Tournament Directors Playing

[jobwilson]

I want to get opinions of TD's playing in the event they are directing.
-Do you think it is a bad idea?
-Are you okay with it?
-Examples of where it has gone wrong/had an adverse effect on the event?

I'd also like to hear from TD's who have played in events. What do you do to make sure that everything goes smooth and that players are happy.

 

[jcf5083]

I have never played in a tournament where this happened, but I don't like it. I see way too many situations where this could go wrong. If you want to play in the event, you can set up someone as the "ghost TD" to make the day-of decisions, and you can organize it up to that day (I have seen that done).

 

[Three Putt]

The big thing is the flow. If the TD is on a card that is one of the last ones in, everybody stands around wondering what is going on. In local tournaments usually everybody already knows what is going on so it's not a huge deal. For a PDGA tier event with people there from out of town, it creates a lot of uncertainty and can delay the start of the second round. A delayed second round ticks off people who still have to drive a long way home.

The other problem of good players TDing an event that they win is just yada yada yada for the same people who see sandbaggers everywhere and think the payout is low. You inevitably get complaints that the payouts were higher in the TD's division and he had some sweet first round card stacked with his buddies that all shot well...the usual garbage. It gives the people who were going to bitch anyway more to bitch about.

When I have a local club event and the only people there are my local club guys, it's no biggie and I can play. Bigger events need somebody paying attention to get things teed off.

 

[thrembo]

Yeah, I don't see a problem in a smaller, local kind of event with the TD playing. But in a larger PDGA event I don't think its a good idea.

Thanks TD's for putting in the time and trying to organize a bunch of us DG'ers with very different wants and needs into something resembling organized play!

 

[tomsdiscs]

It has happened several times in my area, including during Worlds last year.

I think it is completely inappropriate and a sure sign the TD is just a slacker and needs to grow up.
The TD should be available to everybody throughout the weekend, not off playing on some hole while an out of town player comes limping into tournament central with a broken ankle from stepping in a hole, or when a couple players making the turn have a scoring question for an odd situation, etc. etc.

I realize these slacker TDs often have someone else covering for them at tournament central, but at that point they should not be considered the TD and have their name removed from the event, and give credit to the person actually pulling TD duties.

A TDs job does not end when the play starts, so they should never be playing in the event, and if they are playing in the event, be it AM or Open, they are competing with the other players and therefore lack the independence to make any judgement calls that could impact scoring.

 

[GulfCoastGolfer]

It has happened several times in my area, including during Worlds last year.

I think it is completely inappropriate and a sure sign the TD is just a slacker and needs to grow up.
The TD should be available to everybody throughout the weekend, not off playing on some hole while an out of town player comes limping into tournament central with a broken ankle from stepping in a hole, or when a couple players making the turn have a scoring question for an odd situation, etc. etc.

I realize these slacker TDs often have someone else covering for them at tournament central, but at that point they should not be considered the TD and have their name removed from the event, and give credit to the person actually pulling TD duties.

A TDs job does not end when the play starts, so they should never be playing in the event, and if they are playing in the event, be it AM or Open, they are competing with the other players and therefore lack the independence to make any judgement calls that could impact scoring.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

 

[hedfan1]

I have planned, ran and played 4 tourny's thus far, if we get larger than last years numbers, it might get more difficult but in our tournys, tags are up for grabs and being in the top 10 consistantly makes it hard to not play, it gives others less chance to advance and frankly, I spent a ton of time doing this thing, I should get to enjoy it too! Right? I have a guy from the league last year that just ha knee surgery so he will be on wheels for the next 5-6 months, he has agreed to take TD responsabilities during this years events, but I can't guarentee he will be willing and able all year long.

I'm also in search of a photographer that doesn't want money for their time but can snap some really great shots to post up for our league.

first tournament is starting on Mothers Day

 

[AdamE]

I've played and ran a number of tournaments. The keys to success for us is having a core group of people who help with the event. There are usually 3 of us who start working together in the planning stages of the tournament and continue to do so all the way through to clean up at the end of tournament day. So effectively it's like having 3 TD's. And with 3 of us, there usually isn't much of a wait between when the first card finishes and when one of us gets back to tournament central. We get as much ready as possible before hand so on tournament morning everything runs nice and smooth. Running events is definitely a learning process. We've made mistakes but we learn from them and the next event goes even better.

