No more BG AMs?...

[brutalbrutus]

Was just scrolling through the pdga listings and came across a large Pro-AM event in late April instead of the normal BG AMs... then after some digging i found that they had moved last year's to the fall because of covid. Is this just a one year thing? Or will BG AMs be back in the future?

I have been out of the loop on this event for several years because of my injury but it was basically the reason i originally joined the PDGA to begin with. That year was the first year you had to have a membership to play it. I think it was my 2nd or third event that i played once joining and even though i will likely never get to go again, it would kinda make me sad if it were to go the way of the Pro-Am. So many good times and memories from the two years i went there...

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Where to even begin...

This is a dark hole, I've only been peering in from the outside. I am out my entry and flymart table fee, but I haven't spent any time on the front lines.

Basically Doc of combat disc golf, the one year they take it over from HB, they got hit with a doozy that nobody could have been prepared for, but they handled it in a very poor way, basically took the money and ran. Rumors are that he's back around BG again after a spell in Cali. Some people have gotten mediocre players packs, but most people have gotten nothing. The PDGA has been helpful in compiling data, but haven't done anything beyond that. Some people are calling for HB's head, some people are calling for the PDGA's head, HB is rebounding remarkably well with the BG Open, he has said that he lost some sponsors, but has been able to pull together a successful looking event of significant scale.

There are folks pushing for legal action, but in discussions with legal advisors are pretty much at a standstill outside of pushing a class action suit, which might happen. *Shrugs* Is it gone forever? only time will tell, the BG Open might be a reasonable replacement.

 

[Horsman]

Yea, Doc of Combat Disc Golf did everybody dirty. Pandamonium has been a sponsor and vendor for the bunch of years and we also got nothing from the guy. As I understood it, HB had nothing to do with the 2020 BG AMS.

I was initially jacked that HB was bringing back the Pro side of the event because I always was just a TD and vended for Panda and had always wanted to play but I dont think Panda is going to support the event.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Wow... that's crazy. I've met Doc a few times and even played with him at the Goat Path event. Was my first real chance at winning a tourney. He started out hot the 2nd round but the i got 8 straight birdies to pull into a tie before choking the last two holes. He always seemed like a good dude but i guess you never really know...

 

[aredoubles]

You can go through the pages of comments and discussion on the situation here - https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/The_2020_Bowling_Green_Amateur_Championships/comments

 

[flatflip]

I can't believe PDGA doesn't have insurance for this type of situation. They are going to get their a$$es sued if this type of thing keeps happening and they have no way of managing it.

Nobody wants the club to suffer for one individual but there needs to be accountability if we don't want the sport to get set back a decade in the region.

 

[ejvogie]

Yea, Doc of Combat Disc Golf did everybody dirty. Pandamonium has been a sponsor and vendor for the bunch of years and we also got nothing from the guy. As I understood it, HB had nothing to do with the 2020 BG AMS.

I was initially jacked that HB was bringing back the Pro side of the event because I always was just a TD and vended for Panda and had always wanted to play but I dont think Panda is going to support the event.

Key words bolded. This is the same tournament, just with pros.

 

[ru4por]

You can go through the pages of comments and discussion on the situation here - https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/The_2020_Bowling_Green_Amateur_Championships/comments

Interesting read. Surprised this does not happen more in disc golf.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Key words bolded. This is the same tournament, just with pros.

...and about 2/3 less AM spots

 

[_MTL_]

Doc was suspended last week:

https://www.pdga.com/files/current_disciplinary_actions_04-03-2021.pdf

He's at the very bottom.

 

[dr.chainslove]

I am one of the 2020 BG AM victims. Still haven't received a players pack. The PDGA did step in to try to resolve. I last emailed a guy with the PDGA asking about the status and he said he's seen evidence of Doc sending out packs so be patient (this simply aint happening at this point). Weird situation because I used to like Doc. Played with him at tourneys, was a good vendor, ran the nice DG course at Riverview in BG. Really nice guy and can't believe he'd ultimately take the money and run.

All he had to do was be upfront/transparent in the beginnings of this mess. He could have easily pinned the blame on all the supply problems with manufacturers while explaining the issues with money tied up with players packs etc. He sent a few vague emails along the way saying he was sorry but it would have gone a long way to tell us specifically how he was battling against all the stuff he had to pay for and what he wasnt getting back. Maybe even give us some timelines on when manufacturers/merch/etc were coming back online.

Since he DIDN'T say any of these things, we can now only assume it was a cash grab and disappear act. Sad.

And FYI, HB Clark has been great. Glad to have him back in the fold.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Yea, Doc of Combat Disc Golf did everybody dirty. Pandamonium has been a sponsor and vendor for the bunch of years and we also got nothing from the guy. As I understood it, HB had nothing to do with the 2020 BG AMS.

I was initially jacked that HB was bringing back the Pro side of the event because I always was just a TD and vended for Panda and had always wanted to play but I dont think Panda is going to support the event.

That's a bummer.

Good memories of hanging out with the panda crew back in the day.

 

[flatflip]

Guessing that Cavalier is on that list for something similar at Nashville AMs -- I don't know the details but heard that was another clusterxxxx.

 

[biscoe]

Doc was suspended last week:

https://www.pdga.com/files/current_disciplinary_actions_04-03-2021.pdf

He's at the very bottom.

I long for the good old days of knowing what prompted these disciplinary actions.

 

[ru4por]

I long for the good old days of knowing what prompted these disciplinary actions.

My simple curiosity set aside, it would be good to know why the few local players I see on the list, landed there. Particularly in the cases of TD's.

 

[Horsman]

I wonder what Kyle Eckmann did to get on the list - Class B so maybe cheating of some sort

 

[_MTL_]

I long for the good old days of knowing what prompted these disciplinary actions.

I never said that Doc's suspension was for anything related to BG.

 

[biscoe]

I never said that Doc's suspension was for anything related to BG.

OK- I didn't say you did. I still long for the days of knowing the crime that prompted the time. i am very happy to see one particular name on there.

 

[_MTL_]

OK- I didn't say you did. I still long for the days of knowing the crime that prompted the time. i am very happy to see one particular name on there.

Sorry, I misread your comment.

I'm following you now.

 

[Three Putt]

Key words bolded. This is the same tournament, just with pros.

It's kinda semantics.

The Bowling Green Open back in the late 90's was a big deal A tier that got so big that the split it into Pro and Am weekends by 2000ish. After a bit the Am weekend got renamed the Bowling Green Amateur Championships while the Pro weekend kept the Bowling Green Open name. The Bowling Green Open was still a big deal and was on the NT schedule, but the Am Championship weekend grew into this 700+ player monster of an event that sucked a huge amount of the resources there to pull off. Sometime in the late '00 the Am Championship ate Bowling Green alive and the Bowling Green Open fell off the NT schedule. Then it disappeared altogether; for about the last decade you have had a tournament called The Amateur Championships at Bowling Green and none named the Bowling Green Open.

If you were around and know the history, it's really easy to see that it's the same event reverting to the original name and format. If you don't know the history, it's going to seem like a different event. Which...is prolly a good thing right now, sadly. :\