I've been involved with running the VPO in Arlington, Tx for 16 yrs. now TDing or co-TDing it in six of them. In '95, I believe it was, we held ace golf as an extension of the tourney on Sun. afternoon to buy time to do scoring and set up for awards. The $5 entry was paid back and in addition we threw in $1000 from sponsership money.
This was a disc golf competition with an entry and a purse limited to the tournament players only. We included it in our tournament report as part of the purse which was allowed to stand when reported in DWGN, but the next year we were told this money couldn't be counted in the purse.
This strikes me as unfair since it is part of our format every year and all the top pros that play here have given me reason to believe they enjoy it. Sure it's a more relaxed and casual walk in the park, but the desire to do well is still there, and as long as we're going to the effort to run it to help make our event unique and enjoyable why would it be neccessary to "penalize" us when it comes down to a tournament report?
This is something that's bothered me a little for a long time and I would just like to hear your feed back.

It doesn't count towards who wins the tournament, so that makes it not part of the tournament. You aren't being punished. You're just being told that it is not part of the tournament purse because it is not part of the sanctioned tournament.

It's not part of the sanctioned tournament payout but IS part of the overall event payout. All that gets reported on the TD report is entry fees and payouts related to the singles competition. Those payout percentages are what TDs agree to abide by as it relates to that competition.

For example, at Pro Worlds the total event payout includes all of the winnings players make in Mixed Doubles, Distance, Putting, Minigolf and EDGE. If $2000 got added to those side games it still wouldn't change the minimum payouts required for the singles competition, nor would it get added to the cash that actually was added to singles payouts.

Okay, so as I see it the tounament payout and the purse are two different creatures and the event is ranked solely by the purse, right?
I just like the Ace golf for a relaxing end to a fun weekend. Barry S. has expressed the same thing to me as well as many touring pros. It is a singles competition giving everyone a fresh start on making the cash.
The reason I don't like the ruling is because now we won't add any money to speak of to the ace golf pot 'cause it won't count towards our ranking.
I understand your reasoning but I can't help but feel it's a little short sighted. Anyway I thank you for your time and attention and all you do. #6922

I wouldn't call it shortsighted, but more fair for the players who only see the dollars they have a shot at winning in the actual sanctioned event. It's like an ace pool. That money doesn't get added to the purse calculation, or say a bounty that's won for getting a 2 on a tough hole. Your Ace golf is a promotional device to get players to attend, just like TDs that host a free player party, for example. That player party might also cost $500-$1000 that doesn't get added to the purse.

Well, that's your decision. If it was my tournament, I'd just run it the way that everyone enjoys and tell the PDGA to stick it up their $&@#*! If that makes it a B-tier, so what? It wasn't much of an A-tier if you didn't have anything more than the bare minimum $1000 added.

I wouldn't call it shortsighted, but more fair for the players who only see the dollars they have a shot at winning in the actual sanctioned event. It's like an ace pool. That money doesn't get added to the purse calculation, or say a bounty that's won for getting a 2 on a tough hole. Your Ace golf is a promotional device to get players to attend, just like TDs that host a free player party, for example. That player party might also cost $500-$1000 that doesn't get added to the purse.


I understand what you're saying, Chuck, and I wasn't meaning to sound personal with the short sighted comment I hope you know. I think the PDGA is shorting itself. This extra attraction we hold IS successful in the sense that alot of players look forward to it especially if they've stepped on their own two feet all weekend. I don't know I just am proud of our innovation and the acceptance it's gotten. One day after I win the Mega Millions I'll be able to make sure the VPO is a success again and I'll add to the ace golf too. /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Thanks again

To some extent, the issue has been figuring out a way to rank the quality of big events in addition to just ranking by payout. In the past several years, traveling pros Todd Branch, Jay Reading and others have compiled thoughts on the various factors that make a good event going beyond payout. However, figuring out a fair way to weight and rank those issues has been the sticking point to providing a ranking of events on overall factors. As you point out, the top pros like the VPO for Ace Golf among other reasons, so you at least have the satisfaction of a job well done from that standpoint.