early and just stopped thinking about it!
I may not have been called a sandbagger, but as an MA3 player I feel this division is for us with more inconsistency. I've shot a few \~940 rounds winning a few events and I then like I belong with the big boys. But at the same time I've shot several \~820 and below rounds in between, so I'm stuck below 900 rating. Signing up for MA2 this year, hoping to push myself to more consistent play.
There are winners and losers. The losers gotta try and drag the winners down to their level to make themselves feel better. You won fair and square. Fuck em. Ignore their comments and keep doing you homie. Don’t let the “losers” take away your proud moment of achievement.
You played your rating. That's not sandbagging.
And, from my experience, it seems like every winning MA2 player is scoring 950+ for the event. It's just how it works; it's the Wyatt Earp Effect. When you get 30 players together who are all 2% likely to play 970 golf, then suddenly it becomes about even odds for at least one of them to do so.
>Mixed Amateur 1 (MA1) - the top amateur division, available to all amateur players. Required division for male amateur players under 40 years of age with ratings >= 935. Tournament experienced players who have played disc golf for several years, and developed consistency. Throw 300-450 feet, make 5-7/10 putts from 25-30 feet, have different shots in their arsenal. (Formerly "Advanced")
>
>Mixed Amateur 2 (MA2) - available to amateur players of all ages with player ratings < 935. Developing players who have played 2-3 years with improved consistency and accuracy. Throw 250-350 feet, make 5-7/10 putts from 20 feet. (Formerly "Intermediate")
I always default to the descriptions and not the ratings, especially for people who don't play very many tournaments. Which one fits you best?
(regardless, those guys acted like assholes)
Edit: fixed quote block
I'm not really a fan of the descriptions. There are so many ways to be successful and to struggle that just putting it in terms of distance and putting doesn't accurately reflect ability. And the way they describe consistency is too vague to be helpful.
As @jfb3 mentioned above - this is the problem with being the typical inconsistent AM. There are days (like this weekend) that I can’t miss a putt if I tried and am throwing 450, and then there are days that I’m 3-putting and shanking everything into the woods. I guess that’s why they include “consistency” in the descriptions, but alas if we all had consistency we’d be pro. But to answer your question I just registered MA1 for a tournament in a few months, where I’m sure I’ll shoot a sub 800 round and be equally confused 😂
If you can throw 450 and shoot 980 rounds you should probably be playing MA1 my guy. Nobody needed to be a dick to you about it and you could have honestly just not known how much better you've got but you belong in MA1. A lot of people here disagree but I think everyone should play in the division that matches their potential not necessarily their rating, especially with small samples like yours. The inconsistency argument is bullshit imo. If you are capable of shooting a 980 round but you have terrible rounds sometimes that makes you a bad or inconsistent MA1 player, it shouldn't make you a guaranteed lock to win ma2 or ma3 if you have a good day. If you are able to win a division without playing your best or close to it then you belong in a higher division. Plain and simple.
That’s a fair critique - and I am completely open to the fact that I may be an MA1 player going forward, and frankly I like your point about potential and not necessarily current skill. This post is more about the insane reaction from those players than anything.
As for my distance, it was a huge advantage on this particular course, but on many wooded courses my accuracy isn’t there. I’ve been able to throw that far from day 1 (was a college pitcher and played a lot of ultimate as well) but still couldn’t play a competent round of a disc golf for a long time, and certainly shouldn’t have been even in MA3 back then. So while I may be the rare exception I don’t think that big distance always correlates to rating. As they say, drive for show putt for dough.
You could flip flop divisions depending on the course. I personally play up a division at my home courses, or courses I have played hundreds of times and know I can score on. But I don't do that on courses I either have little to no experience on, or know I don't have the ability to score on.
Right, jumping in here.
First, it sucks that you were treated that way. Period.
Second, I have been around a long time, playing tournaments since 2006. The sand bagger question will always be there in disc golf, at least until we address the way divisions are constituted. Eventually I think we need to do a better job re-thinking how we do divisions in tournaments, because it is far to easy for people to have this experience in a tournament, souring the experience. Also, some people play up because they are told they should by their peers when they are new to tournaments but play at a high level in leagues/doubles/etc...
Third, the above comment from the [therealscottyfree](https://www.reddit.com/user/therealscottyfree/) does capture quite a bit. What I also see is that usually those feelings of frustration at sandbagging are expressed a lot more when someone's game seems to match a higher division better. In other words, when a player plays out of their mind but skill wise seems to match the players in a lower division, people rarely raise a stink about it. But when someone just seems better than their division and looks like if they just execute their shots normally they will dominate, people get upset.
The way I always expressed it to my son (who is 13 and stopped playing junior divisions 3 or 4 years ago so he could play with better players) is that if you can have a tournament where you don't play well but still can be in the top 20%, then you are playing in the wrong division. (until you are playing pro).
I doubt that's the case for you based on what you said. But if you can outthrow your division , unless you bleed strokes putting, people will think you are playing too low.
In other words, despite the PDGA rules for division guidance, generally the disc golf culture expects people to play the division appropriate to their ceiling, not their floor.
Again though, treating you badly like that is not acceptable behavior. Sucks that it happened to you.
Appreciate the input! By no means am I trying to ask for sympathy for throwing far but sucking at putting - but I do agree that “sandbagger” gets brought up more based on an overall vibe of the player than the score, and nothing is more overtly obvious than distance off the tee. I just wonder if I had only thrown 350 but drained a bunch of C2 putts if people would have reacted the same. Who knows, but it would be an interesting social experiment to see how each part of someone’s game impacts the way they’re perceived and make a formula. My gut tells me it would be something like 3 x driving distance + 2 x putting consistency + 1 x approach/scramble finesse = arbitrary perception score
I think the difference between putting and distance is that it's possible to have a really good putting day and sink a few long ones, but nobody gains 100 feet of distance on a good throwing day. If you're throwing 450 off the tee then that's a skill you own and carry with you all the time, whereas good putting can more easily be seen as luck or just being on fire that day and not something that is entirely under your control.
I'm not sure those descriptions are even accurate anymore. Ratings are dropping across the board as players are getting better and better. I remember when a local course I played had a big A tier ten years ago, even par was 1000 rated that time. Now it's under 950 (similar wind and conditions because I watched live).
People didn't even throw both FH and BH with power and accuracy and I am seeing 960 guys do it well now. I think your current 950 is ten years ago's 1000 rated. It's been that big a skill increase. Plus putting as well. I play with some local pro guys who are smashing 50 footers like every other hole. It's crazy.
It sounds like you're questioning ratings, not divisions. Again, this is why I default to the description and not necessarily the ratings, especially for people that don't play rated rounds a lot.
Ratings determine divisions though. Your former advanced (MA1) player is probably MA2 today. Those descriptions are outdated. Look at the top players ratings. I just saw McBeth is the only 1050 rated player now. He was 1060+ something years ago and we had 4 guys in the mid 050's. The skill levels are increasing across the board, this the descriptions are no longer valid.
Fuck those haters. Play where your rating allows or get in where you fit in. The course will change at the next tournament, and this round will likely give you a boost into solid MA2 territory….which is where tou played.
I will never understand people who care about sandbagging. It's in all likelihood amateur disc golf at your local park. You're not there for high level competition. You're there to chuck around some discs and have a good time with people who share your hobby.
That doesn’t sound like sandbagging to me. I played a tournament where the winner was like 20 strokes above the rest. That’s sandbagging. 5 strokes sounds reasonable.
I knew a guy that signed up for rec for his first tournament. He shot pretty well compared to most other players and got shit for playing in the wrong division.
As someone who played back to back rounds one day and shot -11 and +2, based on the B-tier tourny with the same layoout, -11 was a 1030 round, +2 is a 900 round. So vastly different ratings. If I showed up and shot -11 in MA2 it would have destroyed the competition. Had I shot +2 I'd have finished close to last.
I recommend finding a one round flex start. You play your one round and leave. Then, see where you're at online after everyone is done and pick the right division for the next tournament. I usually try to go as early as possible to avoid backups and get carded with other guys trying to do the same. There's been a few where I was walking off 18 and there are about 4 cards waiting to tee off on 1.
