Polls

Poll 14: How many people have you introduced to disc golf?

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Before we hit up this week’s poll, we need to look back at last week’s edition.

This one as quite interesting, to say the least.

We wanted to know what you would find worthy of paying $5 or $10 per round. Now, we knew that there would be some who would be fully against paying to play.

That, to me, is interesting. Mainly because it does cost something, at times, to keep things right at a nice park. Even if it’s just the mowing or making sure things are cleaned up/cleared out. Someone has to foot some sort of bill.

The numbers were interesting. Please remember that we allowed each voter to pick upwards of two choices. We had 175 voters.

The top choice received 111 votes — pristine maintained course. That was 63 percent of the vote! It was closely followed by on-site facilities (93 votes/53 percent). In third was disc-golf only course (39 votes/22 percent) and, in fourth, was those who will only play free courses (17 votes/10 percent). Tee times took fifth with 12 votes (7 percent).

So for those who would pay to play, we wanted to know what you would expect to see…

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Poll 13: What would be worth paying for?

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How was the weather near all of you this weekend? The Northeast wasn’t too bad as we dodged and ducked thunderstorms and rain, but there were periods of sun. That allowed many to get out and chuck some discs!

The new poll is below and we’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s look back to last week’s poll and some answers. We asked our readers what it was going to take to push disc golf into the mainstream. We had 82 voters in this poll.

The majority of readers said a major sponsorship would be key. That garnered 24 percent of the choices (20 votes). Following in second with 20 percent (16 votes), was the choice that they don’t think disc golf will become a disc golf sport.

Rounding out the top five were recreational participation reaches critical mass (18 percent/15 votes); popularity among children and teens (17 percent/14 votes); and the popularity of the professional tour (9 percent/7 votes).

There were also some comments to think about.

Ryan Rintala says:

Imagine if a major sponsor like Nike or Adidas got involved? I mean if they came out with a disc golf shoe… and it was placed in a mainstream store like Footlocker, or Champ sports. Just the fact of a shoe being created would make the youth and people in general curious enough to look it up Google. And that is all you need, just a little curiosity created from a mainstream sponsor.

This is a great point because Keen already has a men’s and women’s shoe made for disc golf. But, Keen isn’t Nike or Adidas. And being I’ve heard other people talk about Nike and Adidas in the past in hopes for a disc golf shoe, I wonder how many people know Keen even has this shoe. Companies like Nike and Adidas getting involved with disc golf could be a game changer, for sure.

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Poll 12: What will send the sport to the mainstream?

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Before we get to this week’s poll, allow me to apologize for the tardy post. With the long weekend here in the States, it’s been one of those things. Lots to do and not enough time, right?

I hope all of you who had the long weekend had the chance to get out and enjoy the weather (maybe?), flip some discs or do whatever else.

Anyway, with that out of the way, allow me to try and get things back on track. The poll is a day late this week, so let’s make up some time.

Before we get to this week’s poll, let’s go back to last week’s poll as we have some things to give away.

The idea of last week’s poll was to have some fun and be humorous. A lot of people posted their “reaction” in a serious tone, which is fine. But a few things about the said situation I made up —

  • I’m quite sure no pro would ever act that way (I hope).
  • If all of you could react calmly given the situation, you are better than I would be.

A total of 48 people votes on this one and the big winner was “Humorously,” which garnered 21 votes (44 percent). Calmly (12 votes/25 percent) finished second, followed by angry (7 votes/15 percent) and other (7 votes/15 percent). Crazy only got one vote (one percent).

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Poll 11: How do you react?

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OK, I’m going to be honest — this week’s poll is a hypothetical one that is supposed to give readers the chance to have fun with their responses in the comments section. You don’t have to take it seriously.

In fact, we’re going to have a little fun with it as well.

Answer the question in the poll as normal and then comment. We’re going to do the normal where we’ll give away something from the prize vault for a random commenter.

BUT…

We’re also going to give away some plastic via “Staff Choice.” Basically, it comes down to this — if you create the funniest or most entertaining answer and our staff votes you the winner — you’ll have the disc sent to you. I’m not sure what kind of disc I’ll give away, but you’ll get some plastic if you win!

Anyway, before we get into that, let’s look at last week’s poll about whether or not you are PDGA members.

Of 72, voters, 75 percent said they were current PDGA members. That’s 54 votes. Further, three more votes (4 percent) said they were members, but not current. That means 21 percent (15 votes) of those voting are not PDGA members.

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Poll 10: Are you a PDGA member?

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It’s been a little while since our last poll, so it’s time for a new one.

Before we hit it up, let’s check out our last one which asked if you followed the National Tour.

Though things started out a bit different early, it ended up showing that the majority of those who voted do, indeed, follow the tour.

Of the 69 who voted, 40 (58 percent) said yes. Next was 15 people (22 percent) who didn’t know there was a tour and then 14 (20 percent said they didn’t follow it).

Let’s see what some of the readers had to say.

Ryan Clements noted:

I’m aware that there is a tour. It’s just not something I follow.

I’ve been told that, personally, by many people. It’s good that people are aware of it, but for the tour to have impact, casual players will eventually have to have an interest in watching etc.

Jorey C. McComas said:

Love watching the Pros. I enjoy watching a tourney and then trying to play the course as close to their lines as possible. Doesn’t work out on the holes where you need a 400+ throw to clear their line, but fun trying the shorter stuff.Love watching the Pros. I enjoy watching a tourney and then trying to play the course as close to their lines as possible. Doesn’t work out on the holes where you need a 400+ throw to clear their line, but fun trying the shorter stuff.

That’s one big reason I like to watch the Tour — especially in person — is their ability to throw these discs. It really is amazing watching what they can do with one.

