Would you pay to play?

How much would you pay &
Would the course have to be phenomenal.
Or have tons of events......
What if you could buy property on or next to the course to build a house?
What do you think?

[Mike]

Benny D said:

Think that's crazy? How much do you pay to ski? How much do you pay to go bowling? How much do you pay to see a movie?

To ski I pay $99 for a season pass, bowling $1.50 a game, movie $7. Now take into consideration the operating expenses of a ski area, a bowling alley, or a movie theater (staff, electric, property tax...etc). There is no way a discgolf course spends more money on upkeep or staff or power than a ski area, or a bowling alley or a movie theater. You have to compare apples to apples.

We arent talking about $20 per day to play. I think that the season pass thing is the way to go. Hudson Mills here in Michigan, charges $25 for a season park pass, and $50 for a season disc golf pass. $75 for a year for two great 24 hole courses, a concession area, nice bathrooms, beverage/snack cart. And it is far from snobby uptight country club environment. You can bet people aren't breaking 40oz bottles over baskets, but I don't really think that is part of this sport.

[Derek Tonn]

EXCELLENT response (apples to apples), Mike!

That's the thing. Our town spent $7,200 on a 12-hole disc golf course in 2006. Tee signs, 12 DISCatchers, 100 Innova discs to sell in our adjacent Community Center, and Bill Ashton's Sure-Putt game. That also included use of the public land and Bill Ashton's course design and installation help.

Since the course opened 28 months ago, the city has also spent maybe an extra four hours/month, April to October, mowing (areas that weren't already being mowed), and all the rest has been 100% volunteers. It's a pretty nice course too...fun shots, minor elevation changes, wooded holes and open holes, 5 holes adjacent to water, etc. Never too crowded (not nearly crowded ENOUGH, if you ask me), well maintained, good signage, good scorecards, etc.

If we charged a buck or two per round to play the course, we might have extra money for Eddie Bauer edition tee pads or gold-plated signage. :-P However:

1. How do we enforce the collection of money?
2. How much will it cost to ENSURE the collection of money?
3. How many newbies might not play if they had to pay to play?

Again, not saying Pay to Play is bad. I'm just saying that FREE to Play isn't. ;-) Not bad for the sport, not bad for recruitment and outreach, not bad for the creation of fun/interesting courses, etc.

[Gary Burdick]

Ben Calhoun said:

How about this? It would suck if all you had nearby was a very nice, but 5$+ a round course to play. If you could have that and another (or multiples of each type) less well maintained, overcrowed hooligan course around to play when you cannot afford 5$, then I don't have a problem with that. Since I can play what I consider a top notch course for free without having to even hop in the car, I find little reason to go out and pay 2$ and 4$ in gas to go play another, spending an hour in the car on top of that.

[Bogeyman]

Benny D said:

If you could produce disc golf's answer to Augusta National, I'd gladly pay $10-15/round, $20/day to play. Think that's crazy? How much do you pay to ski? How much do you pay to go bowling? How much do you pay to see a movie?

Humm, I live in Colorado and don't ski because of the "COSTS", I don't do bowling anymore and the last movie I saw cost me "$1.50" as I only go to the local, CHEAP Movie theaters, ya I'm POOR! $20 bucks a DAY to play DG, ain't no way, I'd give up DG and just go ride my bicycle for exersize and to be outdoors!! I guess there's a LOT of very well off DG players out there, I got into DG cause it was a CHEAP recreational activity, with basicly FREE, ie: no money out of my pocket Community Park Courses, if I gota Pay large green fees, I might as well switch to Ball Golf, LOL, at least my 50+ year old friends could understand wasting hard earned cash on Ball Golf! I can see it now, the local community DG courses close and you have to join the Pikes Peak DG Country Club and have a platinum VISA card to play, arrrrrrrugh, won't that be fun! :(

[Disc Player Sports]

Why do these posts turn into an us versus them?
Don't see top disc golfers pulling down million dollar salaries anytime soon.
Nor does it seem plausible that a 'greens fee' for disc golf is going to exceed that of $10 for a "home" or "private" courses either.
Personally play mostly on "public courses.' Since that is what is available.
When local clubs rely on volunteerism, it always seems to have major problems, with some never being happy about anything.
Believe though that for families to be involved and be safe, private will eventually draw more people.
Understand that disc golf is NOT FREE. And the public park systems need back up. Disc golfers NEED to be respectful of everyone in that park. Unfortunately one's persons rudeness to the right person could remove that course. No not all people are alike, but don't tell that to that angry taxpayer!
If you believe it or not someone will eventually figure a way to make a Disc Golf Course profitable.
And decide that their course will not be about charity.
How many of you that say you will never pay, be the first in line for a Disc Golf job? On a profitable disc golf course?
All of you would. (Its amazing how everyone believes that they ARE the expert in disc golf).
Keep an open mind and wait and see what the future holds.......

