Live coverage, commentators, and next day coverage.
March 24, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in Coverage, News, Video with comments
The third stop on the 2022 Disc Golf Pro Tour is the Texas State Disc Golf Championships in Tyler, TX, on March 25-27.
The opening two rounds of live coverage from Texas States will only be available on the Disc Golf Network, the DGPT’s over-the-top subscription service.
What is the schedule of live video streams for the 2022 Texas State Disc Golf Championships?
Round 1 coverage begins Friday, March 25, at 10:30 AM Eastern on the Disc Golf Network.
The round 1 FPO feature card that tees off at 10:50 AM Eastern is:
Catrina Allen
Holly Finley
Valerie Mandujano
Maria Oliva
FPO lead card coverage will begin at 10:30 AM Eastern each day.
MPO coverage begins at 4:30 PM Eastern each day.
The round 1 MPO feature card that tees off at 4:50 PM is:
Ricky Wysocki
Chris Clemons
Luke Humphries
Niklas Anttila
Is there any free coverage of the 2022 Texas State Disc Golf Championships?
Final day live coverage is available free of charge on the DGPT YouTube Channel while live coverage of rounds 1 and 2 will be exclusive to Disc Golf Network.
JomezPro, GK Pro, and Gatekeeper Media will have next-day round coverage on YouTube for free.
JomezPro will cover MPO Lead Card. Round 1 coverage will feature Matt Orum, Paul McBeth, Jeremy Koling, and Linus Carlsson.
GK Pro will cover FPO Lead Card. Round 1 coverage will feature Allen, Finley, V. Mandujano, and Oliva.
Gatekeeper Media will cover MPO Chase Card. Round 1 will feature Albert Tamm, Connor O’Reilly, Kevin Jones, and Mason Ford.
Who is commentating the 2022 Texas State Disc Golf Championships?
Ian Anderson will be doing play-by-play with Philo Brathwaite MPO color and Christine Jennings providing FPO color on the live coverage from the Disc Golf Network.
Terry Miller will be in Texas providing updates from the course.
Will there be a press conference at the 2022 Texas State Disc Golf Championships?
Yes, the DGPT is airing a live press conference at 3 PM Eastern on Thursday, March 24. Watch here:
Texas State Disc Golf Championships Press Conference
Tentative Press Conference Schedule (All Times Central)
An analysis of Salonen’s form and recent putting woes
March 24, 2022 by Patrick Aubyrn in Analysis with comments
Eveliina Salonen might be the best tee-to-green player in the game. Watching her mash on a driver is thrilling. Her throwing form is powerful and athletic, and she is an expert shot shaper with an ability to throw with great finesse both backhand and forehand. Salonen is also a midrange technician; her approach shots are deliberate and controlled. When you see her play, you can’t help but marvel at her precision.
The stat sheet backs up the eye test: Salonen leads the tour in parked percentage and circle 1 in regulation and ranks second in fairway hits, third in C2 in regulation, and fifth in scramble percentage.
However, Eveliina Salonen is struggling mightily on the green, and her poor putting has offset her throwing prowess of late.
At the Las Vegas Challenge, she only converted 51% of her C1X putts (18/35) and 5% of her C2 putts (1/19). At the Waco Annual Charity Open, she converted an abysmal 17% (5/29) of her C1X putts and 0% (0/12) of her C2 putts. Her early season averages across those seven rounds—36% C1X putting (23/64) and 3% C2 putting (1/31)—rank her last among touring professionals.
The stark difference between throwing and putting is perhaps best demonstrated by strokes gained and lost at WACO. Salonen led the field with 23.39 strokes gained tee to green—9 points better than Valerie Mandujano, 13 better than Kristin Tattar, and 16 better than Catrina Allen—but she lost 13.99 strokes putting, which ranked dead last for the tournament by 5 strokes.
But let’s set the record straight: Eveliina Salonen is not a bad putter.
According to the available UDisc and Metrix Statistics from 2019-2021, Salonen averaged 66% C1X putting (358/543) and 7% C2 putting (22/281) during that three-year span. Neither of those numbers is stellar, but they are significantly better than her 2022 averages thus far. Compared to the field writ large, her three-year average ranks in the middle of the pack. Only 9 percentage points separated the tenth best C1X putter on tour in 2021 (73%) from the 40th (64%).
Notably, Salonen has been remarkably consistent over the aforementioned three-year span as well. Here is how her numbers break down on a year-to-year basis1 —
In 2022, Salonen is missing nearly 50% more putts per round from C1X when compared to the previous three years. In an attempt to diagnose the problem, I went back and watched all of the available tournament footage of Salonen from 2021 and 2022. What was the tale of the tape? Would an in-depth film analysis allow me to hypothesize what accounts for the dip in her percentages?
Avid fans of the women’s game followed the European tournaments closely in 2021, especially the Prodigy Disc Pro Tour (PDPT) in Finland and the European Disc Golf Championship (EDGC). One event stands out as the tipping point that precipitated her current struggle: a disastrous five-putt triple bogey on the 18th hole to end her third round at the EDGC:
Eveliina Round 3 EDGC 2021 Five-Putt
Salonen was unbeaten (4/4) on the PDPT heading into the EDGC and led the continental championship by nine strokes heading into the 18th hole on Saturday. In that moment, she gave up four strokes to Henna Blomroos, the eventual winner, but more unfortunately, her experience on the 18th green clearly shook her confidence, and she turned in her worst performance of the season to date on the green the next day, carding five two-putts and two three putts from inside the circle. She lost eight strokes to the field and twelve to Blomroos on the green on Sunday.
But the box score doesn’t tell the full story.
Rewind to the previous day. The 54th hole started out promising. Salonen hucked a midrange disc approximately 410 feet downhill, which left her 36 feet short of the pin. Putting toward the gallery, she whiffed wide right from C2, and her disc settled about 14 feet away. Salonen putts quickly, but this time she appeared to rush her routine and flung her attempt wide right at band height. Normally even keeled and genial on the course, Salonen was visibly angry with herself after missing this putt. For good reason. It was the third time that day she missed a putt from inside of 18 feet, and the second time in four holes that she pulled it wide right and missed the target entirely from inside of 20 feet.
Next, the unthinkable. Salonen missed her comebacker from 16 feet, barely drawing chains right, then splashed out right on the ensuing 15-footer. Watching the sequence in its entirety is excruciating.
These missed putts were shocking because Salonen had been money from 11-24 feet prior to August 13, 2021. In fact, through fourteen rounds encompassing the first four tournaments on the PDPT and the first two rounds of the EDGC, Salonen was on pace to have her best season on the green by a wide margin. Heading into moving day at the EDGC, she had converted 79% of her C1X putts (118/150), and the vast majority of her C1 misses in the previous four tournaments were in the 25-33 foot range.
Over the final nine rounds of her season, encompassing the last two rounds of the EDGC, the Finnish Championships, and the last stop on the PDPT, Salonen only converted 50% of her C1X putts (53/106), but it was really only the final round at the EDGC where she looked completely lost on the green.
Before attempting to assess what might be causing the prolonged dip in Salonen’s putting performance, we should break down her mechanics from the first half of the 2021 season when she was in peak form.
Salonen prefers a staggered stance, though she appears equally comfortable putting from a straddle. Regardless of stance, she first squares up the basket with her shoulders. At the top of her downswing, Salonen extends her right arm fully at about shoulder height. She grips her putter along its right rim with her thumb pointed at the target and her left hand lightly supporting the disc. From there, she simultaneously begins lowering the disc and loading her lower body. The longer the putt, the lower her crouch. Both hands support the disc at the beginning of its descent, but the left breaks away naturally before Salonen begins her throwing motion. She lets her right elbow soften as she draws the putter slightly toward her midsection.
