2015 United States Disc Golf Championship

[cjman]

The USDGC Crew (the worker bees in setting up the course) is almost done setting the top ropes and the bottom string as long as we can avoid the predicted rain (Thursday AM looks OK, the afternoon looks wetter). Still more refinements to be done, but we are ahead of where we've been the past 5 years.

If you are practicing or just wanting to play the course with the OB defined, there are 2 things. First--do not step ON the top rope (step over it); offenders will be punished to 5 days of slinging mulch next year. Second--there may still be worker bees on the course doing more refinements, we generally recognize players descending on our work area and stand aside to critique your throws and usually wave players through to take a breather; just don't throw onto us unless we wave you through; offenders may find their disc grip locked into the lake.

Paramount, respect the course and the workers.

Hellz yeah Tom! I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor!

 

[tom12003]

CJ--

Play smart and avoid the OBs/bunkers (bomber shots often find them as do others). Pars are smart in the performance flight; 7s and 8s (quite possible) are not. Enjoy the experience. Say hi to the old gray-haired fossil spotting on hole 9 (me).

 

[badsmurph]

Played the course today and it appeared the right bunker on 1 was pretty small, left wasn't flagged. The right bunker on 2 was along the fence on right about ten feet out. Seemed to only affect righty rollers or lefties.
3) seemed tighter
4) left ob seemed tighter but right straight route was cleared more
6) bunker wasn't in yet but they were working on it when I came to 16
7) new pad behind old so 12 feet longer. Old pad has several cracks
8) they putting in a new pad about 30 feet back and to the left, tree about 10 off pad in middle. A lot of trees has been lost on thus drive. They said they were still waiting for approval
9) drive more open and able to drive it further. Smaller green but more depth
12) less ob on drive
Everything else seemed the same except maybe straight shot on 16 seemed more open

Course is looking good

 

[phrumphkin]

Played the course today and it appeared the right bunker on 1 was pretty small, left wasn't flagged. The right bunker on 2 was along the fence on right about ten feet out. Seemed to only affect righty rollers or lefties.
3) seemed tighter
4) left ob seemed tighter but right straight route was cleared more
6) bunker wasn't in yet but they were working on it when I came to 16
7) new pad behind old so 12 feet longer. Old pad has several cracks
8) they putting in a new pad about 30 feet back and to the left, tree about 10 off pad in middle. A lot of trees has been lost on thus drive. They said they were still waiting for approval
9) drive more open and able to drive it further. Smaller green but more depth
12) less ob on drive
Everything else seemed the same except maybe straight shot on 16 seemed more open

Course is looking good

So now that you've seen it in person, who's game does it favor?

 

[badsmurph]

I don't think it has changed enough to knock out any of the usual suspects. Most if not all have a flick and controlled distance game. I see a lot more flicks for the third shot on 5.
Also less rollers on 2 because of hazard. They lost a tree on left side which would make the roller too easy

 

[Peter S]

I played most of Gold Wednesday. There were ropes on most holes. Some work was going on. We saw new pins going in. JohnE was there. Ran into Tom12003 stringing ropes. Thanks to all doing great work out there and for stopping to let us play through.

After Ledgestone and all the ropes there I think the favorites will be Simon & McBeth.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

Ugh. All this media rights crap is so cart before the horse it's not even funny.

More content = better. We are way to early in this game to start restricting media rights for people who are willing to film

I have mixed feelings about this as I have always had free reign to follow any group of my choosing to produce a quality film. Last year was the first time they started requiring media passes to be able to follow a group & film on the course. I was able to get a pass pretty easily as I had been there before & filmed without incident for many years!
But this year, looking at the options available to me as a solo independent video guy I will probably be relegated to the sidelines (spectator area only). Fighting my way through the spectator area to produce a quality film will be difficult if not impossible depending on the shot/crowd/etc. I would rather be right behind the players filming as normal. Not 40 feet away standing behind people, shooting from a bad angle!
On the other hand I understand how if left un-checked it could get out of hand. Anybody with a video-camera (or cell phone?) could be right behind the players & that could get pretty crowded, noisy & distracting.
I'm not sure what I'll do this year. I've always looked forward to shooting this event as it is so close to home. I know people who cant make it to the event enjoy all the video that is posted up. A lot of independents are filming the later cards who never get the exposure of the top card!

