- Joined
- Aug 16, 2009
- Messages
- 441
Maybe go back and read my post. I literally said the above thing you are referencing that I did not say. For clarification, I said: -Avoids situations where touring players play with novice rated players who throw shots that slow down the group enough to cause touring pros to lose focus. Imagine a wooded course such as WR Jackson and an 850 rated player playing that course. The group would spend considerable time looking for discs in the woods.
That's essentially saying what this poster said. We want to avoid someone competing for a prestigious championship playing alongside someone who is a recreational level player.
There are a lot of things being posted that aren't really being stated properly. This is honestly the main reason I stopped reading DGCR but I decided to come back and give it a chance again. But seriously guys, don't post things that you are stating as fact if you are not certain it is fact. Just a few things to clarify:
-Idlewild did fill. In fact, there were 9 people on the waiting list at one point in time. I have messages between myself and the TD if anyone cares to see them. The TD was able to accommodate some very last minute additions based on many people dropping and then him being able to add some additional spots within ten days of the event.
-While it is true that some players have sponsors that pay for their entries, almost all of them do so on a reimbursement basis. That means that if Player A plays an A Tier or above, he gets his entry reimbursed after he or she plays that event. Yes, some companies do buy a Pro Tour pass for their players, but this is not widespread and this only affects DGPT events and not NT events or PDGA Majors. And there were only 20 to 22 total players who purchased DGPT Player passes last year, and many of them were not touring pros.
Its not quite accurate to accuse our touring pros of being lazy and not on the ball when it comes to signing up for events. MANY of them literally live paycheck to paycheck trying to make their dreams happen. Nearly ALL of the FPO players live paycheck to paycheck. Only a few are really making it. A lot of them have great sponsors but its still a challenge to stay on Tour. A lot of them depend on cashing at certain events and getting those entries reimbursed to signup for tournaments later in the year. Also many of our touring pros stay in a vehicle year round and sometimes do not have good access to internet capabilities (ie, James Conrad). Lets not be so quick to judge our touring pros. It is a struggle for them, and they absolutely deserve a spot in our premier events over a recreational rated player who happens to want to try to play with the big boys. I have talked to MANY of the players over the years, and I constantly get messages about holding spots for them for Ledgestone. I understand their struggle, and anyone who is criticizing our players for not having the money to signup for an event needs to back off just a little bit.
A few more points:
-I will reiterate once again that MANY of our events are filling up. When registration opened for Santa Cruz for 970+ rated players the event was already full this year. Some people dropped out so others got in. BSF filled up; Ledgestone filled up; Maple Hill was nearly full; GMC was nearly full; DGLO was full; European Open was full; Idlewild was full; HOFC was full (a few top players decided to play at the last second and had to get in off of the waiting list); GBO was full. You get where I am going with this. We now have a RECORD number of 1000+ rated players. Players are getting better, and our Elite Series events are filling up more quickly. That trend will continue in 2020.
Absolutely not; why should a new player to the PDGA be allowed to play our top tier events without a rating and no knowledge of the rules, competition procedures, etc? They can go play an A Tier or any other event as a Professional, but that person needs time to learn how to play competitive disc golf, and an Elite Series event is not the place. Our touring pros have spoken loud and clear that they wanted this cleaned up. 900 is just the starting point.
Why do we keep criticizing our touring pros? A lot of them lose money at many events they travel to. A lot of them travel in cheap RV's, which come with major expenses along the way. A lot of our touring pros are living paycheck to paycheck, and its a tough life.
A fact checker would call this statement "True but very misleading." Lloyd was dead last amongst the competitors who finished and his many throws backed up the field at Eureka and Northwood each morning he teed off. That is an undisputed fact. I have nothing against Lloyd, but elite courses are really tough for sub 900 rated players, and honestly impossible for sub 800 rated players.
If we are actually going to argue about the skill difference between a 750 rated player and a 950 rated player....
Some quick stats:
-A 950 rated player cashed at Las Vegas
-A 958 rated player cashed at the Memorial (and averaged 1010 golf)
-A 955 rated player cashed at GBO
I certainly appreciate all of the feedback, but it touches a bad nerve when I see all of these comments criticizing our touring pros for not being more on the ball and registering for events more quickly. I constantly get feedback from these touring pros (via running two big events, between being on the BOD, chairing the Majors/NT committee, etc). Lets cut them so slack.
Also, I certainly didn't want this to be the place where I shared information on this change, so please keep an eye out for an article we will release that will explain this change (and other changes we made to Majors/NT's) more in depth.
Definitely appreciate everyone's feedback and passion!
P.S. We will be hosting a Majors/NT Summit in January. A lot of great things will be discussed, so I will plan on posting a thread here soon to garner feedback on anything you want to see discussed within the committee.
