One day or two day tourneys?

[stpitner]

This past weekend at Joliet was the first 2-day tourney that I've helped run.  I've been a vendor at 2 previous 2-day tourneys, but this weekend has brought up some interesting discussion points and thoughts.  As a TD trying to bring more to the table based on what the player want to see, I'm curious if people want to see more 2-day tourneys, more split day, more single day only, a good balance, or what?  I can see a lot of events not working in a 2-day format.  For example - Crystal Lake.  It makes for a good split day tourney as there are a lot of people that want to play.  Is it a good enough course to play the same thing 3-4 times for one tournament?  I don't think so.  I think at the minimum if it's going to be 2-day it needs to be either more than one course or at least 2 sets of tees at one course.  For instance, I had no problems playing East twice at the Rockford A-Tier in addition to West once and the temp course once.  If there was no temp course, would I want to do 2 rounds of East and 2 rounds of west?  Not so sure.  I liked the GPO setup of round at Morton, round at McNaughton, and then 27-holes next day at Lake Eureka.

I guess one main question is: are there as many players that would want to commit to a 2-day event?  If you're traveling, it almost guarantees a hotel overnight stay, food on the road, and other extra expenses.  A single day you can drop in and go home in one day.  I know the weather and time of year was a big factor, but based on the numbers this year it would seem that people prefer a single or split day tourney over a 2-day.

Thoughts?

[Jon Brakel]

I think you hit all the main variables there Scott. I think you need a fantastic course or more than one good course, you need good weather (people will be more willing to bet on the weather in July than in late October) and for pros you need added cash. The potential for extra cash for a pro means that he is more likely to risk more money (motel, food, etc.). I don't think any pros like to win an event but have the weekend be a loss in the wallet.

[Jwt4412]

This is a great question...

We are gambling that people will want to play a 2 day event.

So next year down in Springfield we are going to try it May 15th and 16th - B-tier and we already have the required added cash.

Saturday will be 2 rounds - Lincoln North from the Blues and Lincoln South in the short pin positions - Shotgun Start

Sunday will be 1 round - Lincoln South in the long pin positions with three additional holes - Staggered Start

So it will be 3 rounds at one park but only 1 of the holes will be played in the same layout twice - (current #9 on the South Course - it will be #11 after the new layout of 3 added holes on South course is finished.)

Camping will be available for less that $5.00 a day - as low as a $1.00 a day - hotels become the challenge but the 2 day format welcomes hotel stays and hotels are the potential sponsors that can be tapped for added cash...  stating the obvious.

We think Lincoln is good enough to host a 2 day event and that was reinforced by the feedback we got after Deaf Nationals spent a few days playing the course this last year.

We could be wrong and lose players because of the 2 day format - seems Joliet may have lost a few because of that... but we are going to give a go.

[Bruce Brakel]

In Texas and other parts of the country the two-day four-round tournament is the standard for a B-tier.  In Michigan one-day two-round B-tier tournaments have been common for a long time. 

The split-weekend sanctioned tournament was invented in the same season in Michigan and Minnesota for the same reason:  to allow more players to play in the state championship series tournaments.  TDs in both states and the PDGA then discovered that the tournament reporting spreadsheet was not able to cope if any player played both days in different divisions.  So now split-weekend tournaments have to submit separate sanctioning, results and TD reports for each day, but they only pay the sanctioning fee once. 

At a two-day tournament I expect something more than just four rounds of disc golf on really good courses.  At the Roscoe Pros we got a nice professional firework show on Saturday night, because it happened on 4th of July weekend.  At the Michigan State Championships we got state championships. 

Neither is better than the other.  You have to know your market, and sometimes you have to create your market. 

[Chainmeister]

A two day event is tough for anybody with a family that isn't already devoted to disc golf like the Brakels.  You have to be away the entire  weekend and likely the Friday beforehand.  This is a big commitment. If the tournament is something special it is worth taking an entire weekend.  For me its tough enough to take an entire day to play a tournament.  I agree with Bruce that four rounds on good courses is not enough. There has to be something more to ask for that kind of commitment. I would have loved to play a day at Joliet but there was not way I would play two.  What is that something special?  I am not sure but know that the Rockford A-Tier had it.  I was going to go to Wildcat Springs until a birthday party for a close friend got in the way.

[dana]

Sounds like 2010 will have a few more 2-day events than this year- GPO, IOS A-tier TBA, Springfield, Hamilton, Joliet Championships...maybe one if Scott does one?

I would love to see a 2 day event at Sinnissippi! 

[stpitner]

Dave - agree with your comments.  For me I'd say that Rockford A-Tier had it because a) it was a first, and b) Brett was setting up an 18-hole bite you in the butt temp course and people enjoy playing that stuff.  It was something different and unique.  I think if Joliet was earlier in the year and hyped better we would have done better - especially considering there was $1300 added cash to the pro purse - that almost meets A-Tier guidelines of $1500 added cash.

[stpitner]

Dana - at this time I probably wouldn't do a 2-day on my own (not enough people to pull it together), but I'm putting the feelers out there to see if that's what players want.  So it's certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.

It will be a lot of fun at Sinnissippi once the 2nd - 18-holer goes in!

[Dan Michler]

For me 2 day tourneys are a fun change of pace.  I like having more opportunites to move up the leaderboard and battling for twice as many rounds.

If they take place within an hour of home, then its no different than playing two 1 day events for me.  But if its outside 90 min from home, it becomes more difficult for me, or anybody else with a family, to committ.  I'm usually good for 3 or 4 two day events per year where I have to travel and stay overnight.

[kcunning]

I've only played one 2-day tournament and that was the A-tier last year at Rockford and that was great, it felt like an event.  If more tournaments were 2-day then I would probably end up playing even less tournaments than the few I play a year now.  It's hard enough to get out of the house for one day, let alone taking a Saturday off to play a two day thing.  If the Joliet Championships had been advertised way ahead of time, I'm talking like in spring of last year knowing for sure that it would happen, then I would have definitely saved a vacation day to use for that event.  I was bummed that I couldn't play.  If it's the same weekend next year I'll mark my calendar now!