What makes it an outstanding tournament?

[Pbmercil]

If youre referring to calling players names on cards and/or starting hole then they still do that here for EVERY tournament with a shotgun start. I've never seen it any other way, and am positive our players would be seriously confused otherwise. I think we're about 5-10 years behind the curve on disc golf though.

I've never heard of that either. Do you guys not use a board, or is that just a redundant addition to the board? What area are we talking about here?

 

[DavidSauls]

If youre referring to calling players names on cards and/or starting hole then they still do that here for EVERY tournament with a shotgun start. I've never seen it any other way, and am positive our players would be seriously confused otherwise. I think we're about 5-10 years behind the curve on disc golf though.

Or 20, in this case.

I won't claim we do things better here. I'm sure there are other aspects that we don't.

But that's just insane.

 

[Pbmercil]

5) TD's could communicate better what time the second round started as the first round finished. I value highly the time between rounds, sometimes I leave the course to get lunch, so the clock is frequently ticking for me. But it always seems to be guesswork about round two start times. And the harried TD & associate TD's who are frantically tabulating the scores as the cards come in understandably hate answering the question. I always thought that hanging a visible white board at tournament central and posting relevant info, like times, would be a great solution. That would reduce the amount of questions the TD would have to answer while they are sorting out the incoming scores/cards. I also thought that TD's could create FB pages or Twitter accounts for their tournaments where they could post timely info, like start times.

That is definitely a minor peeve I agree with. Its tough for TD's, because they have to wait for last card, but I'm kind of sick of wandering around and asking people what time second round starts. Facebook and twitter seem like no brainers, and I like the whiteboard suggestion too.

 

[DavidSauls]

That is definitely a minor peeve I agree with. Its tough for TD's, because they have to wait for last card, but I'm kind of sick of wandering around and asking people what time second round starts. Facebook and twitter seem like no brainers, and I like the whiteboard suggestion too.

We put up a sign. I point it out at the players meeting, and later, if anybody asks me what time the next round starts, I answer, "What does the sign say?".

 

[corin_brown]

We put up a sign. I point it out at the players meeting, and later, if anybody asks me what time the next round starts, I answer, "What does the sign say?".

Perfect. I'm moving to South Carolina.

 

[DavidSauls]

Perfect. I'm moving to South Carolina.

Don't get carried away until you check the weather forecast.

A number of best practices have been adopted, more or less, in the Carolinas and Georgia, at least where I've played. There has been a big trend toward handouts with rules, instead of long players meetings. The most common players pack is a voucher, with lots of merchandise to choose from, and Ams can hold it and combine it with their winnings if they want. Sideshow games, when held, tend to fill the empty space between the end of round 4 and the players meeting.

None of which are universal, but that's the trend.

I don't know why more people don't use the "next round starts _______" sign. Better for the players, and much better for the TD who doesn't have to get asked 40 times. We have the sign prepared and in place, and all we have to do is fill in the blank.

 

[scarpfish]

Blows me away to think they still call out groups/holes anywhere.

It blows me away to see TD's do it when you can see that they have a Scorepointe available.

 

[JC17393]

Blows me away to think they still call out groups/holes anywhere.

It blows me away to see TD's do it when you can see that they have a Scorepointe available.

This. 1000 times this.

With a scoreport/scoreboard available, there is ZERO need to read off anything. The purpose of the scoreport/scoreboard is to set the groups and let people see them. I honestly haven't seen this practice in a long time, since scoreports have become a whole lot more prevalent around here. But there was a time when there were only one or two of them floating around in a six state region, so if one of the guys who owned one didn't show up, we were without and calling out groups was necessary.

If a TD does have to call out groups though, calling them out starting with hole 1 and going in order is the worst way to do it. It can't be that hard to start with the longest walks first and finish with the short ones. Give those with the long walk the benefit of the extra 3-4 minutes it takes to announce the rest of the group. I do this for my league nights (max of 25-30 people). If you know your course well, you both know where the long walks are AND the best holes to start people on that gives fair spread (assuming not every hole is covered). Makes things so much smoother when you take that stuff into consideration (scoreport or not, really).

