Rules & Etiquette

Mandatory (Mando) Rules

Passing the correct side of a mandatory.

Why it matters

A mandatory forces your disc to pass a marked object on a specified side, usually for safety or to stop players shortcutting a dogleg. Missing one is a penalty plus a specific lie, and it is the rule most likely to catch out a player on an unfamiliar course who did not read the sign.

How to do it

A mando is marked with an arrow on the object — a tree, a pole — showing the side your disc must pass.
Your disc must cross the mando line on the correct side (PDGA 804.01).
If you miss it, you take one penalty throw and play from the designated drop zone for that mando.
A double mando requires passing between two objects, which is a narrower window than it looks from the tee.
Read the sign before you throw. Mandos are marked on the tee signage and are easy to miss on a course you do not know.

Common mistakes

Not noticing a mando until after throwing.Read the tee sign on every unfamiliar hole. A missed mando is a stroke and a worse lie, for a sign you walked past.

Assuming you can play on from where the disc landed after missing it.You play from the drop zone with a penalty. Where the disc finished is irrelevant.

Attempting a line that only just makes the mando.Give it margin. The cost of missing is a stroke plus a worse position, which is rarely worth the few feet gained.

Key points

A mando forces your line to a marked side of an obstacle.
Miss it and you play from the drop zone with a penalty.

The drill

Drill · Read every tee sign — 1 unfamiliar course, reading all 18 tee signs before throwing. On a course you do not know, read the sign on every hole before teeing and note any mando, drop zone or OB. It adds a couple of minutes to the round and removes the single most common way of losing a stroke somewhere new.

Watch: Disc Golf Rules School - Episode 7: Mandatories — PDGA