Funny thing is --- I ran an amateur only tourny in 2007 at Parma ---- Amateur Championships and had 17 people show up because no one wanted to come play Parma at that point in time.
I have to give my 2 cents on this topic and hope all can understand my opinion. 1st of all, I hope everyone was happy with the RFDO player packs and payout. I did add to both the ams and the pros and we really did pay over 160% to the ams and over 200% to the pros.
I have seen and participated in many tourny's over the last 13 years. there has been many differnet philosophies during this time period. Some feel that the ams stay amateur too long because they can continue to win merch easily and what's the motivation to move up to pro. There has been discussions on 2 levels of pros so that the marginal pros can also have a chance to cash instead of always donating to the top pros, especially in you live in NC or Florida where only the top pros ever cash. So adding cash to the Pro divisions should give incentive to people to turn pro. For those top advanced players, it will also improve your game to move up.
As the sport grows, there will be continued discussions on how to grow the sport. I think that the rec division should be a trophy only division or just minimal prizes. Intermediate should get more and advanced should get the most as far as payout, which motivates people to continue to move up in the ranks. But I do not agree with advanced players getting hundreds of dollars of merch. I think there should be a cut-off and I think all ams should get a nice player pack so at least all get something for their entry fee. That being said, the player pack needs to be desireable without inflated prices being used.
As far as the Non-stop disc golf tour/DIO ---- this is a completely different monster. There is a total different mindset used in the payouts and Pat Govang i do not think had much to say about this. After all, he was the TD, but Dave Feldberg and crew were in charge of the payouts. They are traveling pros, some of the best in the world, and they are trying to make a living. Therefore, they are using the merch from their sponsors to generate funds to support their tour. They feel that it is a priveledge for a town to be able to have them there for the weekend. They run a clinic for the ams, trying to teach and spread the word. They run a tourny and payout using their merch, which i guess they think is enough for the ams. They increase the pro purse to attract more pros which hopefully will give more enjoyment to the ams, being able to see these top guys in their town throwing discs at their courses. There is nothing illegal about what they did in regards to PDGA sanctioning, but obviously the am payouts were very poor and we all know that. I also do not agree with paying out every Pro and only half of the Pro masters. I also disagree on the final 9, thinking that the top pro should have had a chance to play as well.
So this is where we have our issues. Is it worth small am payouts to enjoy a clinic and a weekend around the best players in the world? It is very difficult to attract the top touring pros unless you have a good payout. Trust me, I worked so hard to bring the pros to rochester and we had a huge turnout and it was a success. Having said that, I am considering trying to do it again next year, as long as we can get the pros to keep coming this way without having to compromise the am payout. i will continue to spread the wealth at my tourny's and hope that all of you appreciate how we run things in Rochester, especially now.
Well, that's my 2 cents.... Don't forget that some of the most important things are the people you play with, the enjoyment you get personally from the competition and from playing different courses in different cities, and just enjoying the positive vibes you get from the disc golf community. I know payout is important, but it's not everything and most people have more merch and discs then they know what to do with anyways.
So who is onboard to help for next year's RFDO to raise enough funds to make the ams and pro payouts HUGE !!!!! Lemme know cuz we are gonna get started soon for next year and gonna make it even bigger !!!