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Poll 9: The National Tour

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Before we get to this week’s poll, let me say this — some of you golfers play a lot in the span of the week!

And, well, I’m a bit jealous.

See, the nearest “true” course to me is about a 1:20 drive away. And though it’s not too bad if you play a couple of rounds, the economy will tell you that it’s not something that’s feasible to do every day!

So, I go when I can. There are talks, hopes and plans of a course or two in our area, though, so I can hope one day I’ll be playing as much as some of you!

Anyway, let’s check out the results of last week’s poll

We had 126 voters and the winning choice was 3-4 rounds per week, which received 32 percent of the vote with 40 people making that their choice. Next was 1-2 rounds with 33 votes (26 percent) and then 5-6 rounds per week with 26 votes (21 percent). The next was 7-9 rounds (12 percent/15 votes) and 10 or more (9 percent/12 votes).

Brian Buller notes:

It usually varies week to week for me, but on average I would say about 5-6 per week. If I could, I would have a minimum of 3 rounds per day but it’s hard getting out there very often without a car.

Three rounds per day? That would be a lot of disc throwing if you could pull that off!

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Poll 8: Rounds per week

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It appears disc golfers don’t overdo it when it comes to PDGA-sanctioned tournaments.

In last week’s poll, when we asked our readers how many PDGA tournaments they would play in this year, the winning answer was 3-6.

It makes me wonder if we should have just said tournaments? After all, there are doubles tournaments, non-sanctioned local tournaments and other ideas. But, it’s also interesting to see how many PDGA tournaments, because one pays the membership fee to be part of the organization.

Maybe we’ll re-visit this later in the year and make it overall tournaments and see how many tourneys people actually played in.But for now, let’s see how the vote turned out. A total of 86 people voted.

The winning selection of 3-6 tournaments received 29 votes (34 percent). In second was 1-2 tournaments with 19 votes (22 percent). Third was 7-10 with 13 votes (15 percent), followed by none (11 votes/13 percent).

It’s interesting to have the “none” vote that high. Is it that people are not playing in PDGA tournaments or none at all? Either way, it’s intriguing to me as I think it might show the more casual side of this sport and how beneficial it can be etc.

Let’s see what some people said for last week’s poll.

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Poll 7: Tournament count this year?

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Before we get to this week’s poll, let’s take a peek back at last week’s answers and responses.

We asked our readers why they played disc golf. And, I have to be honest, I did not expect the winning vote — exercise.

A total of 94 people cast votes for this poll (voters were able to choose up to two answers). Exercise garnered 34 percent (32 votes) of the poll. Being out in nature followed in second with 27 percent of the vote (25 votes).

Hanging out with friends placed third (23 percent/22 votes), and competition (22 percent/21 votes) placed fourth. Relaxing and watching the disc fly tied for fifth (21 percent/20 votes).

It’s funny, because I’ve heard so many people say disc golf isn’t exercise. I’ve even heard disc golfers say that. And it makes me scratch my head. I always thought getting out, being active, walking a couple of miles and working different parts of your body would be exercise, no?

It’s not running a marathon, but it’s exercise. I’ve left many tournaments knowing the next day I was going to feel it.

So, it makes me smile knowing exercise was the top vote getter (it was one of the ones I personally voted for, along with hanging out with friends).

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Poll 6: Why do you play disc golf?

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You disc golfers really do enjoy carrying plastic when you play some disc golf, eh?

Last week’s poll, “How many discs do you carry during a round?” really showed that golfers like having discs with them.

We had 468 voters cast a ballot in the latest poll and the winning selection — with 155 votes (33 percent) — was carrying 16-20 discs. In second — with 140 votes (30 percent) — was 11-15 discs.

That’s a lot of plastic!

To show more proof of that? Third place with 21 or more discs, which garnered 86 votes (18 percent). In fourth was 6-10 discs (71 votes/15 percent), followed by 2-5 discs (15 votes/3 percent) and one disc (1 vote).

The reasons for how many discs are carried differ — some carried more in tournaments, some in casual rounds (to test/break in discs). Some just carried a lot of discs. Other didn’t carry as many.

This is definitely a personal preference!

Reader Heymo says carrying 10 discs is all that can fit in the bag for now.

I’m trying to keep my bag simple and learn how certain discs fly first. … Once I have the feeling that I actually know what I’m doing with those discs I will probably branch out, but this might be a while.

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Poll 5: How many discs do you carry during a round?

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The world of disc golf bags seems to be quite large.

There’s not just a few you can look through to see which one you like best — there are so many! That showed in last week’s poll when we asked our readers what kind of bag they used.

A total of 228 people votes in this poll with the winner being an Innova bag with 59 votes (26 percent). Fade was second with 46 votes (20 percent), followed by Revolution (29 votes/13 percent) and GripEQ (27 votes/12 percent).

The fifth spot went to other brand — so 22 voters use a brand we didn’t list.

There were some interesting bags mentioned, too. Reader Chris Leo talked very highly about the Mystery Ranch Golf Mahal bag. If you haven’t seen one of these yet, follow the link. Wow. Talk about being able to pack a lot of stuff. I’m sure this bag wouldn’t be for a lot of people, but it could be used in a lot of situations!

There also seems to be some love for the GripEQ bags. In the research I’ve done, they seem like a great backpack bag.

At least one reader mentioned being ready to downsize their bag — and I’m on the same page there. Though I love the revolution bag I carry, the reality is I don’t need something that size all the time. So I might be looking to find a good, rugged bag for casual rounds so I can carry fewer discs and have a lighter walk.

One other thing I noticed with some of the responses were people saying they had more than one bag they used. I assume that it’s the difference between serious and casual play. Either way, it seems to be a logical choice for some to have this sort of a setup.

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