What are peoples thoughts on the new Super Class discs & how do they relate to "real" Disc Golf?

What is " real" Disc Golf? Can a Super Class only tournament be anything more than a novelty to an already experienced disc golfer? Like a mini disc tournament? I can appreciate how using the familiar "Frisbee" could encourage new players to throw at there local course and I can also appreciate the challenge of navigating your local par 3 course the way it was originally designed to be played. But, I personally reject the statement that these new Super Class discs will be more like "real" golf due to increased emphasis on accuracy & touch VS technology & power. If anything Super Class disc golf is much less like "real" golf and I believe our discs should continue to fly farther & faster and that even the best courses of today will one day be just as obsolete as the short par 3 courses of our sports past. True par 4's & 5's don't need to be heavily wooded, the answer needs to be capable & inventive course designers with the vision needed to foresee the true direction this game is headed. So, while we wait for these next generation courses to be built, I suppose we should welcome the benefits of the Super Class for preserving our courses, growing our sport & challenging our game. What do you think?

[Bill Burns]

About 20 years ago, my golfing buddies started calling new discs "stress-tech" discs, because the courses that were in the ground at the time became birdie or die courses, and you stressed out if you didn't have a putt on every hole.

Until we get to the point where most DG courses are not guests of the local park dept or state park system, and we have true, exclusive, pay to play courses, using these SC discs will help bring back the art of the approach shot and will also be less hazardous to bystanders or other users of multi-use parks.

SC is not the future of the sport, those courses you described are, but those courses will be hard to come by in the future because of the amount of real estate they take up, unless they pay for themselves.

[Mongoose]

Bill Burns said:

Until we get to the point where most DG courses are not guests of the local park dept or state park system, and we have true, exclusive, pay to play courses, using these SC discs will help bring back the art of the approach

Does anyone really want to see exclusive pay to play courses? I certainly don't. One of the biggest draws of the sport is the extreme accessability of it. For my friends and I the idea of disc golf as an "every-man (or woman)" sport that only required one disc to play was the most appealing thing. Now I don't know anything about these Super Class discs, what they are, and how they differ from the popular discs. If someone would be willing to enlighten me that would be cool.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Zach. In your initial post it seems like you think the future of the game is going to rest strictly in wide open, long driving fairways, that wooded courses are unnecessarily complex? provide distance killing obstacles? I'm just trying to understand what you're saying, because if I'm right and you're right then disc golf is going to turn out to be golf with a frisbee. In that case what would be the point of the sport? Why not just pick up a set of clubs and Tiger it up at your local country club?

In my opinion golf is boring, but worse yet exclusive and inaccessible to many. So if things turn out that way, if disc golf courses abandon the balanced mix of high and low par holes, open drives and obstacles in favor of exclusively long open drives on courses where I will have to be a paying member to play I will toss my discs into the nearest water hazzard and quit. And I don't think that would be the future of disc golf, I think that would be the death of it.

[Steve]

I think that Disc golf is trying to appeal to, to many people. We don't need to please anyone if you don't like the sport how it is why do we need to change? If you don't like it tough, Dont play.

Not everyone plays golf but yet it is an extremely popular sport, even has its own freaking channel. Disc golf just isn't as out there as golf, Not as many people know about disc golf. I think rather than trying to lure in new players, we need to just let people know this sport exists. Im sure Discraft or Innova has enough money to maybe slap out a commercial on T.V. That would help lure in new people Im sure of it, everyone sits on there ass in front of the T.V. at some point in the day, Not everyone makes it to there local park to see flyers or players for that matter. So T.V. is a good way to reach people.

Why do we need to allow a special form of disc golf with almost regular Frisbees or Super Class? Its not like golf is going out making the balls bigger so there easier to hit for new players or making a new class for it, why should we as disc golfers? Mini discing is fun, but its extremely hard to find a tournament for it and I think thats the way it should be, and its not like there is a whole separate rating for mini discing or Class! Disc golf is the way it is for a reason one class, the one that counts. we don't need Super class. If you want to play your course with a regular Frisbee do it yourself we don't need to try to rope in new players with a special class for this.

In my opinion, Screw Super class. Par 3 courses are still difficult with the discs we have now, we don't need to throw a crappy disc to make it harder.

[Ryne]

From reading many different threads, I have come to the conclusion that most disc golfers do not want the sport to become just like ball golf. The fact of the matter is that disc golf (in its current state) is predominantly a par 3 game and there's nothing wrong with that. This is one of many differences that distinguishes the sport from ball golf. I am completely for the growth of the sport and it having more par 4's and 5's, but it seems to me that the most successful way of accomplishing this goal is by making the sport more popular. What is one of the main appeals that draws many to disc golf?: It's seeing people smash plastic way farther and way faster than they have ever seen a super-class style disc fly. If super class DG becomes more popular it will do two things: It will create a divide in the DG community between Super Classers and those that prefer the standard version. It will also take away from some of the excitement that new players feel the first time they see a huge drive because there may be more people using super class discs. Super Class discs are associated with the beach and college campuses, using true golf discs takes the sport away from this preconception about frisbee being a game and shows people that there is a serious flying disc "sport" (no offense to ultimate players, your pure athleticism helps you give off the "sport" vibe.)

