PDGA World Championships 2022

[nothinbuttree]

Has anyone taken screen shots of these ridiculous win% numbers that UDisc came up with? The chart of how those change through the event would be interesting. Pretty sure Eagle started with an 80%+ and now down to >1%. Clemons and Gossage? UDisc would have been smarter to thin that 100% around to other players at the onset, unless it's only a guess by a guy behind a screen.

Yeah, not real sure what the purpose of those are. Clearly, with such a stacked field, it is insane pre-event (even after a round or two) to think anyone would be at 80%. Based on what? His one event in the last 5 months?!

 

[txmxer]

Has anyone taken screen shots of these ridiculous win% numbers that UDisc came up with? The chart of how those change through the event would be interesting. Pretty sure Eagle started with an 80%+ and now down to >1%. Clemons and Gossage? UDisc would have been smarter to thin that 100% around to other players at the onset, unless it's only a guess by a guy behind a screen.

Yes!

After 3 stellar rounds AG is only given a 5% chance at the W.

And the Eagle stat jumped out at me as well. Matty O is one stroke behind Calvin and Ricky, but essentially the same win percentage? I like Matty, but if history and major wins are significant factors, I don't see how he can be even with Calvin.

KT was in the 80+ % range after R1 or was it R2?

Definitely should have some damping factors on those picks.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Circle 2 in regulation is clearly the most important stat. Top 5 women in that are the top 5 on the leader board. The 5 leaders in MPO are all in the top 8 in C2R.

Basically indicates that distance is king, with actual disc skills taking a back seat. This becomes more obvious on courses like these where even with several putting mishaps, the bombers have stayed in contention.

Course designs should ideally be modified to where at least half of the players in a ratings skill bracket can reach every hole (C2? C1?) in regulation even if they don't always do it accurately. That will bring more players into contention based on skills other than distance and increase the drama for viewers.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Basically indicates that distance is king, with actual disc skills taking a back seat. This becomes more obvious on courses like these where even with several putting mishaps, the bombers have stayed in contention.

Course designs should ideally be modified to where at least half of the players in a ratings skill bracket can reach every hole (C2? C1?) in regulation even if they don't always do it accurately. That will bring more players into contention based on skills other than distance and increase the drama for viewers.

I would agree on the surface, but if you look at the scores, it seems many players that we don't think of when discussing big distance are fairly close to the leaders, or at least doing quite well. Sexton is open about not having big distance, but other than a very unfortunate rollaway triple bogey off the cage on R1 hole 18 (I think it was), he would be right there.

I think 450' placement is much better than 550' raw distance on these courses, even with light winds. Gossage is not a crusher like Drew or AB, but here he is. He has had very good disc golf distance this tourney though. Then you have Eagle and Simon, who are basically non-factors after 3 rounds (short of 2 course records in a row).

While I like the competition, these courses are huge snooze-fests for me.

Last thought--the PDGA really needs to consider WHY the crowds are so light for the 1st 3 days. It should really embarrass them. Yeah, weekdays and all that, but this is Worlds! With no rain and no wind. Hot yes, but I have seen better crowds on day 1 of Silver Series events. What the heck is going on??

 

[biscoe]

Course designs should ideally be modified to where at least half of the players in a ratings skill bracket can reach every hole (C2? C1?) in regulation even if they don't always do it accurately. That will bring more players into contention based on skills other than distance and increase the drama for viewers.

While I agree with you from a game play perspective I suspect DGN is perfectly happy with the status quo where you can reasonably count on the "stars" (Paul, Ricky, etc) to find their way to the featured cards for viewing.

 

[biscoe]

I would agree on the surface, but if you look at the scores, it seems many players that we don't think of when discussing big distance are fairly close to the leaders, or at least doing quite well. Sexton is open about not having big distance, but other than a very unfortunate rollaway triple bogey off the cage on R1 hole 18 (I think it was), he would be right there.

I think 450' placement is much better than 550' raw distance on these courses, even with light winds. Gossage is not a crusher like Drew or AB, but here he is. He has had very good disc golf distance this tourney though. Then you have Eagle and Simon, who are basically non-factors after 3 rounds (short of 2 course records in a row).

I doubt there are more than a dozen or so guys on tour with Gossage distance.

Last thought--the PDGA really needs to consider WHY the crowds are so light for the 1st 3 days. It should really embarrass them. Yeah, weekdays and all that, but this is Worlds! With no rain and no wind. Hot yes, but I have seen better crowds on day 1 of Silver Series events. What the heck is going on??

Plenty of tickets still available for tomorrow at $40 as well.

 

[DanJon]

It is a holiday weekend where people who otherwise might have attended, have family related vacations/responsibilities.

Plus school just started for many kids (my daughter started Wednesday).

 

[BuiltTooLong]

I doubt there are more than a dozen or so guys on tour with Gossage distance.

