Virtual Players meetings....Smartphones at tournaments

[Dave242]

Has anyone messed around with the idea of using Smartphones to replace players meetings?

If there was a way to ensure that there was a smartphone in every 4-some (or group), could you imagine having a WebEx at your tee for the players meeting and then teeing off shortly after?

Also, all info could easily be made available as far as ground rules, maps, rules, 2nd round tee times, even weather delay issues. Are TD's currently doing this (I'm a little out of the loop)?

Scoring keeping/reporting would be cool too....but that's a whole other discussion.

 

[Halcón]

Keep it old school. Don't take away the fellowship of the player's meeting by a bunch of phones.

 

[bradharris]

I've been kicking around a similar idea in my head. One of these days I'll actually sit down and create it.

Essentially it does what you've said. Allows each card to upload scores and get hole-by-hole caddy notes and maps.

 

[Texashammer]

This is an awesome idea!

 

[Dave242]

Keep it old school. Don't take away the fellowship of the player's meeting by a bunch of phones.

Very valid consideration.....that is an important element of the overall tournament experience to some. I certainly do enjoy it personally.....but for some (many?), the players meeting is a major aggravation. That includes plenty of TDs who would complain that no one listens anyways since they all seem busy "fellowshipping"

 

[Halcón]

Very valid consideration.....that is an important element of the overall tournament experience to some. I certainly do enjoy it personally.....but for some (many?), the players meeting is a major aggravation. That includes plenty of TDs who would complain that no one listens anyways since they all seem busy "fellowshipping"

That's true too. I'm looking at it from a player's POV, having never been a TD myself.

 

[agapedad]

I would say that would be an awesome supplement to the player's meeting. No one is really paying attention, and often can't hear anyway.

 

[Dave242]

What got me to think about this is that Henry Childres in Charlotte for an old guy tournament he is running is having the players meeting at 9 with a tee time of 10. That allows people to warm up and then transition right into playing without the whole warm down thing.....it takes seems to take forever to gather everyone for the meeting, have the meeting, travel across the course to your starting hole, and then have the 2 minute warning (often without any time at all to re-warm up).

This would almost accomplish the same thing in this aspect.

And it does not have as big a potential for logistical snafus the early players meeting has....it is good to have people close to tournament central if you have day-of sign-ups, wait lists, and group or hole re-ordering. But, if all the data is online....most of this can be communicated electronically or in the WebEx.

 

[tistoude]

I am always surprised by how technophobic so many disc golfers are.

I played a casual round with two guys I met at the first tee and after our second round together I asked them to shoot me an e-mail or text the next time they were heading out to play and no joke neither of them had a cell phone or an e-mail address!

I think the socio-economic make up of the participants of our game/sport might not be conducive to this kind of an idea.

Just playing devils advocate since posting this on an internet forum probably means that you will get an inflated amount positive responses to the idea (technology users presumably being the readers of the forum). I personally like the idea.

Just my two cents.

 

[JC17393]

It's an interesting concept. Doubt it is anything that will catch on as common even with the right app.

I would think it would also have to be a course with excellent reception in all areas. I know around here, there are courses that are far enough off the beaten path, with enough elevation and foliage to have good sized dead zones on various parts of the course. Info would have to be downloadable and storable on the phone rather than reliant on signal (i.e. no last minute announcements or weather delay type stuff).

Not being a fan of long drawn out players meetings (as a TD or as a player), anything that simplifies the process is a step in the right direction for me. It's the biggest reason I create and print a detailed tournament program/caddybook for my larger events. It is essentially a substitute for the players meeting, so that when the players gather around the scoreboard and scorecards are dispersed, we can do a brief Q&A about anything that is unclear from the program.

 

[Dave242]

I am always surprised by how technophobic so many disc golfers are.
.....
Just my two cents.

Great post.....great $0.02. This is the sort of stuff I am curious about.

I ran a lot of scoring/logistics in the 2003-2008 timeframe....and I helped a lot of TD's who had no earthly clue on how to run Excel (let alone have it). Heck....email for some and PayPal for many was a whole bright new day for them every time they touched it.

But times have changed a lot since then.....Blackberries were cutting edge in 2008 for goodness sake!

While many are still not electronically enabled (no email or cell phone....let alone smartphone), all you need is one smart phone per group. I am not sure we are there yet.....but eventually we will be.

Are we there yet? I do not know since I am not out on the tournament scene much anymore. That's why all input like yours is appreciated.