[Chuck Kennedy]

Morley Field in San Diego has been a successful public/private P2P partnership for years. Of course, it's essentially been a monopoly for all those years.

There's a middle ground between "free" courses and P2P. That's setting up a way to generate income from the fact that players are coming to the course. There are free courses where an independent vendor (or sometimes the city) has the contract arranged with the city to sell discs and snacks from a permanent or mobile booth at the park. That's actually how Dave Moody produced a chunk of the income to build his private course east of Austin, TX. He operated a portable trailer at an Austin DG course and provided a pre-arranged cut to the city. This is a win-win scenario which keeps costs down for the players but produces some income to help improve the course.

[Garrett Graham]

I bought my yearly pass ($50) for the metro park system here in Michigan so i guess my answer is yes. I don't see a problem with pay to play as long as the courses are worth it.

[John Sturtevant]

I would pay to play if I were visiting another city or private course. I have already payed for a season pass for the state parks here in Michigan so I can play DG at Fort Custer. I have helped install baskets there, groom courses etc... For me it's fun and the course is great. The park also has fishing, camping, mountain biking, canoeing/kayaking.

I can see paying $2.00 bucks a round or $5.00 a day for play at private courses. But as other have said before, they need amenities like bathrooms, actually just bathrooms would be great. It would be a good idea for private course with pro shops to offer a free round for each disc you buy.

[Derek Tonn]

Good reply, Chuck.

Actually, that's something I forgot to mention in my previous posting. Our local 12-holer that cost $7,200 to build (with lots of "extras" included) ALSO has generated about $2,000 in advertising revenues to off-set some of those costs as well. That $2,000 has come from tee sign sponsorships. Area businesses buy the right to place their logo/info on one tee sign for $125 (now $150), with 100% of that money going towards future course improvements and expansion.

That's not to mention the fact that about half of all players on our course currently travel here from other communities mostly within a 30-45 minute radius...with informal surveys indicating that we've made about $2,000-$3,000/year in sales at area businesses from those players (mostly restaurants...but some gas/snack purchases and a couple nights' stays in our local Microtel).

Disc golf isn't "free"....it's an investment. Our community invested $7,200 in 2006 and has made roughly $7,000 of that money back in 28 months, with the only added expenses being the four extra hours/month for mowing. Our local parks and trail committee also recouped non-monetary benefits on that investment by finding a brush/litter monkey (me) donating HUNDREDS of hours to keeping that course and its adjacent/intermingling trails spotless.

Players are already spending gas money to come and play, and are also purchasing goods and services at our area businesses. Shouldn't that be part of the complete equation when determining "free" versus "pay to play?" I don't personally make any money for any of my efforts on the course, but I don't do it for money. I do it for kids, the community and (selfishly) myself and my "spare tire"...giving me a fun course three blocks away to play versus having to drive nine miles to the nearest course.

[Benny D]

Mike said:
"To ski I pay $99 for a season pass, bowling $1.50 a game, movie $7. Now take into consideration the operating expenses of a ski area, a bowling alley, or a movie theater (staff, electric, property tax...etc). There is no way a discgolf course spends more money on upkeep or staff or power than a ski area, or a bowling alley or a movie theater. You have to compare apples to apples."

I was speaking more of the entertainment value of these activities rather than actual operating costs vs. products and services. No one is suggesting dg course maintenance is on a similar level as ski area upkeep.

Congratulations though, Mike. You're very thrifty.

[Jack Moore]

theres a new Discgolf course setup on a ball golf course in Hemet, Ca. I want to go check out.

[Josh Hobbs]

yes. if it meant the upkeep and condition to keep the course alive. a few bucks wouldn't hurt every now and then.