Salonen begins her leg drive just before initiating the whip-like motion that characterizes her putt. It’s the same movement you might use to snap a towel. Her right elbow breaks out to the right side of her body as she cocks her wrist. At the same time, she begins to rotate her torso slightly, pushing her right shoulder forward while her right elbow initiates the extension back toward the target. She typically releases the disc with a snap of the wrist and on a slight hyzer angle. When her timing really clicks, her putts come out with a slight wobble but good velocity and a relatively direct trajectory, not breaking much above band height.
Here are some examples:
Eveliina Putting, Front View
Eveliina Putting, Side View
In other words, Salonen’s default putting stroke is fundamentally sound. When she was struggling in the second half of 2021, it looked like her timing and release point were slightly off, but her form remained otherwise consistent compared to the first half of the season.
So what’s different in 2022?
Based on my analysis of footage from the Las Vegas Challenge, the Memorial, and the Waco Annual Charity Open, I have noticed the following tendencies:
Salonen lobs the disc a bit more now than she did historically, especially on longer putts. It appears as though she is trying to drop the disc into the basket rather than putting it through the chains. Perhaps on account of the loftier toss, her putter often flies on a steeper hyzer angle as well.
Compare this birdie putt from the third round of 2022 WACO:
Eveliina WACO Miss
To this birdie putt from the third round of 2021 Turku:
Eveliina Turku Make
She alternates more frequently between stagger and straddle stances, seeming to prefer the latter, and it looks as though she is engaging her lower body less, though this could be an intentional move to economize motion. More crucially, the timing between lower and upper body looks slightly off. Compare this missed birdie putt at the 2022 LVC:
Eveliina LVC Miss
To this par putt from the 2021 Turku:
Eveliina Turku Make #2
At WACO, Salonen putted with Innova Aviars instead of Discmania P-Line P2s. The classic Aviar is most similar to the P2 in shape but would be an unusual choice for a windy weekend because it is a more neutral flier. The Aviar driver is more overstable than a P2 but feels considerably different in-hand owing to its big bead. Notably, she has been using a P2 for the past five years since 2017, perhaps longer, and neither of the putters she used at WACO were featured in her bag check video from March 11.2
Overall, I would characterize her putting stroke and its results in 2022 as inconsistent. For every putt that dies to the left, glancing off the chains or the cage, she will drill one in the heart of the basket. Sometimes it clicks, like during the first round of the Memorial, and sometimes it doesn’t, like at WACO.
Some pundits have suggested that she should start over from scratch. I disagree. Salonen is a consummate champion in the midst of a putting slump. In my opinion, she needs to rediscover her form from the beginning of the 2021 season when she was converting 79% of her C1X putts. Recommit to the stagger stance, engage the legs more, throw on a lower trajectory with more velocity, and put the P2s…ahem, Infinite Alpacas…back in the bag.
Winter has come and gone, but funds are still on the way for unsheltered veterans.
With an event titled “Game of Throws” the group Nation’s Finest aim wasn’t just at cornhole boards on Saturday, it was also raising funds for unsheltered veterans returning home from duty. The event at Napa Smith Brewery was just one of nine sites in three different states (California, Arizona, Nevada) with a mission to raise awareness and $150,000 in funds for homeless veterans.
Nation’s Finest is a nonprofit that was founded 50 years ago that serves over 3,500 veterans and their families every year. Its primary focus has been on housing, mental health, case management and employment services. It was founded in 1972 by three veterans in Santa Rosa and has been ticking ever since.
That being said, the primary focus on Saturday was to meet new people, have a few beers and throw a small bag a few feet into a small hole and gain 21 points.
“This feels great and I’m so happy to see all the community come out and support the veterans,” Nation’s Finest Case Manager Nicole Stinnett said. “This event began when we started thinking about ways to celebrate the 50th anniversary and got a real big push starting in January. I think my favorite part has been seeing the faces of the players when they see what prizes they are going to win.”
Stinnett hopes to make the event an annual one. The prizes included a gas grill, a wheel barrow full of liquor, tickets to Great America, a tank ride at America Armory Museum and a 55-inch television, just to name a few, according to Stinnett.
But while there was a lot of prizes to be given out, there was also plenty of awareness on the homeless veteran issue to be told.
“I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that homeless people want to be homeless,” Stinnett said. “That is not at all true. But it takes months to gain a veterans trust because they’ve been let down so many times before.”
Staff Sergeant Jesus Escobar, who has been in the Army for five years, was at the event and sank a few big throws.
“I’m here to support veterans who aren’t getting the overall help they need,” Escobar siad. “So I’m happy to be here.”
So was Terresa Rodriguez, who has been in the Army for 11 years.
“I’m not going to play today. I’ll be the referee,” said Rodriguez, with a laugh. “But I love how the whole community has come together to support the veterans. I think the biggest thing people should know (about unsheltered veterans) is that you need to be patient. Veterans are going through a whole lot that can’t really be explained by anyone but them.”
Reese Levasseur is a veterans that served from 1992 to 2002 in Operation Desert Storm, while also being in one of the first units to serve overseas after 9/11. He was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2005 that has confined him to a wheelchair. He currently works as a light armor vehicle operator.
“I was kind of an adrenaline junkie when I came back from serving,” Levasseur said. “I had developed this Superman complex that I could do anything and I think that’s one of the reasons I got hurt.”
That being said, Levasseur appears to have no kryptonite, as the man competes in many sports such as cornhole. He won a gold medal in 2019 for off-roading. He also plays disc golf.
“I’m looking forward to the camaraderie today,” Levasseur said. “And I’m always up for something helping veterans. People sometimes can’t understand the kind of stress level people go through when coming back. We’re hoping to raise awareness so congress can pass some bills that will help with mental health care and help make the transition easier for veterans.”
Levasseur’s teammate, Troy Plunkett, the president and CEO of Sci Active Network, is also in a wheelchair. Although not a veteran himself, he was thrilled to be on hand for the event Saturday. Plunkett said he’s been playing cornhole for three years.
“I play here pretty often, so when I saw they were holding an event to help support homeless veterans I wanted to be here and show my support,” Plunkett said. “Hopefully we get a great turnout. It’s nice to do something local and help out the homeless, because that’s a big issue here. They don’t get the support that they need. A lot of people think that veterans don’t want the support because they were in combat and are too proud to ask for help. That’s not true. We need more resources to help people get back into their jobs and way of living.”
Stinnett has never played cornhole before, but said she would eventually play before the day was over.
“They talked me into it. But I think it’s so they can make fun of me,” Stinnett said, with a laugh.
“It’s really important that we stand behind the veterans,” Stinnett continued. “We’re here to support them in any way we can.”
March 26, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in News, Recap with comments
TYLER, Tex. — On the longest course the women have played this season, Paige Pierce made it clear why she has long held the mantle of #1 in the division.
Pierce used her distance advantage over the field to reach holes others couldn’t and cashed in some long birdie putts to put together a 1020-rated 9-under par 58, giving her a four shot lead heading into day two. Pierce’s lead could have been even bigger, but she took a double bogey after going out-of-bounds on hole 15 when most players were carding par.
Catrina Allen continued to flash her strong overall game with improved putting that’s gotten her off to a great start this season. She’s in second place at 5-under par, one stroke ahead of Kristin Tattar and Missy Gannon.
Kat Mertsch also continued her strong play, hitting 13 Circle 1 putts from outside of 15 feet with no misses. She sits in fifth place at 3-under par.
Paige’s Separator Holes
Let’s take a look at some of Paige’s “bonus birdies” (or eagles) today:
Hole 2 (741 ft, par 4) — Birdie (the only one of the day)
Hole 8 (564 ft, par 5) — Eagle (1 of 3)
Hole 13 (562 ft, par 4) — Birdie (1 of 2)
Hole 14 (426 ft, par 3) — Birdie (1 of 3)
Hole 17 (780 ft, par 5) — Eagle (1 of 2)
Pierce was the only player to card two eagles during the round. Unsurprisingly, she led round 1 in strokes gained from tee-to-green (6.44), more than a stroke better than Kristin Tattar in the second spot (5.21).
