Player Preference for Sanctioned Events

[Armus Patheticus]

4 rounds in 2 days would be ideal, but I know that won't happen. Three days is an awful long time to fool around in one place.

2 courses maximum. Players enjoy chasing redemption and replication.

I wouldn't travel anywhere to play disc golf. I travel around for other reasons, and play tournaments if I happen upon them.

Nothing

Good homemade cookies

Interesting human interaction

[Hampstead]

You give your card mates long winded stories as a part of their player's pack, Arm?

[Armus Patheticus]

Originally Posted by Hampstead

You give your card mates long winded stories as a part of their player's pack, Arm?

If the time is right

[Golden Tuna]

Originally Posted by ToddL

1. Don't really want to take Friday off work if I can avoid it.

What if round 1 on Friday afternoon started at 2:00 or 3:00?

[dreadlock86]

1 4 rounds, if the Sat is 2 rounds at the same course with different tees. different looks without driving somewhere else

2 the more courses the better, without going below a floor of about 3.25-3.5

3 i like roadtrips so would consider 8-10 hours, especially if i can camp onsite

4 high quality courses on my wishlist, reputation for friendly and active social scene onsite, other cool stuff nearby like breweries or good BBQ joints or live music

5 discs will never be what i want to throw so i'd prefer vouchers or quality apparel with the event logo/artwork

6 the courses, fun social vibe, cool people


fyi, i'm an AM3 rated player that plays in AM2. i'm also a course bagger so that plays into my priorities quite a bit. if life allows, i would drive any distance to go to an event at a great course that is about to close. that's how i made it to Ozark Mountain before it ended up closing.

[GoatPaco]

1) I would prefer 3 rounds to 4 because I would prefer a tournament only last two days. This is why I mainly play B and C Tiers, so it probably doesnt help your A Tier discussion. 4 days is WAY too long for me.

2) 2 courses maximum, and I'm hoping they're close together. Again, I'm probably not your target audience here.

3) I'm not willing to get a hotel so 2 hours, less than that for a multi day tournament.

4) I'm just looking for tournaments ran by good TDs on good courses at times that work well for me.

5) I'm not there for a players pack, and I would honestly prefer a lower event fee than a big players pack.

6) Same as #4. A good, well prepared TD on a good to great course makes for a fun tournament. I want the courses to be challenging, but fair.

It wasn't me, but the worst tournament moment I've ever experienced is watching a cardmate take a 15 on a 225 foot island hole. He was a lefty and there was a mandatory just to the left of the tee, blocking his backhand. The problem is that there was no drop zone, or way to advance his disc. I had to watch him throw OB six times in a row before finally landing on the island (safe by a foot).

Things like that seem minor, and in the grand scheme on tournaments they are, but seeing a guy playing his first tournament completely demoralized because of one stupid hole made me sick. I know this is off topic, but you asked about something memorable and this one stuck with me.

[wolfmandragon]

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

I'm collecting data for an upcoming A-Tier and would like the format to be as player-oriented as possible so we can plan within the preferences of our target audience. If you do not play sanctioned events, feel free to provide your reason(s) why.
...

I have an A tier in my hometown that I do not play. Here a couple reasons why.

1. Pace of tournament play is too slow.
2. I would have too take too much time off work as it starts on Thursday evening.

[wolfmandragon]

Missed my edit window:

As for players pack, an event mini is plenty enough. If you need to justify the amount of money placed back into player packs, have a local craftsman custom turn/cast/forge the minis. That way they are more valuable for the amount of the player pack and they will be something to distinguish your event from the other A tiers.

[biscoe]

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

1. Would you prefer to play 3 rounds (Fri, Sat, Sun) or 4 (Fri, Sat 1, Sat 2, Sun)

Course dependent- unless the courses are gigantic my number one choice would be 2 rounds Saturday, 1 round Sunday. One round a day for more than 2 days would be my last choice.

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

2. Would you prefer to play 1 course, 2 courses, or a new course each round?

1 or 2 if 3 rounds or 2 if 4 rounds- again course dependent though.

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

3. How far are you willing to travel for an event?

Thousands of miles for the right combimation of location, courses and timing (rare). For a somewhat run of the mill A tier on run of the mill courses a couple hours tops.

