Anyone else think the 51 club is BS?

[DoOgSauce]

Coming from ball golf, 51 club makes no sense to me.

 

[mattc]

Nobody I know of does either around here. I never even heard of it until i saw it on some other thread here a year or two ago. Must be a regional thing.

It's new to me, however I have heard people talking about someone owing them $5 for an ace.
This might have been what was going on and I was oblivious.
(Like I am with most things that the cool kids do)

 

[grodney]

Paying $5/$1 isn't a game and it's not a club -- it's a tradition. It's spirit of the game. It's good karma. If somebody in your group hits metal or makes an ace, you pay him (or her). It's that simple. The tradition carries on by new players observing older players carry out the tradition. No requirement. No expectation.

 

[TimSyl]

DoOgSauce
Birdie Member Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: IDAHO!
Courses Played: 35
Posts: 343

Coming from ball golf, 51 club makes no sense to me.

How often does someone get a hole in one or hit the stick in golf?? Personally have made ONE golf hole-in-one in 40 years of playing, made FIVE disc aces in the frist two years playing. Apples and oranges.

 

[JeremyKShort]

We've got a guy here that made some 5-1 tags. If you have it on your bag, you're automatically in. Otherwise you can opt in if you want to. You can remove your tag before a round or not opt in if you don't want to in a particular round. He gave away a few of the tags, and a few players have declined to put them on their bags.

 

[filobedo]

Paying $5/$1 isn't a game and it's not a club -- it's a tradition. It's spirit of the game. It's good karma. If somebody in your group hits metal or makes an ace, you pay him (or her). It's that simple. The tradition carries on by new players observing older players carry out the tradition. No requirement. No expectation.

Exactly! I have played with people that pay, others that do not pay and others that have no clue about 51. I pay each time for good karma and being a good sport about it. I have been in a group of 4 where no one paid me for an ace and I hit an ace on #6 during the Earlewood Classic a few years ago which about 20 people around the course saw (not including me) from various spots of #4, #5, #7, #14 and #16 and I would say 70% of the witnesses paid me. The only people that did not pay me that I remember were a couple of casual locals on my card and some of the other cards that only play the Earlewood Classic each year and probably were not aware of 51.

 

[LimeyMotors]

I play every weekend and usely one day in the middle of the week for 9 months a year. durning the winter months I get out only a few times . I've been playing like this for the past three years, and I have only seen one Ace and the basket/pole hit twice. I either play with some not so good players or you guys play like Gods. -Duncan

 

[smarkquart]

I am aware of the concept but choose not to play; mostly because I do not like carrying cash with me for any reason. In big time tournaments I have something like 5 or 6 metal hits and 1 ace and I just as politely turn down a payment so not to seem as a hypocrite.

When confronted it is a matter of how you present your case. When done politely I have had only one bad reaction.

Playing the Minnesota Majestic in 2010 I had an awesome ace run; smashed the chains hard but could not get it to stick. Awesome way to begin the round and the spirits were high in the group. Fast forward 12 holes, a guy on my card gets his run to stick and immediately turns around and points at every player, still in his happy-I-got-an-ace voice, "you owe me five, you owe me five, and.." and then he points at me, "you me four because you got a metal earlier in the round." He did not bring up the fact that he supposedly owed me money from earlier in the round until it was time to collect on his part.

Before I did not partake simply because I did not want to carry cash, which I was given a little grief by him when I gave that explanation, but now I am adding that playing 5/1 should not be a required commitment no matter how much it is considered tradition. I am more than happy to sign discs, take pictures, etc, but I have yet to find a need to get in 5/1, because once in you are always in.

 

[smarkquart]

We've got a guy here that made some 5-1 tags. If you have it on your bag, you're automatically in. Otherwise you can opt in if you want to. You can remove your tag before a round or not opt in if you don't want to in a particular round. He gave away a few of the tags, and a few players have declined to put them on their bags.

I like this concept because it saves the trouble of a possible confrontation if you actively choose not to play but it was not discussed until after the ace or metal was hit. What a buzz kill to an otherwise awesome moment.

 

[Timeetyo]

One thing that seems silly to me is paying the 5 for someone who hits the ace in an event which is likely paying out an ace pool anyways. Really?

Actually - just this last week I had a near miss (dead center basket 2" low) at our ice bowl. I would have felt totally weird accepting money from guys on my card given i'd have been getting ~$100 in the ace pool anyways. Seems totally backwards.

I could maybe see it in a casual round among friends with no pool in play - that makes more sense.

 

[Thumber]

We just play for $5 for an Ace and its voluntary. However, if you accept $ for hitting and Ace you are expected to pay if someone else does in the future. fairs fair.

I have never seen anyone try to pressure someone into paying. That's just the poorest of form

Even funnier is a private course I play at. There is a barn / club house right at #9 basket. There is a small window that faces the teepad. Roughly 260 feet. The window has chains on it. The tradition of the club is if you hit a "barn ace" by putting your tee shot through the window you owe the barn a communal 24 of beer. Its greatly celebrated a couple of times per year!

 

[Tjamesd]

I'm not a fan of this style... I play with the same group of guys every single saturday (for the past 3 or 4 years). We have our own little ace pot. $1/every saturday. We've seen it get up to around $280 (we're bad at disc golf).

 

[scarpfish]

Established ace pots and the not so established '51 club' custom really have nothing to do with each other. One isn't a substitute for the other.

 

[blackcatsmith]

I don't think the game itself is dumb, but I do hate the nagging nag who aces during a tournament round then hounds me for the next hour to pay him so I'll "belong to the club". Just shut up, holy crap.

Too funny, too true.

 

[Hampstead]

I don't pay and I don't want to get paid. I have turned down money for my aces before and I will do so again.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Agree with Hampstead. I just choose not to participate.

I'll congratulate you, high five you, and sign your disc if you like...

 

[MarkDSM]

same as last two

No interest at all. Happy to sign a disc and give a fist bump.

 

[DeadEye]

And that's the reason why it's a 'club', and not something expected of everyone. If I play with people who max out at 150 and I'm trying to teach them the game, I don't expect money for an Ace, but if I'm playing with the other people around my skill level I know I'm either gonna get cash, or some IOUs from the cashless.

 

[sidewinder22]

Is the 51 club, blood in, and blood out?

 

[Puckstopper]

All this whining about shelling out five bucks? And disc golfers can't figure out why we are stereotyped as cheap...