 

[JohtoVillage]

After Ledgestone and all the ropes there I think the favorites will be Simon & McBeth.

Ropes at Ledgestone??? I don't remember any ropes

Anyways, I look forward to playing the tournament this year. I have watched enough videos and studied the caddy guide to get a strategy going. Good luck to anyone else playing!

 

[MichaelWebster]

But this year, looking at the options available to me as a solo independent video guy I will probably be relegated to the sidelines (spectator area only). Fighting my way through the spectator area to produce a quality film will be difficult if not impossible depending on the shot/crowd/etc. I would rather be right behind the players filming as normal. Not 40 feet away standing behind people, shooting from a bad angle!

I really hope you can get a media pass, your filming from previous years has been much appreciated! I loved seeing the McBeth eagle on 5 and the rest of his round.

 

[DiscJunkie]

I have mixed feelings about this as I have always had free reign to follow any group of my choosing to produce a quality film. Last year was the first time they started requiring media passes to be able to follow a group & film on the course. I was able to get a pass pretty easily as I had been there before & filmed without incident for many years!
But this year, looking at the options available to me as a solo independent video guy I will probably be relegated to the sidelines (spectator area only). Fighting my way through the spectator area to produce a quality film will be difficult if not impossible depending on the shot/crowd/etc. I would rather be right behind the players filming as normal. Not 40 feet away standing behind people, shooting from a bad angle!
On the other hand I understand how if left un-checked it could get out of hand. Anybody with a video-camera (or cell phone?) could be right behind the players & that could get pretty crowded, noisy & distracting.
I'm not sure what I'll do this year. I've always looked forward to shooting this event as it is so close to home. I know people who cant make it to the event enjoy all the video that is posted up. A lot of independents are filming the later cards who never get the exposure of the top card!

I really hope you can get a media pass, your filming from previous years has been much appreciated! I loved seeing the McBeth eagle on 5 and the rest of his round.

I want to second this.
I've told you before that I'm a big fan of your USDGC work.

You have to do what is best for you, but I'm hoping (with a lot of others) that you stick it out and film.

 

[curt]

These media policies that are beginning to pop-up are absolutely ridiculous, and I don't think any of the guys who regularly cover disc golf and have built the coverage to what is today should agree to them. First, rights grabs are never a good thing, and demanding these guys give Innova (a large company producing one of the largest, most prestigious disc golf tournaments) the product of their hard work for free is absurd. If Innova needs their footage, they should pay for it. It is way too early to sell out these guys in favor of live broadcasts. A good, entertaining live broadcast of an entire round is going to take 20+ cameras, so you arent watching the lead card walk to their lies for 80% of a 4 hour broadcast. The money isn't there for that yet, so the recorded footage is still a better product, especially the ones with commentary.

I understand that there is a need to manage the people covering these events if the sidelines a regretting too crowded, but sending them into the spectator area is definitely the wrong approach. There just need to bee forced rules. On where they're allowed to be, and the best vantage points given to the live broadcast guys. For example, any level 3 operator must be within 5 feet of the spectator rope, while level 1 operators must be within 10. This coupled with a media pass would solve any problems.

 

[Horsman]

If Innova needs their footage, they should pay for it.

If these guys need Innovas Tournament to produce a good video and get good views on Youtube then they should have to pay to be there.

 

[JC17393]

These media policies that are beginning to pop-up are absolutely ridiculous, and I don't think any of the guys who regularly cover disc golf and have built the coverage to what is today should agree to them. First, rights grabs are never a good thing, and demanding these guys give Innova (a large company producing one of the largest, most prestigious disc golf tournaments) the product of their hard work for free is absurd. If Innova needs their footage, they should pay for it. It is way too early to sell out these guys in favor of live broadcasts. A good, entertaining live broadcast of an entire round is going to take 20+ cameras, so you arent watching the lead card walk to their lies for 80% of a 4 hour broadcast. The money isn't there for that yet, so the recorded footage is still a better product, especially the ones with commentary.

