Disc Golf Pro Tour

[brentjacobs]

I enjoyed watching the coverage this weekend as I have of the other DGPT events I've been able to catch this season. For the finals, I was at my friend's garage bar for Sunday football. He has 4 TV's with individual receivers for the Sunday Ticket and then two more for the locally broadcast games. There are usually between 7 and 15 of us watching football at his place.

Yesterday, the DGPT finals were played on his Apple TV as opposed to an NFL game. Not a single person there griped. In fact is was the opposite. At one point or another, over half the bar gravitated to the Disc Golf and continued to watch off and on until it was over. It was fun to have a bunch of guys that we're mildly aware of the "sport" start asking questions on the game, the tournament, the players, the rules, ect. The only comments regarding the quality of broadcast were positive and that was before they new it was streamed through YouTube. Really, they asked, "what channel is this on?"

It definitly wasn't my intention when I went over to share the broadcast, I was happy watching on my phone. Another buddy of mine who throws, and had been impressed by a previous DGPT broadcast that he watched at my house, asked that it be played. This particular friend is not the type to give anything praise easily. Rather, he's generally sour, about most things, DG included.

What this said to me was 1. Somebody who is active disc golf player who if asked 3 months ago if he wanted to watch a DG tourney on TV, would have laughed his a** off at you and 2. A group of random guys, of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, who all came to a bar to watch football, were interested, engaged and impressed with the product that was put out.

All said, it's a small sample, isolated incident, ect. but the results were positive. I can understand not wanting to watch if it's nice out and you're going to play frisbee. But that's the same reason not to watch the NFL, PBR, Olympics, do anything inside on the weekend, ect. There are surely parts of these broadcasts can be improved and developed. For me though, this is the first year that I've really enjoyed watching live DG.

 

[JC17393]

i wonder if anyone else in the south applied for NT status. i agree that doubling up in augusta makes no sense. didn't they double up in emporia last year too?

It seems no one else in the south ever applies for NT status. The HOF Classic is already on an odd-year schedule, so there's a slot for an NT in the south every other year that has gone unused forever. From what I've gathered, they've begged for someone else to step up to rotate with the HOF Classic, if not supplant it. It just hasn't happened.

 

[lyleoross]

It seems no one else in the south ever applies for NT status. The HOF Classic is already on an odd-year schedule, so there's a slot for an NT in the south every other year that has gone unused forever. From what I've gathered, they've begged for someone else to step up to rotate with the HOF Classic, if not supplant it. It just hasn't happened.

Texas States did it once, and I think Joey H. had it in Waco for awhile (I think he just burned out). It seems a shame that Selah doesn't have one.

 

[DavidSauls]

Nah, Winthrop Gold is the equivalent (well, without the pimento cheese sandwiches).

Maybe the PDGA should hold the US Open at Augusta in addition to the Masters?

They've held the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, NC.

Which is about the equivalent.

Edit: Well, not really, since golfers from distance locations can afford the travel a little more. But nonetheless.....it's similar.

 

[Whippetgood]

The difficult thing with the GCC being a NT is that players are still going to likely have to choose between the GCC and the Memorial.

When the GCC was the cute little two day B-tier at Sunset park it was a great warm up on the way to the memorial. Even when it became a 3 day A-tier it was doable because it was all at Sunset. Last year when it moved to Wildhorse it became a 4 day event on 3 different (amazing) courses, plus I think the memorial started a day earlier. So there was two days in between events and many pros didn't feel like they could adequately prepare for both events.

 

[bhadella]

They've held the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, NC.

Which is about the equivalent.

Edit: Well, not really, since golfers from distance locations can afford the travel a little more. But nonetheless.....it's similar.

It's not the same location, is it? Unless they are planning on not using Jackson for the NT (which they should as it's the best test for those level of players), they will be hosting the World Championships on a course and then hosting another major tournament on the same course later in the year. Atleast the GBO could be considered a chance to get to know the World Championship deciding courses prior to the tournament.

 

[JC17393]

Texas States did it once, and I think Joey H. had it in Waco for awhile (I think he just burned out). It seems a shame that Selah doesn't have one.