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

4. What would entice you to put an event (outside your home town) on your calendar?

within 2 hours- fits my schedule. outside 2 hours- course i am hungry to play, lines up with some other reason to go there.

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

5. What (specific) types of items do you like to see in player's packs?

unique to your area homemade stuff. food. i am pretty much a players pack hater though. what the ams will like is a gazillion dollars worth of disc golf crap.

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

6. Based on the events you've attended, what makes them memorable (good or bad)?

good- runs smoothly, the course(s), necessary information readily available, stick to original info as best you can
bad- run inefficiently, the course(s), necessary information not readily available

My most recent pet peeve is poor management of player's meetings and awards ceremonies dragging things way out. I also don't care for too much ancillary junk (rings of fire, etc) wasting time. I realize I am something of an outlier on the latter.

I am an MP50 player who plays a lot of events.

[JC17393]

Originally Posted by Golden Tuna

I'm collecting data for an upcoming A-Tier and would like the format to be as player-oriented as possible so we can plan within the preferences of our target audience. If you do not play sanctioned events, feel free to provide your reason(s) why.

Specifically:

1. Would you prefer to play 3 rounds (Fri, Sat, Sun) or 4 (Fri, Sat 1, Sat 2, Sun)

2. Would you prefer to play 1 course, 2 courses, or a new course each round?

3. How far are you willing to travel for an event?

4. What would entice you to put an event (outside your home town) on your calendar?

5. What (specific) types of items do you like to see in player's packs?

6. Based on the events you've attended, what makes them memorable (good or bad)?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Lots of what Fish and biscoe said I agree wholeheartedly with. Two day (Sat-Sun) tournaments are far more preferable to me than three days, regardless of number of rounds. I have a flexible work schedule so I can take Fridays off if I need to, and sometimes will for a Sat/Sun tournament. But for a 3-day tournament, unless it's close to home, I'm probably going to have to also take Thursday for travel, not to mention practice or if the TD has scheduled a player meeting for Thursday evening.

More golf is always preferable. I played a couple 3-day A-tiers this year with one round a day and the idle time was irritating. I also played a 3-day, 4 round tournament (1-2-1) and I found that better only because I had a late tee time Friday so that I wasn't burdened with an abundance of down time. My overwhelming preference is two rounds a day, even on the final day, unless the course is an absolute monster. If I'm committing the day to the tournament, I want to spend the majority of the day playing it.

I have no preference on number of courses though I do enjoy getting second cracks at holes, so if there are multiple courses, preferably they're all played twice.

As far as what puts a tournament on my radar, it's usually a combination of course and reputation. Though now that I primarily play MP40, a good sized field of players makes a big difference as well. If I don't see a good half dozen or more in the division, I'm less inclined to travel. Fortunately that's hasn't been much of a worry for larger events like A-tiers.

Player packs are inconsequential to me. They're few and far between for pros, and the few that I've gotten typically end up as CTP prizes at my own tournaments. About the only thing I've kept for myself were tempercraft bottles, but I've collected a few of them thanks to the PDGA's relationship with ProActive.

What biscoe said about memorable events is dead on. If it's well run and the courses are in good shape, I'll have no complaints and my memories will be primarily based on my play. As a TD, I understand the scramble to get awards going and what it takes, but at the same time there is a limit on how long the wait should take and how long the awards themselves should take. And since it's the last part, not getting it right will be what most people remember first.

Just to contrast two events I played this year followed the same format...Fri-Sun, tee times each day. For one, they did awards in a rolling fashion on Sunday. As lead cards finished up, they handed out trophies and announced the winners. All the payouts, both am merch and pro cash, were distributed electronically. No need to hang around once your division was done. At the other, awards for all divisions were done at the end of the day once everyone finished. That meant for early playing divisions, they either had to wait around all day or come back at the end of the day for awards. Then on top of all that waiting around, the awards themselves involved a bunch of raffles, calling all the CTP winners individually, then naming off and recognizing every player who cashed in every division. MA2 alone paid out 40 players (out of nearly 80). The ceremony easily took over an hour and it had been raining and cold all day so those that were left were miserable and anxious to leave. Don't do that.