With a BGDGC meeting coming up in a few weeks I want to hear from all the players that enjoy this tournament. I was reading the Top 10 tourney thread and alot of people put the BG Ams as one of their favorites. But no tournament is ever perfect so I want hear from those of you who have played what you recommend to improve this tournament. As the BGDGC President my job isnt just to cater to BG players, but to any and all who play disc golf. So please feel free to offer suggestions, criticisms, and vicious remarks. I will reply to all your messages in a timely manner, and if I feel they're valid suggestions/criticisms I'll be sure to add them to the agenda for our next club meeting.

I have played there over 5 years and I enjoyed the competition tremendously. A couple of suggestions for Hobson.

Clean up the down debris and trees before the tourny. Maybe this has been done by now but as of last year it had not.
Maybe somehow figure out how to get new pads in that course.

The rest of the courses are very enjoyable.

You have the Biggest AM tourny in the country, there is no reason all the courses should NOT look awesome.

My 2 cents.

Last year the only flaw in an awesome BG experience was the transportation nightmare. Myself (intermediate) and my little brother (juniors) were both there with one car. I wound up riding around with the course supervisor in his truck, which was not a bad experience, but I know my dad was not happy about me hopping in the car with a person he had never met and driving off. I know there were others in similar situations, because my dad took four other juniors in the car with him.

I don't know if this is too cost prohibitive, but I think it would be a huge improvement if there was some sort of transportation (Mini-buses, Full-size Vans...) available to the courses from the tournament headquarters. If it is too expensive to do this for everyone, you should at least look in to doing it for the juniors, as that is where the problem is most extreme.

I am sure there are people who would happily fork over the extra couple of bucks for a bus ticket, in order to assure that themselves or their child will get to the course and back safely.

The players party ran out of food way too early.

Players pack was AWESOME!!!!

The courses were AWESOME!!

The drive between courses was a little far.

The tournament ran smooth and is in my top 5!
Take care
Sammy Shaheen aka Louisville Disc Golf Club Treasurer

The only problem i had last year was friday night check in. inside it was run great. i wasn't in a 2 hour line like in 2004 but outside the parking sucked. with close to 600 people this year with probably 300 cars it will be a nightmare. could you stagger signup? maybe advance can sign up at 5 and other divisions start at 6. that would hopefully clear out some of the traffic.

: ) :

The only problem i had last year was friday night check in. inside it was run great. i wasn't in a 2 hour line like in 2004 but outside the parking sucked. with close to 600 people this year with probably 300 cars it will be a nightmare. could you stagger signup? maybe advance can sign up at 5 and other divisions start at 6. that would hopefully clear out some of the traffic.

: ) :



That's a great idea. Man, 04 was rough, that hallway was HOT.
I never was a fan of the 2m rule at Keriakes. OB's should be in effect at White, that was cool last year.

at least we had the security guard to keep us entertained in 04

: ) :

So far I'm seeing improvements for Hobson and a need for transportation and different sign in times.

Hobson is already being worked on, and it may be redesigned in 2008. I do like the different sign in times idea, and will definitely run that by at the next club meeting. For transportation, I will talk to the Warren Co. Board of Education and see if they can loan some busses if theyre not too expensive. These will be brought up at the next meeting and I will provide you with the answers after that.

I remember everything running smooth last year, the only improvement i could think of is more <font color="blue">water </font> on the courses.

I originally wrote down these comments in late April 2006.
PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE COMMENTS MADE ABOUT THE ADVANCED WOMEN. THEY GOT SCREWED LAST YEAR!


Things that worked well this year:

Lead-Up
- I thought you made really good use of the website and various message boards. It was really easy to get on-line and find information.

- It was easy to register. I know a lot of people used titledisc without problems and I managed to use snail-mail without incident.

- The regular updates of the list of those registered was great.

Friday Night
- -Sign-In was a breeze. Parking was a little problematic but that was to be expected.

- -The players pack was amazing. But go ahead and tell us what to expect to find...the rumours are killer.

Saturday/Sunday:
- Good course TDs � HB White was great. Very helpful in all ways. My understanding is that the other TDs were equally wonderful.

Things that I think need to be fixed:
- Too many people are happy with this being the BIGGEST tournament and not the BEST tournament. On more than one occasion last weekend I heard people say something along the lines of, �this is the biggest tournament in the nation. It doesn�t need to be perfect because it is the biggest. It will always draw people�. I don�t believe that to be true. Just look at what happened to the Advanced Women. I think some of that group won�t be back. (Dec 2006 - I am happy to see this thread!!)

