2023 PDGA Majors Awarded

[araytx]

Less bitching from the players is the definite upside. Among the downsides would be limiting things geographically to too great a degree, stifling possible innovation, and simply placing too big a piece of the pie in one person's hands.

Emporia is the prototype for disc golf incorporating itself fully into a community and they run great events there by all accounts. Eric has done a great job imo of making the Country Club course the best it can be. I don't think there are too many viewers out there who are anxious to see a Major there every year on top of DDO however.

Everyone has their opinion. Your response though, solidified my position. It's primarily focused on "viewers".


An alternative option, however, is 5 or 6 superior "Super" courses being created and they are the predominate venues every year. Tennis & golf have very few venues for majors and don't suffer the "problems" you suppose.
Money may get infused into the sport and those super courses may happen in the distant future. And it wouldn't be a problem imho

 

[Dcinmd]

I've been waiting a few years for a Masters Worlds west of the Mississippi. Thank you Flagstaff area disc golfers for the bid, looking forward to the event.

Hopefully someone with common sense does not schedule this event in JULY.

Flag is known as a Gateway to the Grand Canyon and is a popular stopping point for all travelers, both domestic and international, so this event will provide great exposure of the sport of disc golf to a truly international crowd. Masters Worlds will run in July of 2023.

Ummm Nope. Not sure who wants to play two round in a day in Arizona in the middle of summer. Atleast the two rounds per day was the old Am Master format.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Phoenix averages 95 in July with highs near 107 and lows near 82 at 1100 feet elevation.
Flagstaff averages 66 in July with highs near 82 and lows near 50 at 6900 feet elevation.
Discs fly more stable in Flagstaff due to much higher elevation than Phoenix.

 

[Dcinmd]

Phoenix averages 95 in July with highs near 107 and lows near 82 at 1100 feet elevation.
Flagstaff averages 66 in July with highs near 82 and lows near 50 at 6900 feet elevation.
Discs fly more stable in Flagstaff due to much higher elevation than Phoenix.

Thanks Chuck for the clarification. I am obviously more familiar with Phoenix weather.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Thanks Chuck for the clarification. I am obviously more familiar with Phoenix weather.

Many players are likely to fly into Phoenix and drive to Flagstaff so you still might need gloves to touch your rental car.

 

[ray1970]

Flagstaff is definitely a mountain town. Pretty sure there is even a ski resort there. Much more of a Colorado mountain vibe and climate than places like Phoenix. I took a motorcycle trip a few years back and we stayed a few days in Flagstaff in late June and I don't think it ever got to 80 degrees. It was well over a hundred down in Phoenix at that time.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Very true. In fact, there are 4" of snow on the ground in Flagstaff right now, with nearly 3 feet on the state high point, Humphreys Peak, over 12,000 feet, only about 15 miles away.

Disclaimer--snow may be melted by July...

 

[DavidSauls]

Flagstaff is definitely a mountain town. Pretty sure there is even a ski resort there. Much more of a Colorado mountain vibe and climate than places like Phoenix. I took a motorcycle trip a few years back and we stayed a few days in Flagstaff in late June and I don't think it ever got to 80 degrees. It was well over a hundred down in Phoenix at that time.

Yeah, it's definitely not what the rest of country may picture, when they think, "Arizona".

 

[Cgkdisc]

In the Flagstaff 2003 Pro Worlds, a sudden storm with hail suspended play on the temp Snowbowl course. Some "fortunate" players found shelter cramming into an outhouse until one of the volunteers in a pickup came by to bring them off the hill. The schedule had to be revamped, cancelling one round to make sure all three MPO pools played the same courses. Of course, they still played more rounds than they've played in recent Worlds.

Here's the Worlds video

 

[elmexdela]

In the Flagstaff 2003 Pro Worlds, a sudden storm with hail suspended play on the temp Snowbowl course. Some "fortunate" players found shelter cramming into an outhouse until one of the volunteers in a pickup came by to bring them off the hill. The schedule had to be revamped, cancelling one round to make sure all three MPO pools played the same courses. Of course, they still played more rounds than they've played in recent Worlds.

