P2P vs. Free Courses

[Orioles_Lefty]

I tend to play at free, public park courses because I like that environment and, if I wanted exclusivity, I'd play a different sport. I will pay to play at public parks, even though such fees are often aligned with the use of, say, the beach and not the DG course.

When considering a private course, my primary point of interest is ease of access. I don't want a super complicated process to get access, which is why I tend to play public.

So, PTP criteria:

1. Ease of access, ease of arranging access, and ease of payment (say cash Dropbox)
2. Concrete tees
3. Quality navigation including tee signs and directions to next hole
4. Reasonable parking
5. Access to restrooms and water (prob more important than parking).

I'm specifically considering privately owned courses, because, as I said above, pay access to a public park isn't always tied to the DGC and its amenities at all.

 

[PBokor]

Not advocating for exclusively except for a handful of resort type courses. Could work, given the recent thread regarding profession and income. Saw more than a few folks that could afford a DG vacation. Just saying...

 

[joecoin]

Even if I'm playing a free course, I'll often times go out of my way to figure out who to pay to support the group that supports the course - ie buying a tag from the local club.

I always put something in the cash box of there is one. If I run into any of the locals who are responsible for the course I always give them a donation. Except for the closest course to me, I think the money is funny there.

Pay to play is not an issue for me.

 

[Treeplant]

Maybe there's the opportunity to do a resort geared towards non-traditional sports? I went to one place in Ajax Ontario that did disc golf, footgolf (soccer golf, which is like disc golf only kicking a ball instead of throwing discs) and a couple of other things (maybe archery?).

There's probably a lot of sports that are at the disc golf level in terms of interest but not having a true resort getaway and it might be easier to combine a few to get the income necessary rather than try to rely on just disc golf.

 

[DiscinFiend]

I live in Milwaukee Wisconsin. I have paid $40 a year the last 3 years for yearly pass to play 5 of my local Milwaukee county courses. I get a bag tag each year that I have to show to "park rangers" if they ask me for it to show proof I paid for my pass. I have no issues with this especially because I believe it's $5 a day for a day pass at any of the 5 courses if I didn't buy the yearly pass. I get WAY more than my money's worth every year. Plus the money goes back into my community. If I want to play any Madison area courses they have a similar yearly pass as Milwaukee does. I only play up there to practice for tourneys in Madison. I have no issues paying for a day pass when I'm practicing. There's also a pay to play course in Saukville (no season pass I'm aware of) that I play at on occasion or when I practice for a tournament there. I have no issues with pay to play courses.

 

[Therealgoat]

Living in the Northeast, basically everything I run into is private and P2P. Typically $5, sometimes $7, and I'm fine with that. If you consider the duration of the entertainment you get for your value, it's really nothing. My friends and I actually got into DG when one of us got laid off - I was just getting them into ball golf and the greens fees put a stop to that pretty quick. $40/round + a cart, balls, the expensive equipment vs. $12-17/disc and $5 to play all day? Easy choice.

I've only played one free course, so I don't have a lot of experience for comparison, and some of the private courses I've played still need a lot of work. Typically it's just the Owner working his ass off trying to keep lanes clear, throw down wood chips as needed, etc. etc. My local course Owner has done a great job constantly making improvements over the last 5 years, but small private courses are probably harder to maintain when you don't have park personnel getting paid to keep it up. There's a few P2P courses around that get enough people to actually make money and can either do it full time or hire someone, but most of the courses in my area don't have that luxury. Doesn't mean I don't love them though.

Too much to pay? If it's a championship level course or has hosted a major, I'd pay $20 to play a few rounds as a one time thing on a vacation or something. Closest thing I have for that would probably be Sabattus, ME, which hosted the USWDGC last year and I've played it several times. I guess that's the difference - if I'm making a point to travel somewhere to play because it's a highly rated / talked about course, I'm willing to pay more to play it. If it's local and I may play it several times or frequently, I probably wouldn't drop $20 every time I go out for a round. A local course at $20 would probably be something I played once a year, or tried a tourney at, not something I played casually/frequently.

For the last few questions - since everything in my area is P2P, I don't really have a choice on P2P vs. free when choosing a course to go play at, and if I'm traveling then I'd be more inclined to pay to play somewhere anyways since it's a special occasion and the point is still moot. Guess I'm not a great opinion on the matter as it doesn't apply much to my area. Thanks for wasting your time reading my reply

 

[roggenb3]

There's also a pay to play course in Saukville (no season pass I'm aware of) that I play at on occasion or when I practice for a tournament there. I have no issues with pay to play courses.

There is a season pass for Tendick, I've bought one each year since it went P2P in 2012 (maybe 2013?). I wanna say it's $45.

 

[Deebo4Discs]

Given the choice between a P2P and a free course, I'm likely to choose the P2P every time, all else being equal. I'm all for paying to play a course where I won't have to watch out for or wait for pedestrians and picnickers and dog walkers. If the only other people I'm going to encounter on my round are other disc golfers, it's worth the price.