- The Advanced Women need to be compensated. Bumping them to lesser courses on Sat morning after they made the commitment to travel and play the world class courses was WRONG. For 2007 you need to treat the women very well.

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.

- There needs to be better maps and directions. Directions to each course from another course doesn't help...especially when it is based off the Advance courses. A photocopy of real map of the area would be ideal.

- More info about sponsors, especially those local establishments offering food and drink specials.

I originally wrote down these comments in late April 2006.
PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE COMMENTS MADE ABOUT THE ADVANCED WOMEN. THEY GOT SCREWED LAST YEAR!


Things that worked well this year:

Lead-Up
- I thought you made really good use of the website and various message boards. It was really easy to get on-line and find information.

- It was easy to register. I know a lot of people used titledisc without problems and I managed to use snail-mail without incident.

- The regular updates of the list of those registered was great.

Friday Night
- -Sign-In was a breeze. Parking was a little problematic but that was to be expected.

- -The players pack was amazing. But go ahead and tell us what to expect to find...the rumours are killer.

Saturday/Sunday:
- Good course TDs � HB White was great. Very helpful in all ways. My understanding is that the other TDs were equally wonderful.

Things that I think need to be fixed:
- Too many people are happy with this being the BIGGEST tournament and not the BEST tournament. On more than one occasion last weekend I heard people say something along the lines of, �this is the biggest tournament in the nation. It doesn�t need to be perfect because it is the biggest. It will always draw people�. I don�t believe that to be true. Just look at what happened to the Advanced Women. I think some of that group won�t be back. (Dec 2006 - I am happy to see this thread!!)

- The Advanced Women need to be compensated. Bumping them to lesser courses on Sat morning after they made the commitment to travel and play the world class courses was WRONG. For 2007 you need to treat the women very well.

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.

- There needs to be better maps and directions. Directions to each course from another course doesn't help...especially when it is based off the Advance courses. A photocopy of real map of the area would be ideal.

- More info about sponsors, especially those local establishments offering food and drink specials.



1. I will ask the club why the women were put in lower quality courses, and I'll do my best to make sure they stay in the 4 top courses. If things work out then once you're in a pool then you will play those courses all wknd. I'll see to it there are no last minute changes unless Larry feels there needs to be, but he'll have to run it by me first.

2. With the cutoff between int. and adv. now 915 we will know who is sandbagging and disqualify them immediately. Plus we have I believe 5 days to separate the pools and ratings to make sure no one is sandbagging.

3. The Communications Director and myself are currently working on course maps/brochures. When they'll be out I cant tell you, but I'm positive it'll be before trhe tourney.

4. The only sponsors I know of are the hotel sponsor. I'm sure we will provide food for the registration night, but I'll check witht he club at our next meeting and get back with you ASAP.

...
3. The Communications Director and myself are currently working on course maps/brochures. When they'll be out I cant tell you, but I'm positive it'll be before trhe tourney.
...



JD, I'm not sure what y'all have planned but Tulsa did a great job on the course caddy books they printed up for Am Worlds. You should check one of those out if you haven't seen it.

Are there any pics of the courses online or can someone post some? Preferably the courses the advanced group will play.

I ahave some friends that went to Am Worlds this past year so I'll see if they still have theirs. This should give us at least a blueprint on what ours should look like if its professional looking. Thanks for the suggestion!

1. I will ask the club why the women were put in lower quality courses, and I'll do my best to make sure they stay in the 4 top courses. If things work out then once you're in a pool then you will play those courses all wknd. I'll see to it there are no last minute changes unless Larry feels there needs to be, but he'll have to run it by me first.




I am pretty sure it was decided to allow last minute registrations. Accordingly, by Saturday morning there were too many players in Adv Men and Adv Mast and Adv Women to have all three play on the same courses. Thus the women got bumped at the players meeting.

This was the one thing that really bothered me about last year. I find it really hard (as we all do) to attract large numbers of female players to our events. So why then do we do dumb stuff that might take away from their experience?

It is very unlikely that anything done by a TD will isolate or offend a top male Pro or Am. Those guys are way too addicted to golf to care. Let them start their final round on hole 2. They won't care. Women on the other hand might like to finish up on hole 18 rather than somewhere in the middle of the course (often with the longest walk from disc central).

Enough of a rant.
I just think that if BG Ams is going to continue as the premiere event of the season then the tournament should set a positive example...especially in areas where all tournaments come up a little short.

Thanks,
Mike

1. I will ask the club why the women were put in lower quality courses, and I'll do my best to make sure they stay in the 4 top courses. If things work out then once you're in a pool then you will play those courses all wknd. I'll see to it there are no last minute changes unless Larry feels there needs to be, but he'll have to run it by me first.