A Course Built for MPO
It’s hard not to look at Round 1’s scores and not feel like the new Thorn layout at Lindsey Park was not well considered for FPO play. This has become an unfortunate theme at a number of tournaments. From comically easy holes (hole 16, a 459-foot par 4 that only two players bogeyed) to impossibly difficult ones (hole 3, a 464-foot par 3 that literally nobody birdied), there are simply too many holes that don’t really set up well to test the FPO players’ skills. It’s not just about the relationship to par; it’s about considering how FPO players will play a hole and creating scoring separation opportunities.
Look at the difference between MPO hole results:
And FPO hole results:
There are holes (like 3, 11, 16, and 17) that just aren’t separating players effectively.
Eveliina’s Putting Woes Continue
Eveliina Salonen may be a good putter, but she sure is not at the moment. She opened her round with a five-putt on the pyramid-elevated basket on hole 1 en route to missing 11 inside-the-circle putts and going 0/7 from Circle 2. Once again, Salonen was elite from tee-to-green (3rd, +5.2 strokes) and disastrous on the green (dead last, -7.18 strokes).
It will be difficult for her to compete without turning around the putting.
Kona Panis Bounces Back
Kona Panis is tied for 13th at even par after shooting just the second round of 2022 above her rating (950 rated round v. 948 rating). A slow start gave way to a lot more birdies in the back nine, and although the putter was still not a strong point, she started to hit her lines much better off the tee and finished top 10 in getting to the green in regulation.
Hello, Stacie Hass
The second-place finisher at the 2021 PDGA Junior World Championships, Stacie Hass was the surprise top 10 finisher after round 1 at Texas States. She shot an excellent 4-under in the back nine without a bogey, turning around a rocky start. She was 5th in getting to the green in regulation (61%). If she can clean up some of the early mistakes, she could push higher up the leaderboard.
Overheard
“Kinda everything felt good. My putts felt good; I was getting off the tee really clean except for one hole. And I think that’s what it takes to put together a good round, an all-around good game.” – Paige Pierce
“I had some good shots today that impressed myself. And that’s what I’m looking for as a competitor — I don’t want to be content. I want to throw shots that impress me and make me strive to hit it again.” – Paige Pierce
Shot of the Day
Paige Pierce was simply able to separate with shots like this one on hole 14, a 426 foot par 3. She put her drive inside the circle and went on to cash the putt:
REGISTRATION: at Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation office, 4561 County Home Road
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon July 25-28
WHERE: Farmville Central High School, 3308 E. Wilson St., Farmville
REGISTRATION: Deadline is July 25. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHO: ages 9-12 (as of July 31)
WHEN: 5:30-7:30 p.m. July 11-14
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHEN: July 11-14, 9 a.m.-noon (ages 6-9) and 1-4 p.m. (ages 10-13)
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden.
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others
WHO: ages 9-12 (as of July 31)
WHEN: 5:30-7:30 p.m. July 11-14
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHAT: Campers will learn basic basketball skills, including dribbling, passing and shooting.
WHEN: July 11-14, 9 a.m.-noon (ages 6-9) and 1-4 p.m. (ages 10-13)
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others.
WHO: ages 6-8 (as of Aug. 31,)
WHEN: 9-10:30 a.m. June 27-30
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHO: ages 8-12 (as of Aug. 31, 2022)
WHEN: 9-11:30 a.m. June 20-23
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHO: ages 9-11 (as of Aug. 31)
WHEN: 5:30-7:30 p.m. July 25-28
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHO: ages 12-15 (as of Aug. 31)
WHEN: 9-11:30 a.m. June 13-16
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon June 20-23
WHERE: Farmville Central High School, 3308 E. Wilson St., Farmville
REGISTRATION: Deadline is June 19. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. June 20-23
WHERE: Farmville Boys and Girls Club
REGISTRATION: Deadline is May 31. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHO: rising first-fifth grades
WHERE: Wintergreen Intermediate gym
REGISTRATION: at Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation office, 4561 County Home Road.
CLIFF GODWIN YOUTH BASEBALL CAMP
WHEN: June 27-July 1, July 18-22 or July 25-29
WHERE: East Carolina University, Clark-LeClair Stadium
COST: $320 ($200 for half-day)
COLLEGE PROSPECT VOLLEYBALL CAMP
WHO: rising ninth through 12th-grade girls
WHEN: July 8-9 or July 15-16
WHERE: East Carolina University
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon June 27-30
WHERE: Farmville Disc Golf Course
REGISTRATION: Deadline is June 25. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHAT: The camp will offer safety education, bike maintenance, general skate park etiquette and skills/tricks using different ramps.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon June 13-17, June 20-24, Aug. 15-19, or Aug. 22-26
WHERE: Location to be announced
FAME ALL STARS SUMMER CAMP
WHAT: Campers will participate in indoor and outdoor activities at this cheerleading gym as well as arts and crafts and field trips.
WHEN: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays from June 6 to Aug. 12
WHERE: Fame All Stars, 5162 Corey Road, Winterville
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon July 25-29
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others
FUTURE PIRATES LACROSSE CAMP
WHERE: East Carolina University, Johnson Stadium
COST: $225 for half-day option, $400 for full day
WHERE: Ironwood Golf and Country Club, 200 Golf Club Wynd
COST: $300 (includes lunch)
JUNIOR PIRATE (FOOTBALL) CAMP
WHERE: East Carolina University
WHEN: 8:40 a.m.-4 p.m. May 21 and 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. May 22
WHERE: Ironwood Golf and Country Club, 200 Golf Club Wynd
COST: $400 (includes parent and child)
WHO: ages 5-10 (must have completed kindergarten)
WHAT: Campers will participate in sports and camp games, field trips and other activities, based on different weekly themes.
WHEN: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays from June 13-Aug. 5 (no camp June 20 or July 4)
COST: $100 for city residents and $150 for others. There is a discount for the weeks of June 20 and July 4.
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
ROSE’S GYMNASTICS SUMMER DAY CAMP
WHO: ages 3-11 (campers must be 4 or older for full-day camp)
WHAT: Campers will participate in gymnastics classes, arts and crafts, swimming and games.
WHEN: 8:45 a.m.-noon (half day) 8:45a.m.-6 p.m. (full day) Mondays-Fridays beginning June 13 and continuing through Aug. 12. (There is no camp the week of July 4.) Extended care available for additional fee.
WHERE: Rose’s Gymnastics Training Center, 1802 Old Fire Tower Road
COST: $115 per week for half day; $215 for full day (discounts for multiple weeks.)
WHO: ages 5-14 (as of July 31, 2022)
WHEN: 5:30-7 p.m. July 18-21 (ages 5-8); 5:30-7:30 p.m. July 25-28 (ages 9-14)
COST: $45 for city residents, $60 for others
REGISTRATION: Register at a staffed recreation and parks facility or online at www.greenvillenc.gov. A $25 nonrefundable deposit, applied to the registration fee, is required.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon June 20-24
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden.
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others
WHEN: 9-11 a.m. Aug. 8-11
WHERE: Farmville Athletic Complex
REGISTRATION: Deadline is Aug. 1. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon Aug. 1-4
WHERE: Farmville Central High School
REGISTRATION: Deadline is July 26. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHEN: 5-7 p.m. July 11-14
WHERE: Farmville Athletic Complex
REGISTRATION: Deadline is July 6. Register from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays or 8 a.m.-noon Fridays at Farmville Town Hall, 3672 N. Main St.
WHEN: 6:30-7:30 p.m. June 20-23
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden.
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others.