I almost look at Texas as it's own "region" in a case like this, and I think the PDGA does as well. I think they set out with the hope of having an NT in each of 8 regions...something along the lines of southeast, Texas, southwest, California, northwest, midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast. Picking a sample for each might be the HOF Classic, Texas States, Memorial, Masters Cup, Beaver State Fling, Kansas City Wide Open, Hambrick and Vibram...or something like that.

The problem is that there are a dearth of willing hosts in some regions and an abundance of willing hosts in others. Some of it is just plain inflexible scheduling. There are probably some good candidates that get excluded from or just have to bow out of NT discussion because they can't or won't move their date to better fit the overall schedule. It sounds funny to say that when the actual NT schedule seems to always end up being a bit disjointed and all over the place anyway, but I think that is a big stumbling block every year. They start with the goal of a "tour" that makes time and geographic sense, and end up not getting there. Every year.

For all the DGPT tries to do to get a tour that makes geographic sense, they're not that much better at it. They're starting next year in early March, ending in September, and bouncing around the country a bit with significant time gaps between some events. And I imagine the difficulties of scheduling are going to continue until the benefits of coordinating a nationwide "tour" outweigh the localized benefits of scheduling events. We may never get to that point.

 

[bhadella]

For all the DGPT tries to do to get a tour that makes geographic sense, they're not that much better at it. They're starting next year in early March, ending in September, and bouncing around the country a bit with significant time gaps between some events. And I imagine the difficulties of scheduling are going to continue until the benefits of coordinating a nationwide "tour" outweigh the localized benefits of scheduling events. We may never get to that point.

I think the DGPT fills the huge gaps in the NT schedule well. If you took the DGPT map and add in the NTs/Worlds/USDGC, it makes a ton of sense.

 

[JC17393]

I think the DGPT fills the huge gaps in the NT schedule well. If you took the DGPT map and add in the NTs/Worlds/USDGC, it makes a ton of sense.

True. Which makes you wonder why Steve seems all kinds of upset about the PDGA and how they handle scheduling. The DGPT not being included in the NT allowed Steve to manipulate his schedule to fill gaps as you say. I think that's a positive thing.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I think you're starting to see the NT select sites for other factors in addition to the host being able to meet the money criteria. For example, it appears all of the courses for 2017 events have been vetted in NT competition previously and are on disc golf exclusive properties, i.e., no unsecurable pedestrian walkways and minimal or no interference with public roads.

 

[bhadella]

True. Which makes you wonder why Steve seems all kinds of upset about the PDGA and how they handle scheduling. The DGPT not being included in the NT allowed Steve to manipulate his schedule to fill gaps as you say. I think that's a positive thing.

I think the opposite happened. PDGA set the NT schedule on their own and then the DGPT juggled all of their tournaments around to make sense given that framework. And it was a ton of work. Right before his tour championsip. And Steve Dodge didn't like that his associated events lost their NT status.

 

[lyleoross]

I almost look at Texas as it's own "region" in a case like this, and I think the PDGA does as well. I think they set out with the hope of having an NT in each of 8 regions...something along the lines of southeast, Texas, southwest, California, northwest, midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast. Picking a sample for each might be the HOF Classic, Texas States, Memorial, Masters Cup, Beaver State Fling, Kansas City Wide Open, Hambrick and Vibram...or something like that.

The problem is that there are a dearth of willing hosts in some regions and an abundance of willing hosts in others. Some of it is just plain inflexible scheduling. There are probably some good candidates that get excluded from or just have to bow out of NT discussion because they can't or won't move their date to better fit the overall schedule. It sounds funny to say that when the actual NT schedule seems to always end up being a bit disjointed and all over the place anyway, but I think that is a big stumbling block every year. They start with the goal of a "tour" that makes time and geographic sense, and end up not getting there. Every year.

For all the DGPT tries to do to get a tour that makes geographic sense, they're not that much better at it. They're starting next year in early March, ending in September, and bouncing around the country a bit with significant time gaps between some events. And I imagine the difficulties of scheduling are going to continue until the benefits of coordinating a nationwide "tour" outweigh the localized benefits of scheduling events. We may never get to that point.

Texas has to happen early or late due to summer heat. That would be during the rainy seasons here. :gross:

Your point is well made.