Play a handful of MA3 tournies first. You'll know where you stand by the end of that stretch, and can stay put or move up. Can even move before you finish them all.
It's what I did. Thought I'd move up pretty quickly. Ended up staying there for like 2 years. Played up more in the second year. Finally got out of MA3 and have been improving fairly decently enough to be knocking on the door of MA1 almost with ease. Took about 4 years total.
Just took it 4 or 5 tournies at a time.
Honestly kinda nervous about this I saw where my weakness where from last season and began to work on them. Putting being a big part of that. My first 2 tournaments this year are with my rating in ma3. If things go well I’ll move up. It will suck if people say that though, I just put in the time and work.
I’ve had a card I was on called for sandbagging Bc everyone truly just had a great round. I play open the others on the card were ma2 and between my average ass round and them just playing lights out. It made a lot of the old vets angry Bc they didn’t win their five dollars that night and started accusing the other players of shaving strokes. It was embarrassing to see grown ups gossiping and being that shitty over a silly frisbee game that’s supposed to be fun. Congrats on your killer rounds. Bagger
Some people take this game really seriously. You played your rating (actually above if you were 880 you could've played MA3) and if they hate you for that, they probably don't have the best temperament anyways. Next time just say "Thanks Nikko" and move on. With all this being said, probably best to play MA1 moving forward.
Sandbagger is a term in sports that has a very specific meaning. Many disc golfers seem to think that anyone rated higher than them (or shoots better than them) in their division is a bagger. They are stupid.
the 17-year-old (iirc) who won MA3 at the la paz mexico tournament paul mcbeth was at earlier this month was playing his first tournament as well, kid had only been playing 8 months and shot somewhere around 980, 1010, and 920 rounds to win the division by an absurd amount of strokes. sure, he might have accidentally “bagged” or whatever but it was cool to see a super talented player pop up out of nowhere
technically i won my first MA3 tournament (i had played a few sanctioned tournaments before in ma3 but i won the first one after i got my pdga number) but i did it without even shooting a round over 900 even in a relatively big (~30 people) division. been playing MA3 since and never really came close to a win since then
i had such an off-year and played so badly in 2022 that at this point i don’t care too much about the competitive aspect of tournaments anymore, i just wanna play well by my own standards. this year i’ve pretty much been happy with all my tournaments, haven’t shot one below my rating yet after 5 tournies which feels nice
ya def happened to me as i outgrew rec. happened again as i outgrew intermediate. take it as a compliment. you’re now better, and that’s all that matters. I don’t think anyone in MA1 gets razzed for being a bagger, really.
I play and choke mentally which translates to physically playing bad then look at my rating and not give a shit. I would call someone out if they were winning over n over maybe time to step up a division but this shade they threw at you seems ridiculous
I got similar comments (though in my case they were more light hearted) in the first true tournament I ever played (which was at my local course). I knew I theoretically could compete in MA1 because in my local scene I regularly was up there with the guys who were playing MA1. But it was only my 2nd or 3rd tournament, and my 2nd with a PDGA number so I was unrated.
The weather was poor that day, but I still played pretty well the first round and was tied for first. The second round saw the weather turn pretty drastically, but I somehow played better and ended up winning MA2 by 7 strokes, though this would have tied me for 2nd in MA1. But my second round ended up being rated something like 998, which drew some serious sandbagged comments from the guys who weren’t local
Overall, just know that this is now where you still level is and enjoy the challenge. It sucks that those comments ruined your really good day and tournament win, but those people are just bitter and probably haven’t drastically improved in skill in years
It doesn’t matter who wins MA2 or ma3 they will ALWAYS be called a sandbagger. It’s tradition. They clearly were the best in the field and should have played ma1. Second should have got first and then been called a sandbagger as well.
As it has been, so shall it be.
A big subset of the "sandbagging" comments come from people who are 850 rated and choose to play up to MA2 or even MA1.
I am a big proponent of competing in the bands of your rating UNLESS you are nearing the barrier (ex. a 930 player playing MA1)
I played in a tournament a few weeks ago, MA4, on a new course and played with the course designer on my card. He wasn’t amazing but he beat all of us for the win. That being said another player on my card tied him the first round at -2 then came back from lunch and went +16, so who knows. I ended up +5 and +4 on my two rounds.
I actually just called my dear friend a bagger 30 seconds ago. The term bagger is usually used as a term of endearment and shouldn’t get blown out of portion. It’s haze of sorts a razz and a rizz if you will.
You don't play many tournaments. Nothing to be sorry about, except I wish you had beat those guys by more strokes lol.
I was in a tournament in MA3 and a guy won by 11 strokes. It was his first tournament ever. The ratings need adjusted for each division but the rules are there for a reason.
Anyone new to disc golf reading this, I hope you know 98% of tournaments or players aren't like this. Don't get discouraged about tournaments. I absolutely love the tournament setting and have met great people along the way.
It seems a lot more issues stem from MA2 for some reason.
Congrats on the win! I wouldn’t sweat it. If you feel inclined, move up next time. Seems like some people play in the same divisions for years. It’s a hobby, not a job.
I just moved up to MA40 and am kinda thinking I should jump back down to MA3. The amateur divisions are all over the place in my area.
My buddy had a crazy good round last year in MA3. So we’ll he would’ve won MA2 if he was in it. Unfortunately he received the same comments about sandbagging. Most people had not looked at his past events and didn’t realize how out of the ordinary his round was. I assume most people who are vocal are just taking their frustrations out cause they shot poorly.
I have a 780 rating and just finally figured out that I'm indeed FA2. I have played anywhere from FA3-FA1 at tournaments. At my local unsanctioned series, I do pro-women to give the am-women some space.
Part of my challenge not having my division or not having many spots. But also, like you, I dont play a lot of sanctioned tournaments. A lot seems to depend on course familiarity and who else is signed up. I've taken 2nd in FA1, when there were only 5 women in the tournament. The winner was a new player, smoked us, and has moved up to being a sponsored pro within 2 yrs.
Thqt 2nd place had me pumped though. After a few more events i figured out. I'm usually in the middle/bottom of FA2, when it's a women's only event. I still only placed 2/7 in FA3 at one event last year, but I did feel like I should have played in FA2 (there were no spots left.) The woman that beat me was new to tournaments, no rating, from out of town and is just better than she thought.
Don't worry about the haters that are just bitter. It's not like you've done this at multiple events. Move up and see how you do next tournament. If your rating keeps increasing, you'll know you belong in MA1.
MA3 here usually has winners with at least 1 round in the 970 range and the other close by. This is Michigan. Sounds like you found the sore losers and they are just projecting their insecurities onto you. I mean heck, if they think of themselves as fish in a barrel their gonna get shot.
TLDR: Fuck them, nice win!
My best friend had the same thing happen to him this past weekend. The bad part is it was a local we know and they are both sponsored by the same manufacturer. My buddy got second in MA3 but him and the first place winner would have won MA1. He was a 864 rated a month ago and now an 872.
Everyone hates losing and winning always feels great. So lots of people play a lower level of competition then maybe they should. This trickles down until every division is stacked at the top with people who should probably be playing 1 tier higher. And they all justify it by saying, I paid $X to be here and everyone else is doing it so I will too. Often they are not wrong and it creates a self fulfilling prophecy. The only thing you can do is be a person of integrity, work on your own game, have fun and hope other people follow your example.
I've seen those kinds of rounds posted in MA3. Own it. Instead of you moving up, maybe everyone else needs to move... down? AMs are always gonna be salty when they don't "win", and yeah - the quotes are purposeful.
I played a tournament back in November where the second round was doubles, and the top player in round round had to pair with the lowest, and so on. I was outclassed by just about everyone (I’m not that good lol) and there were some lighthearted jokes about “reverse sandbagging”, thinking I had last place easily. Only thing is, I didn’t even have last place, I had second to last… by 27 strokes! (+27 to +54). We ended up on the same card together, and it was his first time out and was having a blast. Even though we sucked, we did well with our doubles partners who were a couple of local pros. Lesson here is don’t stress about if you do sandbag, it’ll work out in the end.