Growing Super Class disc golf will make DG more like ball golf, will create a negative divide in the DG community, will take away from the excitement of the sport and will blur the line between frisbee games and disc sports robbing DG of some of the true sport credibility that we have all attempted to bring to the game.

[Hootie]

Ryne, I dont agree. Other sports have different classes within the one sport, and it has not negatively affected the sport (look at archery, you have compound shooters, recurve shooters, barebow shooters, longbow shooters, then you have target, field and bowhunting!). The one argument that I think may be valid (at least where disc golf is very popular) is that it MAY increase wait times at tees, which would suck a bit. But lets give this new variation of disc golf a "fair go" before we start rejecting it out of hand. Lets see what US (the disc golf community) feel about it, after all its up to us as to whether we like it or not, and ultimately whether or not it will flourish or die. What will divide disc golfers is if some of us reject Super Class without even giving it a chance, as then there'll be problems between the two groups, which IS something we want to avoid.

Maybe go and have a throw before we reject this idea, I know that I for one can appreciate a huge 50-foot gliding approach shot that seems to hang in the sky forever just as much as I enjoy watching a huge ripping 500 foot drive! The PDGA would not be supporting it unless at least some of its members are supporting it, so someone must be pushing to get this class introduced.

And as for that talk about the future of disc golf, I agree that it looks like the sport is going longer and longer, but I know I love having to THINK about my throw if I have a difficult lie, and tighter technical holes force you to do this more often, and to practice throws like thumbers, tomahawks, rollers, skip shots, grenades, etc. Also, players who may not have the strength to throw long distances or are just starting out in the sport may not be able to get the huge distance required to play these longer courses, which means that they will get discouraged quicker and maybe give the sport away, which is another thing we have to be careful to avoid. There'll always be a place for shorter, tighter and more technical courses, and it adds variety to the sport, which makes it more interesting for everyone. From what I've heard, in the Japan Open you're only allowed to throw 150-class discs, and a lot of the worlds top pros play that tournament, so different classes are already within disc golf, this is just a new option for people to try.

And by the way Steve, about ball golf using bigger balls and clubs to entice younger players? Do a google search for SUPA GOLF..... and it is pretty popular over here.

Why do we have to reject something without even trying it? Also, disc golf (especially in the Open Division) IS getting more and more like ball golf.... watch some of the DVDs and you'll see long, well-manicured fairways and mostly pretty wide open holes (exactly like ball golf). Is it such a crime if a group of players want to put the focus back on accuracy rather than who can throw the longest? I don't know whether I will be a regular Super Classer or not (I'll let you know once I've thrown them a bit), but I'm not going to criticise a new initiative before I have a chance to try it and THEN judge it on its merits.

[Mike Inscho]

http://pdga.com/super-class

Here's PDGA info on the new super class if anyone's interested in reading about it. I say let's give it a fair go. The more people promoting the sport, the more disc golf is going to become known

Take it easy.

[OLI]

Ryne said:

If super class DG becomes more popular it will do two things: It will create a divide in the DG community between Super Classers and those that prefer the standard version. It will also take away from some of the excitement that new players feel the first time they see a huge drive because there may be more people using super class discs. Super Class discs are associated with the beach and college campuses, using true golf discs takes the sport away from this preconception about frisbee being a game and shows people that there is a serious flying disc "sport" (no offense to ultimate players, your pure athleticism helps you give off the "sport" vibe.)

Growing Super Class disc golf will make DG more like ball golf, will create a negative divide in the DG community, will take away from the excitement of the sport and will blur the line between frisbee games and disc sports robbing DG of some of the true sport credibility that we have all attempted to bring to the game.

Yeah! What he said. Why the hell do we need anything else? It is hard enough to promote the game down here, let alone having two forms of the same game running side by side.
I do believe however, that most disc golfers who enjoy the current game, will not embrace super class. Who wants to throw shorter distances? Not me.

[Hootie]

Well, maybe with Super Class there would not need to be as many different player classes, which would make things less complicated for TDs and player alike, and may also decrease instances of sandbagging as well. It sounds like Super Class is taking the focus off raw power and strength, and replacing it with accuracy and "touch". This starts to level the playing field, and may mean that eventually women and men could compete equally for the same prizes in Super Class. Its funny, all the disc golfers I've spoken to complain about how few women play, but when a class tries to establish itself that could possibly mean that women may not be so intimidated by the "bigger tougher" men (which might mean a LOT more female players), we get all these people complaining about it?

I would love to hear what some of the lady disc golfers think about the Super Class, and the pros (both male and female) as well.