Here's the Worlds video

while im not doubting this happened

whats the time stamp of at least the hail storm and better yet time stamp of the homies huddled up in the porta potty

 

[Cgkdisc]

while im not doubting this happened

whats the time stamp of at least the hail storm and better yet time stamp of the homies huddled up in the porta potty

Not sure if there was video coverage for that round which was when the B pool tee times had just gotten started on the hill.

 

[medic5888]

I don't know....if you look at the venues over a 5 or 10 year period, there seems to be a decent number of locations used. But few of them are willing to do it year after year. Perhaps some of those who might have bid in 2023, either ran majors in recent years or anticipate bidding in subsequent years.

Stoney Hill should bid for a major!

 

[davetherocketguy]

Maybe if it weren't such a PITA to meet all the PDGA requirements for events they might get more bids...

 

[biscoe]

Maybe if it weren't such a PITA to meet all the PDGA requirements for events they might get more bids...

What requirements in particular are unreasonable?

 

[davetherocketguy]

What requirements in particular are unreasonable?

No idea at that level. But I can tell you at the B Tier level for the $350 you shell out for a 80 player event its not worth the cost IMHO. So with that plus a litany of other reasons that are beyond the scope of this thread I refuse to run any more PDGA events.

Just seems to me there's a pretty obvious trend here. Put out requests for bids. Hardly anyone bids on it. As an outsider looking in the common denominator is the PDGA. Kinda says a lot when you can only get one bid on one of the majors.

 

[DavidSauls]

Another word for "requirements" is "standards". The benefit of playing in sanctioned events is being assured certain standards are met, and for higher level events, those standards should be higher.

 

[DavidSauls]

Stoney Hill should bid for a major!

Nice of you to say, but I can think of a dozen reasons Stoney Hill wouldn't qualify for a major -- and that's before considering that the owners wouldn't want to devote the time and effort.

 

[biscoe]

No idea at that level. But I can tell you at the B Tier level for the $350 you shell out for a 80 player event its not worth the cost IMHO. So with that plus a litany of other reasons that are beyond the scope of this thread I refuse to run any more PDGA events.

Just seems to me there's a pretty obvious trend here. Put out requests for bids. Hardly anyone bids on it. As an outsider looking in the common denominator is the PDGA. Kinda says a lot when you can only get one bid on one of the majors.

You as a TD aren't shelling out anything for your B tier. (Well maybe the $75 sanctioning fee if you don't build it back into the event costs.) The players are shelling out $3 each. In my area that has been repeatedly proven to be money well spent. YMMV.

Running a Major is an insane amount of work- it is surprising that they get any bids at all imo. Outside sponsorship is growing however and that is the key to profitability for those events. IMO there will be more bids in the upcoming years than we have these days.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Another word for "requirements" is "standards". The benefit of playing in sanctioned events is being assured certain standards are met, and for higher level events, those standards should be higher.

Agreed - but if there are so few bids then obviously standards are too high. Want more bids? Lower the standards - make it easier on those running the events or maybe start paying those who run the events. Otherwise don't complain when there are so few people who want to bend over backwards to make these events happen. Its pretty simple really.

Nice of you to say, but I can think of a dozen reasons Stoney Hill wouldn't qualify for a major -- and that's before considering that the owners wouldn't want to devote the time and effort.

Thanks for reiterating my point.

 

[DavidSauls]

Agreed - but if there are so few bids then obviously standards are too high. Want more bids? Lower the standards - make it easier on those running the events or maybe start paying those who run the events. Otherwise don't complain when there are so few people who want to bend over backwards to make these events happen. Its pretty simple really.

I'm not sure. Is it better to have multiple bids with lower standards -- and thus, an event with lower standards -- or a single bid and event with higher standards?

If nobody is bidding, that's a problem.

I don't know how to get around standards like sufficient hotel rooms, meeting place, cell service, and the massive number of volunteers needed. All before we get to having appropriate courses.