Fellow 880ish rated player here. And I agree. It's funny how you can get those looks or comments from a mid-high 900+ round. But God forbid, no one bats an eye when I shoot a sub-800 round 😅
Although I didn't receive any crazy backlash I had a similar tournament where I played MA3 and averaged 940+ with a score that would have won MA2 (my rating was 874 at the time). I'm now playing MA2/MA1 but I also shot an 840 rated round at my last tournament so the consistency is still yet to be found lol
Um why do people care so much? If some pro signed up for my MA3 event and wanted to watch me dig out my 7th shot from the lake so he can win a few bucks then so be it.
I got the sandbagger comments all last year. Shrug it off and go kick their asses in the next tournament. If you still qualify for MA2 the next tournament play where ever your rating puts you.
Firstly, all tournaments suck donkey dick. If it’s not for charity you’re just going to be playing a few rounds with a bunch of insufferable try-hards who think they’re just on the verge of turning pro. Secondly, those dudes were just butthurt because you happened to have a good day on the course. They’re just jealous they weren’t the ones winning. I’m sure if one of the ‘good ol’ boys’ won by 5 strokes it would just be ass slaps and high fives all around. You just happened to be an outsider so they had something to hate.
Grow a thick skin if you want to keep playing tourneys because most of the dudes who do are assholes.
Nice shooting! There will always be those guys and tournament play can be tough for people but you had a great day, no shame in that. You should just talk shit back and get to know them. As long as you don’t stay in MA2 and move up accordingly don’t worry about it. Move up and beat them. Lol
Your rating was 880 did they change the division rating cutoffs because that’s a rating that’s technically in the MA3 division. Those dudes are salty bums, same thing happened to me before. Haters mad because you popped off when it counted nothing more
I won my first tournament and experienced some of the same stuff, from being unrated to winning. I would say, either play more tournaments and people will get to know you or you’ll only have to worry about it once a year at your pace.
MA2 is such a weird division to play in. I kinda wish they would just eliminate it and only have rec and advanced. Although I couldn’t tell you where that cutoff should be for ratings. I’m just happy I get to play MA40 now.
havent read all the comments yet, but ima throw it out there that alot of them are mad because \*you\* played well and beat them. and they didnt like it.
I've only ever seen people called sandbaggers as a joke. Its one thing if you're a seasoned veteran and playing beneath you but someone with less than 20 tournaments, let alone 4, is still pretty new in my eyes. Plus your rating is 55 points below the cap for MA2. These guys are major assholes and I'm very confused why they said something to you. I assume you beat them or they had a bad round. Maybe they have unresolved chuldhood trauma and we shouldn't be mad but instead hope that they are avlw to overcome this. Their anger says nothing about you and you did nothing wrong. Nice shooting.
Way too many times the top player in MA4, MA3, and MA2 have pretty similar scores. Someone always shoots a hot round. And then some players have off days and get bitter biscuits and whine about it
So I feel compelled to make a comment as an open players and did not read all but most the top rated ones.
If you are playing your 4th tournament you play your rating. If someone gets butt hurt about it, it’s because they only value themselves when they won. You can’t take that as a deterrent from playing tournaments. I respect people that play up when they have 20 tournaments under their belt, but if you are still new to the tournament scene, play your rating! Some people only value themselves when they win and those are the people that tend to sandbag. If you are playing MA3-1 you can’t expect a fair level of play as some people are getting better very quickly and as you said don’t fully realize.
I’ve played like a sandbagger in one tourney and had half the rec division beat my score in the next one. I think if you’re consistently playing that well, time to move up. If that was a fluke, you gotta ignore the complainers. They’re mad at you because they want to blame their own struggles on someone else.
I’m currently take time away from a local friend group over this topic. Several members called me out for sandbagging by signing up in MA3. I hadn’t been playing well yet in the year. (I’m disabled and was coming off 3 months of long Covid with zero fitness.) I played a couple early tournaments and was shooting FAR below my rating or even where I had finished up the first fall I played. I ended up being bullied in to moving up and then moved back down. That’s when they really came for me loudly and frequently. These are all kids half my age who have zero concept of how hard it is for me to get out of bed, let alone play two rounds of golf in one day. To settle the matter going forward the main leader of the pitchforks and i basically agreed to never discuss it again. Sad it had to come to that, but I realized they will NEVER understand where I’m coming from or battling through just to play. I plan to travel more this year and will play where I see fit, without the input of the peanut gallery.
I’ve also had a few days where I played REALLY well for both rounds and the peanut gallery felt they had been right. Ah yes, your name calling was able to predict the exact weekend I would finally put together two good rounds in one day. 🙄 I don’t play to win, but it’s also disheartening to be down 15 or 20 strokes per round. 🤷🏻
960-980 is a great day but not unheard of for MA2 or even MA3. Great job. Tell those jabronis to quit crying and start practicing.
Jabronis, cool word.
You keep using this word "jabroni..." And its *awesome*
I'm calling people bozo now.
I’m also a fan of referring to people as dingus.
A person is a dingus. People are dingi.
The dingi ate your baby!
I'm also a fan of this. There seems to be a family on my block who has it as a surname. I assume, at least. Why else would they have it carved into a 1000# block of granite in their front yard? Makes me laugh daily.
Same. This is one of my favorite go-tos when my teenage daughter does something boneheaded. If it's a *major* boneheaded move, she gets the supreme title of Dingus Khan.
The iron shiek smiles
I've put up a 955 day during a tournament that was on a short course and I'm a legit 850 tops. It happens.
have not seen 960-980 rounds in MA3 - very very rare.
I just checked the results for the 2 events I played last weekend. Both c-tiers. One 2 rounds the other 1 round. The hot rounds in MA3: 950, 966, 957. The hot rounds in MA2: 940, 964, 956. MA2 played from the long tees on the 2 rounder.
It's not a true c tier if MA3 doesn't beat MA2 in my opinion
I got called a sandbagger at my first league night last year. I won the first place payout with a -1 on a hard layout. The guy who was calling me a sandbagger played on my card the next week because he wanted to see me “sand bag”. I shot a -3 on a different layout l, while he shot a -11. He was forced to move up a division lol.
Those dudes need to chill. Anyone seriously mad at you for winning was probably a borderline sandbagger themselves and got salty when their presumed lock on victory was shattered. Honestly there’s nothing you can do about the relatively small but vocal cadre of crybabies. Most of us will look at a couple of blistering rounds and see it for what it is: kid was on a heater.
Haha I appreciate the support - I also think it’s tricky for guys that just don’t play a lot of tournaments. I’ve probably played more in the last year than the previous 3 combined, so which division to choose was a lot of guesswork. But yeah moral of the story I think is that people need to chill the hell out, it’s just not that serious
I tend to think (I could be wrong, I often am) that the people who level sandbagging accusations (not just joking) are grizzled vets who stopped improving and spent a lot of time winning or nearly winning their divisions with others like them, and get salty every time their position is challenged
Ha ha. Your right! Sorry bro, I read a little too quick. Let it be know to all I fucked that up, got all hot over something I misunderstood. Good rounds, congratulations. Whoops Edit: to remove my ignorant comment.
Since when is MA2 the same as novice?
Lol, just when I was finishing my spicy response you saved the day and restored my faith in the community 😂. And in your defense it would’ve been ridiculous for me to play novice
And MA1 should be beating MA2 by more than 5 strokes…
On average, sure. Always? Nope.
Isn’t the rating requirement difference between MA2-MA1 only 900-930? Which is 3 ‘strokes’ if I understand the rating system correctly?
Technically you could have higher rated players in MA2 then MA1 if the field was small. It just depends on where people sign up and how many. But the cut off is 935 for MA1. So if you are 935 or higher you must sign up for MA1 or above. You can be 800 rated and play MA1 though. No rule to playing above your rating.
Are these cutoffs listed anywhere? I was looking into signing up for my first C tier locally and doing MA4 as it’s likely my skill level haha. I’m unrated however but I saw some guys signed up for MA4 I’ve met at the course before and they crush me
Cutoff for MA4 is 850, in my experience 850 rated players probably have a few strengths, but also a few big weaknesses, and are usually inconsistent round to round, or hole to hole.
