Final 9

[ChrisWoj]

I don't particularly love watching Final 9's as much as I once did. I really thought it was fun to watch them when I was an amateur, though. It gave me an appreciation, when watching Safari Final 9's especially, for the particularly esoteric lines that some of the top guys were capable of shaping. It inspired me to take the time to look for and practice my line shaping more than anything.

Nowadays I love final 9's in two cases... I love playing in them, because I love playing in front of an audience and because there's a certainty to it: you're not wondering about the second card, you're not worried you'll slip back too far. If you fall out of it you can have fun with it knowing you're not dropping any further if you take a risk and do something showy. And when you pull away in a Final 9 you get a whole celebratory lap, as well. Which is fun. I've been involved in some tight Final 9's both of them at Norwalk, Ohio's Great Blue Heron DGC - and the energy both times coming from those watching and those playing was awesome.

The second case where I love a Final 9 is when I'm running it. I've run a couple of them, and tend to have an absolute blast calling out scores, calling out shooters, running and putting on a show, making sure to keep it lively for the people watching it. You don't want to be the front-and-center star of the show as the guy running it, you want the players the focus 100% of the time - but you can have fun with it guiding the spectator's attention and focus onto what is going on at the moment. Love it.

They're wonderful if done right, without a doubt. If I manage to bring back the Stateline Classic I'm going to find a nice park central to our awards/players party location to put in a Safari 9 that no one, local or out of towner, will be familiar with and will have fun with.

 

[Discette]

It really started in 2002 with the syndicated "Disc TV" show. After the first few events, the producers were getting annoyed as they were filming the lead card (they only had one camera) and they had no footage of the winner that came from the second or lower card. They started requiring events they were filming to do a final nine so they were assured of having the eventual winner on tape.
On a side note, I played in the final 9 at the 2004 Greater Peoria Open. It was a safari 9 at McNaughton and the TD fielded 9 cards (8 open men, 4 open women, 8 Adv. men, etc.)! It was a big event back then. There were galleries following the cards they wanted and galleries watching their favorite holes. It was an absolute blast!

Sorry, but the above statement is not correct. Final 9's have been a part of disc golf since well before 2002. I remember watching Crazy John Brooks in the Final 9s at the KC Wide Open way back in 90's. Minnesota Majestic has also included Final 9's as part of the format since the 90's as well.

To the OP, Final 9's are nothing new and they are being used less often in my area. They have not become commonplace. Once upon a time, having a Final 9 gave the TD a chance to finish scoring and determine payouts while keeping players occupied until the awards ceremony. Now we can use laptops and Excel programs to do the work in a matter of minutes. Plus a lot of work is done pre-event now.

The main reason events still use Final 9's is tradition, to "showcase" the course and/or to draw spectators.

 

[chain_ape7]

We did a safari final 9 for our club's bag tag kickoff event in January. It was real fun, challenging, and separated the boys from the men as far as distance and difficulty go. I fell into the "boys" category

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

on a side note:

1) Most of the tourneys I've seen lately it seems that the leader already has an almost insurmountable lead before they even play a "final 9". It's not likely the leader will be caught no matter how many extra holes they give out! So it just makes the tourney take that much longer to finish out!

2) A lot of times they need to fill out the card for a final 9 so they bring players up who are way off the lead score. This is just painful to watch sometimes as they flail along trying to keep up!

 

[WhiteyBear]

It's a nice way to let any player/spectator to watch the top players finish 9 holes, and to give the TD some extra time to wrap some things up.

Also, it's a nice way to let the volunteers and staff go watch the big pros play, since most of them usually are stuck with a job of spotting one hole, etc etc.

It's not intended to "grow the sport", but rather to showcase the best players of the weekend.

 

[JC17393]

1) Most of the tourneys I've seen lately it seems that the leader already has an almost insurmountable lead before they even play a "final 9". It's not likely the leader will be caught no matter how many extra holes they give out! So it just makes the tourney take that much longer to finish out!

2) A lot of times they need to fill out the card for a final 9 so they bring players up who are way off the lead score. This is just painful to watch sometimes as they flail along trying to keep up!