The problem is, in order to drum up the finances to put on that "entertaining" live broadcast with 20+ cameras, you can't be giving the product away for free to other ventures. Thus the move to curtail some of the free reign most crews get. I think it's a good thing they're being proactive about this now, even if it appears to be overkill and unnecessary to some. The longer we go with the freelancing youtube crews getting more or less carte blanche to film, the harder it's going to be to scale it back when there is a legitimate large-scale (ideally paying) option for media coverage, be it live or recorded.

The policy isn't all that out of line with any other sports event, to be honest. In some ways, it's far more permissive. With, say, a PGA event, everyone but the television rights holder is more or less relegated to the equivalent of the USDGC's category 3, only they're not even allowed to shoot their own footage from the spectator area. If CBS is covering the tournament, ESPN can't have their cameras out on the course filming the action for their 11pm Sportscenter highlight package. They actually have to pay to use CBS's footage for that. So the fact that they're not barring the Youtube crews from filming (and later editing and publishing videos) is a fair compromise given the lack of resources, and it doesn't seem like too much to ask that any footage shot be shared with the event gratis.

 

[filobedo]

These media policies that are beginning to pop-up are absolutely ridiculous, and I don't think any of the guys who regularly cover disc golf and have built the coverage to what is today should agree to them. First, rights grabs are never a good thing, and demanding these guys give Innova (a large company producing one of the largest, most prestigious disc golf tournaments) the product of their hard work for free is absurd. If Innova needs their footage, they should pay for it. It is way too early to sell out these guys in favor of live broadcasts. A good, entertaining live broadcast of an entire round is going to take 20+ cameras, so you arent watching the lead card walk to their lies for 80% of a 4 hour broadcast. The money isn't there for that yet, so the recorded footage is still a better product, especially the ones with commentary.

I understand that there is a need to manage the people covering these events if the sidelines a regretting too crowded, but sending them into the spectator area is definitely the wrong approach. There just need to bee forced rules. On where they're allowed to be, and the best vantage points given to the live broadcast guys. For example, any level 3 operator must be within 5 feet of the spectator rope, while level 1 operators must be within 10. This coupled with a media pass would solve any problems.

This is the exact opposite business model of the PGA, LPGA, European, etc. Tours. Large sums of money for media rights from networks to broadcast grew the sport exponentially. Those rights allow media to solicit companies to advertise throughout coverage as well.

 

[oddjob]

so no live coverage the first two days? that sucks.

 

[hook_nuts]

What came first, the chicken or egg? Ask Innova.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

I haven't heard back from Jussi about credentials yet. I will be going to the USDGC no matter what. This event is too close to where I live to not go & spectate, party, etc.! Perhaps a bootleg video will be produced? Mum's the werd! opcorn:

 

[Anon]

This is the exact opposite business model of the PGA, LPGA, European, etc. Tours. Large sums of money for media rights from networks to broadcast grew the sport exponentially. Those rights allow media to solicit companies to advertise throughout coverage as well.

Big problem though... The USDGC has ZERO value to any sort of real broadcasting network with real money. Let alone the advertisers that need to come along and pay the network for their viewers eyes.

I can see exactly why Innova wants to keep the rights to the footage for the time being. Its basically the only thing they can use to generate revenue from the event after the on-site pro shop closes. And its a tiny amount of revenue at that (ie. less than ~$10,000).

 

[Royalhghnss]

If Innova needs their footage, they should pay for it.

They are being paid for it.

 

[Royalhghnss]

I haven't heard back from Jussi about credentials yet. I will be going to the USDGC no matter what. This event is too close to where I live to not go & spectate, party, etc.! Perhaps a bootleg video will be produced? Mum's the werd! opcorn:

Have you tried reaching out to Jamie? I can for you if you'd like. Let me know.