WHO: prekindergarten-sixth grade
WHEN: 1-4 p.m. July 11-15; 9 a.m.-noon June 20-24 or Aug. 1-5
WHERE: The Oakwood School, 4000 MacGregor Downs Road
WHERE: J.H. Rose High School track
REGISTRATION: at Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation office, 4561 County Home Road.
WHAT: Campers will try their hand at different sports such as kickball, relays, and other well-known activities. There will be an emphasis on a different sport/activity each day of this camp.
WHERE: Wintergreen Intermediate School
REGISTRATION: at Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation office, 4561 County Home Road.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-noon June 27-30
WHERE: Ayden Arts and Recreation Community Center, 4354 S. Lee St., Ayden.
COST: $25 for Ayden residents and $35 for others.
WHO: rising fourth through eighth-graders
WHERE: Wintergreen Intermediate School gym
REGISTRATION: at Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation office, 4561 County Home Road
Ten years ago padel, disc golf and pickleball might have been mistaken for arcade games but today they are among a group of emerging sports that are gathering popularity.
As the ongoing power struggle in padel has demonstrated, though, the professionalisation of these games can result in a tussle for control akin to a sporting civil war. With broadcasters and sponsors increasingly willing to invest in these disciplines, there are a number of stakeholders keen to position themselves as the overarching arbiter, whether they be global governing bodies, independent tours or institutional investors.
A number of these sports also have aspirations of pushing past their modest beginnings and gaining global recognition by featuring at future editions of multi-sport events. In most cases, that goal requires becoming a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), which in itself can be a lengthy process.
With that in mind, SportsPro takes a look at the current state of play in some of the world’s fastest-growing sports, the organisations seeking to move them forward, and how some disputes could potentially be resolved.
Padel heads for court as Qatar splashes the cash
Perhaps the most high profile ongoing battle for control is playing out in the world of padel, an increasingly popular hybrid of squash and tennis that is widely considered to be among the world’s fastest-growing sports.
Padel is hugely popular in Spain and Argentina but now has bigger ambitions of featuring at the Olympic Games as soon as 2028 as it starts to catch on further afield. Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Premier League soccer side Liverpool, is a big fan and even had courts installed at the club’s training complex, while former world number one tennis player Andy Murray is an investor in a business seeking to build padel facilities across the UK.
It also happens to be a passion of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, one of the most influential figures in world sport. He is chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a state-run investment vehicle which is backing a new global tour in partnership with the International Padel Federation (FIP) and the sport’s Professional Players Association (PPA).
Those involved in the new tour – known as Premier Padel – have described it as transformational for the sport and are promising greater rewards for the players. The prize money for each category one event – which will account for four out of at least ten tournaments planned for this year – will be €525,000, while a major broadcast deal covering Latin America has already been secured with ESPN. What’s more – and somewhat antagonistically – is that an announcement launching the new circuit referred to it as ‘the only official tour in the sport of padel’.
The problem? Most star players are tied into contracts until 2023 with the World Padel Tour (WPT), an entity owned by Setpoint Events and sponsored by Spanish beer company Estrella Damm that runs competitions outside the jurisdiction of the sport’s global governing body. In the same week that the Qatari-backed circuit was unveiled, the WPT announced an international media rights deal with Spanish agency Mediapro, suggesting that it has no intention of either collaborating with or losing the sport’s top talent to a new rival tour.
Its detractors have likened the WPT to a closed-off Super League – its contracts prevent its athletes from featuring in other competitions – and letters seen by SportsPro suggest that the players are far from content despite the Estrella-backed circuit’s promise to increase prize money for 2022.
Paquito Navarro, who is one of the top ranked male players in the world, told Reuters: “My intention is to play both tours because we want to respect the contract with World Padel Tour, but we also want to be free to earn a little more money.”
The next stop? The courts. At the time of writing, the FIP had filed a complaint to the European Commission claiming that the contracts binding the players are essentially illegal under EU competition rules. It also claimed that players are given no say in decision-making processes, with contracts preventing them from playing in other events and offering them little financial reward. A statement issued by Premier Padel earlier this week claimed that the WPT is threatening the top 20 players with a €12.5 million fine if they compete in other tournaments.
“This legal action at the European Commission by the Federation and the Professional Players Association is unprecedented,” FIP president Luigi Carraro said in a statement published by Reuters. “It highlights in the clearest terms WPT’s abusive and exploitative monopoly regime, which has held padel players under its grip for years – insulting the professional athletes and stifling the global growth and ambition of the sport.
“The fact this action has been forced to be brought in the first place is a shocking indictment in itself of private, closed, commercially exploitative and unregulated leagues that imprison the professional players.”
The ball is now in the hands of the courts.
The Estrella Damm-backed World Padel Tour has contracts with the sport’s top players
Esports governance picture remains blurry
It was back in 2017 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first said that esports could be considered a sporting activity because of the level and intensity of training undergone by professional gamers. But for competitive gaming to be recognised by the Lausanne-based body, IOC rules dictate that the discipline requires ‘the existence of an organisation guaranteeing compliance with the rules and regulations of the Olympic Movement’.
Nearly five years on, it’s still unclear if an organisation with that level of autonomy exists.
Esports is the sporting world’s Benjamin Button. It’s journey towards being recognised as a sport has taken an unusual path purely because of how developed the gaming ecosystem already is. Unlike in traditional sports, where leagues and competitions abide by rules set by their global governing bodies, the key stakeholders in esports are the publishers.
The likes of Riot Games, Activision Blizzard and Epic Games bring in billions of dollars in revenue each year and independently organise their own leagues or competitions, which do not come under the umbrella of any overarching regulatory body.
It remains to be seen whether the publishers would even be interested in being governed by such an entity. As a consequence, both national associations and international federations are what would be considered as emerging stakeholders in esports. Further confusing matters is the fact that several organisations have now been established that, on the surface, appear to be laying claim to the same thing.
Founded in 2008, the South Korea-based International Esports Federation (IESF) was for a long time the only organisation that resembled something close to a global governing body for competitive gaming. It operates similar to other international federations in that its members are national associations, it runs world championship events, and has the stated aim of growing the sport.
Esports featured as a medal event at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games
It was only when esports started to get more mainstream attention that other organisations appeared. The World Esports Association (WESA) was set up in 2016 with a goal of further professionalising competitive gaming by introducing elements of player representation, standardised regulations and revenue shares for teams. It claims to be ‘based on similar traditional sports associations’, but its executive board is made up of individuals from tournament organisers such as ESL and teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas, rather than national associations.
And then, in 2019, along came the Global Esports Federation (GEF) with a somewhat similar mission to the IESF. Headquartered in Singapore and backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent, the GEF says it ‘promotes the credibility, legitimacy and prestige’ of esports and boasts partnerships with more than 100 member federations, global brands, publishers, and developers.
Still, even with the IOC making its first meaningful move into esports with the Olympic Virtual Series, it remains unclear precisely how much clout any of these organisations genuinely have. The GEF has taken arguably the biggest step towards greater legitimacy through its partnership with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which this summer will run an esports championships in Birmingham alongside its flagship event. The GEF is deciding which titles will feature.
Speaking to Inside the Games in November, IESF secretary general Boban Totovski admitted that the landscape is currently confusing and reportedly expressed a willingness to sit down with the GEF in the future.
“I do not see the benefit [of having two global bodies] as the only thing it does is it disrupts the market,” he said. “Now when we have a member and the GEF has a member in that country, they both go to the governments and they say: ‘Wait there are two international bodies, I am not recognising you, go fix your backyard first and come back to me.’”
Disc golf bodies see greater good in collaboration
All eyes were on disc golf last summer when a clip of James Conrad making a seemingly impossible 247-foot shot went viral on social media. That birdie, which has now been viewed nearly one million times on Twitter, forced a playoff in the world championship organised by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), which describes itself as ‘the governing body for the sport’. It sanctions more than 5,700 annual tour events offering a collective prize purse of over US$4.5 million.
