Tournament Waitlists

[Dingus]

After a long absence I was all hyped to play some tournaments. Renewed my PDGA, paid the fee, and WOOPS! The tournaments were all waitlisted. Doh! :wall:

I registered for the waitlist, but I am like 10 spots out of getting a seat at the table. Is it worth showing up on the day of the tourney to see if there are any no shows for registration? For experienced TDs, how much churn do you generally see leading up to the start of a tournament?

 

[Pevio]

In my experience, a lot of people drop out of every tournament, but if you're on the waitlist the morning of, it's only worth showing up if you're the top one or two.

 

[ru4por]

I think the answer is pretty regional. Depends of the size of the event, the pool breakdown, the weather, PDGA points available (tier), the courses, the weekend (holiday?), how many weeks until the tournament, the division you are playing, payouts and the reputation of the TD. I would monitor the list up to the event and see how much closer you get to getting in.

 

[Dingus]

if you're on the waitlist the morning of, it's only worth showing up if you're the top one or two.

I would monitor the list up to the event and see how much closer you get to getting in.

This begs the question, do many waitlisted players show up to see if they can play without being told prior? My position on the waitlist would only matter if multiple waitlisted people showed up unannounced, right?

 

[ru4por]

This begs the question, do many waitlisted players show up to see if they can play without being told prior? My position on the waitlist would only matter if multiple waitlisted people showed up unannounced, right?

Our tournaments always see at least a couple waitlisters showing up. If open spots are available, at the end of registration, the lowest waitlister, at the course that morning, gets the spot. If showing up, I suggest checking in with the TD, at the start of reg and letting them know you are there and looking to play.

 

[BionicRib]

Is it the norm now for these waitlists to charge you a fee that you don't get back if you don't get in to the tournament?

 

[ru4por]

Is it the norm now for these waitlists to charge you a fee that you don't get back if you don't get in to the tournament?

https://www.pdga.com/rules/competition-manual/103

 

[BionicRib]

https://www.pdga.com/rules/competition-manual/103

I've seen that. Just curious how often it's followed. Maybe some tds opt for the 10$ to not be charged when added to the waitlist or they just give it back minus the fees

 

[biscoe]

I've seen that. Just curious how often it's followed. Maybe some tds opt for the 10$ to not be charged when added to the waitlist or they just give it back minus the fees

It varies widely. Some charge the full entry fee to get on the waitlist and refund according to the PDGA stuff, some charge nothing, some go in between. For most of my events that I expect to fill I charge $5 non-refundable. I think it at least reduces the number of people who have no real intention of playing but throw their name on the waitlist just in case- it is a drag as a TD to wade through them when you have other stuff to do.

Post-Covid the waitlists have generally seen a ton of movement with most if not all players getting in in the long run.

 

[DavidSauls]

I think the answer is pretty regional. Depends of the size of the event, the pool breakdown, the weather, PDGA points available (tier), the courses, the weekend (holiday?), how many weeks until the tournament, the division you are playing, payouts and the reputation of the TD. I would monitor the list up to the event and see how much closer you get to getting in.

This, exactly.

Throw in the TD's refund policy. Around here, most waitlist action happens in the days before the tournament, not the morning of. But that's a double-edged sword; less chance of an opening appearing that morning, but also less chance of any waitlisters being there. I've seen cases where you could be 37th on the waitlist and get in, because nobody else showed up to hang around and hope.

 

[biscoe]

This, exactly.

Throw in the TD's refund policy. Around here, most waitlist action happens in the days before the tournament, not the morning of. But that's a double-edged sword; less chance of an opening appearing that morning, but also less chance of any waitlisters being there. I've seen cases where you could be 37th on the waitlist and get in, because nobody else showed up to hang around and hope.

Waitlisters showing up and hoping isn't really a thing at events I run but said events are also almost all at venues where it is not particularly convenient to do so. In general it is rare at this point for an event to actually start with a full field regardless of the length of the waitlist- we will almost always lose a player or two the night before or morning of who does not get replaced. I actually kind of prefer this- gives me some flexibility in setting up groups.

 

[DavidSauls]

Yeah, I've seen some TDs close waitlist/replacements early, so they can wrap things up and not deal with it on the morning-of. Which also releases the waitlist players to not worry about whether they'll get in (they won't).

 

[BillFleming]

I've played tournaments where waitlisted people have shown up, only to be told the TD needs to give the "no shows" four holes to show up. So if players didn't show, the waitlist ones that showed up the day of would have a 4 hole disadvantage.

 

[Dingus]

I've played tournaments where waitlisted people have shown up, only to be told the TD needs to give the "no shows" four holes to show up. So if players didn't show, the waitlist ones that showed up the day of would have a 4 hole disadvantage.

That would be very annoying. Why would anyone bother playing with 4 holes not played? Why wouldn't they just fill the spot when the player missed check in?

 

[ru4por]

I've played tournaments where waitlisted people have shown up, only to be told the TD needs to give the "no shows" four holes to show up. So if players didn't show, the waitlist ones that showed up the day of would have a 4 hole disadvantage.

This does not seem like a viable practice....from a TD or player perspective.

 

[DavidSauls]

I've played tournaments where waitlisted people have shown up, only to be told the TD needs to give the "no shows" four holes to show up. So if players didn't show, the waitlist ones that showed up the day of would have a 4 hole disadvantage.

Shouldn't happen.

Competition Manual 104.B:

Any player who does not check in by the time specified by the Tournament Director shall forfeit their official place and entry fee. Exceptions will be made only at the sole discretion of the Tournament Director.

 

[ru4por]

This, exactly.

Throw in the TD's refund policy. Around here, most waitlist action happens in the days before the tournament, not the morning of. But that's a double-edged sword; less chance of an opening appearing that morning, but also less chance of any waitlisters being there. I've seen cases where you could be 37th on the waitlist and get in, because nobody else showed up to hang around and hope.

We have gone to enforcing the 10 buck reg fee. We really wanted to make full refunds available, but exactly what you describe started becoming frequent. People would just throw their names of a BUNCH of tournaments at the beginning of the year and then decide what they would actually play later. We would start the tournament, short a dozen players, from full. It just ends up costing the club money, in the short term. Purchased player packs, loss of revenue, frustration of waitlisters.... Of course, some of that is recouped, but there are point in the last couple seasons where money got tight.

 

[DavidSauls]

I've also seen a trend of registrations starting further and further in advance. When you open registration 3-4 months before the tournament, a lot of people who can't be sure they can attend, will sign up for fear of missing out. These result in more waitlist churn, as players find out they can't attend.

 

[biscoe]

I've also seen a trend of registrations starting further and further in advance. When you open registration 3-4 months before the tournament, a lot of people who can't be sure they can attend, will sign up for fear of missing out. These result in more waitlist churn, as players find out they can't attend.

Yep- no more fronting the funds for Am stuff leads to more waitlist action for sure.

 

[Rastnav]

I would really love some sort of pre-registration system. I haven't even been trying to play tournaments because I know tournaments will fill within seconds/minutes of being open.

A pre-registration system, that allowed you to put yourself on the pre-registration list and then a random draw would be held to allow people to get in, that would be ideal. There are a bunch of things that would be made possible by this, like having a certain amount of slots for various tiers, having some sort of qualification for a guaranteed slot, etc.

You could even do a combination, where some number of registrations are given to pre-qualified people, but others are available for the most dedicated people who want to join the bum rush for slots on the day the registration opens.

Slightly off the topic, but I figure I'd throw it out there again in hopes that it could gain steam as an idea so that PDGA , or whoever, would implement it.