PDGA: Why did you join? (or choose not to)

[msizemore]

I'm trying to look at the PDGA from a 'business' perspective, define products and competitors etc.. So my first question to the disc golfers is..

Why did you join or choose not to join the PDGA? What benefits do you get with your membership and did you have other options to get similar benefits, if so where?

If you could prioritize the reasons that would be even better.

 

[agent_peebody]

i think you get discounts at some hotels :\

 

[devin_707]

If you are a "serious" disc golfer (i.e playing tournaments alot) then its a smart idea to sign up. For tournament fees, you have to pay an extra $10 for PDGA sanctioned tournaments if you are not a member. So if you play more than 5 or 6 PDGA sanctioned tournaments a year it pays for itself. Like AP said above too, some hotels give you discounts if you show them your PDGA membership card. I have heard...

 

[billnchristy]

^ that and majors.

 

[surgeflx87]

So I wouldn't have to pay $10 extra at every tournament.
To get a rating and get competitive.
Hotels,not do much, but it's an added perk.

 

[j0atz]

So I wouldn't have to pay $10 extra at every tournament.
To get a rating and get competitive.
Hotels,not do much, but it's an added perk.

this

 

[gcr_russell]

For the rating.

For the sense of community.

For the 10$ off at each tourney, and the ability to play A Tiers and Majors.

 

[ejvogie]

The $10 off thing, definitely. My membership will be paid for before Summer.

 

[drickanderson]

I still haven't registered. I will probably stick to leagues until October, and sign up then. If I wait for too long, I'll be playing in the masters division .. lol

 

[scarpfish]

Membership was $50. Non-member fee was $10 per tournament. Do the math.

I played 10 sanctioned events last year. So $50 saved right there, plus I get a player rating, some little red tag, and four issues to the PDGA's wah-wah magazine.

As AP mentioned there are discounts for some hotel chains & rental cars. I probably saved at least my membership cost on said discounts last year. Granted, I could probably get some of these same discounts through AAA or chain hotel loyalty programs, but its nice to have the promo codes available in one place.

 

[billnchristy]

Oh yeah, they gave me $500 for my clinics too, It was really cool to win that grant and I re-upped even though I didn't play enough to "get my moneys worth" this year.

 

[kenjiac]

So I wouldn't have to pay $10 extra at every tournament.
To get a rating and get competitive.
Hotels,not do much, but it's an added perk.

This too. And I enjoy the magazine.

 

[DavidSauls]

The O.P.'s perspective is somewhat limiting. The PDGA is not a business, it's a member-run organization. Some of us are members for reasons beyond what's in it for us.

That said, the benefits listed by others do help with the burden of the ever-increasing annual fees.

 

[chrishysell]

I did it for the cool 4 digit number and I play 25-30 pdga's per year

 

[harr0140]

I joined because I wanted to play competetively, but I have now since used my membership on hotel reservations on my latest road trip. I think I saved about $80 on the roadtrip because of my membership over simply using travelocity. Some of the discounts were better than the AAA discount which was impressive.

I will be a lifelong member as long as I play in tournaments. If you don't see the value in joining because of tournaments then hopefully you can see the value in supporting the sport, if not, then I do not recommend joining it isn't for you.

It certainly is nice to get the magazine now, I enjoy reading through it although it is mostly advertisements still.

 

[John Rock]

I joined 23 years ago for purely selfish reasons. Back then, there weren't very many discussion boards so players had to get info the old fashioned way - snail mail. There were no other pDGA members in my area to get info from so I joined to get "The Disc Golfer" (old pDGA mag) sent to my house. It had a calendar of events listed plus other articles. I'm still a member, but it's getting more and more difficult to convince myself to renew each year.

 

[bpait]

First tournament I went to play in I was bumped because I wasnt a pdga member and others were. I never wanted to miss another tourney because of not being a member. The money also helps grow the sport and I like the ratings.

 

[12StonesScott]

My primary motivation for joining has been that I want to see the sport grow and develop, and for better or worse the PDGA is the only organization I know of that operates at a national level to organize, promote and develop disc golf. I barely play enough sanctioned events each year to pay myself back the cost of membership in entry fee savings, so that's not a big motivator. I would probably re-join in the future even if I didn't plan to play any tournaments in order to continue to support the outreach and development programs of the PDGA. There isn't a viable alternative that I'm aware of.

I haven't used the hotel discounts in past years (have been a member for about 5 years, and most of my hotel business goes to Hilton and Marriott where I have substantial loyalty program benefits) but this past holiday season I did take advantage of it while traveling with the family -- I saved at least $60 over what I'd have paid otherwise, so it more than paid for itself there (particularly since I did play 5 sanctioned events last year). However, there are plenty of ways to get hotel discounts, and in and of itself it's not a significant motivation, just a nice side benefit.

I do like getting the magazine; I'd probably subscribe if it weren't a membership benefit, as long as the cost were $20 a year or less (so you could assign a nominal value of $20/year to that). There isn't currently another magazine providing coverage of disc golf, though there are a number of web sites and such that provide similar sorts of content (this one, obviously -- and I've paid for premium membership here -- but others like AceRunners.com as well). Obviously, the PDGA web site is one of those sources, and I do consider the development and maintenance of that to be one of the significant benefits of membership -- the site has tons of flaws and deficiencies, but it is the de facto central location for lots of information about disc golf.

The other benefits (bag tag, decal, rule book, etc.) aren't that important to me one way or the other. If I were to decide to purchase those independently of membership (unlikely, except perhaps the rule book), they'd be worth no more than about $10 in total.

 

[chrishysell]

anytime i'm planning to stay in a hotel I go to the pdga site and get my discount code. $10-$15 off each night is a good deal.

 

[burt5885]

Save 10 bucks on tournaments and save some on hotels!