So I TDed my first tournament over this past weekend, and the event was a great sucess for the masses. Personally, it wasn't too good for me, the player, as evidenced by the fact that I am frustrated still today after stinking up the course with my play during the event. I had heard that it is hard to play well in a tournament that you are TDing, but to me, I was playing on my home course that I play multilpe times a week, so I felt I should be just fine when I got out onto the course. Plus, I got to start both of my rounds on holes that were adjacent to the tournament headquarters, so I go to do my little putting routine on the same basket that I do my routine before I play every round at this course. But the magic was simply not there when I got onto the course, as both of my rounds were well below my rating as it was going into this weekend.

The one thing that felt differently for me from any other tournament that I have just been a "player" was that I did not get that "laid-back, being at a tournament, hanging with my buds and chillin'" feeling at all. It was alot like being at work to be honest. Maybe this is what put a pox on my game? Who knows?

I just put this up to get a feeling from other TDs on how they go about getting their golf game in order for an event in which they are the TD as well. I would be really interested to hear sucess stories that may be out there.

I remember the year I went to the WVO, TD Tony Ellis played in the final-showcase group of this A-Tier event while being the TD. Looking back on that today, after my first experience TDing, that was a HUGE accomplishment by him.

Put together a big volunteer crew. Run split weekend tournaments. Run your tournaments so that half the volunteers are playing one day and half are playing the other. Reimburse your volunteers for their entry fees out of the tournament profits.

Brett Comincioli does this and his rating for tournaments he helps run is about the same as for tournaments where he is a player only. On his day to play, he pretty much leaves the running of the tournament to eveyone else, except for he goes over course routing at the player meeting.

The other thing you could do is start playing the division indicated by your rating. Your reward for getting your butt kicked at the tournaments you run will be that you can kick some butt the other weekends. But only if you play in the division indicated by your rating.

Krupicka used to say my rating at tournaments I help run is 20 points lower. I think I turned that around this year.

I learned a long time ago that was it was very difficult to TD, assistant TD, or even help out while still playing disc golf up to my standards at the same time. Additionally, the quality and production of the tournament and the satisfaction of the event running without a hitch personally became much more important than playing in the event.

I agree with Jeff - You need to focus on running the event. The one event I've run so far I decided to skip playing the middle round to make certain that everything went off without a hitch. I'm sure some people have the support crew or the mentality to tear it up for a full tournament whilst running one. I am not one of those people.

My advice, having done this a few times, is to not play in events you TD. It only took me a couple of times trying it to realize that the tourney suffered and my game really suffered. I couldn't warm up properly because I was trying to get the tourney started or the cards turned around between rounds. I found myself worrying about turning the cards around when I needed to focus on playing. Tournament stuff I could do during the round when the players were out had to be squeezed into the pre and post round time, so the tourney suffered.

The best answer is to not play the tourney you run. It's funny because when you don't play, there is a lot of down time during the round that makes you think you should be able to play no problem. But using that down time to relax and prep for the post-round crunch-time and especially to prep for the awards during the last round is, IMHO, crucial to a smooth running event and a TDs sanity.

My advice, having done this a few times, is to not play in events you TD. It only took me a couple of times trying it to realize that the tourney suffered and my game really suffered. I couldn't warm up properly because I was trying to get the tourney started or the cards turned around between rounds. I found myself worrying about turning the cards around when I needed to focus on playing. Tournament stuff I could do during the round when the players were out had to be squeezed into the pre and post round time, so the tourney suffered.

The best answer is to not play the tourney you run. It's funny because when you don't play, there is a lot of down time during the round that makes you think you should be able to play no problem. But using that down time to relax and prep for the post-round crunch-time and especially to prep for the awards during the last round is, IMHO, crucial to a smooth running event and a TDs sanity.

Well said!

One of the worst parts of playing while TDing is lunch. With all the TD duties, you might eat but can't get the rest break everyone else does.