James Conrad won the men’s disc golf world title, but only after this took him into a play-off pic.twitter.com/omx813oRYh
Complicating matters, though, is the existence of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), which claims to be the international federation ‘responsible for world governance of flying disc sports, including ultimate, beach ultimate, disc golf, freestyle, guts, and individual events.’
The two organisations, ostensibly serving the same purpose, have had an on-and-off relationship for several years. In 2014, the pair signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on growing disc golf’s international reach, only for the PDGA to exit that relationship two years later. In a statement issued at the time to the Ultiworld Disc Golf website, the PDGA explained that it took the decision because the WFDF ‘are much smaller’ and ‘have limited resources’, insisting that it was better to pursue the development of the sport ‘outside the constraints of a formal relationship’.
Despite the PDGA boasting greater resources, it is the WFDF that is the umbrella body for all disc sports, disc golf included – at least as far as the IOC and GAISF are concerned.
With ambitions of seeing disc golf feature at the World Games and potentially even the Olympics, the PDGA and WFDF now appear to have decided that they are stronger together after all. At the end of August the two parties announced that they were renewing their relationship to promote the sport, with the PDGA becoming an associate member of the WFDF.
We believe that there will be a number of mutual benefits from resuming a closer relationship between the PDGA and WFDF.
Robert Rauch, President, World Flying Disc Federation
Robert Rauch, the president of the WFDF, said: “We believe that there will be a number of mutual benefits from resuming a closer relationship between the PDGA and WFDF including improved communication between our two organisations, a leveraging of the respective resources of our organisations to achieve our mutual growth objectives and greater recognition in the larger world of sport. We can also learn from each other in areas where we may have different strengths.”
Pickleball taking steps towards professionalisation
Pickleball, so the story goes, was invented back in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a congressman for Washington state, and his two golf buddies on Banbridge Island. Yet it wasn’t until recently that the tennis-like game experienced a popularity boom that has seen it christened the fastest-growing sport in the United States, where there are now an estimated 4.8 million pickleball players.
There’s a popular narrative that the sport was given a shot in the arm by the Covid-19 pandemic as people sought new ways to interact outdoors, while traction has also come from a small army of celebrity fans who have publicly stated that they play pickleball in their spare time. In truth, though, much of the growth stems from the fact that pickleball is simple to understand and can be played almost anywhere, whether it be on a tennis court – one has enough space for four pickleball games – in the park or on a driveway.
There are now an estimated 4.8 million Pickleball players in the US (Image credit: Steve Taylor/USA Pickleball)
Despite the recent growth, pickleball remains “young and scrappy”, according to Stu Upson, who is the chief executive of USA Pickleball, which now has 56,000 members. The game’s global governing body, the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP), is also growing, with around 70 member nations, but is yet to be recognised by GAISF.
“It still has ways to go in terms of truly being representative of pickleball around the world,” Upson says of the IFP. “That’s just because pickleball is expanding, but there aren’t many strong federations in other countries yet…a lot of those federations are small clubs in certain countries. We need to get to the point where the federation is conducting world championships for teams representing their countries, so we’ve got a ways to go.”
As participation and awareness of the sport grows, pickleball is attracting greater commercial attention from sponsors, broadcasters and investors. Tom Dundon, perhaps best known as the owner of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Carolina Hurricanes, recently agreed to buy the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), which now sits alongside the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) as one of two tours in the US. The pair compete with each other at present, but for how long remains to be seen.
“Personally I think to have two tours with that many pro events is probably too much down the road,” Upson notes. “I really don’t know any professional sport that can handle two professional tours in the same country. So we’ll see how it plays out.”
We don’t want to get into a situation like in tennis, where essentially you have seven entities running the sport around the world.
Stu Upson, Chief Executive, USA Pickleball
What is clear is that pickleball’s professional landscape is starting to take shape. Prize money remains modest at present, meaning only the top players can make a proper living from the game, but Upson is confident the sport will only continue to grow. As with any emerging sport, the challenge will be to ensure that as more money comes in, there is a clear delineation of roles between the various stakeholders angling for control.
“We don’t want to get into a situation like in tennis,” Upson says, “where essentially you have seven entities running the sport around the world. You’ve got four Grand Slams, you’ve got the ITF, and then you’ve got the ATP and the WTA. And they don’t always necessarily play well together. We need to avoid that in pickleball.
“We are young and small enough at this point where if we keep conversations going, and not get into turf battles, and figure out how to grow the sport globally, and also what roles people can play, then we should be OK.
“But if people start saying, ‘I’m going to go do everything’, then we’re going to have challenges. I think we’re small enough and innocent enough right now where we can avoid some of those scenarios.”
Honours even in fight for stand-up paddleboarding
Not all disputes have to end badly for someone. Just ask the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF), who until recently were competing for control of stand-up paddleboard (SUP) events.
The ISA first staged a SUP world championship in 2012 and claimed to have been investing time and money into the sport for even longer before that. But in 2017 the surfing body found itself in a fallout with the ICF, which itself was attempting to claim ownership of the discipline.
As the name suggests, SUP sees athletes stand up on a surf board and navigate their way around a course with the help of a paddle, which the ICF argued classified the sport as a form of canoeing. With the two international federations unable to reach a compromise, the matter was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2018, with the ISA attempting to claim complete control over SUP.
However, in 2020, CAS ultimately ruled that the surfing body should not have exclusive oversight of the sport, instead deciding that both federations had the right to organise SUP events, with the only caveat being that the ISA would govern the discipline should it be selected for the Olympic Games.
The ruling was welcomed as a ‘landmark decision’ by the ISA and also represented a satisfactory outcome for the ICF, which could continue to host SUP competitions at national and international level.
“The CAS decision presents an opportunity for two Olympic federations, the ICF and the ISA, to work together to promote a sport,” ICF president Jose Perurena said at the time. “SUP is one of the fastest growing and most exciting sports on the planet, and it is the responsibility of both our federations to give it the best possible opportunity to reach its full potential. We believe that the sport will flourish as a result.”
The ICF did, however, question the ‘unconventional move’ to hand the ISA responsibility for running SUP in the event that it is one day recognised as an Olympic sport.
‘It is surprising that the CAS panel felt that they could reach such a decision without the involvement of the IOC, as the recognition of an international federation as the administrator of an Olympic sport is traditionally a matter for the IOC,’ the canoe body said in a statement.
This is a feature from the forthcoming Issue 117 of SportsPro magazine. To find out more or to subscribe, click here.
SEGUIN – As disc golf continues to gain popularity around the world, the Pecan City Disc Golf Shop is gearing up to host its first sanctioned disc golf tournament in Seguin.
Jericho Lomas, co-owner of the Pecan City Disc Golf Shop, is excited about the opportunity to bring this tournament to the city, while also giving back to a local non-profit. “When we first dreamt of opening Pecan City Disc Golf Shop, one of our values we wanted to focus on was giving back to our community. This tournament is a great way to partner with our city and Humana to raise money for a local Veteran organization, said Lomas” Tournament proceeds will be donated to the Guadalupe County Field of Honor® organization to support this year’s field of flags. The City of Seguin is a tournament co-sponsor and Humana is the Title sponsor.
The Pecan City Classic will be held from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm on March 26-27 at the disc golf course in Max Starcke Park East. More than 160 disc golfers from across the U.S., including 2 professional disc golfers traveling across the world from Denmark, will play in the tournament.
The community is invited to watch the players compete during the 2-day tournament. Market Days will also be happening during the tournament. Over 25 local businesses and vendors will have booths under the Patricia K. Irvine-King Pavilion in Starcke Park East. Spectators can browse and shop from 10 am to 3 pm both days. Sponsors for the Pecan City Classic are available. For sponsorship information, please email [email protected]
“The Seguin Visitor Center has enjoyed working with the tournament organizers on bringing this event to Seguin,” said Kyle Kramm, Main Street & CVB Director. “Hosting these tournaments and events benefit Seguin in many ways, from increasing sales at restaurants to providing awareness about a growing sport in our community. It makes a tremendous impact on Seguin,” he said.
