Cost of lost discs vs green fees

[WeatherWimp]

Anyone else find themselves justifying leaving a lost disc a bit early thinking it is still cheaper than ball golf fees?

I've played 42 rounds this summer so far, and have lost 5 discs. I wish I didn't lose them, but that is $1.79 per round of disc golf. Sure beats the heck out of $15 or whatever it is these days to play ball golf.

But I also find myself perhaps not looking for as long as I should be for a disc with this attitude. For instance, today I barely looked for 5 minutes but a big factor was also a wet, tick-infested tall grass/forest area making the search a bit harder.

 

[LateWesternSky]

To me, the pain of losing a disc is never about the monetary value (since they're cheap). Some of the discs I carry could be easily replaced by buying a new one. But there are others that I have thrown for years, and have broken into such a specific flight pattern that I couldn't easily replace them.

When you throw a disc for a while, you gain more trust in it. That trust in knowing exactly what your disc will do is irreplaceable.

 

[aclay]

To me, the pain of losing a disc is never about the monetary value (since they're cheap). Some of the discs I carry could be easily replaced by buying a new one. But there are others that I have thrown for years, and have broken into such a specific flight pattern that I couldn't easily replace them.

When you throw a disc for a while, you gain more trust in it. That trust in knowing exactly what your disc will do is irreplaceable.

If I were a better player, I might feel some of that pain. However, I am cheap, so I feel pain whenever I lose a disc and will look way longer than I should.

 

[bnrstnkr]

Losing discs is littering, pick up after yourself.

No man left behind

 

[LateWesternSky]

If I were a better player, I might feel some of that pain. However, I am cheap, so I feel pain whenever I lose a disc and will look way longer than I should.

That's funny. I generally also look way longer than I should. I'm cheap too, but I guess I'm less cheap in the cost of replacing a disc, and more cheap in the time it takes to find an accurate replacement.

 

[DavidSauls]

If I were paying greens fees in discs---as in the example, 1 disc buys 8 rounds---I'd pay those greens fees with Grooves and Dragons, and not my favorite driver.

 

[ru4por]

I try to spend little time comparing golf to disc golf. Though....I might justify walking away from a lost disc, because I have hundreds more at home.....heck, in the truck for that matter.

 

[Dthunderchicken]

Money doesn't enter into the equation. I have sacrificial discs, (had give away discs till they went OOP) and go to discs. My go to-s are grieved over when they are lost or damaged beyond use. The rest are just plastic. (FWIW my American flag Polaris is in a lake in AR. It was the best Polaris I ever threw. So much so that I relegated it to "safe" shots. I lost it almost 20 years and still miss it. Effen wind!)

 

[wims]

I can't just abandon one of my soldiers and leave it in a field

 

[aphilso1]

Anyone else find themselves justifying leaving a lost disc a bit early thinking it is still cheaper than ball golf fees?

I've played 42 rounds this summer so far, and have lost 5 discs. I wish I didn't lose them, but that is $1.79 per round of disc golf. Sure beats the heck out of $15 or whatever it is these days to play ball golf.

But I also find myself perhaps not looking for as long as I should be for a disc with this attitude. For instance, today I barely looked for 5 minutes but a big factor was also a wet, tick-infested tall grass/forest area making the search a bit harder.

Yep. Like others have stated, there are a few discs in my bag that would be tough to replace due to not having anything else beat in quite the same. But from a money perspective alone, I often don't care to look terribly long. Like 10 minutes tops. Not worth the time, unless the disc is tough to replace.

 

[Hampstead]

Depends on the disc. Depends where I'm searching. Depends on how the round is going. Depends on how long I have spent searching throughout the round.

I guess it just depends.












*monetary value in relation to greens fees is not a consideration

 

[VictorB]

I pay 'green fees' every year, and don't really lose discs.

I'm still coming out far ahead of ball golfers

 

[BillFleming]

Losing a disc and losing a golf ball are two different things.

Cost: a golf ball only costs $2.00 at the most, discs start around $5.00 (used) and $10ish new.

Usage: golf ball - playing by the rules, you have to use the "same" golf ball (brand, etc) through your round....so one golf ball easily replaces another. Discs - you use multiple discs through a round...sometimes you have a specific disc for a specific hole, one disc doesn't replace another one even if they are the same mold - one may be more broken in than another.

Losing it: golf ball -you aren't getting it back, period. Disc - you have a good chance of getting it back as long as you put your name and phone number on it (and the finder is polite and gets it back to you).

Amount: golf balls - small and easy to carry multiples...I normally have 12 golf balls in my bag, but can carry more. I played with someone who carried 4 dozen (he felt golf balls "wear out" after one hole)....so with ball golf, you should never run out of what you use. Discs - you can only carry so many of a specific mold, so when you lose them, you are out of luck.

So, I can understand spending time looking for a disc - sometimes I want to spend more than 3 minutes (per PDGA rules) looking and if it is a non-sanctioned round, I may just spend more time looking (that goes for me looking for other player's discs also). There's more on the line with discs than there is with golf balls.

 

[The Shide]

Not unlike most, I will spend time hunting down an errant disc. However, as stated earlier, it all depends on how long I'm going to keep looking. There are, after all, literally hundreds of discs sitting here at home waiting for the chance to be the next man up.

A "go to" driver, duh. Keep looking until that blasted thing is found.
A disc I'm testing out - well, let's just say that maybe it wasn't meant to be for us to get together. Best of luck to your next thrower.

The cost of a disc doesn't enter into my thought process when hunting for a lost disc.

 

[biscoe]

Losing drivers doesn't really bother me... losing a beat in M4 on the other hand...

 

[dreadlock86]

i'd rather lose a $20 premium plastic disc with a LE stamp than a beat up DX teebird worth a couple bucks

 

[etdefender19]

Cost: a golf ball only costs $2.00 at the most, .

Those are some cheap balls then! Try $45 a dozen for anything decent - maybe as low as thirty a dozen for something servicable.

Yes, the quality of the ball makes a big difference if you shoot under a hundred

 

[BillFleming]

Those are some cheap balls then! Try $45 a dozen for anything decent - maybe as low as thirty a dozen for something servicable.

Yes, the quality of the ball makes a big difference if you shoot under a hundred

Even $45 a dozen only comes to $3.75 a golf ball new. I'd still be able to lose 4 or 5 of those before I've reached the cost of a new disc.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

I don't even want to calculate what my last round at the preserve cost me... 3 lost discs, plus a season membership/hole sponsorship - we'll contemplate that I might get 5 rounds in out there this year (that's likely high), so that's about $100 per round, plus the 3 discs, we'll call it a $130 round. (I suppose when I get to check out the lost and found I might get the plastic back)

 

[glassila]

Even $45 a dozen only comes to $3.75 a golf ball new. I'd still be able to lose 4 or 5 of those before I've reached the cost of a new disc.

The original post was comparing the cost of a disc to a round of golf (green fees). If golf balls cost 15-20 bucks I'm sure people would spend a whole lot more time searching for their ball.