Disc golf for Snobs

[Dave242]

I'm proposing to put a course in a high-end neighborhood. It is really an expansion since there is already a doinky 9 holer on the site I am targeting. The town also has another typical Chicago course - wide open, short and boring. So they are familiar with DG, but neither course gets much play. But they have no clue about real DG (that's what I'm planning) - a great par 65 or 67 (real par) course with challenging and fun fairways. It is mini golf vs real golf.

In my initial discussions with the park folks I have been advised that the Board of Directors (panel of citizens) are much more interested in investing Park Dept resources into things like golf, sailing and tennis.

I want to get ideas on how best to market DG to this demographic. How/what do I present to gain funding/planning priority over those other things? Any successes doing this I can learn from and leverage?

 

[bthoma1]

I'm proposing to put a course in a high-end neighborhood. It is really an expansion since there is already a doinky 9 holer on the site I am targeting. The town also has another typical Chicago course - wide open, short and boring. So they are familiar with DG, but neither course gets much play. But they have no clue about real DG (that's what I'm planning) - a great par 65 or 67 (real par) course with challenging and fun fairways. It is mini golf vs real golf.

In my initial discussions with the park folks I have been advised that the Board of Directors (panel of citizens) are much more interested in investing Park Dept resources into things like golf, sailing and tennis.

I want to get ideas on how best to market DG to this demographic. How/what do I present to gain funding/planning priority over those other things? Any successes doing this I can learn from and leverage?

what course are you talking about? where in Chicago?

 

[Cgkdisc]

Disc golf in upper income communities doesn't usually work as well as with middle class communities. One angle that might sell well is pay-for-play. I'm not sure many of those citizens are aware that this sport can work this way and you have a big market in Chicagoland. Pay-for-play will reduce the problems they may think they'll see (lower income folks visiting from other communities) with a "free" park sports facility. If the Parks Dept runs a ball golf course, it might be worthwhile to see how they are doing and if getting incremental revenues from adding disc golf to the course might help with the finances. There must be money floating around that was going to be used for the Olympics. See if any of those sources could be tapped.

 

[tstack10]

rich people love to gamble so what else would be great winning weekly double fat purse after dexters beat you in the yacht race. lol

 

[trimixjoe]

Well since we didnt win the olympics, standard sport should be boycott by our fine city and we should say f*#k them and do a X-sport for 2016....say disc golf, skate boarding, or anything that isnt olympics connected!

 

[Huk Finn]

If you charged $99 dollars per disc and mark up everything else it would help.
Get Remy Martin to put Nate Doss in an ad.

Keep it real. This sport is not for them, or they are not for this sport.....

 

[Dave242]

Keep it real. This sport is not for them, or they are not for this sport.....

I think I should have made one more point in the original post: It is the Board of Directors that need to be sold to.

I think the citizens could really get into it. Case in point is another 9-hole course that is done up right (nice tee pads, signs, maintenance) and is always slammed with players. BTW, there are plenty of affluent people who play DG.

 

[Midnightbiker]

Most people that have money, seem to be pretty health conscious, so I would promote the health aspects of playing. Also, how it gets families together.

 

[agapedad]

I think the big Innova brochure has the breakdown of who plays DG.
Surprisingly the age was fairly high, and the education level was high also.
Those kind of stats might help.

 

[agapedad]

From their Course Brochure that can be downloaded at
http://innovadiscs.com/downloads/index.html

The majority of players are 30-39, make 50-100k, and are college grads.
That whole brochure might be helpful if you haven't used it already.

 

[jartiv]

sounds like an uphill battle... I believe whole heartedly that Disc Golf can be enjoyed by anybody, but I think it needs to get itself a little more mainstream before it can compete with ball golf. I understand perspective from Parks and Rec wanting to go with ball golf and sailing because it generate income from already cash strapped P&R depts. You might be able to propose an onsite pro shop... but thats a can of worms at best.

There are alot of courses out there that either share space or are right next to ball golf courses. I would not hesitate to contact other designers who may have had similar experiences, but from what I have seen, the two can coexist. You can try the gender angle too.. ball golf is a fairly male dominated sport... but Disc Golf is more commonly enjoyed by both genders.

yea thats all i got, good luck!

 

[Adam Schneider]

Go for the "family" aspect of it. Ages 4-84 can play.

 

[Omega SuperSloth]

The majority of players are 30-39, make 50-100k, and are college grads.
That whole brochure might be helpful if you haven't used it already.

did they pull that directly out their a$$ or did they wait a little while and let it drop on its own.

 

[Omega SuperSloth]

Rich people like their activities and facilities to be private or club oriented (and i cant really blame them, i also enjoy people who are civil to one another) so maybe play up the idea of clubs and the beauty of a well groomed (and probably un-used) dg course that will look good to potential home buyers and raise property values.

 

[agapedad]

did they pull that directly out their a$$ or did they wait a little while and let it drop on its own.

As I was putting it down, I thought the same thing!

 

[vonDrehle]

Maybe show them a USDGC video. It shows a decent course as well as a large amount of people watching.

 

[jeremy]

did they pull that directly out their a$$ or did they wait a little while and let it drop on its own.

I remember taking that survey a couple years ago. Before I moved I regularly played DG with a private practice doctor, several business owners, and a couple business executives. I was the youngest in out group at 27 most of the guys were in their early 40's, and one the doctor was around 55-60.

 

[AdamE]

The PDGA has a page devoted to demographics on their website.
http://www.pdga.com/demographics

I don't think they give the income breakdown like they used to, but hopefully there will be some other data there that might help. Good luck.

 

[Dthunderchicken]

A couple of points to doing a good presentation in general are to know the people that you are pitching to. IOW pitch to then from the angle that they are most likely to connect with. (athletic, bureaucratic, civic, etc.)

Also well done visuals are a must. If you give them something pretty to look at while you're talking it'll help hold their attention. If you have a practice basket that would probably be a big help. I think it would be good to let the board toss a few too.

Lastly practice your pitch. Video tape it and show it to different types of people. And when putting it together remember you're not talking to disc golfers. The people you are talking most likely never heard of disc golf before you go to them.

Good luck.

 

[Dave242]

Thanks for the input guys. (Any additional thoughts are welcome, of course.)

Highlighting the health and family aspects is a good idea. I do plan to make the design "stroller friendly". One other aspect that I want to toss out there in the presentation is that part of the course will be in some beautiful mature hardwood forest. Opening up the underbrush will allow bird watchers in (that is often an early morning activity that does not usually conflict with high DG traffic).

The ideas of using the USDGC video and Innova brochure and also making the presentation visual in nature are great ideas. I was aware that the disc/basket companies had resources, but I had not seen that Innova brochure. I'm requesting a bunch to be sent to me (I assume they have them in printed form).

Maybe the most thought provoking idea given is to make it pay-for-play. There is no real need for that, but the idea of making it more exclusive has merit (as well as combatting potential concerns over litter). Of course the revenue aspect could be nice too. The cool thing about this park is that they have a facility that is manned all the time (9am - 8pm I think) that would lend itself to that. I had already planned to propose a pro shop in that facility.

I also appreciate the input that this could be an uphill battle....even more so than in some more suitable environments