Doubles and Best Shot: How the Team Rules Work
Doubles is where disc golf gets sociable. Two players, one card, and a partner who will either bail you out or remind you about that roller for the rest of the night. Most weekly leagues call the classic version “best shot.” The PDGA calls it Best Throw, and it lives in Appendix B: Doubles Play, alongside a handful of other team formats that score very differently.
Here’s what the official text actually says, so the only argument on your card is about whose putt it was.
Related: Throwing Order and the Away Player · Misplays and Wrong Lies · Courtesy Violations Explained · Stance and Foot Faults · Disc Golf Scoring Terms · How to Join a Local Club.
The ground rules for every format (B.01)
- A doubles team is two players. Other team sizes are possible and, per the PDGA, “can be extrapolated from these rules.”
- The Official Rules still apply except where Appendix B says otherwise. OB, mandos, stance, and the rest don’t take the night off.
- For scoring, “team” replaces “player” in section 808, Scoring. The team gets one score per hole.
Who throws first (B.02)
- First hole: teams throw in the order they’re listed on the scorecard.
- Later tees: the team with the lowest score on the previous hole throws first, and so on. Ties don’t change the order.
- In the fairway: once every team is off the tee, the team whose lie is farthest from the target throws next. That’s the familiar away-player idea, applied to teams.
- Partners on the same lie can throw in either order. Who goes first is a strategy call, not a rules question.
Penalties: yours, or the team’s? (B.03)
This is the part that settles most arguments:
- A penalty incurred by a throw belongs only to the player who made that throw. A foot fault on your partner’s drive is on your partner’s throw.
- Every other warning and penalty is charged to the team as a whole, in every format.
- “Extra throws” get flagged. Any throw that can’t possibly improve the team’s score is an extra throw. The first one draws a warning for the team; each one after that, by either partner, costs one penalty throw.
Playing one lie together (B.04)
When both partners throw from the same lie:
- Same lie, same spot. If the second partner throws from a lie other than the one the first partner played, that’s one penalty throw for misplay.
- One marker. A shared lie must be marked with the same marker disc; doing otherwise is a marking violation. The PDGA’s Q&A (QA-DOU-1) gives the classic case: if your partner used their thrown disc as the marker, you can’t slip a mini down for your turn. One marking method, marked once.
- If the lie moves, you both move. When a shared lie is relocated for any reason (relief, for example), both partners play from the new spot.
The formats, side by side (B.05)
| Format | How it plays | Hole is done when | Team score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Throw | Both tee off; the team picks the better position; both throw from there; repeat | Either partner holes out | Throws for the lies played, plus penalties |
| Modified Best Throw | Best Throw, but the TD may limit how often each partner’s tee shot is used | Either partner holes out | As above, plus 2 penalty throws each time the limit is exceeded |
| Worst Throw | Both tee off; the opponents pick the position, aiming to make your score worse | Both partners hole out from the same lie | Throws for the lies played, plus penalties |
| Tough Throw | Worst Throw, with one difference | Either partner holes out | As Worst Throw |
| Alternate Throw | Partners take turns, each throwing from the lie the other left | Either partner holes out | Total throws by the team, plus penalties |
| Modified Alternate Throw | Alternate Throw, but the TD may name who throws first on each hole | Either partner holes out | As Alternate Throw |
| Best Score | Each partner plays the hole as an individual | A partner finishes with the team’s lowest potential score | The lower individual score (with that player’s penalties), plus team penalties |
| Best Score Alternate Throw | Each partner tees off, starting two separate alternate-throw sequences | Either sequence finishes with the lowest potential score | The lower sequence score (with its penalties), plus team penalties |
| Aggregate Score | Each partner plays the hole as an individual | Both partners finish | The sum of both scores, with individual and team penalties |
A few formats have wrinkles worth knowing before the first tee.
Best Throw: don’t pick up the disc you want
In Best Throw, if your team picks up a thrown disc before choosing or marking a lie, you can’t choose that throw. Pick up both discs without marking either, and the second disc picked up goes back to its original spot, as agreed by the group, and you play from there. Translation: mark first, celebrate second.
If one partner is absent, late, or stops playing, the other may keep going, but no throws are made on the missing partner’s behalf. A late partner can join only between holes.
Worst Throw: your opponents choose, and they have rules too
Your opponents pick the lie to make your hole harder. If your team picks up or marks a disc before they’ve chosen, it’s replaced where it was (as agreed by the group), and the opponents choose among that disc’s lie, your other disc’s lie, and the previous lie. The rules also cut the other way: opponents who choose a clearly favorable lie may be disqualified by the TD. Sandbagging your rivals’ choices isn’t a strategy.
In Worst Throw, if a partner is absent, late, or withdraws, the team withdraws.
Alternate Throw: the wrong partner costs you
Throwing out of turn is a misplay: one penalty throw, the throw is disregarded, and the correct partner throws. If another throw has already been made after the wrong partner’s throw, it’s two penalty throws and play continues. Any re-throw from the same lie is made by the same player. A hole missed by a late or absent partner is scored par plus four, and if either partner withdraws, the team withdraws.
Quick reference
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is “best shot” an official PDGA format? | The PDGA name is Best Throw (Appendix B) |
| Who tees first on hole one? | Scorecard order |
| Do ties change the tee order? | No |
| Can partners on the same lie throw in either order? | Yes |
| Whose stance penalty is it? | The player who made the throw |
| Can my partner and I mark the same lie twice? | No. One marking method, marked once (QA-DOU-1) |
| Can I play my partner’s missed hole for them in Best Throw? | No throws are made for a missing partner |
| Who picks our lie in Worst Throw? | Your opponents |
Habits that keep doubles friendly
These aren’t PDGA rules, just good sense:
- Ask the TD or league host which format it is, by name. “Doubles” can mean Best Throw, Alternate Throw, or Best Score, and they score nothing alike.
- Mark before you walk. In Best Throw, decide and mark the lie before anyone picks up a disc.
- Agree on one marker for the night. A mini both of you use avoids the QA-DOU-1 problem entirely.
- Say the team score out loud at the end of each hole so the card confirms it, same as singles.
- Play the putt, not the payback. In Worst Throw, pick the honestly tougher lie, then move on.
Where to read the rules yourself
Rules checked on 2026-10-27 against pdga.com (Appendix B last updated December 31, 2025; Q&A March 18, 2026). Leagues often run their own doubles house rules, and the PDGA updates its rules most years, so check the current text and your TD’s announcements before you settle a call on the card.