There was a recent episode of the Planet Money podcast that discussed how the NYC Marathon deals with limited spots and massive demand, in the fairest ways they could find. Not sure how much would work with disc golf tournaments.
From my recollection,
- The main pool gets in through a random lottery. You apply in advance, and are notified if you get in. Obviously fair, but doesn't guarantee you a spot if you desperately want in.
- If you don't want to deal with the lottery, and want to guarantee a spot, you can:
-- Donate a large sum to charities selected by the organizers (payment-based), or
-- Qualify through good performances at feeder events (merit-based), or
-- Be a popular touring pro that gets invited by the organizers (merit-based), or
-- Volunteer a certain number of hours at local events (commitment-based)
For the average disc golf tournament with 70-100 players, these are probably total overkill. But worth throwing out as ideas, on how different kinds of fairness can be addressed.
Regarding paying for hole/tournament sponsorship, that money is going directly towards the TD's efforts to support and run the tournament. Plenty of discussion already on this forum regarding how TDs need more support. So I don't have a problem with sponsors getting in early out of gratitude, as they are making the tournament possible in the first place. And like others have said, this already seems to be common practice anyway.