There pros and cons to the growth. I don't deny the cons.
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Grow the sport you say?
- Thread starter ray1970
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I've only played 3 or 4 years. I accept that my knowledge of the sport is really limited, but I have a hard time seeing any of the pros.
Conceptually, more demand equals more courses. However, there is a finite amount of land and there is a massive housing shortage. I don't really see anybody tearing down subdivisions or miles of packed retail businesses to build disc golf courses.
Conceptually, more demand equals more courses. However, there is a finite amount of land and there is a massive housing shortage. I don't really see anybody tearing down subdivisions or miles of packed retail businesses to build disc golf courses.
Crazy
I was on vacation 2 years ago and visited a pro level course and had it all to myself. This year on vacation I went back to the same course expecting the same. Night and day difference. Over a hundred people playing, on a 90+ degree day.
About half of the players were your typical regular players and the other half were most definitely newer with only a few discs in hand. Great to see the large multi-use park filled with 90% disc golfers only. Maybe not so great for the regular local golfers who have to wait for them.
As a private course owner it's kinda cool. If I would to open up my course more I always wonder if I could actually make a somewhat living from this. Idk if it would be worth the headaches though.
I was on vacation 2 years ago and visited a pro level course and had it all to myself. This year on vacation I went back to the same course expecting the same. Night and day difference. Over a hundred people playing, on a 90+ degree day.
About half of the players were your typical regular players and the other half were most definitely newer with only a few discs in hand. Great to see the large multi-use park filled with 90% disc golfers only. Maybe not so great for the regular local golfers who have to wait for them.
As a private course owner it's kinda cool. If I would to open up my course more I always wonder if I could actually make a somewhat living from this. Idk if it would be worth the headaches though.
Let's face it.... casual family oriented disc golf is the perceived sport for the rest of us. You don't need to be in shape, you don't need to jump high, be strong, run fast, catch or kick a ball, etc. Throw in some bonus points for hiking, nature watching, and it really is no surprise it's taking off as a family oriented past time. The pandemic may certainly exploded the awareness of it, but I think it's here to stay. Fwiw...I'm also an avid outdoorsman and I've seen disc golf listed as an outdoor activity on the same pages as fishing or hunting.
I just wish we could somehow force those family outings to use nothing but regular frisbees. They would probably throw them further and have alot more fun.
If you're close enough to busy courses, I would look into it. You could possibly charge a premium to play as the regulars would probably be willing to get off the crowded courses.
I just wish we could somehow force those family outings to use nothing but regular frisbees. They would probably throw them further and have alot more fun.
If you're close enough to busy courses, I would look into it. You could possibly charge a premium to play as the regulars would probably be willing to get off the crowded courses.
I think it depends on your area. In my area we have courses that get packed but all we have to do is go to a different course. We have that many here.
The finite amount of land applies to big cities, the surrounding areas are where all the courses are. I can tell you to come to Cincinnati for disc golf and you will only find 2 courses INSIDE Cincinnati that are worth playing. But you will find plenty of very playable courses close by.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
I don't really recall people complaining about growth the entire time but YMMV. IMO crowded courses are going to be much more than a nuisance very soon. If you look slightly to the north of me the courses in Northern Virginia were, with one exception, built to be played with Frisbees by a limited amount of players. They have every safety concern you could imagine. There is zero chance I would install anything like those courses today but they are getting played by tons of beginners with discs like destroyers and bosses even though they are very short by modern standards. (The thing I wish the gates had closed on is disc technology. We would be much better off if the movement to wider and wider rims was cut off around 2000.)
I personally have played only a handful of casual rounds at public courses in months and months and don't really foresee going back to doing so.
There is a new public course not far from here which put in some sketchy/dangerous holes against my advice. 2 people were struck in the past couple weeks. I can see a worst case scenario where we lose a lot of public park courses over similar issues.
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< hardcore disc golfer before it was chic
First pro: you're playing. If we'd stopped the growth 5 or 10 years ago, you wouldn't be part of it now.
Second pro: more courses. As others said, this may run against a wall in metropolitan areas. My small state has seen an explosion in new courses, probably doubled in 10 years. More variety, less driving. Plenty of parks still left to add public courses, and big growth in private courses, on individual and corporate land.
My question is, what date in the past should disc golf have stopped growing? Most people's answer is something like, "When I started." Maybe we'll look back one day and say, "2019", but I rather doubt it. We'll fondly remember less-crowded courses, but not the time when many of those courses didn't exist.
This is where the game is headed. This is, and really always has been, where the growth of the game comes from. IMO, that is why smaller baskets, huge longer ball golf course are not a big part of the growth formula. We get caught up here, because of our engagement, but the above discussions are about 200 players in the world. In the meantime, discussions at the club levels of our game, are about finding ways to put in park courses for the new players and families that are coming into the game. That is what we should be having 500 page discussion about.
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Not to thread drift, but...
And therein lies the rub. To generate enough traffic to turn a decent profit, you need to be easily accessible to more people... which means property closer to population centers, which is usually much more expensive.
Yes, more people are playing now than ever, but I wouldn't plan on quitting your day job just yet.
However, I could see it being a enjoyable way to supplement your income during retirement, given that the cost of installing the course was incurred already, and it's just a matter of maintaining it, which presumably you'd have more time to do.
