Pay to Play? Is it Okay?

[Skunk]

As long as the course would be worth it....I would have no problem paying $5 or even $10 for the day.

[timothyasteele]

1 post, silly question. Why are people even responding?

It's obvious the poster has no clue about the reality of the cost of putting in and maintaining a course, whether is be public or private.

Tim S.

[IHearChains]

I have no problem with "pay to play" when it is a private course.

However, if it is a public park, then I think it should be the same cost as what people pay for their kids to climb on those fancy $100,000 play structures, or same cost a parent pays for hitting practice ground balls to his kid on the baseball diamond, or the same cost as what people pay for using paved running/walking trails or the same cost as what skaters pay to ride in the skate park....you get the idea. All that stuff is way more expensive than disc golf courses but they're not charging fees for use. When other outdoor activities in the same park are 100% subsidized by tax dollars but disc golf is not, then that is a problem IMO.

If the fee is an entry fee to get in the park, like at some state parks, then all users pay, not just disc golfers. That seems fair.

[IHearChains]

Originally Posted by timothyasteele

1 post, silly question. Why are people even responding?

It's obvious the poster has no clue about the reality of the cost of putting in and maintaining a course, whether is be public or private.

Tim S.

But those other (much more expensive) park activity structures, they just build and maintain themselves at no cost?

[biscoe]

Originally Posted by prerube

why? because it would increase the quality or for other reasons?

it would increase the quality of courses across the board as well as create a more responsible player base.

[Okie-J]

I've never played a pay course but I guess as long as they allowed groups of 7 inexperienced players, wearing the proper attire of sagging jeans and bad haircuts, who like to re-throw their 120 foot drives over and over until they hit 150, all while screaming golfs vivid collection of 4 letter words after every hit-tree or unskilled annhyzer roller I could go for it.

I love playing behind those groups.

Call me nostalgic.

[IHearChains]

Originally Posted by biscoe

it would increase the quality of courses across the board as well as create a more responsible player base.

In my area there is a lot of volunteer effort that goes into course maintenance, and the players who work on the course have a personal stake in keeping it in good shape, and that includes calling out the morons who are breaking trees or throwing garbage in the rough.

Pay to play comes with the expectation that maintenance is "someone else's job". I don't think that is necessarily going to create a more responsible player base. I can imagine a lot of entitled morons saying "I paid the fee so I can do whatever the heck I want on this course". And then other people not having that personal stake in the maintenance just looking the other way.

[jongoff09]

Originally Posted by IHearChains

However, if it is a public park, then I think it should be the same cost as what people pay for their kids to climb on those fancy $100,000 play structures, or same cost a parent pays for hitting practice ground balls to his kid on the baseball diamond, or the same cost as what people pay for using paved running/walking trails or the same cost as what skaters pay to ride in the skate park....you get the idea. All that stuff is way more expensive than disc golf courses but they're not charging fees for use. When other outdoor activities in the same park are 100% subsidized by tax dollars but disc golf is not, then that is a problem IMO.

How about the same price that golfers pay to play on the golf course that is in the public park, or the tennis players that also have to pay? A city park in my area has both of those, and the golfers pay $20-35 per round and the tennis players can pay upwards of $28 to use the courts for an hour and a half. The other park users like the ones you are talking about still don't have to pay anything, but I don't hear golfers or tennis players complaining. They would just go to one of the multitude of other courses or courts in the area if they didn't want to pay that price.

[wkelly42]

I think the fundamental mistake is assuming that the top ten courses are great places to play and therefore they started charging people to play. The fact is that the top courses are top courses BECAUSE they are pay to play.

Pay to play does keep a lot of people from playing the top courses. Not sure that's a bad thing at all -- and I say this having only ever paid for one round of disc golf.

[GLong]

Originally Posted by wkelly42

Pay to play does keep a lot of people from playing the top courses. Not sure that's a bad thing at all -- and I say this having only ever paid for one round of disc golf.

from what i've noticed, the people that complain about pay to play are the same ones that drink and smoke away most of their disposable income. if you can't afford to play a DG course then you have better things to worry about.