PDGA approves Pinza 1 basket, expands sanctioned target options
The Pinza 1 earned Championship approval with 12 outer chains, 6 inner chains and a June 29 PDGA certification, putting Thor Wallgren in the sanctioned mix.
The PDGA approved the Pinza 1 as a Championship target, giving Thor Wallgren’s basket a place in the sport’s highest sanctioned tier and a direct path into tournament use. The listing carries certification number 26-84, an approval date of June 29, 2026, and a PDGA timestamp of Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 21:52.
That matters because basket approvals are not just a catalog note. The PDGA classifies targets in three levels, Basic, Standard and Championship, and the Technical Standards Working Group tests submissions before the approval lands and the approved list is updated. Under Competition Manual 5.05, Championship targets of the same design and manufacturer are recommended for all events and are required for A-tiers, Elite Series and Major events. Standard targets can be used at B-tiers, C-tiers and League events, so the new Championship stamp gives course designers and tournament directors another serious option when they are deciding what goes in the ground.
The Pinza 1’s published specifications show a basket built to compete on details that matter on the green. The PDGA lists it at 83.3 cm above ground, 24.3 cm deep, with an inside diameter of 68.7 cm, 12 outer chains and 6 inner chains. The frame, top and pole are galvanized steel, a material choice that should draw attention from clubs thinking about long-term wear, especially on courses that see heavy traffic, weather exposure and constant practice rounds.
For clubs and event staff, the most important part of this approval is not novelty. It is flexibility. A Championship target can fit a new permanent install, a full course replacement, or a temporary event layout that needs to meet the same standard as the top of the sanctioning pyramid. If a club has been waiting to upgrade aging baskets or a director wants a build sheet that clears A-tier and above without compromise, the Pinza 1 now sits on the approved table with the entrenched names.
Wallgren is not an anonymous badge on a spec sheet. His PDGA profile lists him as a professional member from Bergby, Sweden, with 97 career events and 6 career wins. That background gives the approval a more practical edge than a pure manufacturer announcement: it comes from someone who knows what tournament golf asks from a target, not just what looks good in a storefront.
The approval also reaches beyond PDGA-only competition. The World Flying Disc Federation adopts the PDGA-approved disc-catching target list for competition, which gives the Pinza 1 relevance well outside one tour or one country. In a sport where the basket shapes the putting test as much as the tee shapes the drive, another Championship target is real infrastructure news.
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