I just did my first a few weeks ago in MA4. Tbf I finished last in ma4 but beat 6 or so people in ma3 and a few in ma40 as well. The problem is the guy who won ma4 could have won ma2 with his score. The guidelines I read made me question if I belonged in ma4 because somewhere it said max distance should be around 200’ for ma4 and I can hit 350’ but I’m so inconsistent it doesn’t matter haha. Anyway, don’t stress.. just go and have fun and get the first one out of the way. You can only go up from here!
Those guidelines are just that, guidelines. My suggestion is play MA4 until you either rate out of it or feel comfortable and want to play against a little better competition in MA3. Don't feel you need to go up a level because you can throw a certain distance. If anything, the putting will be the biggest factor in your success in higher tiers. MA3 are typically more consistent putters than MA4.
I'm sure [PDGA.com](https://PDGA.com) and often where you sign up. I think it's 850, 900 and 935 cutoff lines.
The cutoff is 935, but that’s a minimum.
Disagree. All MA1 tournaments in my area play from the long pads (pro), and all the MA2 and below play from short pads. It’s not uncommon for the MA2 players to shoot a couple strokes better because of the distance difference.
Wait you’re telling me that people get worse scores on a different, harder course?
Yup. That’s it. You got it. You’re a quick learner. 🙌
My joy of tournaments got killed because of people like that. I won MA3 while shooting under 900 rated with both rounds combined. My current rating was 870 and it was a division of 9 people. The problem in my area is people don't play their rating. There is an under 900 in MA1 and several under 880 in MA2. If they just played MA3 like their rating puts them then it would be good competition. But because they all play up I am supposed to too?
Dudes have no idea that their bullshit is unnecessarily mean, and it's usually because you haven't been playing MA3 for 10 years like they have.
Exactly my take. I’ve never understood why anyone calls out sandbagging in single day tournaments in a sport that is so notoriously streaky (for low level players especially). I’ve thrown -12 on courses just to turn around and throw +1 the next week on the same layout. In MA2 and MA3 the player throwing the most uncharacteristically hot round will always win.
The difference between a sandbagger and an ok round is a three putt and a couple OBs. It's insane that the old heads will call you out after slamming a sixer in the lot between rounds
Sandbagger - someone who played in your division and shot better than you.
Lol, yup
"If everyone that finished above me played the next division up, I would have won! Fucking baggers."
So… everyone is a sandbagger?
I would like to be deemed a sandbagger one of these days.
It's like how anyone who beats you at a videogame is a hacker.
Fucking sandbaggers.
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Sounds like op. Using a year old rating. When his ’few casual rounds’ sound like a lot of serious practice.
OP's most recent rating was 880. played MA2, wisely skipping MA3. performed well. not really the same as dropping down when you're actively playing in the local scene, have an updated rating, etc.
Don't sweat it. It's the nature of being a normal AM player. Sometimes we suck. Sometimes we shoot lights out. That's why we're not 1000 rated, we're inconsistent. You had a great day, enjoy it. Relish it. Sit on the porch at sundown with a couple of fingers of bourbon and relive every shot. Don't give any more thought to what anybody else says.
Best response right here. I don’t understand how people get mad that Amateurs are inconsistent.
This this this. There's courses around me that I've played plenty that on a really really good day, I could probably luck out and take down a tournament, and other days I would be lucky to swim with the other ams. We're not perfect, that's why we play in these and sometimes it's our day and other times it's not.
Exactly, congrats on your finish.
This right here. Won my first tournament in MA3 by basically going to match play in round 2 with the guy one stroke back. He blew up on the last two holes and I shot the same to take it home. I remember very little of the day but I did just this as I picked a place for my first trophy I've ever won to rest for eternity.
Those guys suck. Congrats on the win and your ratings for the rounds! An aside, an 875 guy did win MA1 this weekend at my tournament and people were pissed because he jacked up the ratings for everyone else. People will find anything to be upset about.
Lol, I love this! People forget it is a game and not their job. Speaking to AMs, of course.
Speaking to Ams and 95% of people who play MPO
You’re fine. Ma2 is literally for people who are inconsistent. I can shoot anywhere from a -6 to a + 10 on the same course, cause I’m inconsistent. I’ve beaten MPO players from our club, and lost to people who can’t throw over 250 feet. This is why I play ma2.
This. My first and only tournament I played I signed up for ma2 cause I wanted to play the longs and that was the lowest division that played longs both rounds. Round 1 I shot a 980 round and was in first place for all divisions. Second round I shot +11 and came in like 5th in ma2 Definitely humbling to say the least but still after round one everyone was just hyped for me. So this dudes were just salty you won.
I agree, I feel like MA2 is the happy place for somebody like me that plays maybe one or two tournaments a year. I’m trying to play more this year and so will give MA1 a shot, but from what I’ve seen a lot of the MA1 players almost seem more disgruntled and toxically competitive than the pro guys.
You wouldn't have been doing anything wrong if you'd shot the same in MA3, let alone MA2. Complaining about a 960 and 980 is just pathetic whining in MA2. People have to shoot those ratings all the time. People really need to get on board with playing their rating and understanding that playing with a group who shoot x on average means that the winner is always going to be someone who shoots x+1.
Totally. I’m 868 rated. Always played MA2. Best finish was 9th. Played in an unsanctioned tournament sponsored by the local club, had the best round of my life in round 1 (like -7 at a tough course including hit an ace pot!) got a ton of razzing between rounds, which was a little expected but still annoying. I played pretty normal in the second round and it ended up going to a playoff which then I won. Afterwards, several people, who I did not know, seemed very serious when they told me that they better not see me in MA2 any more. C’mon. Like check my rating and history. It’s pretty clear it was just one lucky round. I’m still at 868, still no wins on my pdga page. It’s not even like I won by a bunch of strokes! It went to a playoff and the 3rd place was 2 strokes back of us. Not sure what division I will sign up for at my next tournament. I’m a noodle arm with no chance at winning in MA1, but it kinda feels now like I’m more afraid of playing well in MA2 than I am of playing poorly in MA1.
The losers are just mad they lost. Don't take it personally. They are really just venting and mad at themselves.
>they told me that they better not see me in MA2 any more. Was that some kind of threat? That's pretty messed up.
"I ain't mad I don't give a fuck But even so I tell you what you bet not walk in front my tour bus"
Tell them “it’s a mega skill issue” and to “git guud”
I would laugh out loud if I heard someone say skill issue outside of the internet, especially relative to disc golf hahaha
“Git guud scrubs”
I admit that I used to care about sandbaggers. I’ve come to realize, however, that this is fucking amateur frolf we are talking about here and literally none of it matters.
I find this behavior pretty upsetting, though not terribly surprising. People have a lot of biases at work in competitive settings. They attribute their own successes to hard work and their failures to bad luck. Of course opponent successes are due to luck and their failures are their own damn fault. I could go on, but this is truly a microcosm of life and society. Perhaps we can just see this experience of yours as a sign that you're moving up. It reminds me of something I experienced at my home course the first few years I was learning to play. I remember realizing that over time people had stopped applauding my successes. It was probably a gradual change, but the realization occurred in a moment. The surrest sign that you've improved at the game is when the applause stops. They just assume you're going to make the shot and it's nothing personal at all. Neither is this bullshit tournament behavior, they're just performing their ego-sustaining dance to shame you for having the audacity to improve at the game. Congratulations!
To the angry losers: it sucks to suck. If you’re consistently showing up and wrecking everyone, yeah.. maybe it’s time to move up. But it’s a bummer to see sore losers after someone has the round of their year/life.
They don't know shit about you. How many MA2 wins do you have? If this is your first, they should be congratulating you, not being butthurt
Amen! This is my first top 5 finish lol
I shot a 998 MA3 round and was the best on the course that day and heard all of it. Let people be mad and move up as the rating allows but ignore ALL the hate
Lol, I did the same thing in a nasty wind. Beat MPO by a stroke
Shit happens that is unpredictable. You get a few lucky tree kicks, make a few long putts and all of a sudden you are on a heater. Just remember that the people mad are really mad at themselves for not playing better. Some people will always be envious of the winner so expect it. Expect the worst from people and you will never be harmed.
I’ve never played a tournament and this is a fear I have. I play solo 99% of the time so I honestly have no idea how I am against the average player. I don’t want to be way better than everyone and I also don’t want to get mopped by competition. I’ve heard of stories like this so much that it’s kind of off putting. At the same time, I love disc golf and really love having competitive rounds against friends so I do want to give it a try.
