Hosting Tourneys

[drock2k1]

I am part of course that recently opened. We host a monthly tourney which has had modest turnout so far this year partially due to lousy weather. We have had plenty of people playing throughout the week so I think that if we ever got some good weather we would have a good turnout. We have the players seperated into 3 divisions, advanced, novice and 16 and under. We are considering combinig the advanced and novice. To even things out we would either changing the tees or lowering par for Advanced players. I have a few questions.

1- I am curious as to how courses avoid "labeling" advanced as novice players when all you have to go on is their word. We have considered coming up with a series of questions to ask new contestants to help determine their skill level but I am not sure if that would help

2- Not having gone to other tourney's I am curious as to how you can keep advanced and novice players in the same division but still keep it competitive.

3- Are discs acceptable prizes? Star or Champion plastic have been awarded with some DX discs when we first started, that will end. in the past but we are considering cash prizes. Cash payout is determined by attendance.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[tiggore]

The tournaments I've played in and read about the players usually sort themselves out. This is done by putting novice on next to shortest. Advanced? on the next longest/farthest tee. Open /masters on the farthest. Peer pressure on anti-sandbagging is a good sorting tool. Don't forget tee advantage for the ladies. So if she's a novice she throws from the shortest. As far as prizes cash is always good. Donated prizes are what they are. Discs would depend on your community, and if the discs are special (tye dye, dyed ,or limited run).

 

[ERicJ]

I am part of course that recently opened. We host a monthly tourney which has had modest turnout so far this year partially due to lousy weather. We have had plenty of people playing throughout the week so I think that if we ever got some good weather we would have a good turnout. We have the players seperated into 3 divisions, advanced, novice and 16 and under. We are considering combinig the advanced and novice. To even things out we would either changing the tees or lowering par for Advanced players. I have a few questions.

First off the par value shouldn't really factor into the scoring at a "casual" tournament. (It almost never factors into the scoring at a sanctioned tournament either, just one rare case.) So lowering par wouldn't change anything.

Secondly you might consider changing the names of your divisions from the ones used to designate official PDGA divisions. Perhaps "Experienced" and "Beginner"? That might help eliminate some confusion. The "Tour Standards" document linked from this page: http://www.pdga.com/tdinfo will give you lots of info on player divisions.

1- I am curious as to how courses avoid "labeling" advanced as novice players when all you have to go on is their word. We have considered coming up with a series of questions to ask new contestants to help determine their skill level but I am not sure if that would help

PDGA player ratings are the best way to do it.
http://www.pdga.com/ratings

However, if your events are all pretty casual and you do not have any past rounds on record for a player then you're pretty much at the mercy of their word.

2- Not having gone to other tourney's I am curious as to how you can keep advanced and novice players in the same division but still keep it competitive.

Typically you don't. There are some handicapping systems available that strive to allow players of different skill levels to compete in the same division, but none of them are perfect. And good systems require a decent bit of player history behind them to calculate accurate handicaps.

3- Are discs acceptable prizes? Star or Champion plastic have been awarded with some DX discs when we first started, that will end. in the past but we are considering cash prizes. Cash payout is determined by attendance.

In [PDGA] sanctioned play Pros are paid in cash and Amateurs are paid in "plastic", i.e. discs or other merchandise. In unsanctioned events you can pay everyone in cash or plastic it doesn't matter.

You probably get more players attracted by advertising you're paying out cash.

 

[innova]

PDGA ratings ARE NOT THE BEST WAY to do it.

It is ONE WAY to do it.

What if none of the players are PDGA?

 

[ERicJ]

PDGA ratings ARE NOT THE BEST WAY to do it.

It is ONE WAY to do it.

What if none of the players are PDGA?

Well obviously if none of the players are PDGA members then it doesn't work.

Feel free to pimp a rating system that you feel works better than the current PDGA player ratings.

 

[mmyersdisc]

one of my courses runs a local tourny every season except winter....what they do is let everyone sign up as they want...but they have 2 rounds so after the first round..if a "novice" player shoots better then 4 under par...you get bumped to "intermediate" and so forth...yes you can get lucky and have an awesome round once and then blow it the second round..but at least this way if someone signs up as novice shoots a 4 under and then another 4 under or greater where as the rest of the beginners are shooting over par...then it prevents him from blowing the competition away and discouraging people from coming back becuase of sandbaggers....

 

[drock2k1]

Thanks for some of the info. By changing par I meant that winners would be determined by their score relative to par. Meaning an advanced player could shoot 65 but be a -1 and a novice could shoot 70 and be at -2. I'm not sure if my original post made that clear. I know that alot of players that have visited or played in the touney's are not PDGA members so I am not sure how well the PDGA rankings would work. We were the first course withing 20 miles of town so for some people, disc golf is failry new. Our hope is to eventually have some sanctioned events, we are still installing hole and sponsor signs right now and still have some course upgrades to make. I certainly appreciate the information.

 

[ERicJ]

PDGA ratings ARE NOT THE BEST WAY to do it.

Feel free to pimp a rating system that you feel works better than the current PDGA player ratings.

<crickets>

 

[mmyersdisc]

Thanks for some of the info. By changing par I meant that winners would be determined by their score relative to par. Meaning an advanced player could shoot 65 but be a -1 and a novice could shoot 70 and be at -2. I'm not sure if my original post made that clear. I know that alot of players that have visited or played in the touney's are not PDGA members so I am not sure how well the PDGA rankings would work. We were the first course withing 20 miles of town so for some people, disc golf is failry new. Our hope is to eventually have some sanctioned events, we are still installing hole and sponsor signs right now and still have some course upgrades to make. I certainly appreciate the information.

and where is this at??

 

[Camgolfer]

May not be the best way to do it, but here is what we did:
http://www.coloradobelieves.com/tournaments

 

[mmyersdisc]

May not be the best way to do it, but here is what we did:
http://www.coloradobelieves.com/tournaments

thats how a local course does it..(ran by parks dept...) and thats what I was explaining up top

 

[zud00]

and where is this at??

Marion, IN....Just 20 minutes away from where I live

Cavary Disc Golf Course

 

[mmyersdisc]

oooo...not TOO far from south bend... maybe if I bug jon one day we can both make a trip down there along with the ones at fort wayne

 

[craigg]

If your entire player base is basically new, there's really no need for divisions at all. Or if you feel the need to divide - then do it after the first round based on score.

But if all you've got are new players - and you're not expecting more than 30-40 players, keep the fees low (i.e. affordable) - and put everyone together.

 

[drock2k1]

and where is this at??

Marion Indiana, Calvary DGC

 

[scarpfish]

Thanks for some of the info. By changing par I meant that winners would be determined by their score relative to par. Meaning an advanced player could shoot 65 but be a -1 and a novice could shoot 70 and be at -2. I'm not sure if my original post made that clear.

It would require some statistical tracking, but if you're seeing a lot of repeaters, I would use a handicap system as opposed to this. That way everybody is on the same plane and you don't have to worry about skill based divisions or people sandbagging in the lower division.

 

[drock2k1]

June 13th

Thanks for all the info. Calvary DGC in Marion In will be hosting a 36 hole tourney on June 13th. You can find the details on the Calvary DGC page. I have included some of the ideas gathered here to see if it will help in terms of prizes and division seperation. I hope to see you there. If the weather is lousy, make sure you check to see if the tourney is still on, there should be a number posted along with the tourney information. We havan't cancelled one due to rain yet but you never know.