Another burden is building a mental list of things you'll need to do after your round, while trying to play.

When we hosted a tournament on our private course this year I chose not to play, even though I wanted to very badly. How relaxing! During the rounds, able to get all the TD stuff in order, do the financials, watch people play, take pictures, etc.

But....I know people who pull it off, especially if they have good staff, and particularly some non-playing staff, and manage to run a good tournament. After which, they probably sleep until Wednesday.

Krupicka used to say my rating at tournaments I help run is 20 points lower. I think I turned that around this year.

You did. It's now a statistical wash.

It's certainly difficult to both run an event and play well.
Disc Golf is largely a game of distraction management - and let's face it, there are a cajillion details running through your head on tournament day when you are the TD (any one of which could qualify as a major distraction).

I have done well in smaller events while being TD - because the amount of effort to pull it off is much less stressful than for larger events with more players.
The last couple years I decided not to play in the event I TD (The Seneca Soiree A Tier) - as I didn't feel I had the staff support to pull it off and play without the event suffering.

Fortunately - the locals saw this happening and stepped up their support so that I could once again play this year on the course that I helped to build.

With support in place for spotters, scoring, lunch, and basket moving - all I really had to worry about was doing the results and the purse management in between days - and I ended up taking 3rd this year - which I guess could be considered a success story :)

Absolutely the key is having support staff in place, having good communication up front on making sure essential elements are being taken care of, and minimizing the number of event details you have to cover yourself. Without that - Rhetts advice is probably the most sound - take pride in running the best event you can - and eliminate the stress about your playing performance by just not playing.

I really appreciate all the advice. It is very hard to switch from the mindset of a TD to that of a player on the fly, but also, sitting out a tournament on my home course is not an option to me. I guess I'll have to take what I learned from my first experience and try and make improvments next year, but in the end, having my tournament be a sucsess is more of a goal and more important to me and my local crew than playing well in the event itself.

A few tips or ideas:

Make yourself some notes now, that you can refer to next year, especially of anything you wish you'd done differently.

Be insanely organized. Checklists for everything, in the order you need to do them. Supplies and paperwork, organized in the order you'll need it (a stack or box for arrival; one for registration; one for player's meeting; one for lunch; one for awards, etc.) Everything that can possibly be done in advance, done so.

Have other staff volunteers with specific jobs, such as hanging banners, cleaning teepads, filling coolers, checking scores, etc., so you're not looking for someone to do something as the issue comes up.

Minimize how much you have to think about while playing.

Take off Monday to recuperate.

*

I am just wondering why it is not an option to sit out from playing? I do not see the correlation between your "home" course and any other course...

The way that I personally see is it that it is MAIN job as the TD is to make sure that the tournament runs smoothly without any problems AND to make sure that everyone that is playing has the best time as possible. For me personally, I do not think that I can provide this to the players that took the time and paid the money to come to my event if I decided to play. I get asked all the time why I don't play and I tell them, "My job is make sure that you all have a good time and not for me to have a good time."

I am not making a judgment on your tournament or your abilities however, I will say that I bet that the player's experience for your tournaments will most likely be better if you chose to not play in the tournament itself.

It's an option to TD and not play, but I can understand why it might not be the option someone chooses.

The thing about a tournament at your "home" course is that this may be the only chance you get to play a tournament on your home course. Especially if there's only one there a year, and you don't have a club with rotating TDs. The lure is even stronger if it's a good course that you'd really like to play a tournament on.

Another option is the play and not TD, of course.

But I've known TDs who manged both well, and played in their events where I couldn't say there was anything that would have been any better if the TD had not played.

I am not saying that it is impossible to do both of course...

It is just nice to be there when all of the players come in and field any comments or questions that they have. To have the ability to go out onto the course and making rulings if needed and this would be dually hard if a ruling come up in the division that you playing as you would need to have other a tour official that is not playing in your division on hand to take care of any problems. Yes, you can have staff members doing this but I see it as the job of the TD.