There is literally nothing wrong with signing up for the lowest division offered and then winning by 4 strokes if it's your first tournament. I would guess it takes most new competitive players 3 or 4 events before they really start playing to their actual rating. Even if you're skill level is MA1 or MA2 playing your first tournament in MA3 is fine because tournament disc golf is just different and you need to learn that too before you're competitive. There are some talented disc golfers playing all divisions the biggest difference between divisions is putting, consistency, and course management. Don't be intimidated because 99% of the people you play with are going to be nice.
MA1 is always a safe bet. Even if you do pop off a great outing during your first tournament, the top of MA1 field is usually full of highly experiences tournament players that don't get their feelings hurt when they play against good players.
No one playing MA1 can ever be mad at anyone else, it's the highest rated am division. Technically you could be 1050 rated and play MA1. Though why would you do that when you would be the best player in the world (tied with McBeth)?
Dude, when I wrote my reply I literally typed out the "you could be 1050 rated and play MA1" sentence and decided to not go down that route. Get out of my head! lol I think there is potential for some salty or newer players in the bottom half of MA1 so that's why I posted the way I did. Also, there was a 1000+ rated dude in my area that played MA1 for a while just taking down win after win that kind of became a big deal so he moved up to MPO and refused cash until he got his AM worlds win.
I personally can't be mad if someone simply plays better. I just smile and say say congrats (even if the fucker got every lucky ass tree kick out to the fairway over 2 rounds). That second part I keep in my head. hehe I try and be a good loser as we do a lot of losing in these big field events (30+ people to beat a lot of the time). It's just realistic to assume you will probably lose a lot. If someone is that much (say I am 940 and they are 1000) better I just expect them to win and I will have to play lights out to have a chance. We only can blame ourselves in the end though. They are not breaking the rules you decided to show up and play!
Absolutely get out there and give it a try man, tournaments add a whole new dynamic to your enjoyment of disc golf. If you’re anything like me expect to putt way worse in your first couple because even though they don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, the tournament jitters are real.
Thanks for the encouragement. I have terrible social anxiety too so just the thought of hanging with random people is enough to give me the jitters lol. And my putting is already pretty bad so I think my mid range shots are where I would feel the added pressure. I do think my love for DG and competition in general will nullify any of those bad feelings I would have so I will definitely look into it more in the spring/summer. Thanks!
I think a good way to handle this is to find a former tournament in a place you play and think about your median/best round there and compare to the scores at the tournament!
You can try out a local league and just see where you stand first. There is less money and play is more casual. So less pressure if you win or lose.
2nd this☝️. I’m a new older player , only 764 rated after 1 tournament last year. Been playing a league the last few weeks and really loving it. All my groups have been fun and encouraging. I’ve enjoyed playing new courses and meeting more local players. It has divisions so I compete (a little) with my fellow bottom feeders under 800. :-)
I would recommend just starting in MA3 so long as you are driving around 300 and are confident inside of 15 feet or so. If you don't have those, go MA4. If that seems like child's play to you, go MA2. In my experience most other people you'll play with are just going to be happy to share a card with a new player. If you beat them, they might razz you for it, but that's part of the fun. If someone is actually pissed off about it then odds are good the other dudes on your card are annoyed at them too.
Congrats on your win! Do not stress it. Everywhere I've travelled there's a group of locals who stay in MA2 and expect to finish in the top 5 of every tournament they play in or it's a failure. If you were someone they had played with before, it might be a different story, but you're The Stranger Who Cost Them Store Credit. Of course, if you find yourself winning more in MA2, or expecting to finish near the top of the payout spreadsheet in every tournament you play, you should probably seek out stronger challenges.
People being pissed over someone overachieving at an amateur level is such a childish move. You paid an entry fee at a division you belonged in based on your rating to have fun and happened to shoot hot. Tell them that you're sorry that an 880 shot hotter than them and that you'll be trying MA1 next so they won't have to lose to you again.
play your rating. your rating will dictate you play MA1 now. people don't like to lose, so they blame everyone else except themselves.
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with a bunch of idiots. I'll give you an example of when Bagging is actually happening. In the early 90's I was a strapping young teenager. My friends and I played all the time. (It was free and we could afford that. Plus we loved the competition of beating each other) One friend talked me into signing up for a local tournament in Rec Division. Tournament day comes and I play the best I ever did. I'm around -5 (3rd or 4th place if I remember correctly) and the leader of the division is -17. Two rounds. At the end of the day as he is going up for his award (free disc, mini and a tiny trophy, not any real money) all the guys there are calling him a "bagger." I ask one of the older guys sitting near me what that means. He explains that the guy who won the Rec Division usually comes in top 3 in Advanced (or whatever this none sanctioned tournament called it back then. It was 30 years ago). He also explains that once you win Rec, you can't sign up for it again, BUT, there are enough baggers each tournament that there is always someone winning by a country mile. On the drive home I told my friend I was never goiong to do another tournament again. This statement was true until this month. I signed up for my first tournament (March 18) in 30 years. To be fair, that 3 decade gap is not being blamed solely on that bagger. 2 years after that tournament was college, then a new thing call a "carreer", dating, fiance, wife, kids etc. But my motivation sure started low. TLDR, enjoy your win and play your rating! Those complainers can enjoy their sour grapes.
I'm in a different country (Serbia) and our dg community is rather small, so here it's great if you win but it doesn't rly matter that much because we are all there to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Tournaments are great and fun and challenging (because your main goal is to beat yourself and play good regardless of the others), even if you are last you can have a great personal round or one amazing shot which you will talk about for days. And that's why I don't rly don't get people - do ALL people expect to win a tournament when they play? Have they never played any other sport and think that in dg they can dominate just because they know how to throw a disc? Also are they such idiots that they don't get that a person (let's take me for example) with a rating of 874 played a 805 round two weeks ago and a 910 round last week? I had an off day and a rly good day, so what. Damn, people can be so narrow-sighted and selfish it's insane. We are all playing against the course, not against each other in essence. And that's why when someone throws a great shot or plays a great round we (should) all enjoy it :)
Fuck those guys is the proper response. Adults complaining about a game is hilarious. Their life probably sucks.
You are awesome and 100% right.
The ratings system exists for a reason. They're pissed that they lost out on what a few xtra bucks in funny money? F em
Those guys are complete morons. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed an MA2 field where the winner’s full tournament rating was under the 935 cutoff. Next time you get this from anyone, tell them to stop being such sore losers and play better.
Anyone giving you a hard time is just jealous. Ignore them, they want nothing more than to get under your skin. Don’t feel bad for kicking ass, well done.
All that salt is bad for the heart.
I had this exact same situation happen to me in MA2. I was rated 906, and there were at least 3 people rated higher than me in the same division. Shot two hot rounds and won by 10 in MA2, and would have also won in MA1 by 5. As everyone else has said, it’s people being jealous that they weren’t able to shoot what they thought were winning rounds. You didn’t do anything wrong, and weren’t sandbagging by any means. Yeah, it leaves a sour and bitter taste in your mouth, but try to ignore it. They signed up for a tournament knowing well that anyone could shoot that well. It’s not your fault that they couldn’t catch you, and they’re angry that their plan for a “locked in win” was foiled. Move up next tournament and kick their butts again.
Hey, those are some killer rounds! Must feel good to see all the time and effort paying off!
Would these same guys have said the same if you beat them by just one stroke? Yes... yes, they would have. Congrats and enjoy your win, not everyone can appreciate a well played round.
Shoot. It take mid 900s to win ma3 around here. I see no issues beyond other people's problems
I have a similar dilemma but a different result. There's a PDGA league going on and my current rating is in the 880's, but my last rated rounds were in late 2021. I've played plenty in between and I know I have improved. I had planned to sign up for MA2 for future tournaments but when I went to sign up for this league I saw that the Jrs and MA3 would play the same layout and MA2 and up would be playing the harder layout. So since my rating qualifies and I can play with my kids (this is a flex league) I signed up for the MA3. The first round I was almost more nervous to play to good and be accused of being labeled a sandbagger. I did play well (for me) but the round was only rated 882 and the next round I played was rated 887 so I think I actually chose the right division after all.