A small-scale Field of Honor® flag display will be set up at the park during the tournament, and community members can purchase a flag for this year’s upcoming Field of Honor event. “The Guadalupe County Field of Honor® committee is very excited to partner with the Pecan City Disc Golf Shop and The City of Seguin to bring two amazing community events to Seguin,” said Connie Ramirez, local Field of Honor® Chairperson.
“This tournament will bring people from across Texas, the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean to play this fast growing sport,” she said.
Ramirez also encourages Guadalupe County residents to visit the upcoming Field of Honor® display. “Guadalupe County has over 25,000 Veterans, service members and first responders. This makes us hopeful that each flag in our Field will be dedicated in honor of or in memory of a loved one,” she continued.
More than 1,000 United States flags will be on display at the 3rd Annual Guadalupe County Field of Honor July 2-9, 2022 at Faith Lutheran Church in Seguin, 1326 E. Cedar. Field of Honor® volunteers organize and set up the display to honor and thank Veterans, military members (active and fallen), firefighters, police and emergency responders for their service and sacrifice. The flags and the poles can be taken home after the event.
The Seguin Field of Honor® display is a gift to the community made possible through donations, sponsorships, and the efforts of many dedicated volunteers. To show your support and gratitude by dedicating a flag or making a donation, please visit https://www.healingfield.org/event/seguintx22/.
For more information about the Pecan City Disc Golf Shop, visit www.pecancitydgs.com.
The most famous shot in the history of disc golf was thrown in Ogden, Utah, on June 26, 2021. James Conrad launched a disc an arcing 247 feet to the basket on his way to besting the five-time winner in the final round of the world championships.
What fans call “the Holy Shot” was the best and worst thing ever to happen to MVP Disc Sports, Mr. Conrad’s new sponsor and maker of the yellow-and-blue Electron Envy disc he threw that sunny Saturday.
“He made the shot, and all of us were like, ‘Yay!’ then, ‘We’re screwed,’ ” said Steve Hollaway, MVP marketing manager.
To understand the state of American business, look no further than disc golf, a niche sport that has blossomed into a real business with a cult following. There is the morphing disruption in the supply chain, the crush of the labor market, the constant competition. Companies must adjust to pandemic-driven shifts in behavior and the demands of consumers trained to want what they want when they want it.
The sport, which mimics traditional golf but is played with airborne discs, got a boost during the pandemic. It can be played by almost all ages and is socially distanced by definition. But companies in the market are finding it tough to take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime, while navigating a business environment that is the most challenging of their lifetime.
Inventory has hovered at historic lows for months for disc makers, thanks to a more than doubling of the number of discs sold since the pandemic began. Disc golf is played with angular and dense discs that differ from the soft and rounded Frisbees or “catch discs” often seen at the park or beach.
Manufacturers are in a daily fight to find more plastic than they have ever ordered at a time when the polyurethane used in most discs is in high demand, including for medical equipment such as face masks.
Disc-golf companies are paying more than $20,000 for shipping containers that formerly cost $5,000 to haul branded metal baskets from China, only to have them stuck for months at the Port of Los Angeles. They are adding overnight and weekend shifts but struggling to staff them, especially during the outbreak of the Omicron variant.
The latest worry is the continued availability of crude oil, the key ingredient in polyurethane. The war in Ukraine has caused an increase in the cost of crude oil over concerns about sanctions, as Russia is one of the world’s dominant suppliers.
The average retail cost of a disc has risen to roughly $20 to $25 from $10 to $15, according to Infinite Discs, a leading online disc-golf retailer and publisher of a trade blog.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said MVP’s co-founder Chad Richardson, of the logistics snarls. “I don’t see it ending.”
Within days of the Holy Shot, the company began production of a commemorative disc at its factory in Michigan.
To ensure uniformity, disc-golf manufacturers typically use only one mold for each specific type of disc, meaning only one machine can make one commemorative Electron Envy model at a time, in a process that takes about a minute.
MVP ran the Envy machine 24 hours a day for three months but fell far behind demand thanks to the avalanche of orders. The cost of a commemorative disc on online resale sites rose to more than $50 when fans couldn’t find the disc for $20 at retail outlets.
The company eventually sold tens of thousands of the commemorative discs. Thousands more are still sitting on the shelves, though, said Todd Durrant, operations manager of Infinite Discs, the online retailer. “It would’ve been nice when he won to have it a couple weeks later, but when it arrived, it was like ‘Oh, OK, the hot moment has kind of passed,’ ” he said.
Meeting demand in a timely manner for discs of all types, the company says, is stressing out employees, frustrating retailers and angering fans. “They think MVP is this magic box” that discs come out of, said Brad Richardson, who co-founded the company in 2010 with his brother Chad when they were undergraduates.
MVP now represents a share of the disc-golf market that is in the high-single-digits after growing during the pandemic, according to an analysis of 2.7 million discs used by players on the UDisc scorekeeping app. MVP has 114 employees with more on the way, up from 20 pre-pandemic. Discraft Inc., also based in Michigan, is another prominent yet more established manufacturer, with the industry’s biggest player being Innova Champion Discs, based in Ontario, Calif.
Before the pandemic, MVP grew by taking share from the industry’s big players in a way reminiscent of how craft-beer makers took on Big Beer. It experimented with blends of plastic, cultivated relationships with small dealers and rolled out new models and novelty discs regularly.
The pandemic put a halt to most of those hallmarks, as MVP dropped production of all but its bestsellers to avoid losing time required to change molds and test new concepts. The brothers used the windfall of cash from selling out of inventory to buy 15 disc-making machines in the past two years, up from two machines at the start of 2020. They ordered seven of the machines in the wake of the Holy Shot.
MVP produced more discs in 2021 than it did in its previous 11 years combined. The company will have increased production 10-fold since early 2020 when the last of its new machines comes online in April.
“All our resources are in those machines,” Chad Richardson said, including one machine that was offline for months for lack of a replacement part. “It’s always on your mind, always on your mind.”
Mr. Hollaway, the marketing manager, recently took over MVP’s
Facebook
page from longtime fan moderators to address criticism about delays and the lack of new models. The company started a supply-chain newsletter to explain how the container ship stuck in the Suez Canal contributed to the lack of MVP swag at local tournaments.
“I’ve been trying as hard as I can to educate the market because the market’s angry,” Mr. Hollaway said.
Disc golf has its origins in the years after the late “Steady” Ed Headrick patented the Wham-O Frisbee in 1966. Fans across the U.S. made up games that involved launching a Frisbee at a target, frequently a utility pole.
(California-based Wham-O, now owned by Wham-O Holdings in Hong Kong, continues to make Frisbees but isn’t a major player in disc golf.)
In 1975, Mr. Headrick patented the “Disc Golf Pole Hole,” a metal basket with a ring of chains, to avoid disputes over whether a disc hit a pole, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association, also founded by Mr. Headrick.
Just like with “ball golf” or “stick golf,” which is what disc golfers call the regular version, players carry bags. They are lined with discs designed to perform differently when thrown: slow-spinning putters of tacky plastic meant to grip the basket’s chains; fairway drivers for middle-distance throws; and distance drivers with an angled edge that are designed to fly far and arc left or right around trees or water hazards.
Players throw from concrete tee boxes on an 18-hole course and adhere to rules of etiquette, such as letting solo players play through or returning stray discs if there is a phone number on the back.
For decades, disc golf was dwarfed in popularity by ultimate, originally called ultimate Frisbee, a soccer-like team sport common on college campuses. As players aged out of ultimate’s physicality, many took up disc golf, contributing to an annual growth in players of roughly 10% a year in the late 1990s and 2000s, according to the PDGA.