[Zach Richer]

Mongoose said:

Bill Burns said:

Until we get to the point where most DG courses are not guests of the local park dept or state park system, and we have true, exclusive, pay to play courses, using these SC discs will help bring back the art of the approach

Does anyone really want to see exclusive pay to play courses? I certainly don't. One of the biggest draws of the sport is the extreme accessability of it. For my friends and I the idea of disc golf as an "every-man (or woman)" sport that only required one disc to play was the most appealing thing. Now I don't know anything about these Super Class discs, what they are, and how they differ from the popular discs. If someone would be willing to enlighten me that would be cool.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Zach. In your initial post it seems like you think the future of the game is going to rest strictly in wide open, long driving fairways, that wooded courses are unnecessarily complex? provide distance killing obstacles? I'm just trying to understand what you're saying, because if I'm right and you're right then disc golf is going to turn out to be golf with a frisbee. In that case what would be the point of the sport? Why not just pick up a set of clubs and Tiger it up at your local country club?

In my opinion golf is boring, but worse yet exclusive and inaccessible to many. So if things turn out that way, if disc golf courses abandon the balanced mix of high and low par holes, open drives and obstacles in favor of exclusively long open drives on courses where I will have to be a paying member to play I will toss my discs into the nearest water hazzard and quit. And I don't think that would be the future of disc golf, I think that would be the death of it.

[Zach Richer]

Thanks for the responses, I just wanted to hear what people had to say about all this. I in no way meant to suggest that courses need to be wide open & less technical. We need courses that require every shot in the bag, smart course design with technical upshots, Winthrop Gold comes to mind. Disc Golf will never be just Golf with a Frisbee, our sport is fundamentally different in many ways. No one wants our future courses to be just long wide-open fairways, we simply need to realize that these new longer courses require a true disc golf course designer with real talent. Graduated tee boxes will help keep these courses enjoyable & competitive for different abilities. Just as bringing new AMs to the sport will help grow the game which ultimately benefits the worlds top pros. Having world class courses to showcase the true talents & complexities of disc golf would hopefully further legitimize the game we love, as well as, inch us toward the chance of making a living throwing discs. Just as in ball golf, not everyone has dreams of making it big on the pro tour but, when we begin to see bigger money in the sport, players of all skill levels will benefit.

Zach said:

Mongoose said:

Bill Burns said:

Until we get to the point where most DG courses are not guests of the local park dept or state park system, and we have true, exclusive, pay to play courses, using these SC discs will help bring back the art of the approach

Does anyone really want to see exclusive pay to play courses? I certainly don't. One of the biggest draws of the sport is the extreme accessability of it. For my friends and I the idea of disc golf as an "every-man (or woman)" sport that only required one disc to play was the most appealing thing. Now I don't know anything about these Super Class discs, what they are, and how they differ from the popular discs. If someone would be willing to enlighten me that would be cool.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Zach. In your initial post it seems like you think the future of the game is going to rest strictly in wide open, long driving fairways, that wooded courses are unnecessarily complex? provide distance killing obstacles? I'm just trying to understand what you're saying, because if I'm right and you're right then disc golf is going to turn out to be golf with a frisbee. In that case what would be the point of the sport? Why not just pick up a set of clubs and Tiger it up at your local country club?

In my opinion golf is boring, but worse yet exclusive and inaccessible to many. So if things turn out that way, if disc golf courses abandon the balanced mix of high and low par holes, open drives and obstacles in favor of exclusively long open drives on courses where I will have to be a paying member to play I will toss my discs into the nearest water hazzard and quit. And I don't think that would be the future of disc golf, I think that would be the death of it.

[DC ( DISCFUNCTIONAL CHRIS )]

i agree with hootie, a little tollerence of something new isnt to much to ask, as a diehard disc golfer i will be the first to admitt that personally i dont have nor probably will i ever have the urge to play super golf, although i can see the appeal that it might have to some people, say older folks or real young players or ladys, as far as longer waiting times on the teepads for groups of super golf players to play out, i dont think you are going to see a big explosion of players taking to super golf in a way that it is going to slow up play for everyone else on a consistant basis, lets face it, i dont know how it is for all of you at your local courses but here in ohio most days you almost own the course when you go play, even weekends there might be 5 to 7 groups of players out on the course tops, so i feel like, hey if it brings more people to the sport and gives the parks another reason to keep putting in new courses or maintaining the ones we have, well i am all for it !

[Mongoose]

Thanks Zach for clearing up your position. I think I understand what you're saying now, and have to say that I agree with you and your assesment of future course design. I for one would love to see courses that vary between short techinical holes and long drives.

Though it might not have been clear earlier, I don't really have an opinion on Super Golf one way or the other except to say that I won't be going out of my way to try it out or learn more about it. My comments were more in reaction to the thought of moving the sport into the "pay to play" genre that traditional golf is in.

Thanks to everyone who has been so informative!