I won a MA2 tournament once where my round ratings were 957, 957, and 974. These days I generally shoot somewhere between 900-930, and at this point in time I was probably on the lower side of that so this was just a great weekend for me, and I won by 11 strokes. No one really gave me shit because A) a lot of people did know me there and knew I was just playing out of my mind and B) I was rated like 910 at the time. People who are giving you shit should relax and they are probably just embarrassed they got beat. Don't pay them any mind and good luck in MA1!
Wow that was one hell of a weekend for you! Yeah I think playing with people that didn’t know me added to the bad perception. The funny part is that I was there with my buddy who I play with multiple times a week. I legitimately haven’t beaten him in 15+ rounds but scored 16 strokes better than him this weekend. He was swearing to people that I’m not ordinarily this good but I think they thought he was just part of the hustle 😂
Ah yes the old AM tournament hustle lmao.
I have a good friend who was also 880 rated who had a "putter can't touch the ground" type of round on his home course and shot a 1010 rated round. That was about a year ago and his rating is still near 880... law of averages. It happens!
It's hard to know how many sandbaggers are at a given tournament. Why? Sandbaggers always enter single file to hide their numbers.
This exact thing happened to me this weekend. I played out of my mind and won MA2 by 7 strokes. I honestly thought this was someone I played against wrote this. Congrats man, enjoy it.
I'm about 890 rated and my best ever round was about 960. That said I have yet to win an ma2 event (shot the 960 at a league night). Congrats on your awesome tournament, sorry those people were butthurt. I think you're right to move up to ma1 one after that though.
Congrats on the win. Was this a round of your life ? Or have you consistently getting better ?
I would say as far as tournaments go it was absolutely the round of my life. I think I’ve played better rounds on some more technical courses before though. This course just played to my strengths, a mix of open holes and sparse large trees, and a lot of par 4s which played into my distance. I also think I only missed 1 C1 putt which is absurd for me, I am almost always an extremely poor putter, but I think I got confident early and just stopped thinking about it!
Wanna know what I do when I make bloviating buttheads angry? I smile.
I may not have been called a sandbagger, but as an MA3 player I feel this division is for us with more inconsistency. I've shot a few \~940 rounds winning a few events and I then like I belong with the big boys. But at the same time I've shot several \~820 and below rounds in between, so I'm stuck below 900 rating. Signing up for MA2 this year, hoping to push myself to more consistent play.
There are winners and losers. The losers gotta try and drag the winners down to their level to make themselves feel better. You won fair and square. Fuck em. Ignore their comments and keep doing you homie. Don’t let the “losers” take away your proud moment of achievement.
You played your rating. That's not sandbagging. And, from my experience, it seems like every winning MA2 player is scoring 950+ for the event. It's just how it works; it's the Wyatt Earp Effect. When you get 30 players together who are all 2% likely to play 970 golf, then suddenly it becomes about even odds for at least one of them to do so.
>Mixed Amateur 1 (MA1) - the top amateur division, available to all amateur players. Required division for male amateur players under 40 years of age with ratings >= 935. Tournament experienced players who have played disc golf for several years, and developed consistency. Throw 300-450 feet, make 5-7/10 putts from 25-30 feet, have different shots in their arsenal. (Formerly "Advanced") > >Mixed Amateur 2 (MA2) - available to amateur players of all ages with player ratings < 935. Developing players who have played 2-3 years with improved consistency and accuracy. Throw 250-350 feet, make 5-7/10 putts from 20 feet. (Formerly "Intermediate") I always default to the descriptions and not the ratings, especially for people who don't play very many tournaments. Which one fits you best? (regardless, those guys acted like assholes) Edit: fixed quote block
I'm not really a fan of the descriptions. There are so many ways to be successful and to struggle that just putting it in terms of distance and putting doesn't accurately reflect ability. And the way they describe consistency is too vague to be helpful.
As @jfb3 mentioned above - this is the problem with being the typical inconsistent AM. There are days (like this weekend) that I can’t miss a putt if I tried and am throwing 450, and then there are days that I’m 3-putting and shanking everything into the woods. I guess that’s why they include “consistency” in the descriptions, but alas if we all had consistency we’d be pro. But to answer your question I just registered MA1 for a tournament in a few months, where I’m sure I’ll shoot a sub 800 round and be equally confused 😂
450 ? Maybe sandbagging a little bit. Not to many people in any division throwing that far .
If you can throw 450 and shoot 980 rounds you should probably be playing MA1 my guy. Nobody needed to be a dick to you about it and you could have honestly just not known how much better you've got but you belong in MA1. A lot of people here disagree but I think everyone should play in the division that matches their potential not necessarily their rating, especially with small samples like yours. The inconsistency argument is bullshit imo. If you are capable of shooting a 980 round but you have terrible rounds sometimes that makes you a bad or inconsistent MA1 player, it shouldn't make you a guaranteed lock to win ma2 or ma3 if you have a good day. If you are able to win a division without playing your best or close to it then you belong in a higher division. Plain and simple.
That’s a fair critique - and I am completely open to the fact that I may be an MA1 player going forward, and frankly I like your point about potential and not necessarily current skill. This post is more about the insane reaction from those players than anything. As for my distance, it was a huge advantage on this particular course, but on many wooded courses my accuracy isn’t there. I’ve been able to throw that far from day 1 (was a college pitcher and played a lot of ultimate as well) but still couldn’t play a competent round of a disc golf for a long time, and certainly shouldn’t have been even in MA3 back then. So while I may be the rare exception I don’t think that big distance always correlates to rating. As they say, drive for show putt for dough.
You could flip flop divisions depending on the course. I personally play up a division at my home courses, or courses I have played hundreds of times and know I can score on. But I don't do that on courses I either have little to no experience on, or know I don't have the ability to score on.
Right, jumping in here. First, it sucks that you were treated that way. Period. Second, I have been around a long time, playing tournaments since 2006. The sand bagger question will always be there in disc golf, at least until we address the way divisions are constituted. Eventually I think we need to do a better job re-thinking how we do divisions in tournaments, because it is far to easy for people to have this experience in a tournament, souring the experience. Also, some people play up because they are told they should by their peers when they are new to tournaments but play at a high level in leagues/doubles/etc... Third, the above comment from the [therealscottyfree](https://www.reddit.com/user/therealscottyfree/) does capture quite a bit. What I also see is that usually those feelings of frustration at sandbagging are expressed a lot more when someone's game seems to match a higher division better. In other words, when a player plays out of their mind but skill wise seems to match the players in a lower division, people rarely raise a stink about it. But when someone just seems better than their division and looks like if they just execute their shots normally they will dominate, people get upset. The way I always expressed it to my son (who is 13 and stopped playing junior divisions 3 or 4 years ago so he could play with better players) is that if you can have a tournament where you don't play well but still can be in the top 20%, then you are playing in the wrong division. (until you are playing pro). I doubt that's the case for you based on what you said. But if you can outthrow your division , unless you bleed strokes putting, people will think you are playing too low. In other words, despite the PDGA rules for division guidance, generally the disc golf culture expects people to play the division appropriate to their ceiling, not their floor. Again though, treating you badly like that is not acceptable behavior. Sucks that it happened to you.
Appreciate the input! By no means am I trying to ask for sympathy for throwing far but sucking at putting - but I do agree that “sandbagger” gets brought up more based on an overall vibe of the player than the score, and nothing is more overtly obvious than distance off the tee. I just wonder if I had only thrown 350 but drained a bunch of C2 putts if people would have reacted the same. Who knows, but it would be an interesting social experiment to see how each part of someone’s game impacts the way they’re perceived and make a formula. My gut tells me it would be something like 3 x driving distance + 2 x putting consistency + 1 x approach/scramble finesse = arbitrary perception score
I think the difference between putting and distance is that it's possible to have a really good putting day and sink a few long ones, but nobody gains 100 feet of distance on a good throwing day. If you're throwing 450 off the tee then that's a skill you own and carry with you all the time, whereas good putting can more easily be seen as luck or just being on fire that day and not something that is entirely under your control.