 

[araytx]

I have played in several C-tiers where the TD also plays in the event. I have seen no problem in these because there has always been a "TD designee" at the HQ for any situation which may arise.

In my opinion we have to be careful. If you say "... a TD should never play in his/her own event..." would we be willing to accept a) fewer sanctioned events if no one in my area takes up that slack? I sure don't. or b) a TD who takes up the slack and does a poorer job not playing in the event than the quality TD who played in his/her event? Again, not me, I'd rather have a well-run event. or c) a restriction on who can be a TD, causing fewer quality people who care about disc golf at the local level even wanting to become TD's? Again, I don't want that b/c the local events and these local TD's are the backbone of the PDGA tournament participation.

Maybe, just maybe, I could accept that kind of restriction for certain high profile events, but in general no. We have to remember where disc golf is as a sport right now (growth mode), so anything which inhibits our continued growth would be what I'm against.


By the way, any TD whose actions cause people to worry about their integrity is not one of those good quality TD's by my definition. My experience with the ones locally in my area is that they run great events, their actions are beyond reproach, and they are awesome dg promoters in general.

 

[solomon.trenton]

My wife helps me and is a monster when it comes to all the small things. God I love her

 

[Todd Wiley]

My wife helps me and is a monster when it comes to all the small things. God I love her

My wife is the same way, the events that I host would not be the same without her and she definately helps in every aspect from start to finish.

 

[New013]

You're the TD, do whatever you want. Just be prepared to deal with whiners and man babies.

 

[DavidSauls]

Around here, TDs almost always play in their events, including sanctioned C-tiers and B-tiers. (A-tiers require a non-playing official).

While it's conceivable that an issue could arise, I've never encountered one that couldn't wait until a break between rounds.

The notion of the TD being on the last card in and delaying the start of the next round has never occured in an event I've attended. Lunch is usually an hour from the time the last card is in. There are always volunteers checking cards as they arrive, and the rest of the TD's duties don't take an hour.

Araytx has got it exactly right. If you prohibit this, you have fewer tournaments to play in. It's not like the disc golf world is overflowing with TD wannabes just waiting for their chance to jump in and run a tournament.

 

[sillybizz]

You're the TD, do whatever you want. Just be prepared to deal with whiners and man babies.

Sadly they have to deal with that no matter what's going on at least in my area.

 

[DavidSauls]

I'd also like to hear from TD's who have played in events. What do you do to make sure that everything goes smooth and that players are happy.

I've played in my events, and not played in my events. Very little difference in what you need to do. Perhaps the biggest concern is being able to secure the scoreboard, cash, merchandise, etc. in the short interval between ending the players meeting and the start of play. The scoreboard needs to be available to everyone up to the last minute, but secured so its information can't be lost.

Oh, and if bad weather is a possibility, remembering to take the air horn along to signal a suspension of play.

The argument against playing in my own event is how it affects me. It's much less stressful not playing, and I tend to play even worse than usual in my own events.

 

[ferretdance03]

I've run about a dozen or so tournaments, including 7 sanctioned C-tiers, and played in every one. I started running events because I like playing in them and felt like I could organize a quality event.

There's not been any major issues arise that couldn't wait until lunch or that someone else couldn't handle. I've also not had anyone complain that the event was poorly run because I was playing. The only way this is possible for me is that I have a solid supporting crew of about 5-6 people that are each handling something different, and I trust them to take care of it.

 

[ejvogie]

We have a local TD that plays most of his own events. He arranges it so he finished near tourney central and is in a threesome. So far it hasn't bitten him too hard, yet.

 

[Violets caddy]

I think the td has played in every tourney I've ever played in. It's always gone smooth too.
Like others have said, having a great support group makes this possible.

I can see where problems could arise but the guys and ladies that td most of the events on this side of the state are pretty honest.

Personally I have no problem with it, I can't imagine having to sit around all day watching other players golf :\

 

[biscoe]

i have run a lot of tournaments over the years and have done it both ways. i have not played in the hawk hollow open recently because we serve dinner and i get paranoid about something going wrong with that if i play. if we didn't do that i could play and run things just fine.

my recommendation to beginning td's trying to run pdga style events is to not play at least for the first few.

 

[jenco]

I know of one particular TD who plays in his own tournaments - he has the whole day planned perfectly. IMO, two things help him to achieve this:
1) players pre registering
2) he has the help of at least 4 other people (to aid with merch., awards, payouts, etc.)

To top it all off he has a great attention to detail, and is very proficient.