Small, unsanctioned events I play. Larger, sanctioned events I don't. I am the only TD for my club so I miss out on ALL of the sanctioned events on my "home" courses. To me that is just part of the gig...

I agree with all the TDs who are offering advice on how to run a tournament well, which is not what you wanted to know. If you want to run a tournament well, don't play it.

The one thing messed up that usually happens at a tournament where the TD plays it is an incredibly long wait from the end of the tournament until awards, because no one calculated payouts during the tournament.

Does anyone else have anything to add to a list of stuff that didn't need to happen but the TD went and played the tournament? :eek:

I've watched a TD at my local course run, oh, 2 dozen events in which he played, and never known of a problem that would have been lessened if he hadn't. It's a 2-day, and payouts are calculated Saturday night. Whichever staff gets off the course first starts checking scorecards, and sufficient volunteers help out.

One worry is that if a major unexpected issue occured and the TD was out on the course, there'd be a problem. A need for a weather delay, a need for an ambulance, a brawl, etc.

On the other hand, when I TD'd on my private course this year, I didn't play. Whether it may be the event better, I know not, but it was less stressful, and is preferable.

So I can see it both ways---at least for B & C tiers.

i've done it both ways. if i have sufficient volunteer staff to make sure the dinner is taken care of i'll play HHO in the fall- if not, i won't.

as to how to play well when td'ing... that takes a level of compartmentalization that i lack.

Haha,

Playing in my own events is probably the number one reason I'm not 1000 rated right now! I've run 6 C tiers over the last two years at my home course and last time I checked I was averaging mid 960's (This last update I finally bumped to 995). This past weekend I finally put together some decent golf and ended in a playoff for first place (got spit on the first playoff hole) and ended up second place. 1015 average for both rounds.

Oddly enough this was the biggest event of the six or seven I've run, it was a one day C tier with 77 players! I have always had a lot of help in between rounds (and the volunteer that helped set up the board shot the hot round from advanced and won his division) and that helps. I think the biggest difference between this event and previous ones was how comfortable I was with the process of running an event. Everything went very smooth and I got a lot of good feedback from the players. Its very hard not to get distracted during the round, and if it means that much then I would suggest not playing. As for me, I started running the dang things so I could play more tournaments! Good luck!

Sitting out a tournament on my home course, one that I am TDing is not an option for many reasons...5 minute drive to the venue versus traveling an hour to every other sanctioned tournament I play in...local knowlegde of the course to give me a slight advantage over my competition...I helped design the course, so I really covet playing it with players who are new to the course and see reactions to holes, fairways, etc.

I gave full preparation to the tournament as TD and was happy with the tournament as a result, I just played like crap on this particular day. My playing in the event never compromised the quality of the event whatsoever, as we stayed on schedule all day, and the awards ceremony started within 10 minutes after the last card was in from the final round (how many tournaments can boast that? ). This thread was started to gain insight on how to prepare and play in events that you are TDing as well, not should I play or not. Thanks to all who gave me insight on this.

OK, first, I'm just the ATD. What we do over here is try to get EVERYTHING done the day/night before. We don't allow "day of's". We set out all the payouts and package everything up. We set out Tee signs, print and prepare score cards and hole assignments. Literally, the only thing I do in the morning before round 1 is check people in with my laptop. There's always a few problems to take care of.

During lunch I enter all scores in my computer, sort by total, and print our new hole assignments for both courses.

However, even being as prepared as I can be, my play still suffers dramatically on my home courses. On a normal day I'll shoot a 0 or -1 on our harder course, on tournament day I shot a 9 over. It's just the nature of the beast.

You can help by preparing as much as possible, but I don't think you'll ever play as well as if you were a guest at someone else's tournament.

My advice would be to try and get some sleep the couple of days before the event. If you can.
Bob