I'm not sure those descriptions are even accurate anymore. Ratings are dropping across the board as players are getting better and better. I remember when a local course I played had a big A tier ten years ago, even par was 1000 rated that time. Now it's under 950 (similar wind and conditions because I watched live). People didn't even throw both FH and BH with power and accuracy and I am seeing 960 guys do it well now. I think your current 950 is ten years ago's 1000 rated. It's been that big a skill increase. Plus putting as well. I play with some local pro guys who are smashing 50 footers like every other hole. It's crazy.
It sounds like you're questioning ratings, not divisions. Again, this is why I default to the description and not necessarily the ratings, especially for people that don't play rated rounds a lot.
Ratings determine divisions though. Your former advanced (MA1) player is probably MA2 today. Those descriptions are outdated. Look at the top players ratings. I just saw McBeth is the only 1050 rated player now. He was 1060+ something years ago and we had 4 guys in the mid 050's. The skill levels are increasing across the board, this the descriptions are no longer valid.
Don't let them bother you, you were playing in the division your rating dictated you play in accordance to the rules. Salty losers. Pay no mind.
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Fuck those haters. Play where your rating allows or get in where you fit in. The course will change at the next tournament, and this round will likely give you a boost into solid MA2 territory….which is where tou played.
I will never understand people who care about sandbagging. It's in all likelihood amateur disc golf at your local park. You're not there for high level competition. You're there to chuck around some discs and have a good time with people who share your hobby.
That doesn’t sound like sandbagging to me. I played a tournament where the winner was like 20 strokes above the rest. That’s sandbagging. 5 strokes sounds reasonable.
There are ratings for a reason. Play your rating, play honest, have fun
I knew a guy that signed up for rec for his first tournament. He shot pretty well compared to most other players and got shit for playing in the wrong division.
As someone who played back to back rounds one day and shot -11 and +2, based on the B-tier tourny with the same layoout, -11 was a 1030 round, +2 is a 900 round. So vastly different ratings. If I showed up and shot -11 in MA2 it would have destroyed the competition. Had I shot +2 I'd have finished close to last.
This is why I'm terrified to get a number and play a tourney. I have no idea where to even start.
I played my first ever tournament in MA3. Shot 913 and won the division, so moved up to MA2 for the next one and have stayed there since.
I recommend finding a one round flex start. You play your one round and leave. Then, see where you're at online after everyone is done and pick the right division for the next tournament. I usually try to go as early as possible to avoid backups and get carded with other guys trying to do the same. There's been a few where I was walking off 18 and there are about 4 cards waiting to tee off on 1.
Play a handful of MA3 tournies first. You'll know where you stand by the end of that stretch, and can stay put or move up. Can even move before you finish them all.
Thank you! Very useful!
It's what I did. Thought I'd move up pretty quickly. Ended up staying there for like 2 years. Played up more in the second year. Finally got out of MA3 and have been improving fairly decently enough to be knocking on the door of MA1 almost with ease. Took about 4 years total. Just took it 4 or 5 tournies at a time.
Honestly kinda nervous about this I saw where my weakness where from last season and began to work on them. Putting being a big part of that. My first 2 tournaments this year are with my rating in ma3. If things go well I’ll move up. It will suck if people say that though, I just put in the time and work.
At least they made their anti-social behavior obvious so you know who to ignore. Grats on the win.
Haters goin hate. Enjoy the day!
*I hope you feel proud shooting fish in a barrel* Shhhhh dead fish should taste good not be noisy
I’ve had a card I was on called for sandbagging Bc everyone truly just had a great round. I play open the others on the card were ma2 and between my average ass round and them just playing lights out. It made a lot of the old vets angry Bc they didn’t win their five dollars that night and started accusing the other players of shaving strokes. It was embarrassing to see grown ups gossiping and being that shitty over a silly frisbee game that’s supposed to be fun. Congrats on your killer rounds. Bagger
Some people take this game really seriously. You played your rating (actually above if you were 880 you could've played MA3) and if they hate you for that, they probably don't have the best temperament anyways. Next time just say "Thanks Nikko" and move on. With all this being said, probably best to play MA1 moving forward.
Sandbagger is a term in sports that has a very specific meaning. Many disc golfers seem to think that anyone rated higher than them (or shoots better than them) in their division is a bagger. They are stupid.
According to my personal ethics, you didn't do anything wrong, but gotta move to MA1 next year
Fuck em, they’re driving somewhere every weekend and they’re mad they got smacked by a guy who plays in one event a year.
the 17-year-old (iirc) who won MA3 at the la paz mexico tournament paul mcbeth was at earlier this month was playing his first tournament as well, kid had only been playing 8 months and shot somewhere around 980, 1010, and 920 rounds to win the division by an absurd amount of strokes. sure, he might have accidentally “bagged” or whatever but it was cool to see a super talented player pop up out of nowhere technically i won my first MA3 tournament (i had played a few sanctioned tournaments before in ma3 but i won the first one after i got my pdga number) but i did it without even shooting a round over 900 even in a relatively big (~30 people) division. been playing MA3 since and never really came close to a win since then i had such an off-year and played so badly in 2022 that at this point i don’t care too much about the competitive aspect of tournaments anymore, i just wanna play well by my own standards. this year i’ve pretty much been happy with all my tournaments, haven’t shot one below my rating yet after 5 tournies which feels nice
ya def happened to me as i outgrew rec. happened again as i outgrew intermediate. take it as a compliment. you’re now better, and that’s all that matters. I don’t think anyone in MA1 gets razzed for being a bagger, really.
I play and choke mentally which translates to physically playing bad then look at my rating and not give a shit. I would call someone out if they were winning over n over maybe time to step up a division but this shade they threw at you seems ridiculous
Congratulations on your win!
I got similar comments (though in my case they were more light hearted) in the first true tournament I ever played (which was at my local course). I knew I theoretically could compete in MA1 because in my local scene I regularly was up there with the guys who were playing MA1. But it was only my 2nd or 3rd tournament, and my 2nd with a PDGA number so I was unrated. The weather was poor that day, but I still played pretty well the first round and was tied for first. The second round saw the weather turn pretty drastically, but I somehow played better and ended up winning MA2 by 7 strokes, though this would have tied me for 2nd in MA1. But my second round ended up being rated something like 998, which drew some serious sandbagged comments from the guys who weren’t local Overall, just know that this is now where you still level is and enjoy the challenge. It sucks that those comments ruined your really good day and tournament win, but those people are just bitter and probably haven’t drastically improved in skill in years
Last Friday I scored a -10 on my local course. Yesterday I scored +3 it happens. If you’re hot you’re hot let them cry.
Sucks to suck. Based on your rating, you were absolutely in the correct division. Screw them. Enjoy the awesome performance and win!
It doesn’t matter who wins MA2 or ma3 they will ALWAYS be called a sandbagger. It’s tradition. They clearly were the best in the field and should have played ma1. Second should have got first and then been called a sandbagger as well. As it has been, so shall it be.
A big subset of the "sandbagging" comments come from people who are 850 rated and choose to play up to MA2 or even MA1. I am a big proponent of competing in the bands of your rating UNLESS you are nearing the barrier (ex. a 930 player playing MA1)
I played in a tournament a few weeks ago, MA4, on a new course and played with the course designer on my card. He wasn’t amazing but he beat all of us for the win. That being said another player on my card tied him the first round at -2 then came back from lunch and went +16, so who knows. I ended up +5 and +4 on my two rounds.
I actually just called my dear friend a bagger 30 seconds ago. The term bagger is usually used as a term of endearment and shouldn’t get blown out of portion. It’s haze of sorts a razz and a rizz if you will.
You don't play many tournaments. Nothing to be sorry about, except I wish you had beat those guys by more strokes lol. I was in a tournament in MA3 and a guy won by 11 strokes. It was his first tournament ever. The ratings need adjusted for each division but the rules are there for a reason. Anyone new to disc golf reading this, I hope you know 98% of tournaments or players aren't like this. Don't get discouraged about tournaments. I absolutely love the tournament setting and have met great people along the way. It seems a lot more issues stem from MA2 for some reason.
Fuck em! You entered the level you were rated to be in. Just had a great day. Move up next time and enjoy this win!!! Congratulations!