I am pretty sure it was decided to allow last minute registrations. Accordingly, by Saturday morning there were too many players in Adv Men and Adv Mast and Adv Women to have all three play on the same courses. Thus the women got bumped at the players meeting.

This was the one thing that really bothered me about last year. I find it really hard (as we all do) to attract large numbers of female players to our events. So why then do we do dumb stuff that might take away from their experience?

It is very unlikely that anything done by a TD will isolate or offend a top male Pro or Am. Those guys are way too addicted to golf to care. Let them start their final round on hole 2. They won't care. Women on the other hand might like to finish up on hole 18 rather than somewhere in the middle of the course (often with the longest walk from disc central).

Enough of a rant.
I just think that if BG Ams is going to continue as the premiere event of the season then the tournament should set a positive example...especially in areas where all tournaments come up a little short.

Thanks,
Mike



Well with plenty of time to shuffle the pools and courses between the end of registration and the day of the event I'm positive that everyone will stay where they are. I will try to make sure no changes are made in between the end of registration and before the tourney.

I

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.





You need to get your facts straight before posting. Gary Camp was rated 911 & Adam Camp was rated 904 at the time of BG last year. They had every right as PDGA members to play Intermediate last year.

I

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.





You need to get your facts straight before posting. Gary Camp was rated 911 &amp; Adam Camp was rated 904 at the time of BG last year. They had every right as PDGA members to play Intermediate last year.



Those kind of people usually get to do that once in the Intermediate, and they have to move up. Those two guys are now rated in the high 940s, and it's unlikely they'll play intermediate again. I've personally got no qualms with those guys playing at the level they are qualified to play. If they play well, they'll have to move up to advanced eventually.

I'd rather not get into the Advanced/Pro argument. That's a different argument entirely. No one should be forced to be a pro. They could be denied to be an am, if they've done something to violate their amateur status, but that's another argument for another day.

Chap

P.S. I got a hotel room already. Haven't played in Bowling Green since about 96 I think. :)

I

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.





You need to get your facts straight before posting. Gary Camp was rated 911 & Adam Camp was rated 904 at the time of BG last year. They had every right as PDGA members to play Intermediate last year.



Those kind of people usually get to do that once in the Intermediate, and they have to move up. Those two guys are now rated in the high 940s, and it's unlikely they'll play intermediate again. I've personally got no qualms with those guys playing at the level they are qualified to play. If they play well, they'll have to move up to advanced eventually.

I'd rather not get into the Advanced/Pro argument. That's a different argument entirely. No one should be forced to be a pro. They could be denied to be an am, if they've done something to violate their amateur status, but that's another argument for another day.

Chap

P.S. I got a hotel room already. Haven't played in Bowling Green since about 96 I think. :)



Even if their ratings were 911 and 904 they still had every right to play in Intermediate. So long as its below 915 they can continue to play in that division. It may not seem right, but thats the rules established by the PDGA.

I

- The sandbagging in the men�s intermediate was bad. I personally know 4 of the top 15 finishers. Only one of those should have been in intermediate. The others abused the PDGA rating cut-off. I even overheard the top two finishers (Camp and Camp) on Saturday saying that they were playing intermediate because they could finish in the top 5 and take home all of the loot. This probably isn't something you can do anything about but I think it is crap that so many people play down at this particular tournament because of the huge payout.





You need to get your facts straight before posting. Gary Camp was rated 911 & Adam Camp was rated 904 at the time of BG last year. They had every right as PDGA members to play Intermediate last year.



Those kind of people usually get to do that once in the Intermediate, and they have to move up. Those two guys are now rated in the high 940s, and it's unlikely they'll play intermediate again. I've personally got no qualms with those guys playing at the level they are qualified to play. If they play well, they'll have to move up to advanced eventually.

I'd rather not get into the Advanced/Pro argument. That's a different argument entirely. No one should be forced to be a pro. They could be denied to be an am, if they've done something to violate their amateur status, but that's another argument for another day.

Chap

P.S. I got a hotel room already. Haven't played in Bowling Green since about 96 I think. :)



Even if their ratings were 911 and 904 they still had every right to play in Intermediate. So long as its below 915 they can continue to play in that division. It may not seem right, but thats the rules established by the PDGA.



I think we agree. In intermediate, if they play well, their rating will eventually carry them to Advanced. I don't begrudge anyone doing well in a division they qualify for. Good for them.

Chap

Establish a point system for each of the top 5 in each division, and have a trophy to the state rep that establishes the most points. Now that would be fun.

Mini Thumber
Proud member of team FFF

Have more fun then the other guys/gals.