What To Expect From Putting Leagues

Friends, competition, and beer. Combine these three elements and you are bound to have a good time. Enter the putting league. Old friends and new friends come together in friendly confines for some good old-fashioned competition while imbibing tasty beverages. Enjoy yourself and don’t worry, putting leagues are not PDGA sanctioned!! So hang loose and make some new friends and put that putter in the basket.

Putting leagues are typically organized by a local player with ties to the local community. Oftentimes they represent a local disc golf club and occur in a local restaurant, bar, or brewery. Players compete via a multitude of different disciplines in an attempt to score more points than other competitors. One fun aspect of putting leagues is that they often have creative formats to make it enjoyable for the competitors. Let’s delve into the dynamics of putting leagues and shed some light on how you can get involved.

What To Expect at a Putting League

So you showed up to an establishment on the night of a putting league. You are with a couple friends. It’s time to grab a beer and head to where the action is. The first thing to know is that putting leagues NEVER occur around regular patrons of an establishment. Look for large open areas away from other patrons. Putting leagues occur in large areas where missed putts are safe and sound flying into the abyss. While other patrons certainly show interest and will watch, putting leagues are generally segregated and allow you to engage with other disc golfers.

Much of your time at a putting league is spent watching other competitors while hanging out with friends. Take advantage of this time to meet other disc golfers. If you show up to a putting league you care about the game. Understand this notion and know that you are in the heart of the sport. Disc golf is an everyman’s sport that is extremely accessible and open to all walks of life. This is what makes disc golf so special.

Something else to take note of while at putting leagues is the approach and form of other players. It may not seem like the place to glean information from other competitors but I urge you to learn something before you leave for the night.

Simon Lizotte recently went to a putting league in Massachusetts and took his camera along with him. Check out the juxtaposition of the laid-back nature of the evening while still having nerves when stepping up to putt in the video below. This is a great way to practice pressure putts!

How Are They Organized?

There are many ways to score a putting league. This makes competition unique in that there is not a stock way to compete at all leagues. Putting league organizers use creativity to combine competition and fun into each week’s festivities. Some of the formats are as follows:

• Ladder Distances – One point for the shortest distance with increasing points given per increment of increased distance. Players must work through stations in the same designated order as all other players.
• Strategy Distances – Certain point totals for each distance with players choosing which distance to putt from for each throw. Can be very exciting and lead to dramatic comebacks when going for long putts.
• Singles or Doubles – Single play will have you putting on your own, while doubles will have you partner up for a team approach.
• HORSE – Really fun format that is the same as the basketball game of HORSE. First player shoots and if the putt is good, the next player must make it or get a letter (H). If the original putt misses the next player gets to putt from wherever they choose. Last player standing without spelling HORSE wins. Great game when there are only a few players. JOMEZ has produced multiple videos of this format that are highly entertaining.
• Many Other Creative Games – Other games include knockout, “mini golf’ with baskets placed in precarious positions, putting challenge course with multiple baskets set up to create a “putting course” and a multitude of other games brought about via creative disc golfers trying new ideas.

Again, the idea is that the organizer is creative and keeps the interest of all competitors.

Feel the Nerves

Another great aspect of putting leagues is that you feel the nerves when you step up to putt. Throughout casual and practice rounds it is difficult to replicate the tension and nerves that players feel when in a competitive setting. Enter the putting league. Yes, there is beer involved in a casual setting. Yes, you may be at a brewery. Yes, you may be barefoot or in jeans. Yes, you will feel the nerves!

This aspect alone makes putting leagues worth every penny. Many players make it or break it on the green and the more pressure putts you take the more you are likely to make. So continue to put yourself in these situations by enjoying yourself at these great events.

Who Organizes Putting Leagues?

Putting leagues are organized by enthusiastic players in your community. They are simple and combine those three magical aspects that all disc golfers enjoy: friends, competition, and beer. The organizers are sometimes affiliated with a local club but this is not always the case. However, an affiliation with a club helps to legitimize the putting league to the eyes of the potential host (i.e., restaurant, brewery, etc.).

It all starts by approaching an establishment with a plan. Many leagues are on weeknights when bars and restaurants are generally slow. It can be hard to estimate how many folks will show up in the beginning but once the league gains momentum it is a win/win situation for the patrons as well as the establishment. Many establishments will give deals to players in putting leagues.

Not every community has a putting league so this is where YOU become crucial. Maybe you have checked into putting leagues in your local area and found there are none. This left you disappointed but life goes on. Crunch a few numbers of how many people you could bring on night one and then make an offer to an establishment. As long as you can procure a basket and a few competitors most establishments would be more than happy to secure your business.

Bringing It All Together

Disc golf leagues come in all shapes and sizes. They are a wonderful way to become embedded in your local disc golf culture while enjoying three main aspects of friends, competition, and beer. They are the best way to replicate pressure putts while growing bonds in your local community. And if you do not have a putting league near you, start one! Maybe someday soon we’ll raise a pint together and enjoy sinking some putts.

If you need to add putters to your bag before joining a putting league, Rogue Discs has you covered.