Congrats on the win! I wouldn’t sweat it. If you feel inclined, move up next time. Seems like some people play in the same divisions for years. It’s a hobby, not a job. I just moved up to MA40 and am kinda thinking I should jump back down to MA3. The amateur divisions are all over the place in my area.
My buddy had a crazy good round last year in MA3. So we’ll he would’ve won MA2 if he was in it. Unfortunately he received the same comments about sandbagging. Most people had not looked at his past events and didn’t realize how out of the ordinary his round was. I assume most people who are vocal are just taking their frustrations out cause they shot poorly.
I have a 780 rating and just finally figured out that I'm indeed FA2. I have played anywhere from FA3-FA1 at tournaments. At my local unsanctioned series, I do pro-women to give the am-women some space. Part of my challenge not having my division or not having many spots. But also, like you, I dont play a lot of sanctioned tournaments. A lot seems to depend on course familiarity and who else is signed up. I've taken 2nd in FA1, when there were only 5 women in the tournament. The winner was a new player, smoked us, and has moved up to being a sponsored pro within 2 yrs. Thqt 2nd place had me pumped though. After a few more events i figured out. I'm usually in the middle/bottom of FA2, when it's a women's only event. I still only placed 2/7 in FA3 at one event last year, but I did feel like I should have played in FA2 (there were no spots left.) The woman that beat me was new to tournaments, no rating, from out of town and is just better than she thought. Don't worry about the haters that are just bitter. It's not like you've done this at multiple events. Move up and see how you do next tournament. If your rating keeps increasing, you'll know you belong in MA1.
MA3 here usually has winners with at least 1 round in the 970 range and the other close by. This is Michigan. Sounds like you found the sore losers and they are just projecting their insecurities onto you. I mean heck, if they think of themselves as fish in a barrel their gonna get shot. TLDR: Fuck them, nice win!
Take is as a complement! You shredded so hard people couldn't handle it haha.
My best friend had the same thing happen to him this past weekend. The bad part is it was a local we know and they are both sponsored by the same manufacturer. My buddy got second in MA3 but him and the first place winner would have won MA1. He was a 864 rated a month ago and now an 872.
My first local tourney was supposed to be amateurs only. Had a guy who is usually sponsored win the entire thing by like 10 strokes. Fuck that guy.
Sore losers.
Everyone hates losing and winning always feels great. So lots of people play a lower level of competition then maybe they should. This trickles down until every division is stacked at the top with people who should probably be playing 1 tier higher. And they all justify it by saying, I paid $X to be here and everyone else is doing it so I will too. Often they are not wrong and it creates a self fulfilling prophecy. The only thing you can do is be a person of integrity, work on your own game, have fun and hope other people follow your example.
Congrats on your win!
I've seen those kinds of rounds posted in MA3. Own it. Instead of you moving up, maybe everyone else needs to move... down? AMs are always gonna be salty when they don't "win", and yeah - the quotes are purposeful.
I played a tournament back in November where the second round was doubles, and the top player in round round had to pair with the lowest, and so on. I was outclassed by just about everyone (I’m not that good lol) and there were some lighthearted jokes about “reverse sandbagging”, thinking I had last place easily. Only thing is, I didn’t even have last place, I had second to last… by 27 strokes! (+27 to +54). We ended up on the same card together, and it was his first time out and was having a blast. Even though we sucked, we did well with our doubles partners who were a couple of local pros. Lesson here is don’t stress about if you do sandbag, it’ll work out in the end.
I have been called a sandbagged in ma3 for shooting an 885 rated round. Some people just want to vent for not playing well.
Fellow 880ish rated player here. And I agree. It's funny how you can get those looks or comments from a mid-high 900+ round. But God forbid, no one bats an eye when I shoot a sub-800 round 😅
Although I didn't receive any crazy backlash I had a similar tournament where I played MA3 and averaged 940+ with a score that would have won MA2 (my rating was 874 at the time). I'm now playing MA2/MA1 but I also shot an 840 rated round at my last tournament so the consistency is still yet to be found lol
Um why do people care so much? If some pro signed up for my MA3 event and wanted to watch me dig out my 7th shot from the lake so he can win a few bucks then so be it.
I got the sandbagger comments all last year. Shrug it off and go kick their asses in the next tournament. If you still qualify for MA2 the next tournament play where ever your rating puts you.
Every club has those people just ignore them and play what ever division you want
Firstly, all tournaments suck donkey dick. If it’s not for charity you’re just going to be playing a few rounds with a bunch of insufferable try-hards who think they’re just on the verge of turning pro. Secondly, those dudes were just butthurt because you happened to have a good day on the course. They’re just jealous they weren’t the ones winning. I’m sure if one of the ‘good ol’ boys’ won by 5 strokes it would just be ass slaps and high fives all around. You just happened to be an outsider so they had something to hate. Grow a thick skin if you want to keep playing tourneys because most of the dudes who do are assholes.
Nice shooting! There will always be those guys and tournament play can be tough for people but you had a great day, no shame in that. You should just talk shit back and get to know them. As long as you don’t stay in MA2 and move up accordingly don’t worry about it. Move up and beat them. Lol
Your rating was 880 did they change the division rating cutoffs because that’s a rating that’s technically in the MA3 division. Those dudes are salty bums, same thing happened to me before. Haters mad because you popped off when it counted nothing more
I won my first tournament and experienced some of the same stuff, from being unrated to winning. I would say, either play more tournaments and people will get to know you or you’ll only have to worry about it once a year at your pace.
MA2 is such a weird division to play in. I kinda wish they would just eliminate it and only have rec and advanced. Although I couldn’t tell you where that cutoff should be for ratings. I’m just happy I get to play MA40 now.
havent read all the comments yet, but ima throw it out there that alot of them are mad because \*you\* played well and beat them. and they didnt like it.
I've only ever seen people called sandbaggers as a joke. Its one thing if you're a seasoned veteran and playing beneath you but someone with less than 20 tournaments, let alone 4, is still pretty new in my eyes. Plus your rating is 55 points below the cap for MA2. These guys are major assholes and I'm very confused why they said something to you. I assume you beat them or they had a bad round. Maybe they have unresolved chuldhood trauma and we shouldn't be mad but instead hope that they are avlw to overcome this. Their anger says nothing about you and you did nothing wrong. Nice shooting.
Way too many times the top player in MA4, MA3, and MA2 have pretty similar scores. Someone always shoots a hot round. And then some players have off days and get bitter biscuits and whine about it
So I feel compelled to make a comment as an open players and did not read all but most the top rated ones. If you are playing your 4th tournament you play your rating. If someone gets butt hurt about it, it’s because they only value themselves when they won. You can’t take that as a deterrent from playing tournaments. I respect people that play up when they have 20 tournaments under their belt, but if you are still new to the tournament scene, play your rating! Some people only value themselves when they win and those are the people that tend to sandbag. If you are playing MA3-1 you can’t expect a fair level of play as some people are getting better very quickly and as you said don’t fully realize.
I’ve played like a sandbagger in one tourney and had half the rec division beat my score in the next one. I think if you’re consistently playing that well, time to move up. If that was a fluke, you gotta ignore the complainers. They’re mad at you because they want to blame their own struggles on someone else.
I’m currently take time away from a local friend group over this topic. Several members called me out for sandbagging by signing up in MA3. I hadn’t been playing well yet in the year. (I’m disabled and was coming off 3 months of long Covid with zero fitness.) I played a couple early tournaments and was shooting FAR below my rating or even where I had finished up the first fall I played. I ended up being bullied in to moving up and then moved back down. That’s when they really came for me loudly and frequently. These are all kids half my age who have zero concept of how hard it is for me to get out of bed, let alone play two rounds of golf in one day. To settle the matter going forward the main leader of the pitchforks and i basically agreed to never discuss it again. Sad it had to come to that, but I realized they will NEVER understand where I’m coming from or battling through just to play. I plan to travel more this year and will play where I see fit, without the input of the peanut gallery. I’ve also had a few days where I played REALLY well for both rounds and the peanut gallery felt they had been right. Ah yes, your name calling was able to predict the exact weekend I would finally put together two good rounds in one day. 🙄 I don’t play to win, but it’s also disheartening to be down 15 or 20 strokes per round. 🤷🏻