Reverse sandbagging

[Mando]

Originally Posted by Casual Squishy

I saw a few tournaments last year that were "Sold out" yet had fields of only 10-15 pros 10-15 advanced 2-4 in all the smaller divisions (AMM FA1 AGM, JR etc..) and the entire rest of the field was intermediate/rec/novice. That is not only frustrating and counterproductive in a competitive sense for people wanting to sign up am1/2 divisions or pro, but can also seriously alter the flow of play if there are large groups of rec and novice players,

News flash; the majority of disc golfers are rec level & novices and very few of them play tournaments. That's the growth area for tournaments.

[CBoyle]

I've been playing disc golf since July 12' and My first C-tier tournament will be this march. I will be playing in the rec division. I made this decision based on the scores of past tournaments at that course. I saw that I fit in better with the rec's so logically that's where I'll play. Now I don't know how many people will be playing rec but personally I don't care. If it's me and one other person and hes twelve and I'm 26 again I don't care that's where my rating says I should play and never having won a tournament or played in one; I see no reason to move up to INT, where I know I won't stand a chance.

[whentherainscome]

I played in 9 sanctioned events and a handful of non-sanctioned events in 2012. I played MA3 all year, and wormed my way from placing no-cash, to placing last-cash to placing 4th, then 3rd, and finally winning my last event of the year with a seven hole sudden death play off against a guy with a rating 40pts above mine. The other guy cracked a joke when there were some guys wondering through our fairway, "Don't they know we're battling for first place in the second worst division?!?"

And that's one angle on it. From a different perspective, it was the most exciting DG I've ever played, and will be one of my favorite memories for years to come. I feel accomplished because I worked on my game all year to get to that point; to get to where I could play 42 holes and still pump my River out 330' and sink a 25' for-all-the-AM3-marbles putt for bird. Does it matter to the guys playing MA1 or Open? Not one bit.

Does it matter to me? You betcha. Divisional play allows for people who are semi-competent but not great to have these kinds of experiences. It allows people to compete against people they're competitive against. I felt like the playing field was consistent for MA3 in a wide range of events I played over the year. I would not have reg'd with the PDGA or played any of the events except the handful of local, non-sanctioned tournaments if it were not for divisional play.

I'll also mention that MA3 is usually the largest field at our events.

[whentherainscome]

And that pre-reg is available for all our events through discgolfscene and the pros could fill up the spots just as easily as the lower divisions do - it just doesn't happen.

[Mando]

If you were playing in our local PDGA tournament, you would have been forced to play int. They had 5 int,9 rec,and 11 were unrated (mostly rec level judging by their scores). Absurd if you are trying to grow tourney involvement.

[blackandwhite]

Im a rec rated player. I dont have the consistency to play intermediate or above. I can play with advanced rater players for a casual round and finish a couple strokes behind them, but obviously tournament play is completely different.

If there is a 2 day tournament I try to play rec to compete against my division 'peers' and then will play intermediate the next day if that is how its split.

Its a comfort thing. I could give 2 $hits if people look down on me for the division I play in. If thats what you are concerned with, you need another hobby

[whentherainscome]

That's weird and unheard of around here! No one gets forced into a division unless their rating got bumped since they reg'd, and that gets handled by the books.

I've seen it at the unsanctioned events, where it makes sense only have 2 divisions and it gets discussed and people are okay with it and even one guy wanted to play AM2 by himself, realizing after the first round that it was a pretty stupid decision. BUT, he was allowed to do so, and, hey... he won!

[blackandwhite]

around here if there are 4 or more people to form a division..then that division is available to play in

[Cgkdisc]

The TD does not have to offer a division the day of the event unless there are at least four wanting to enter it. Otherwise, the 1 to 3 players must play up if they want to play.

[CBoyle]

Originally Posted by blackandwhite

Im a rec rated player. I dont have the consistency to play intermediate or above. I can play with advanced rater players for a casual round and finish a couple strokes behind them, but obviously tournament play is completely different.

If there is a 2 day tournament I try to play rec to compete against my division 'peers' and then will play intermediate the next day if that is how its split.

Its a comfort thing. I could give 2 $hits if people look down on me for the division I play in. If thats what you are concerned with, you need another hobby

I 100% agree with this.