Reserving spots for pros.

[DESTROYERONE]

Why do tournaments hold spots for pros to play in? If the game is going to increase in size then then more people that play the better. I don't believe that reserving spots for pros is helping this. The reason I am asking is because the town I live in has a tournament and the T.D is holding 25 spots for pros until a certain date then opening it up for the people on the waitlist. There are people in my town that play and would maybe like to play in this tournament but wouldn't be able to get in because of this and also it seems that unless you know where to look for tournaments you would never know about it. I never see advertisement for tournaments locally such as newspapers or radio spots. I have play many ball golf scrambles over the last 40 years and have never seen a spot reserved for someone like it is in disc golf. I don't want to believe that it is because more money is collected this way because this is sure not a way to grow the sport.

 

[Horsman]

Why do tournaments hold spots for pros to play in? If the game is going to increase in size then then more people that play the better. I don't believe that reserving spots for pros is helping this. The reason I am asking is because the town I live in has a tournament and the T.D is holding 25 spots for pros until a certain date then opening it up for the people on the waitlist. There are people in my town that play and would maybe like to play in this tournament but wouldn't be able to get in because of this and also it seems that unless you know where to look for tournaments you would never know about it. I never see advertisement for tournaments locally such as newspapers or radio spots. I have play many ball golf scrambles over the last 40 years and have never seen a spot reserved for someone like it is in disc golf. I don't want to believe that it is because more money is collected this way because this is sure not a way to grow the sport.

Tier based registration based on rating has been pretty common for a few years now. Its more used for bigger tournaments. But holding spots just for a pro division is a bit weird. But the TD also can do what they want. If you dont like the rules then dont play. I find it hard to believe that the people in your town arent able to play because of this. Also there is nothing stopping any of those people in your town from getting better and being considered one of those pros that spots are saved for. You will probably never see advertisement in the news paper or radio. It costs too much and brings in little to nothing and the amount of people that listen to radio and read newspapers has plummeted in the past decade so I wouldnt advertise there either. The internet is the best and easiest way to get tournament info out there to as many people as possible.

Care to share any more info about the tournament so that we can get the details from the tournament page and not second hand?

 

[Horsman]

Also, with 25 spots held just for pros, does that mean that the rest of the 50??? spots are saved for ams because that doesnt sound fair. If the TD was holding spots just for women or jrs would you have an issue?

 

[Horsman]

Also, do a simple google search for "Disc Golf Tournaments". The first two sites. The PDGA and Disc Golf Scene. You will find 99% of tournaments posted here. If anybody in your area cant find disc golf tournaments then I dont think they are looking hard enough.

And is anyone able to sign up for the pro division? If so then I dont see an issue.

 

[DESTROYERONE]

This is a tournament called the Mill Valley Shootout and is put on by the Columbus Flyers disc golf club, they run around 5 tournaments and I do believe it is up to the T.D if he is going to do this. I am talking about players who would maybe play but don't really care to do any thing but play disc golf and if there is a chance in the community to play a tournament then I believe it should be advertise in the community like being on the local parks and recreation website. I believe that anyone in a local community has a right to compete in something that is being put on in their town.

 

[Horsman]

This is a tournament called the Mill Valley Shootout and is put on by the Columbus Flyers disc golf club, they run around 5 tournaments and I do believe it is up to the T.D if he is going to do this. I am talking about players who would maybe play but don't really care to do any thing but play disc golf and if there is a chance in the community to play a tournament then I believe it should be advertise in the community like being on the local parks and recreation website. I believe that anyone in a local community has a right to compete in something that is being put on in their town.

This seems like a normal everyday B tier to me. Seeing as though there is added cash to just the pro division I can see why the TD held spots for the pros. You dont want 1 person signed up for the pro division and then they get all the added cash to themselves. We have had issues with a tournament director here in WI that will purposely add himself into a pro division with no competition so he can get cash without having to compete against anybody.

And I dont see why the TD should be holding on to spots for people that maybe want to play. The TD is giving spots to people who want to play, who arent on the fence. If spots were held for "maybes" in every tournament then our tds would lose a lot of money.

If the TD does not advertise their tournaments at the park where it is being held then the TD doesnt. They arent forced to and some parks do not allow for advertisement in the their parks. Also not all parks departments allow people to post events in the park on their website. Its up to the parks department to determine that.

I dont agree with your beliefs but that is life. I dont think any disc golfer is entitled to play in any tournament. Seems like everybody has been given the same chance to play and if you missed the sign up then thats on you and nobody else.

Seems like maybe you got the short end of the stick and are looking to complain. Everything about this looks like a normal tournament.

 

[DESTROYERONE]

It is a well run tournament and it fills every year, the players really enjoy playing, not complaining just curious about the way different tournaments are run. I didn't get the short end of the stick I can't play because of health reasons but I grew up in this town and taught tennis and ran many tennis tournaments here and people always knew when they were going on because I use the local newspaper and put signs up at the local courts to let people know. Times are changing I know but I believe that a local community that supports the parks have a right to know the different events going on.

 

[Jay Dub]

Comparing disc golf to a well established sport like Tennis never works.

Compare it to a lawn darts tournament. Not corn hole, that's bigger than disc golf also.

There's no money in disc golf for advertisement, if you've played for a year or more you already know that.

 

[ray1970]

There are quite a few resources to find tournaments in your area. I would start looking ahead and finding some that interest you and sign up as early as you can to avoid missing out.

The specific tournament mentioned above seems to be showing up in quite a few places- PDGA website, Disc Golf Scene, the Columbus Flyers website, etc. I didn't check UDisc but that is a good source as well.