 

[bradharris]

Are we there yet? I do not know since I am not out on the tournament scene much anymore. That's why all input like yours is appreciated.

I would think we're there. Maybe not in some of the age restricted divisions, but certainly among the more youthful players 1 in 4 has smartphones.

I don't think you can ever do away with the players meeting. A webcast one just seems to complicate things and create more problems than it solves. However, the idea of caddy notes and instant communication certainly would be helpful.

 

[tistoude]

This could also be affected by Geographic region as well. Here in Pittsburgh we are definitely "there". I would say 3 out of 4 tourney players have smartphones. But playing in nearby regions (west, south, east) it is a whole different story. Maybe this would play best in Metropolitan areas at this point in time???

 

[aardvarkious]

Not the same thing, but I was thinking of using a text message to one person in each group to send the 2 minute warning and the start signal out: our course is too spread out for everyone to hear any sort of audio signal when we do shotgun starts.

 

[jongoff09]

What if there are questions from some of the players the TD needs to clear up? Having been on conference calls for work and other situations, I know that if there are more than a few people doing that, getting a word in while trying to hear all the others and getting an explanation can be really tough. Being in person is easier for that.

 

[DavidSauls]

I've played a few tournaments that had no players meeting at all---just a handout with all you need to know on it. Heck, Charlotte Worlds had a players meeting with virtually no information in it, and no meetings at each course. Just show up and play.

But I'd be cautious before making an event reliant on smartphones. Start small. Murphy's Law says that even if 80% of players have phones, you'll end up with a group that has none. Or that has one, and the batteries die. And heaven forbid it's the TD's.

 

[Dave242]

Not the same thing, but I was thinking of using a text message to one person in each group to send the 2 minute warning and the start signal out: our course is too spread out for everyone to hear any sort of audio signal when we do shotgun starts.

If everyone yells "start" when the horn sounds (or traditionally a shotgun blast?), the message gets around the course quickly no matter how big and spread out. I love hearing the yelling from near and far when players do this.....definitely adds to the excitement of the event for me.

 

[Dave242]

What if there are questions from some of the players the TD needs to clear up? Having been on conference calls for work and other situations, I know that if there are more than a few people doing that, getting a word in while trying to hear all the others and getting an explanation can be really tough. Being in person is easier for that.

I am very half-hearted about the WebEx idea (although it is amuzing) since I work in technology and nobody can seem to get a WebEx (or Goto Meeting) session even started! So, that is the state of things now.....but this sort of stuff will be much improved and much more main-stream shortly. So, it is worth thinking about pioneering in this area now....well, at least its fun thinking about it.

I've played a few tournaments that had no players meeting at all---just a handout with all you need to know on it. Heck, Charlotte Worlds had a players meeting with virtually no information in it, and no meetings at each course. Just show up and play.

But I'd be cautious before making an event reliant on smartphones. Start small. Murphy's Law says that even if 80% of players have phones, you'll end up with a group that has none. Or that has one, and the batteries die. And heaven forbid it's the TD's.

How did the no players meeting events go? Any problems? Any squawking? As an out of towner, players meetings have made me feel more welcomed and a bigger part of things.

On the downside like you said, batteries are an issue and so are issues like rain, poor speaker quality, bright sunlight making maps or ground rules hard to read. But players meetings often have poor speaker quality too (buh dum bum) and paper maps get wet or lost.


If I were still in the role of "infoguy" for tournaments, at a minimum I would certainly be making a web page for every tournament that was full of all pertinent info......formatted in a way that is easy to consume on a smart phone.

 

[rat106]

However, the idea of caddy notes and instant communication certainly would be helpful.

THIS. A virtual caddy book for a tournament would be awesome.

 

[GordEzo]

I've only played 3 tourneys but I can see the point of it .

The last tourney I played , one of our group got a phone call after we holed out on our first basket telling us " All of you just played the wrong basket !". " " No , we played the long basket from long tee pad ! " " No , you were supposed to play the loooong basket that's farther away and hidden down that gulley ! "
Oh , even with the scribbled handout , we couldn't find it ! Once we did , we replayed the hole last to complete the round. So farther along we all had to go look for the 3rd basket on the holes . I'd played there 3 times and I had never noticed these extra , hidden baskets !

And my second tourney , on my home course , I used my PDGA app to keep score of our groups . It was the easy way to have correct totaled scores at the end of it . A couple scores got recounted after the phone said the total was different .

So , maybe not yet , but when there's an app set up , it will make it easier for everyone !