I learned to play on JC's course, which is P2P. Now that I have traveled and played in some free parks, I question if I would have gotten in to dg as much if I picked it up in multi use parks and such. I gladly play the $5-$10 for the day to be at a place that only had dg. Here in Maine, there may be 1 or 2 free courses out of MANY and I havent played them yet. I also enjoy supporting a lot of the great course owners that allow us to play on their private land. Most are amazing but I have run in to one that was unpleasant and I have yet to return to their course. (CH*) Maine/New England has a pretty unique and awesome DG scene.

 

[scarpfish]

I've done P2P on a number of road trips before. It was never more than $5. Not an issue. If I ever made it to Selah, I'd have no issue paying $20.

If we started charging locally around here, it would create some issues, considering that we have to share the space to some degree with other activities.

 

[roggenb3]

If we started charging locally around here, it would create some issues, considering that we have to share the space to some degree with other activities.

Lol. Sharing space makes it not worth $5?

 

[JC17393]

Lol. Sharing space makes it not worth $5?

Depends on what the $5 is supposed to be for. If everyone pays $5 to get into the park, it's not really P2P disc golf and I'd have no expectation of exclusive use of the space the course sits in.

But if I'm paying $5 to play but pedestrians and picnickers are paying nothing to use the park, I expect right of way on the course at the very least. With my $5 should come the right to tell folks to step aside or vacate a fairway if they're not golfing. Ideally those folks wont be getting in my way in the first place because without paying, they aren't allowed to be there.

Otherwise what am I paying for?

 

[GirdleRoc]

I like the P2P courses where you can pay for a membership for the whole year.

 

[DiscinFiend]

There is a season pass for Tendick, I've bought one each year since it went P2P in 2012 (maybe 2013?). I wanna say it's $45.

Good to know. I don't play Tendick often enough for me to buy a season pass though. Great course. My longest ace ever was on hole #15 a few years ago.

 

[Shamis]

I'd be willing to pay as much as $10 bucks for a good course. If it was something I frequented a lot I'd want some kind of membership option to lower the long term cost though. But for a destination course, 10-20 certainly wouldn't be out of the question. I regularly play courses that charge a few bucks, and that doesn't really bother me at all.

 

[Moose33]

I've paid up to $10 and that was for the IDGC and. Was worth it by a long shot.

The best courses I've played; Flip, Rollin Ridge, Hornings, IDGC were all pay to play. Though around here they are mostly free and usually pretty good.

I don't often pay to play but for the right courses or group thereof I would have no issue.

 

[roggenb3]

Good to know. I don't play Tendick often enough for me to buy a season pass though. Great course. My longest ace ever was on hole #15 a few years ago.

Nice! I hit that one from shorts to the right spot on a day with like 20 mph wind. My disc was too low, then air bounced into the branches of the tree, somehow missing everything and coming out the other side to fall into the basket.

Depends on what the $5 is supposed to be for. If everyone pays $5 to get into the park, it's not really P2P disc golf and I'd have no expectation of exclusive use of the space the course sits in.

But if I'm paying $5 to play but pedestrians and picnickers are paying nothing to use the park, I expect right of way on the course at the very least. With my $5 should come the right to tell folks to step aside or vacate a fairway if they're not golfing. Ideally those folks wont be getting in my way in the first place because without paying, they aren't allowed to be there.

Otherwise what am I paying for?

I've been asking that for years (see: Elver), but I still pay it. Not going to not use the best and closest-to-me Madison course bc of exercisers, though it is a total pain. We've been told by the disc club that pedestrians absolutely have right of way at Elver, and it's not going to change. They won't even put up a "Watch for discs" sign because it's us that should be watching for them, not vice versa.

 

[elmexdela]

We are spoiled around the MN area. The p2p are typically decent to amazing, but its hard paying for some of them as we have so many quality free courses around.

 

[jdw80550]

I have no problem with a pay to play course, as long as the price fits the number of rounds I can get in.

I have paid $20 for a single round and while the course was wonderful, would not have done it again if they did not change it to $20 for a day.

$5 for round is totally reasonable for a nice course. Not going to pay $5 around for a course that is on par with a public course, just with less trash. Trash is gross and I don't like looking at it, but avoiding litter would not be a factor that would sway my decision.

Amenities are huge. I will pay to have frequent access to bathrooms. I play with my wife all the time, it sucks for her that I can step behind a tree and she has to hold it. (Any TD's out there, this is a legitimate concern for getting females to play the sport. Get more than 1 freaking porta-potty.)

Frequent upkeep will also get me to come out more often. Course that are in natural spaces that aren't mowed frequently, lose their beauty and appeal if I spend my entire day trying to find my discs that are sitting in the fairway, but the grass is too high/thick to find them.

 

[blazerico]

I don't mind paying a few dollars for an average course and will pay big for a unique experience on a great course like Bucksnort! Luckily most courses are free in my area so I don't have to think about it much.

 

[F. Howl]

The recently closed Verdugo Hills DGC in Los Angeles had lights, a nice beer garden, and manicured fairways, cost $7 for DG'rs $11 (?) for ball golfers. Was well worth it. It was the course I played the most, despite several free courses in the area and had the biggest weekly turnouts. $7 bucks wasn't enough to keep out the riff raff though. The bar on premises probably didn't help with that.