Disc Golf penetration ???

[marczr]

What factors make DG more popular in certain areas? I'm in the UK and am lucky to live in a DG 'hotspot', a great course 2 miles away and a further 4 or 5 within an hours drive.
I saw the 2016 Spanish Open in Oviedo announcement and was surprised to find only two courses listed in the whole of Spain, both in that city. France & Italy don't fair much better. Yet the Scandinavian countries have loads of courses....
UK pop. 64m 48 courses = 1 course per 1.3 million residents
USA pop. 320m 3890 courses = 1/ 82k residents
Finland p. 5.5m 350 courses = 1/ 16k residents !!!!!

What the heck have the Finnish been up to for DG to be so popular? And what lessons could be learnt for those who'd like to grow the sport across the rest of Europe?

 

[Peterb]

Oh man the title of this thread had me thinking about all of the sexual disc golf innuendos like 'Spit Outs'.

Your question is an excellent one. In my area of California, land prices are so high, and there are so many NIMBYS, that it is very difficult to get a course installed Yet, since we're close to where the game was invented, we have pretty good, um, penetration here.

 

[mark996]

I came for the penetration, and was sadly disappointed. I'm just gonna leave now.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

This thread was started by Jussi --


http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112358

 

[Steve West]

It has to be a place where there is land that is not being used for something more lucrative, and people with nothing better to do.

 

[jeffmonty]

I came for the penetration, and was sadly disappointed. I'm just gonna leave now.

Hope you had a happy ending.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

It has to be a place where there is land that is not being used for something more lucrative, and people with nothing better to do.

We are lucky as hell in MN to have so many parks throughout heavily populated areas. Its not "par" for the course ive found across other parts of the country.

 

[Cgkdisc]

We are lucky as hell in MN to have so many parks throughout heavily populated areas. Its not "par" for the course i've found across other parts of the country.

Even then, we're not unlike other major metro areas with no parkland left right in the big city. Suburbia is where it's been at for most of U.S. course development near big cities. That lack of available parkland in our largest population areas is ultimately going to prevent the widespread mainstream acceptance some are hoping for. If the inner city kid can't play reasonably close to their neighborhood and do it for a low enough cost, the sport doesn't matter much to them.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Even then, we're not unlike other major metro areas with no parkland left right in the big city. Suburbia is were it's been at for most of U.S. course development near big cities. That lack of available parkland in our largest population areas is ultimately going to prevent the widespread mainstream acceptance some are hoping for. If the inner city kid can't play reasonably close to their neighborhood and do it for a low enough cost, the sport doesn't matter.

I agree 100% but there are no shortage of parks even in minneapolis. Problem with DG is it needs a little more land for a course IMO vs a field and bball court next to a playground.

We are MUCH better off vs other major metropolitan areas in that regard. Its bad enough when it comes to more serious issues in these areas let alone some disc golf. The functional utility of the land alone often is better served in these areas not being a hike through the woods snd extra green space to maintain.

 

[RobA]

What factors make DG more popular in certain areas? I'm in the UK and am lucky to live in a DG 'hotspot', a great course 2 miles away and a further 4 or 5 within an hours drive.
I saw the 2016 Spanish Open in Oviedo announcement and was surprised to find only two courses listed in the whole of Spain, both in that city. France & Italy don't fair much better. Yet the Scandinavian countries have loads of courses....
UK pop. 64m 48 courses = 1 course per 1.3 million residents
USA pop. 320m 3890 courses = 1/ 82k residents
Finland p. 5.5m 350 courses = 1/ 16k residents !!!!!

What the heck have the Finnish been up to for DG to be so popular? And what lessons could be learnt for those who'd like to grow the sport across the rest of Europe?

So glad this thread isn't what I thought. I have nothing to add.

 

[marczr]

OK, sorry about the unintended click bait title !

Thanks to AFTC for the link http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112358
Some highlights from there....

The single biggest reason is that Finland is a relatively sparsely populated country with plenty of public land that isn't spoken for by any particular interest group. This means that it is relatively easy to convince the municipalities/local councils to put courses in the ground. Especially given how cheap it is.

That makes a lot of sense, there's 15 times as much land per person in Finnland compared to the UK, plus every inch of the UK is fought over by multiple conficting interests.

Because of JMeresmaa and his work to grow the sport. Really. Disc Golf in Finland wouldn't be where it is now if it wasn't for him.

And from Jussi himself....

Finland won 4 out of 6 European titles last year European Championships. There is a master plan for growth of DG in Europe. As a result of that, there will be 1,000 new DG courses until the end of 2019. US will be the top dog for at least another three years. After that our DG educational system (yes, it will be launched in few months) will take over. We try to be a "Germany of Disc Golf"

So takeaway points, lots of available land and a driven ambassador -> lucky Finns