See, I've had the opposite experience in the last few years. Few if any tournaments I've played or run in which a final 9 was used were runaways before the final even started. A lot depends on the depth of quality players in the field, the quality of the course(s) played, and also the number of holes played before the final takes place (the more holes, the more chance the best player will have separated himself from the field prior to the final).

But there's never a way of knowing before the event is played whether the final nine will amount to a victory lap for a run-away winner or a tight battle right to the last hole. For example, in the B-tier I run, there is a final 9 for the top finishers in Open. In each of the last three years, the eventual winner did not enter the final with a solo lead. He either was tied for the lead or trailing before the last nine holes. Last year, the winner not only came from behind in the final, but needed a four-hole playoff before he emerged victorious. But prior to that, we had three years in a row where the winner of the tournament entered the final with a lead (ranging from 2-4 throws) and simply held on.

Bottom line is you just never know, so an argument against final 9s because they are always a waste of time is a hollow one at best.

 

[General Scales]

I played my first tournament with a "final nine" a couple of weeks ago. The format was 27 holes in the first round, with the top five players in each class playing a final nine to finish. Many of the classes had five or fewer players, so no suspense for most of us. With 27 holes the first round didn't end until 2:00, and we didn't start the final nine until about 3:00. Only about ten players were eliminated from the final nine, and they just went on home. No interest in spectating...

I'd much rather play two 18-hole rounds and call it good.

That sounds like you were at Farragut State Park

 

[sugarnot]

I like final 9s for the following reasons:

gives the TD time to do whatever he needs to do in order to ensure that everything is right. Thus reducing the chance of mistakes and the subsequent complaining that comes after any.

gives me an opportunity to watch the leaders, because if you missed it...i was playing the entire time otherwise and I like to see quality golf played.

It's fun.

Additionally I add that the format we have seen around here a couple times when they do it is Safari style AND Skins. That way it isn't effecting the final outcome, it breaks up the monotony of what you have been playing all day, and allows a gallery to see some cool shots while the players get a chance at a lil extra cash.

 

[IHearChains]

People can't watch while they're still playing, obviously. At last year's Rumble the timing was not suitable to allow the ams to finish their round and make it out to West Lake to see much of the pro action. I think a lot of people requested that the TD change up the timing next time, specifically so they could spectate. This year they staggered the starts, ams at 9am and pros at 11am, so that ams could wrap up and get out to West Lake to see at least the last half of the pro round. No final 9 was needed in this case because there was more than one course. But the point is, there is clearly a lot of interest in seeing the top players.

 

[curveball4]

We did a final 9 a couple years ago at our local B tier where anybody not playing open could buy a raffle ticket. After the tourney, they drew 5-6 (maybe more) winners & they were teamed up with one of the top 5-6 finishers in open. They played a safari 9 skins doubles, pretty cool to watch

 

[threej21]

I for one enjoy the final 9 scenario. Couple weeks ago at Haywood Valley I got to watch Simon Lizotte throw some really amazing, high entertainment value shots on his way to his first US win. It was a lot of fun and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Most, if not all of the ADV and Open guys that weren't in the final 9 joined the gallery to watch, which added some to the fun for sure. We all got to follow along and discuss in awe the shots we were seeing.

Also, fwiw, that final 9 was filmed by Don't Nice Me Bro if anyone is interested in watching it. The drive Simon threw on hole 18 could only truly be enjoyed in person, the video does it no justice. Its 'suppossed' to be a slight dog leg right, then turns like 45* down a very heavily wooded tunnel with a low ceiling all the way to the pin. Don't know for sure, but I would say no one has ever even had a look at a 2 on that hole. He threw his drive through the tiniest of gaps to allow a giant sky anhyzer up and over everything, then dropped into the tunnel leaving him a 50-60 foot straight look at an eagle. He unfortunately missed the putt, but the drive was AMAZING!!

 

[Timeetyo]

I like the idea at least for the high profile tourneys from a purely spectator perspective. One last push for your favorite pro to make a move - or hold off the competition.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

I'll be including the final 9 into the 2nd round of the J-Park Jammer.

Round 1 is 18 holes, Round 2 is 27 holes. Fill your bag with stamina or stay home.