How has disc golf progressed in the last 5 years?

[gregwil2]

I see the thread about "Where do you see disc golf in 5 years?", but how did disc golf progress in the last 5 years?
With zero research, it seems that with my limited knowledge there were several disc/bag/clothing companies created, new disc technologies, PDGA membership grown, highest rated rounds ever recorded, more overall talent, etc.

 

[DavidSauls]

At the competitive end, the number of PDGA members, sanctioned tournaments, tournament entrants, and total payout has grown continuously. I'd guess by 30-50% in that time. The biggest thing not growing is the winner's payouts at major events.

At the casual level, the number of courses has grown just as fast. All kinds of courses, though the most noticeable may be the number of people building private ones.

The variety of discs available has about doubled.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

I think the variety of discs might actually have quadrupled or even more. For example, when I started playing DG Latitude had very few discs. This thread I made shows all the new discs to come out this year alone and that doesn't even get into the plastic blends... (anyone can update THANKS!! )

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110252

 

[bradharris]

The business of disc golf has grown with more retailers and manufacturers in business.

That growth has been fueled by more courses going in the ground, and more casual players feeding money into the market.

We've also seen the growth of a new generation of players. The names Jenkins, Doss, Feldberg, Climo, Schulz, etc are being replaced by McBeth, Wysocki, Locastro, Schusterick, etc.

There also seems to have been a lot of growth in the Women's game, both at the recreational and professional level.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

I answered a similar question for the timespan since I moved to the New England area in 2007........

 

[BuzzzChief]

As someone who stopped playing about 5-7 years ago and just picked it back up again- the biggest difference is the variety of discs and plastics available now. It's crazy how many brands and plastic types are out there. 10 years ago it was innova, discraft and a little bit of gateway (wizards). Every once in a while you ran into someone throwing some Millenium or DGA.

 

[smarkquart]

That is a great concentration of 18 hole courses in such an area. Makes me jealous as my side of the Twin Cities is severely lacking anything bigger than the neighborhood 9-hole variety.

However, the question worthy of being asked is despite all the new courses in seven years, are many them considered quality courses or just courses put in the ground for the sake of saying that you have a nearby course?

I answered a similar question for the timespan since I moved to the New England area in 2007........

 

[cjdiscgolf]

The fact that you can pretty much watch any bigger event within 2 days of it happening is a huge step in progress from over 5 years ago.

And the fact that stuff is streamed live is a huge step.

 

[bradharris]

That is a great concentration of 18 hole courses in such an area. Makes me jealous as my side of the Twin Cities is severely lacking anything bigger than the neighborhood 9-hole variety.

However, the question worthy of being asked is despite all the new courses in seven years, are many them considered quality courses or just courses put in the ground for the sake of saying that you have a nearby course?

There aren't a lot of duds in New England. It's a nice combination of quantity and quality.

 

[elmexdela]

id say the nova and the atlas were the biggest game changers

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

There aren't a lot of duds in New England. It's a nice combination of quantity and quality.

This.

The number of dedicated course designers over here is AMAZING!!

And the terrain we get to work with? Walked the 80 acres in Chatham NY we were recently given to build a course on and it's jaw-dropping.

 

[The Hammer]

DG bags have sure come a long way in the last 5 years.

 

[DavidSauls]

However, the question worthy of being asked is despite all the new courses in seven years, are many them considered quality courses or just courses put in the ground for the sake of saying that you have a nearby course?

Around here, it's both.

 

[Jammer89]

Aside from the growth of available discs, plastic types, and bags, one thing I'm starting to notice locally is the rising interest in the sport among young players. Here in Baton Rouge, a new League was formed about 9 months ago. In the last few months, we have gained many new players, with almost 10 of them under the age of 18. It's players like these ,who get started early, that will carry the sport into the future. Our group just decided to create a separate League (played at the same time) which caters to young or brand new players. They throw from short tees which offers them a chance to compete among one another while still enjoying the game, instead of having to play from our usual Am and Pro tees, trying to keep up with those of us with more experience. Not a day after we repainted those short tees, we saw a huge increase among casual players at the park. And last week, we had 20+ League members playing plus another 20+ casual players out at the same time. It was crowded, but it was awesome to see so many enjoying the sport.

 

[DiscinMiller]

We havent had a massive boom in courses here locally, however participation has gone through the roof. my early days in the sport were around five years ago and we often had the course to ourselves on bad days. Seldom were there large groups, and the weekly league had a half a dozen participants.
I would also say that five years ago there were still a lot of locals perpaptuating the stereotype that discers are stoners.

Today even in tropical storms we cant play the course alone. There are often huge groups playing, social gatherings, youth groups etc. these groups are family oriented often and this is something you never saw locally five years ago. In fact i would say i never saw a kid under 16 or so on the course until the last couple years. local league gets around 20 participants during the winter, and close to 40 in the summer.

All of this is nice, although i kind of pine for the days we could show up and never have to wait for huge groups. . .

 

[DanJon]

Availability of good coverage online has seen a huge increase.

Boutique brands such as Legacy and MVP have shown good progression.

 

[JC17393]

There aren't a lot of duds in New England. It's a nice combination of quantity and quality.

This.

The number of dedicated course designers over here is AMAZING!!

And the terrain we get to work with? Walked the 80 acres in Chatham NY we were recently given to build a course on and it's jaw-dropping.

And your graphic doesn't even include the biggest geographic chunk of New England proper, where things seem to be booming at an even greater rate.

 

[oddjob]

Live streaming and youtube coverage

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

And your graphic doesn't even include the biggest geographic chunk of New England proper, where things seem to be booming at an even greater rate.

Yea the max radius for the map is 125 and it never gets all of Maine in the picture.

 

[kerplunk]

So to sum up what has been said so far:

More discs
More disc golf related companies
New disc technologies
New bag designs
Increased video/internet coverage
More tournaments
More overall players
More young players
More female players
Better female players (or more good ones at least)
New group of "top pros"
More courses
More course designers

Did I miss anything? And what else?