 

[ru4por]

I assume you are a pro, on the waitlist? Seems kind of crazy that a TD is holding 25 spots for touring pros to sign up for a b tier. I am willing to bet that first, the tournament is cancelled anyway, second, pros are not going to flock to this b tier to sign up and third, spots will open regardless of the first two. I agree with others, if you are unhappy with the decision, send the TD a personal, professional letter, explaining your issues and perhaps an explanation. If that does not satisfy you, stop patronizing his tournaments.

 

[broomerang]

Times are changing I know but I believe that a local community that supports the parks have a right to know the different events going on.

Contact the local parks and rec and let them know this is you want them to do for EVERY EVENT being held at their park.

This is not the responsibility of the TD, nor is it even something a TD can expect the Parks department would even ALLOW them to do. Parks dept don't have unlimited budget to post free advertisement for "public" events.

 

[DiscFifty]

Why do tournaments hold spots for pros to play in? If the game is going to increase in size then then more people that play the better. I don't believe that reserving spots for pros is helping this. The reason I am asking is because the town I live in has a tournament and the T.D is holding 25 spots for pros until a certain date then opening it up for the people on the waitlist.

I could see a TD reserving a spot or 2 for sponsored players but 25? That is ridiculous. If they're trying to get higher rated pros to play (which is an issue in some crowded markets), simply make it a tiered registration for the first couple of weeks, everyone usually has no problem with that.

 

[PWaggoner]

Why do tournaments hold spots for pros to play in? If the game is going to increase in size then then more people that play the better. I don't believe that reserving spots for pros is helping this. The reason I am asking is because the town I live in has a tournament and the T.D is holding 25 spots for pros until a certain date then opening it up for the people on the waitlist. There are people in my town that play and would maybe like to play in this tournament but wouldn't be able to get in because of this and also it seems that unless you know where to look for tournaments you would never know about it. I never see advertisement for tournaments locally such as newspapers or radio spots. I have play many ball golf scrambles over the last 40 years and have never seen a spot reserved for someone like it is in disc golf. I don't want to believe that it is because more money is collected this way because this is sure not a way to grow the sport.

Pros don't make extra money for a tournament, it's the opposite.

Usually amateurs via player packs or added cash pay for pros fees to the pdga.

Take a full 54 field pro only c tier, with no added cash, and paying out 100%. The TD will have to pay the $162 for them (think it's 3 apiece offhand) plus the registration fee.

You can pay for pros and the registration if you budget the cost of players packs vs amateur registration cost accordingly.

 

[John Rock]

Pros don't make extra money for a tournament, it's the opposite.

Usually amateurs via player packs or added cash pay for pros fees to the pdga.

Take a full 54 field pro only c tier, with no added cash, and paying out 100%. The TD will have to pay the $162 for them (think it's 3 apiece offhand) plus the registration fee.

You can pay for pros and the registration if you budget the cost of players packs vs amateur registration cost accordingly.

How many events have you organized and been responsible for doing the accounting at the end?

 

[PWaggoner]

How many events have you organized and been responsible for doing the accounting at the end?

Idk, like 3 sanctioned. Perhaps I'm wrong, that's how I worked the books. If you'd like to enlighten me, always down to learn new tricks or ways of doing things.

 

[biscoe]

Pros don't make extra money for a tournament, it's the opposite.

Usually amateurs via player packs or added cash pay for pros fees to the pdga.

Take a full 54 field pro only c tier, with no added cash, and paying out 100%. The TD will have to pay the $162 for them (think it's 3 apiece offhand) plus the registration fee.

You can pay for pros and the registration if you budget the cost of players packs vs amateur registration cost accordingly.

If you are losing money on your pro players you are doing it wrong. Their $3/$4/$5/$10 player fee to the PDGA should be coming out of their gross entry fees and does not count towards your percentage payouts which are calculated based on net once certain fees are removed.

 

[biscoe]

I could see a TD reserving a spot or 2 for sponsored players but 25? That is ridiculous. If they're trying to get higher rated pros to play (which is an issue in some crowded markets), simply make it a tiered registration for the first couple of weeks, everyone usually has no problem with that.

He didn't say "sponsored players" or "touring pros", just for the pro divisions in general. It is a fairly common practice around here for events to allocate a certain number of spots for certain divisions up to some given point in the registration process. It is partially a byproduct of trying to host 50 bazillion divisions on a course which can only accomodate 72 people.

As to the OP- the event is publicized well enough that it is able to fill up year after year so what point is there to more advertisement. If the "interested players" were active in their local club they would almost certainly have the info.

 

[brutalbrutus]

This seems like a normal everyday B tier to me. Seeing as though there is added cash to just the pro division I can see why the TD held spots for the pros. You dont want 1 person signed up for the pro division and then they get all the added cash to themselves. We have had issues with a tournament director here in WI that will purposely add himself into a pro division with no competition so he can get cash without having to compete against anybody.

And I dont see why the TD should be holding on to spots for people that maybe want to play. The TD is giving spots to people who want to play, who arent on the fence. If spots were held for "maybes" in every tournament then our tds would lose a lot of money.

.

Its part of a points series, aren't TDs allowed to reserve spots for top contenders in the overall points?

 

[brutalbrutus]

Also, after reading the comments on DGS, this tournament was originally scheduled for next weekend but moved to summer. Maybe the "reserved spots" were just put in DGS to make sure that the original people who were signed up, had first crack to register.

 

[biscoe]

Also, after reading the comments on DGS, this tournament was originally scheduled for next weekend but moved to summer. Maybe the "reserved spots" were just put in DGS to make sure that the original people who were signed up, had first crack to register.

Most of the rescheduled events I see are simply allowing players to keep their registration if the new date suits them. Don't know why a TD would do it differently.