The pace of disc golf’s growth accelerated in the 2010s, thanks to YouTube streams, fan blogs and the ability of obscure athletes to build a following on social media.
Then came the pandemic. New players from young families to locked-out gym rats flocked to an outdoor sport that was free to play on most courses. Many rookies ordered their first discs online early in lockdown around the same time ESPN2 began airing live matches to fill the void created by Covid-19 cancellations of major sports. The professional association, PDGA, recently reported membership has doubled since 2019 to 109,000 active members.
“I started playing 11 years ago and if I told people I played disc golf, they looked at me like I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about or they automatically assumed I was a stoner,” said Steve Hill, marketing director for UDisc, a scorekeeping app. “Now I say ‘disc golf’ and people know what it is.”
As with many pandemic booms, it isn’t clear if the sport’s popularity has staying power. Data released by UDisc in February showed the pace of growth in new players slowed in 2021 from 2020. But it also showed new players tended to play as often and be as enthusiastic as experienced players.
Disc golfers on the professional circuit such as James Conrad, pictured during season kickoff in Las Vegas, travel nearly weekly during the 8-month season, much like NASCAR drivers.
Branded baskets on disc-golf courses are critical to marketing but difficult to get with current supply-chain issues.
The sport has experienced a growing fanbase thanks to social media and the ability to stream games every weekend.
The rules of etiquette of disc golf mirror those of traditional golf. A hushed crowd watches as Paige Pierce, the dominant women’s player, throws.
UDisc, the app maker, says it has more than one million users and only captures a fraction of the millions of active players. The company estimates the sport is at least the size of pickleball, whose governing body recently announced had 4.8 million players. “I don’t begrudge pickleball,” Mr. Hill said. “I just need to find their PR rep.”
USA Pickleball’s Chief Executive Stu Upson laughed when asked for comment. “Tell them, ‘I’m sorry, we’re just doing our jobs,’ “ he said. “Seriously, there’s plenty of room for many emerging sports.”
The number of disc-golf courses is increasing at a rate of more than five a day, according to UDisc, many outside the sport’s traditional strongholds in the Midwest and the Sunbelt. There are 13,323 courses globally, with the most in the U.S., a 70% increase from 2017, according to UDisc. The majority of U.S. disc-golf courses are in public parks, with local governments quick to set up courses as they require little maintenance and can occupy odd-shaped, swampy or otherwise little-used tracts of land, including a park in Girdwood, Alaska, frequented by moose.
A turning point for disc golf, the Holy Shot was the number one play on ESPN’s SportCenter Top Ten and went viral online, exposing thousands of people to the sport and its stars.
“I was there in person and I’ve never experienced anything like it at a sporting event ever,” Mr. Hill said. “It was the most mind-boggling explosion where everyone collectively lost their mind.”
Mr. Conrad, a 31-year-old former warehouse worker who made the shot, said hitting the best shot of his life at the exact moment he needed to win “was like being in a sports movie.”
He said he is proud that the popularity of the shot brought new fans to disc golf, even though he was disappointed that he didn’t win any subsequent major tournaments.
“The remainder of the season wasn’t able to match what I did at the world’s, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to match that,” he said. “It’s a weird thought that maybe the coolest thing I’ll ever do, I’ve already done.”
The player he beat that day has been the sport’s dominant player for a decade: Paul McBeth, a 31-year-old from Huntington Beach, Calif. He said he was happy for Mr. Conrad, who he has been competing against since they were both 15 and who he sees nearly weekly during the eight-month season.
“I was on the losing end of that shot, but I still know what it means for the sport and for us as players,” Mr. McBeth said. “It’s a chance for growth, a chance for more eyes to see our sport on a professional level.”
Mr. McBeth’s sponsor, Discraft, thinks his star power will help the company grow. Discraft signed him to a new 10-year, $10 million contract last year, a figure designed to plant a flag in a sport where most professionals typically make roughly $20,000 a year in sponsorships and tournament winnings. As a signing bonus, Mr. McBeth got a McLaren supercar.
“It’s the
Nike
strategy,” said Bob Julio, Discraft’s team manager. “Sign the player and the fans will follow.”
When the pandemic hit, Discraft shifted machines that made Ultimate discs to make ones for disc golf. When plastic became scarce, Discraft bought an industrial recycling machine and churned up factory seconds and castoff discs to make plastic pellets that could be mixed in with new ones. “You can’t even tell it’s in there,” Chief Operating Officer Mike Wagner said.
The company has 90 employees, up from 40 before the pandemic. It has doubled its number of machines but is struggling to staff them at every shift. Mr. Wagner says he has tried everything from gift cards to attendance bonuses to entice workers to the factory floor.
Discraft has upped its disc-golf production 600% in the past two years but isn’t accepting new retail customers or rolling out new models. Instead, it is sending longtime vendors an allotment of whatever it makes, dominated by the Buzzz, a 2003 design with an even distribution of weight that makes it comparatively easy to throw for new players.
“I want to get a handle on the 600% [growth] we’ve got,” Mr. Wagner said. “You’ve got to have a manageable pace because a lot can go wrong.”
The Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SRSGA) kicked off its campus safety week on Monday evening with its annual Campus Safety Crawl.
The event, led by Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs Grant Warmbein saw the SRSGA and American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) team up with students to identify possible safety issues on the university’s 660-acre campus.
More than 20 participants took part in the event, a slight increase from the previous year.
To kick off the event, Warmbein briefed the students on what sort of hazards to look out for, breaking the group into small teams armed with clipboards and maps. The groups then scattered across campus to inspect their assigned areas for hazards.
Samuel Miloser, a junior safety management major and president of the ASSP chapter at Slippery Rock University, led his group from the Robert M. Smith Student Center (SSC) down to the East Lake Lot. The students, who don’t spend as much time on that side of campus, took a minute to figure out which parking lot and roadway they needed to check, but were soon off. Almost immediately they found an issue.
Cracks and uneven pavement, which could present a trip hazard to students making the long trek from the parking lot to the Quad, were spotted only a few feet away from the group’s starting position.
This is the first time Miloser is participating in the Campus Safety Crawl, something he would like to see more safety management majors get involved with as the event continues.
“We are here as a resource [to the campus], not just as safety management majors,” Miloser said.
In the past, members of the ASSP and safety management majors have taken an active role in the Campus Safety Crawl because they were also members of the SRSGA. Former Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs Leif Lindgren who studied safety management, was able to lead the event last spring while the campus still dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continuing down Stadium Drive to East Lake Lot, the group took note of a drainage grate that sitting below the pavement. A few members of the group remarked how the issue could easily cause damage to their vehicle while driving over it.
While their classes might not take them to this side of campus often, Synclaire Angelow found the hunt for safety issues fun and something that will benefit her in the near future while on walks with her East Highland white terrier, Archie.
“He loves to come out here and chase the geese,” Angelow said.
Both Angelow and her friend Kasey McClain are junior exercise science majors but that doesn’t mean having a safe campus to enjoy is any less important to them.
“This is our campus too,” McClain said. “Just because we are not [safety management majors] doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care what our campus looks like or the safety measures [put in place].”
While not something many outside the safety field would notice, Miloser took time to explain the importance of proper drainage around retaining walls to prevent costly erosion. Miloser showed how rainwater flowing down to the lake has created a widening gap and sharp drop off between the retaining wall and the metal guard rail.
“As house owners, as we’re all going to be in the next 10 years, unfortunately,” Miloser said. “Putting a French drain, the water will run through the rocks and not erode the soil.”
SRU’s campus includes an 18-hole disc golf course that spans across the campus including around East Lake Lot. For Lucas Saunders, a senior business management major and disc golf player, hole two on the course can be a possible safety problem.
“Half the time when people are playing disc golf, they end up on the East Lake Road,” Saunders said. “Some people I know have hit cars in the past.”
