Format of Play – Matches

The WTDGC 2026 will be played using a team match play format designed specifically for national team competition.

Unlike traditional Disc Golf tournaments where players compete individually over multiple rounds, WTDGC is built around direct team-versus-team games. Every game consists of several individual matches played simultaneously, with the combined result determining the winning national team.

For the Open Division, each team game consists of four individual matches played at the same time:

• Two Singles matches
• Two Doubles matches

Each national team nominates players into designated positions before each game. For Open Division, players are nominated into the following positions:

• MPO1
• MPO2
• MPO3
• MPO4
• FPO1
• FPO2

MPO positions are ordered according to the current PDGA rating of players nominated for that game (MPO1 being the highest-rated nominated MPO player), while FPO positions follow the same logic within the female roster.

A typical Open Division game could therefore look like this:

• Singles Match: MPO1 Lithuania vs MPO1 Germany
• Singles Match: MPO2 Lithuania vs MPO2 Germany
• Doubles Match: MPO3 & FPO1 Lithuania vs MPO3 & FPO1 Germany
• Doubles Match: MPO4 & FPO2 Lithuania vs MPO4 & FPO2 Germany

All four matches are played simultaneously and each contributes points toward the overall team result. Each Singles or Doubles match awards 2 points for a win and 1 point to each team in the case of a draw, meaning every team game has a total of 8 points available.

This means a country does not necessarily need to win every individual match to win the overall game. For example, a team could win one Singles match and draw the remaining three matches and still earn enough points to take the overall victory. The format therefore rewards not only strong individual performances but also consistency across the entire team.

To create additional strategic depth and ensure balanced participation across the whole team, WTDGC uses predefined match allocation formats that rotate player roles and doubles combinations throughout the championship. Rather than allowing teams to repeatedly field the same pairings, the format intentionally changes which positions play Singles and which positions are paired in Doubles from round to round.

As a result, a doubles pairing used in one game (for example MPO3 and FPO1) will typically not appear again later in the event in the same combination. Players move between Singles and Doubles assignments across different rounds, creating a competition that rewards team depth, adaptability and broad squad performance rather than relying on one dominant pairing throughout the tournament.

Masters Division follows a similar team competition concept but uses a different player composition model adapted to Masters eligibility categories.