Pay to play

[Steezo]

You can also camp at Wimberly which is nice. If you come to play Wimberly, stop and play in Dripping Springs as well. They have an awesome club house and rooms to rent as well as camping. If it is your first time than it is free. If anyone comes to play-pm me and I'll meet ya out there- 8)

 

[TexasOutlaw]

You can also camp at Wimberly which is nice. If you come to play Wimberly, stop and play in Dripping Springs as well. They have an awesome club house and rooms to rent as well as camping. If it is your first time than it is free. If anyone comes to play-pm me and I'll meet ya out there- 8)

You can camp there!?! I didn't know that. Eliminate the hotel stay, and the trip becomes more doable.

Where is Dripping Springs in terms of Austin?

 

[Steezo]

not far- just 40 miles or so south east of Austin.[/url]

 

[the_lung]

Would you pay?
How much is enough/ too much?
Why is it a good/bad idea?

I just wanted to see what you guys thoughts are on this subject.

While most disc golfers might not agree with it, I'd personally pay up to $10/round or $20 per day on a really, really nice private course. With the option to buy a seasonal pass for under $100 if it was in my local region.

 

[black udder]

As other folks have stated, the proviso is always "if I could buy a season pass". If the course cost $10/round, odds are the season pass wouldn't be <$100.

I think most folks have agreed that paying $5-20 a few times a year for a great course isn't objectionable; however, some local courses get played almost everyday for a large chunk of the year and they're not considered "great" courses.

That begs the question, what would you pay for your average course?

 

[some call me...tim?]

Well I think that's the whole point of a pay to play, is that it will be above average. The most "average" PTP course I've been to was the Newport News course there. The course itself wasn't too much special...basically flat with pretty short holes. BUT it had dual tees, nice signage, no litter to speak of, no dog walkers or anything in the course area, and basically just a very pleasant experience (minus the over-achieving park rangers I referred to in another thread). I believe the cost for that was $1/day, or $25/annual.

 

[bigs]

Well I think that's the whole point of a pay to play, is that it will be above average. The most "average" PTP course I've been to was the Newport News course there. The course itself wasn't too much special...basically flat with pretty short holes. BUT it had dual tees, nice signage, no litter to speak of, no dog walkers or anything in the course area, and basically just a very pleasant experience (minus the over-achieving park rangers I referred to in another thread). I believe the cost for that was $1/day, or $25/annual.

But that's a park fee, which I view as different. It's not like that money is going into the course, but everyone, whether walking their dog, playing disc golf, or having a picnic is paying that fee.

It's like that in Delaware, too. The course itself isn't pay to play, it's just that you have pay to get into the park.

For the consumer, it's pretty much the same thing, but for this discussion it's a much different animal.

 

[black udder]

Although I agree with your comment, Tim, that pay to play courses should be above average, I don't believe that was the question posed. Just would you? Is it a good idea? Opinions.

I don't know how much I'd play if I lived in Charlottesville and had to pay the park fee everytime I played. I don't know if you can get a yearly pass or not.

This last summer, I probably played well over 100 days in just 6 months.

 

[RustyP1]

There's a guy here in Dallas who is designing a very private course somewhere within a 2-3 hous drive of the city, but he wont tell anyone where exactly....being really secretive about it.

Apparently, the guy who owns the land (which is on some lake) doesnt want to make it open to the general public at all...he's actually trying to make it like a traditional country club for disc golfers. I played a round with the designer a few weeks ago, and he was talking about having a yearly membership fee somewhere in the range of $1,000....which i think is just ridiculous considering the demographic he's working with. I've seen pictures, and it looks nice, but not THAT nice. From what I understand, it will be somewhat like a timeshare - you can only visit so many times per month, and you have a cabin to stay in while you're there. I wouldn't mind if the price was lower and the number of visits weren't restricted, but the set-up he has in mind is just too...exclusive.

Are there any other course like this?

 

[bigs]

Is that Keohana?

I think it does sound a bit exclusive, but I also think it's a step in the right direction for the sport. I'm not saying I want us to be as exclusive as ball golf, but I think country club type places like that will definitely have their place. I think the model we have now with courses in public parks is great and those courses will continue, but the next step for the sport will come with private courses that are pay to play thrown into the mix.

Also, disc golf demographics are not much different than ball golf. You'd be surprised. The stats are on the PDGA site, but I'm not sure where. You think ball golf, you think a CEO hitting the links. You think disc golf, you think a stoner out getting his fix. Not the case though.

 

[RustyP1]

Yeah, that was Keohana I was talking about.

I just dont know many disc golfers who have enough disposable income to spend $1K a year just for one course.

I agree, though, that it's a good direction for the sport to be heading in...but it still sucks to think that certain courses could be off-limits to some just because they couldnt afford the membership fees.

 

[whtsx2005]

Also, disc golf demographics are not much different than ball golf. You'd be surprised. The stats are on the PDGA site, but I'm not sure where. You think ball golf, you think a CEO hitting the links. You think disc golf, you think a stoner out getting his fix. Not the case though.

http://www.pdga.com/documents/2007/06demographics.pdf

agreed, household income surprised me a little...majority $50,000-$100,000
and 12% above $100,000

 

[kvanorsdel]

We have a pay-to-play course here in Madison that is $5 a day or you can get a yearly pass for $42 and $84 for a family. It is a great course and the money goes directly back into the course. Most of the diehard DGers in our area have a yearly membership because it is affordable and the nicest course in town.