 

[Dana]

We have all been to tournaments with a players pack and lunch. But what makes a tournament really stand out for you? Could I ask you also if you are a Pro or Am as we all as you probably have different expectations.

Is it side games? Is there a festival in the city you loved? Was the lunch over and above the usual? Was there an evening players party?

Thanks, S.

Have all information clearly stated well ahead of time and follow through with said information (reg/check in times, tees/baskets played, added cash, player pack). If there is added cash, please have minimum advertised amount and what divisions it goes towards. Post scores (and turn in results to PDGA) in a timely fashion. Don't hold players hostage after the event.

 

[ToddL]

5) TD's could communicate better what time the second round started as the first round finished. I value highly the time between rounds, sometimes I leave the course to get lunch, so the clock is frequently ticking for me. But it always seems to be guesswork about round two start times. And the harried TD & associate TD's who are frantically tabulating the scores as the cards come in understandably hate answering the question. I always thought that hanging a visible white board at tournament central and posting relevant info, like times, would be a great solution. That would reduce the amount of questions the TD would have to answer while they are sorting out the incoming scores/cards. I also thought that TD's could create FB pages or Twitter accounts for their tournaments where they could post timely info, like start times.

Haha to the bolded part.

First thing in the morning we hang 3 laminated sheets near tournament central that say "Next round starts at ______". In the morning we don't fill in any time, but the sheets are up so people can get used to seeing them. We also have a whiteboard sitting on an easel with more tournament information, including the time of the next scheduled event ("players' meeting 9:40" or "2nd round 1:30"). So with 4 instances of the time posted, there are still a ton of people asking. I get a bit annoyed at the groups who turn their card in and immediately ask when the next round is. I know, they don't know if they're the last group or not, but my answer is always the same: "If you assume the next round starts exactly an hour from now, you'll be safe." It might be an hour and five minutes or an hour and ten minutes, depending on when the last card gets in, but you are guaranteed to be on time if you're back within one hour of right now.


But anyway, on topic:

I am pretty biased on this topic, since my answer is also the exact thing that I'm good at when I TD/Asst TD tournaments: Organization and Communication.

The rules should be clear. The rule sheet should list all relevant information: times, dates, locations, layouts (clearly marked, not "old school layout" and "modified layout"), CTP information, etc.

Extra signs out on the course are always helpful. "Do not play this tee." "This hole is a card CTP hole. Please mark the winner's name on the scorecard and pick up your prize immediately after the round." And we've now started putting out signs that say "The previous hole was a card CTP hole. Please remember to mark the winner's name and pick up your prize."

Scorecards should have the correct distance and par. Extra information should be included on the scorecard (highlight the hole that their CTP is on, for example).

The rules should be IMPECCABLE. There's nothing that drives me crazier than showing up to a tournament that is an annual event on a course that hasn't changed in a decade and having a rules sheet that is vague, unclear, or contradictory. This is probably my #1 complaint about tournaments I attend. When we run tournaments, we always use last year's rules as our starting point. If there was any confusion about the rules last year or any changes to the course, we'll modify the rules sheet. A new tournament/course will probably see 10-20 revisions of the rules before we settle on the final format. You can't just whip them up off the top of your head the night before the tournament. It takes us around two weeks to write the rules. "Should this be a period or a semicolon? Should this be 'and' or 'or'? Is it better to have universal rules up top with hole-specific exceptions below or have every single rule listed for every single hole? We can't say 'road and across is OB' because 'across' isn't clearly defined since the road is a cul-de-sac." Very, very, very specific rules.

 

[DavidSauls]

Yes. If you write them well enough, you can even screw up something in the players meeting and the players can get things straight on their own. Assuming, of course, they read what you give them.

 

[DavidSauls]

We have all been to tournaments with a players pack and lunch. But what makes a tournament really stand out for you? Could I ask you also if you are a Pro or Am as we all as you probably have different expectations.

Is it side games? Is there a festival in the city you loved? Was the lunch over and above the usual? Was there an evening players party?

Thanks, S.

Good weather is also a big plus.

Sure, you can't blame a TD for bad weather. But you can bet that, as a TD, I claim credit for good weather whenever we have it.