Saunders picked up disc golf during the pandemic when he and his friends couldn’t compete in ultimate freebie games.
“It’s something nice to do to get out of the house,” Saunders said. “It’s our little COVID-19 hobby.”
Saunders doesn’t want to see the course get smaller or removed but believes by changing the starting position for hole two, players and passersby can be safer.
The biggest concern the group found with East Lake Lot was the abrupt end of the sidewalk with four more rows of parking to walk down toward. They also pointed out a vehicle that appeared to be involved in a collision that has been parked in the lot for some time.
After about an hour combing through the campus, the group met back up at the SSC to talk about their findings and give them to members of SRU’s facilities department.
Scott Albert, associate vice president of facilities, environmental safety and sustainability, said the group turned in more than 100 concerns ranging from safety lighting to crosswalks. Issues with sidewalks around campus made up more than a third of the concerns brought forth by the students.
Albert said the event allows students to give back to the campus and have a better understanding of how maintenance operates.
The Campus Safety Crawl also allows students to not only be an extra set of eyes for maintenance, but provide input from a unique perspective.
“An out of the way place with no lighting will look different to a 50-year-old male versus an 18- or 19-year-old young woman,” Albert said.
In the past, feedback from the Campus Safety Crawl has given facilities the information they need to provide better lighting around campus. As for the concerns brought forth this week, many will have work orders in place by the end of the week, Albert said.
Albert, who walked around the football stadium and Building F with students and staff from facilities, said they found animals digging around the building that will need to be filled in and a rusting metal door that will have to be replaced.
With spring officially here, many potholes were noticed throughout campus as well and facilities will have to prioritize their repair as the department has only allocated $250,000 for asphalt repair.
Warmbein said the Campus Safety Crawl was big success and a great way to kick off-campus safety week. Throughout the week, organizations hosted events from drowning prevention to pepper spray training. Warmbein said it was his staff’s creativity that allowed for the week to have something for everyone.
Looking toward the future, Warbein said he would like to continue the partnership with the ASSP and would suggest to his replacement moving the event back to the fall semester, allowing for better weather. Before, the event was typically held around October or November.
More information about campus safety week can be found on the CORE events page.
East Bay Township planning commissioners voted 6-1 at a marathon five-hour meeting Thursday to support a proposal from Rotary Camps and Services to open up the 500-acre former Camp Greilick property for public recreation, camping, educational classes, and special events. Plans for the property – now called the Greilick Outdoor Recreation and Education Center, or GO-REC – next head to township trustees for final approval.
After the Boy Scouts terminated their lease in 2016 for Camp Greilick following several decades of site use, Rotary Camps and Services developed a new plan for the renamed GO-REC property on Scout Camp Road, aiming to offer the same types of camping, outdoor education, recreational programming, and access to trails, woodlands, and lakes that had been available there for almost 100 years – only this time to the general public. Rotary Camps and Services plans to offer not only overnight camping – a use already approved for the property – but day uses as well, allowing the public to come hike, bike, cross-country ski, snowshoe, kayak, and play disc golf on the site without having to stay overnight. Those types of day uses require township approval. GO-REC staff also plan to offer classes – such as wilderness first aid and how-to classes on different recreational sports – and partner with groups like Norte and the Vasa Ski Club for on-site programming. In addition, special events like weddings, conferences, and races would be allowed on the property.
In December, Rotary Camps and Services appeared before township planning commissioners with an application for a planned unit development (PUD) – or a zoning plan tailored to a specific property – to allow GO-REC to host all of those different uses. At that and subsequent meetings, planning commissioners flagged numerous issues Rotary Camps and Services would need to address to move forward, ranging from parking plans and septic system capacities to the prevention of invasive species spread and potential noise and traffic impacts from events. Neighboring residents were particularly alarmed about plans to hold large events on the site, forming a nonprofit called Save Forest Lakes and collecting approximately 250 signatures through an online petition opposing the PUD approval.
At Thursday’s meeting, Gayle McGregor – an attorney from Williams, Williams, Rattner & Plunkett representing Save Forest Lakes – said GO-REC is surrounded by a “very low-density residential area,” making its proposed uses incompatible with the surround neighborhood and East Bay Township’s master plan. She said allowing the public to bring in outside watercraft would lead to the spread of invasive species in Rennie Lake, and argued that a conservation easement on the property was designed to protect it from commercial use. She said GO-REC’s plans formed a “direct contravention to the township’s ordinance.”
But GO-REC’s legal counsel and some planning commissioners disputed that characterization, noting that many of the proposed uses have already occurred on the site for decades and that PUDs are allowed in the township’s ordinance specifically to accommodate creative uses on properties that a zoning code might not otherwise anticipate. Attorney Jeffrey Jocks, representing Rotary Camps and Services, pointed out that only nonmotorized boats will be allowed on Rennie Lake and will first go through a boat-cleansing station before entering the water. Only overnight campers and class attendees will be able to bring their own watercraft onto the property, with a maximum of 60. GO-REC plans to maintain its own fleet of on-site kayaks and canoes for the public to borrow.
A significant portion of Thursday’s public comment period – and planning commissioners’ deliberation – was spent on special events at the property. After much back-and-forth, planning commissioners eventually agreed to allow up to 20 large-sized events at GO-REC annually, defined as those with 100-420 guests. As part of those 20 events, up to 12 weddings can be held between May 1 and October 31. However, planning commissioners added a condition that large-scale events cannot take place on back-to-back weekends, with the goal of providing neighbors with a respite between major events in the summer. Professional sound and traffic studies determined that noise and traffic safety should not be issues at the site, particularly as most buildings and gathering spaces are located within the interior of the property away from neighboring parcels. In addition to 20 large-scale events, GO-REC can hold up to 30 mid-sized events annually (30-100 guests) and smaller classes and events (1-30 guests) daily. Any major races or transient events – those exceeding 420 guests – would only be allowed on a case-by-case basis with township permit approval.
Planning commissioners added several other conditions that GO-REC needs to meet to retain PUD approval. Those include obtaining all other necessary approvals from outside permit agencies, obtaining state approval over an environmental remediation plan to address a former gun range on the site, maintaining a state campground license, keeping events within the capacity of available on-site parking spaces, and limiting event attendance at Besser Lodge to 200 until the on-site septic system is upgraded. Planning Commissioner Judy Nemitz still opposed the PUD approval despite those conditions, saying she thought approval would set a “pernicious” precedent that would prompt other Forest Lakes resorts to pursue more intensive uses. She said the “intensity and frequency” of GO-REC’s planned uses did not comply with township zoning.
But the other six planning commissioners disagreed. “We’ve got this opportunity, we’ve got this gem sitting here in our township,” said Planning Commissioner Renee Edly. “I also completely respect the neighbors…but I feel like we’ve worked really hard to get to a happy medium. And I think that it’s a good thing.” Planning Commissioner Carl Ferguson agreed, saying he initially had concerns about the former gun range and the scale of proposed events, but said the board “worked to mitigate those, at least to my satisfaction.” Planning Commission Chair John Sych said the PUD constituted an “appropriate reuse of a parcel, of this land where there’s been a history of outdoor activities.” He added: “I think it’s quite unique…I think we’re fortunate to have something like this in the community.” Sych said plans for GO-REC – a property that includes 4,300 feet of shoreline, a 1.5-acre pond, open fields, forested wetlands, and pine and hardwood forest, plus an extensive trail system, campground, and recreational infrastructure – would make amenities available to residents who otherwise might not have access to them.
Though many neighboring residents sharply criticized the board’s vote during public comment, Sych reminded the audience Thurday that GO-REC still has “a lot of work” to do to adhere to the conditions placed on the PUD. The application also still has to clear township trustees, to whom it now heads for final approval. “This is not the end of the process,” Sych said. “It’s a major step, but it is going to continue forward.”