What is the 35 rule in disc golf?

There is no official PDGA rule known as the '35 rule,' so the phrase is almost certainly a mix-up. Newcomers often mean the 10-metre putting circle, the optional 2-metre out-of-bounds rule for discs stuck above the ground, or a local course guideline. If someone cites a '35 rule,' ask them to point to it in the PDGA rulebook, because the recognised distances in the rules are the 10-metre circle and the 2-metre height rule.

What is the golden rule of disc golf?

The golden rule is courtesy: give other players room, stay silent and still while someone throws, let faster groups play through, and leave the course as you found it. It is not a scoring rule but an etiquette standard the PDGA emphasises, because disc golf is largely self-officiated and depends on players respecting each other and the land they play on.

What is the mandatory rule in disc golf?

A mandatory, or 'mando,' is a marked obstacle such as a tree or pole that you must pass on a specified side. If your disc goes the wrong side of a mandatory, you take a penalty throw and continue from a designated drop zone or the previous lie. Mandos exist to shape the intended flight path of a hole and keep discs away from hazards or other fairways.

What's the 2 m rule in disc golf?

The 2-metre rule adds one penalty throw if your disc comes to rest more than two metres above the ground, for example lodged high in a tree. Under current PDGA rules it is optional and off by default, so it only applies when a tournament director or course specifically enables it. When it is not in effect, a disc stuck high is simply played from directly below where it rests.

Disc Golf Rules for Beginners: Tees and Lies

Disc golf rules boil down to one goal: get your disc from the tee into the target basket in as few throws as possible. You throw your first shot from a marked tee pad, then play every subsequent throw from exactly where your last disc landed, until the disc lands in the basket’s chains and cage. Lowest total throws across all holes wins.

That is the entire game in a sentence, and it mirrors ball golf almost exactly, minus the clubs and the ball. The rest of the rules, set out by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), simply handle the edge cases: where you stand to throw, what happens when a disc goes out of bounds, and how to putt fairly. Here is the beginner’s version.

The flow of a hole

Every hole runs the same way. You start behind the tee line and make your drive. Wherever that disc comes to rest becomes your lie, the spot your next throw is played from. You mark it, take a legal stance, and throw again. Repeat until the disc lands and stays in the basket.

Scoring uses the same par system as ball golf. A par-3 hole is expected to take three throws; finishing in two is a birdie, four is a bogey. Add up every hole and the lowest number wins the round. Because you always throw from where the last disc stopped, good position matters as much as raw distance, exactly as it does in traditional golf.

Stance, lies and the marker

When you throw, at least one supporting point (usually a foot) must be on the lie, directly behind your marker disc, at the moment of release. Stepping past the marker before the disc leaves your hand is a foot fault.

Putting has one extra rule that trips up beginners. Inside a 10-metre circle around the basket, you cannot follow through past your marker after releasing the putt, no falling forward or stepping through until the disc has come to rest or you have demonstrated balance. Outside that circle you can run up and follow through freely. This “no jump putt inside the circle” rule keeps close putts honest.

Penalties: out of bounds, mandos and more

Most of the disc golf rulebook is about what happens when things go wrong. These are the penalties new players meet first.

Situation	What it means	Typical penalty
Out of bounds (OB)	Disc lands outside a marked boundary	+1 throw, replay from near where it crossed
Missed mandatory	Disc passes the wrong side of a marked obstacle	+1 throw, continue from drop zone
2-metre rule (if enabled)	Disc rests over 2 m above ground	+1 throw
Foot fault	Illegal stance when throwing	Rethrow, or a warning then penalty
Lost disc	Disc cannot be found in 3 minutes	+1 throw, replay previous lie

The two you will meet most are OB and mandatories. Out of bounds adds a stroke and sends you back to replay from the boundary, while a mandatory (“mando”) forces your disc to pass a marked object on a specific side or take a penalty. Both exist to shape a hole’s intended path and keep discs off neighbouring fairways.

Etiquette: the unwritten half of the game

Disc golf is almost entirely self-officiated in casual play, so etiquette does a lot of the work a referee would elsewhere. The unofficial “golden rule” is simple courtesy: stay quiet and still while others throw, stand behind the person throwing, let faster groups play through, and pack out your litter. The PDGA treats this as core to the sport because courses are shared public spaces.

The player farthest from the basket usually throws first, and on the tee the person with the best score on the previous hole leads off. None of this affects your score directly, but ignoring it is the fastest way to annoy everyone in your group.

There is also a practical safety layer to the etiquette. You should never throw when a player or passer-by is within range down the fairway, and a shout of “fore” is the accepted warning if a disc heads toward someone. Because discs travel fast and far, this is treated as seriously in disc golf as it is in ball golf, and most course conflicts come from players throwing too early rather than from any scoring dispute.

Marking and measuring your lie

One detail beginners often get wrong is how to mark a lie precisely. You can either leave the thrown disc where it lies and throw from directly behind it, or place a dedicated mini marker disc on the ground touching the front edge of the thrown disc, then pick the thrown disc up and throw from behind the mini. Both are legal; the mini just keeps your throwing disc out of the way. Your supporting point must be within 30 centimetres directly behind the marker, which is where the confusion about various “rules” involving distances tends to come from, none of them a mysterious “35 rule,” just the marking and putting-circle measurements written plainly in the PDGA rulebook.

Getting started

You do not need much to begin: a single all-purpose disc and a public course will do. As you improve, the biggest skill jump comes from learning throwing technique, which is a whole topic on its own, covered in our guide to how to throw a disc golf disc. The game shares obvious DNA with ultimate frisbee rules, though ultimate is a team field sport rather than a solo target game, and its target-and-terrain feel is closer to lawn games like bocce ball than to a contact sport.

The short version: throw from the tee, play from where your disc lands, add a penalty throw for going out of bounds or missing a mandatory, respect the 10-metre putting circle, and finish each hole in as few throws as you can. Be courteous, and the rest of disc golf follows naturally.