Just my $0.02.
I imagine you'd have to be located closer to more of the population for that to be feasible.
And therein lies the rub. To generate enough traffic to turn a decent profit, you need to be easily accessible to more people... which means property closer to population centers, which is usually much more expensive.
Yes, more people are playing now than ever, but I wouldn't plan on quitting your day job just yet.
However, I could see it being a enjoyable way to supplement your income during retirement, given that the cost of installing the course was incurred already, and it's just a matter of maintaining it, which presumably you'd have more time to do.
Just my $0.02.
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Agreed. Adding more people to the game is what will increase sales for manufacturers, and they know this. More discs in more hands = more discs sold. And as has been said earlier, player growth one of the main factors driving the growth in # of courses... which increases basket sales.
What I'd like to see in the growth of new courses is more consistent use of legit designers and/or manufactures, or local clubs to help ensure:
Course that are safely designed/laid out.
Courses that can accommodate a range of skills, (or at least making sure there are suitable course for novices nearby).
Some degree of consistency in signage to help keep pace of play moving.
These are things that will enhance the quality of the experience.
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I think we grow in all directions, and it's a mistake to collectively focus on -- or exclude -- any one. Of course, our individual efforts may be focused, on increasing casual play or tournament play or the pro tour or spectator disc golf; on more public courses or private courses or even courses on golf courses (some people like that); on intercollegiate disc golf and youth leagues. All these directions suit different users, and to some degree fuel the others.
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This is kind of what I'm talking about.
Right around when I started, a 9 hole course was put in really close to me. It is a fun little course. However, it really isn't safe with more than 3 groups on course. If you turn one over on hole 3, you'll land at hole 4's tee pad. If you stall one out on 4, you'll land at hole 5's tee pad. If you stall out on 5, you'll land at 4's tee pad. If you stall one out on 7, you'll land at 6's tee pad. If you turn one over on 7, you'll land at 8's tee pad. If you turn one over on 8, you'll land at 7's tee pad. Once I was putting on 5 and a guy hit me on a very errant drive from 3. Another time, someone threw long on 7 and hit me as I was walking to the basket on 3. Those were with less than 5 people on course.
Last time I went there, I counted over 35 people playing.
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Yep and there are plenty of weeds.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
The bolded was already a problem and is rapidly becoming moreso. The onus imo is on the manufacturers to institute some policies dictating at the least a design inspection for courses to be installed on public property. Right now if you have the money you can put in a course with no oversight whatsoever.
Keith H
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It's not just Disc Golf,. Just this weekend my wife and I went hiking at a state park, I guess it was a free day and the trails were packed... As backpackers we are used to wandering in solitude, but this last weekend at the State Park was busier than shopping at Big Box Mart on Black Friday.
Local bikes shops had so few bikes last fall I thought they were going out of business.
We are seeing a serious uptick in people spending time outdoors across the board.
It is can be frustrating but it is great for our health as a people... The question is, will it stick as a pattern once the couch potato activities are considered safe again.
Local bikes shops had so few bikes last fall I thought they were going out of business.
We are seeing a serious uptick in people spending time outdoors across the board.
It is can be frustrating but it is great for our health as a people... The question is, will it stick as a pattern once the couch potato activities are considered safe again.
jakebake91
* Ace Member *
I absolutely agree with this! But, what do we do about the existing courses? Many of them were borderline unsafe when they were put In years and years ago. Now with the course traffic exploding, those issues are so much more magnified. A full blown redesign isn't feasible most places.
I have a few local courses that I understand why it was(maybe?) okay with 10 players at a time, but now? Half of my home course should be pulled. One hole literally plays straight across a beach. Granted if you've ever seen the lake, it's not a super popular beach, but still. People are always lounging on the sand there. Others zig zag precariously close to each other throughout a public use picnic area and playground.
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I am fortunate to have five very good "home" courses, each within a half hour or so. Two have been around since the 1990s, but the other three were installed or significantly redesigned in 2013, 2015, and 2018.
I'm happy to keep the gates open a bit longer.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
That is the hundred million dollar question and I honestly have no answer. I have tried locally to get just one very dangerous hole removed at an old course that I did not design. It is a difficult process for several reasons- the existing disc golfers are resistant to it, the park is unaware there is an issue and doesn't really see me any differently than any other park user despite my experience, etc, etc. There is a very fine line to tread between making parks departments aware of the dangers and panicking them over the dangers.
When I was learning how to play, I would go out by myself at the crack of dawn. I knew I was slow, and knew I should be throwing multiple shots to build muscle memory. And I didn't want to bother the serious players by getting in their way, so I intentionally played when the course wasn't busy. Then after discovering uDisc and realizing there was an unpopular 9 hole course just a little further away from my house, I started playing there so that I really wasn't in anyone's way. I am currently learning how to mountain bike and following the same thought process. Staying on less popular trails, or hitting popular trails at less popular times.
Perhaps I took curtesy for others further than most would, but it still bothers me to see large groups of new players making bottlenecks on courses, cutting people off, etc. Then again, it also bothers me to see regulars on courses playing in groups of 5+.
Perhaps I took curtesy for others further than most would, but it still bothers me to see large groups of new players making bottlenecks on courses, cutting people off, etc. Then again, it also bothers me to see regulars on courses playing in groups of 5+.