 

[ryangwillim]

That's Morley Field's situation. The only other course around AFAIK is Emerald Isle which is a Fly-18 course (baskets added to an existing ball golf course), which is also pay to play, and a little more expensive. So Morley pretty much has a monopoly on it.

The only problem with the Morley Field situation is that there are no free courses for it to compete with, i.e., no standard to hold it against. If there were a free course that wasn't maintained well, had all sorts of dog walkers and whatnot, and was overcrowded, then it would prove to be good justification for paying a little something for a better discing environment.

As it is, since Morley's the main show in town, it IS overcrowded and there isn't much you can do about it, just put up and shut up. Fortunately, they do maintain the course well, but without any kind of competition, they wouldn't have to do necessarily do that. Though for the amount of revenue they generate, I think they could improve the course a bit. For instance, when I went, most of their benches were pretty shoddy...made of plywood that was warped and chipping. For a course that's packed every day, with people constantly paying, they should make it pretty pimped out, IMO.

I live about 1/4 mile from Morley and don't play there very often. If you are a real dsc golfer and not just a college hack out to have fun drinking beers with 6 other friends then Morley can be very frustrating. It is VERY crowded.

The course itself is not bad, not stellar, but it would be enjoyable without the crowds. As is, you can expect to wait 5 minutes on every hole for the people in front of you to hole out, and that is on a weekday, weekends it can be much worse.

The bench situation has been remedied, though. They got new benches a couple years ago to replace the ones that were falling apart. Funny thing is that the course didn't really pay for the benches, they are sponsored by people or businesses.

Like I said, I live 1/4 mile from Morley Field, but if anyone asks me, I say that I am an Emerald Isle local, which is 35 miles north of me, but I play there more than the course I can walk to.

 

[domromer]

That's Morley Field's situation. The only other course around AFAIK is Emerald Isle which is a Fly-18 course (baskets added to an existing ball golf course), which is also pay to play, and a little more expensive. So Morley pretty much has a monopoly on it.

The only problem with the Morley Field situation is that there are no free courses for it to compete with, i.e., no standard to hold it against. If there were a free course that wasn't maintained well, had all sorts of dog walkers and whatnot, and was overcrowded, then it would prove to be good justification for paying a little something for a better discing environment.

As it is, since Morley's the main show in town, it IS overcrowded and there isn't much you can do about it, just put up and shut up. Fortunately, they do maintain the course well, but without any kind of competition, they wouldn't have to do necessarily do that. Though for the amount of revenue they generate, I think they could improve the course a bit. For instance, when I went, most of their benches were pretty shoddy...made of plywood that was warped and chipping. For a course that's packed every day, with people constantly paying, they should make it pretty pimped out, IMO.

I live about 1/4 mile from Morley and don't play there very often. If you are a real dsc golfer and not just a college hack out to have fun drinking beers with 6 other friends then Morley can be very frustrating. It is VERY crowded.

The course itself is not bad, not stellar, but it would be enjoyable without the crowds. As is, you can expect to wait 5 minutes on every hole for the people in front of you to hole out, and that is on a weekday, weekends it can be much worse.

The bench situation has been remedied, though. They got new benches a couple years ago to replace the ones that were falling apart. Funny thing is that the course didn't really pay for the benches, they are sponsored by people or businesses.

Like I said, I live 1/4 mile from Morley Field, but if anyone asks me, I say that I am an Emerald Isle local, which is 35 miles north of me, but I play there more than the course I can walk to.

Holy shit, where is this course with the 5 minute wait??? :shock: :shock:

 

[ryangwillim]

Oh, and greens fees:

Morley:
$2.50 weekdays (all day)
$3.00 weekends (all day)

Emerald Isle:
$8.00 weekdays (one round, walking)
$12.00 weekends (one round, walking)
+$8.00 to add a cart

 

[ryangwillim]

Holy shit, where is this course with the 5 minute wait??? :shock: :shock:

San Diego.

 

[roadkill1]

I would suspect that Morley Field is the busiest course on the planet.

I played there on a weeknight in Sept of 87. I couldn't get over the fact there was a foursome on nearly every hole. The other thing that I'll never get over was the sheer number of disc marks on trees near the green. The guardian trees had disc marks on virtually every square inch from the ground up to 15' high up on the trunk, the marks looked like bark colored wall paper.

I haven't been there since but considering how busy it was 20 years ago, I imagine it must really be ridiculous today.

 

[MDR_3000]

When I was down in Austin a few years ago for the College National tournament...we decided to play a course, it was so busy it took us 2.5 hours to play 9 holes. After that we just said, "fuck it".

 

[black udder]

that's really sort of bizarre - in 20 years, a really popular course and there aren't any others? You would think that more would have sprung up.

Perhaps that speaks to who is playing on the course - not a lot of DGers perhaps? Just rec players.

Funny how you have some DG courses in the smallest towns built by avid players, yet it seems there is a really thriving community there and only one course. Is it lack of space?