Agreed. No one is even attempting the forehand hyzer lines that he can take on some holes. Well maybe Chandler Kramer, but we haven't seen any coverage of him this weekend.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Agreed. No one is even attempting the forehand hyzer lines that he can take on some holes. Well maybe Chandler Kramer, but we haven't seen any coverage of him this weekend.

That is a good point, I had not thought about these courses playing well to a strong RHFH player. Clemmons is right there too, with a modest LHBH. First time I have seen Gossage much on coverage, so still learning about him.

 

[Cgkdisc]

While I agree with you from a game play perspective I suspect DGN is perfectly happy with the status quo where you can reasonably count on the "stars" (Paul, Ricky, etc) to find their way to the featured cards for viewing.

My distance/design comment pertains to competition in all divisional ratings ranges, not just the top. While newer viewers/players might think ratings are an indicator of overall disc skills, the reality is that distance turns out to be the foundational ratings component especially when many elite course designs have magnified that component. The thing is, shorter holes bring more players into contention forcing the bombers to demonstrate their golf skills and increasing the drama for viewers.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Plenty of tickets still available for tomorrow at $40 as well.

Wow. So is this:

A) Fan fatigue of paying $$ for watching live coverage?
B) A significant waning in the popularity of the sport?
C) Labor Day weekend really clogging up everyone's schedule?
D) Fans just hate these courses?
E) No one wants to be standing around in 90+ heat for hours?

My non-researched hunch is mostly A and D. Though $40 for final round Worlds does not seem too harsh. Do you get to roam with that or are you stuck in one place?

 

[Cgkdisc]

How about lack of enough population in the area with fans willing or able to spectate on weekdays?

 

[Horsman]

I feel like worlds keeps getting less and less prestigious in my mind and is getting closer and closer to being a different sport. In that 99% of us do not play courses like are being played for worlds. To me. DGPT and up tournaments are starting to become a different sport than the other 99% of tournaments in course style. (99% is a made up number, I'm just saying it's a high amount.) The fort last year was great, Vermont was great and super balanced. But Emporia shouldn't be used for what is our most prestigious title in the sport.

Pro worlds should just be renamed to.
The Professional Disc Golf Distance Driver World Championships.

 

[Shallows]

That's an intangible big name players could have as an advantage. They may very well be more comfortable with the crew of camera people and all that comes with being an elite level player.

It's not like that happens at your avg A Tier, and it's understandable if it takes a while to get used to it.

Reference a shot that got away from a big name player on hole #3 DGLO this year, where they instinctively yelled "Terry! Find my disc!" I'm not saying that's quite the same as a someone with a video camera. I'm just using it as an example how they're far more used to, and comfortable with, the crew of people covering tournaments in some way at this level.

I will say that most B-Tiers around where I play have camera crews shooting MPO lead card.
A-Tiers more often than not have multiple Youtube channels following cards around. Lot of local folks trying to be the regional jomez etc.

 

[biscoe]

Wow. So is this:

A) Fan fatigue of paying $$ for watching live coverage?
B) A significant waning in the popularity of the sport?
C) Labor Day weekend really clogging up everyone's schedule?
D) Fans just hate these courses?
E) No one wants to be standing around in 90+ heat for hours?

My non-researched hunch is mostly A and D. Though $40 for final round Worlds does not seem too harsh. Do you get to roam with that or are you stuck in one place?

On these courses I am pretty sure you get to roam- not like they are in the woods with narrow sight lines/limited space. I doubt the prospective fans hate the courses since the prospective fans would primarily be from the Emporia area anyway. Labor Day weekend is a real factor- last week of August into Labor Day is generally terrible for scheduling any sort of event, not just disc golf. I was in the farmer's market business for years and late August/Labor Day was always lousy compared to most other good weather weeks. Limited population in the area has to factor in as well.

How has spectator attendance been for DDO in the past? I honestly have no idea.

 

[seedlings]

If KT wins, I think she'll be received as a world champ, but if HB wins, I'm not as sure 'anyone' will care very much since she's not played too often on lead card youtube coverage.

Also, if Vinny wins- will Innova up his contract to the RickyPaul level, or risk losing him?

 

[nothinbuttree]

How about lack of enough population in the area with fans willing or able to spectate on weekdays?

But...it's the DG capital of the world...

It is only 90 minutes from KC, but point taken--maybe PDGA should consider things like this when handing out majors. {Quiet dude--don't open that subject up again}

I was just getting back into the sport in 2018 so haven't seen much of that coverage, but having played Smugglers Notch, I can attest it is more in the middle of nowhere population-wise than Emporia--how was attendance for 2018 Worlds? Fox Run is a very wide open course as well. At least you have Brewsters there...

 

[Shallows]

How about lack of enough population in the area with fans willing or able to spectate on weekdays?

Ding ding ding.
It's just a place without a lot of population density. If you got 1/4 people in Emporia to buy a ticket you still wouldn't have as many people attending as the European Open had.

 

[Shallows]

Is that the end of 2 Fierce 2 Pierce?

 

[seedlings]

Is that the end of 2 Fierce 2 Pierce?

Brutal 4-putt. Paige will have to buckle down.