 

[DavidSauls]

It's not the same location, is it? Unless they are planning on not using Jackson for the NT (which they should as it's the best test for those level of players), they will be hosting the World Championships on a course and then hosting another major tournament on the same course later in the year. Atleast the GBO could be considered a chance to get to know the World Championship deciding courses prior to the tournament.

You're right, my fault, I was thinking of the USDGC and Worlds....equivalent of US Open and Masters.

 

[bhadella]

I think you're starting to see the NT select sites for other factors in addition to the host being able to meet the money criteria. For example, it appears all of the courses for 2017 events have been vetted in NT competition previously and are on disc golf exclusive properties, i.e., no unsecurable pedestrian walkways and minimal or no interference with public roads.

GCC doesn't have NT pedigree. DeLa has multiple criss-crossing fairways. Many of these are still in publicly owned parks.

 

[LukeButch]

For all the DGPT tries to do to get a tour that makes geographic sense, they're not that much better at it. They're starting next year in early March, ending in September, and bouncing around the country a bit with significant time gaps between some events. And I imagine the difficulties of scheduling are going to continue until the benefits of coordinating a nationwide "tour" outweigh the localized benefits of scheduling events. We may never get to that point.

these days there are plenty of big B tiers and A tiers on those in between weeks that going on tour makes more and more sense financially for players. gas and travel in between tournaments(where they dont know anyone and thus must pay for a hotel) is a huge expense. By publishing the dgpt schedule early on they are hoping for other events to fit themselves in on the non-dgpt weekends.

 

[Cgkdisc]

GCC doesn't have NT pedigree. DeLa has multiple criss-crossing fairways.

GCC apparently passed the "top Pro" test last year but I haven't seen the temp courses. I didn't say anything about basic course design specifics being better which will hopefully become more of a factor down the road. For what it's worth, Dodge is sometimes more onboard with using stats to improve courses for the following year. Let's see what happens with Ledgestone next year.

 

[ToddL]

http://i.imgur.com/15ubjXx.jpg

 

[Cgkdisc]

Cool map. Looks like we still need to see if there are any DGWT events besides presumably Aussie, Euro Open and USDGC to add.

 

[lyleoross]

Gumball rally, Beaver State to pro Worlds. Fastest RV wins!

 

[jvphobic]

I enjoyed watching the coverage this weekend as I have of the other DGPT events I've been able to catch this season. For the finals, I was at my friend's garage bar for Sunday football. He has 4 TV's with individual receivers for the Sunday Ticket and then two more for the locally broadcast games. There are usually between 7 and 15 of us watching football at his place.

Yesterday, the DGPT finals were played on his Apple TV as opposed to an NFL game. Not a single person there griped. In fact is was the opposite. At one point or another, over half the bar gravitated to the Disc Golf and continued to watch off and on until it was over. It was fun to have a bunch of guys that we're mildly aware of the "sport" start asking questions on the game, the tournament, the players, the rules, ect. The only comments regarding the quality of broadcast were positive and that was before they new it was streamed through YouTube. Really, they asked, "what channel is this on?"

It definitly wasn't my intention when I went over to share the broadcast, I was happy watching on my phone. Another buddy of mine who throws, and had been impressed by a previous DGPT broadcast that he watched at my house, asked that it be played. This particular friend is not the type to give anything praise easily. Rather, he's generally sour, about most things, DG included.

What this said to me was 1. Somebody who is active disc golf player who if asked 3 months ago if he wanted to watch a DG tourney on TV, would have laughed his a** off at you and 2. A group of random guys, of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, who all came to a bar to watch football, were interested, engaged and impressed with the product that was put out.

All said, it's a small sample, isolated incident, ect. but the results were positive. I can understand not wanting to watch if it's nice out and you're going to play frisbee. But that's the same reason not to watch the NFL, PBR, Olympics, do anything inside on the weekend, ect. There are surely parts of these broadcasts can be improved and developed. For me though, this is the first year that I've really enjoyed watching live DG.

Thanks! This is a huge compliment to us. I agree there are plenty of places to clean up on our broadcasts, but it makes me happy that you were able to share yours and our experience with some new people.