I�m planning on holding some monthly �mini-tournaments� and I�m looking for some feedback on my ideas as well as other good ideas you might have.

Goals: 1) Get more people playing disc golf in and around Montrose. 2) Bring some people to town from surrounding areas to play disc golf. 3) Strengthen our local club. 4) Raise some money for the club�s B-Tier Tournament.

I�m thinking of having a monthly, non-sanctioned tournament on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Here are the details.

- 1 morning ound followed by a BBQ lunch (burgers and hot dogs etc).
- 3 divisions. Pro, Am and Novice. PROS play for cash, AMS and Novices for plastic and bragging rights.
- There are two clubs with bag tags that will have tags on the line.
- $5 AM entry: $1 Ace pot, $1 to the B-Tier, $3 to Lunch. I will have some plastic for Am prizes that should be able to come from the Am fees somehow. I may be able to get a plastic vendor to donate/reduce plastic. I could always buy some too I guess.
- $10 PRO entry: PROS pay an additional $5 to play for each other�s cash.

Would you try to make a 3-4 month series like this? AMS - You get lunch, an ace fund and a chance at some minimal prizes for $5. PROS � You get lunch, ace fund and a small pool of money to cash into for $10.

Let me know what you think. All feedback appreciated. What do you do in your area that works well? Is it even worth it to try lunch or should I just focus more on payout with the same prices?

MADMAX
Montrose, Colorado

Most monthly tournaments I've participated in usually consist of 1 round of 18 holes....sometimes a combination of two rounds. Many clubs will incorporate a $1 or $2 fee in the entry fee which goes to the club or the course. As you stated in your post, this is a great way to raise money toward a local event and can also be used for course improvements (benches, tee pads, etc).

I run a monthly at Moraine State Park where we play one round of singles beginning at 10:00 am. After lunch, we host a round of random doubles. Since each event is separate, you can play one or both events. Some folks show up for the singles round and leave....others will stay to play doubles.

As for the lunch gig, our club only does that for special events and work days. A good idea to use lunch is thru a fundraiser tournament for your club. In April, we will be hosting the "Lakeview Course Championship" which is a fundraiser for our B-tier tournament. Last year we charged a $20 entry fee (only $15 for club members) and 100% of the money raised went to the club. The tournament consisted of two rounds of 18 holes and the winner of each division received a trophy and a bag tag. Being a fundraiser, there were no cash or prize payouts...only trophy's and bag tags to the winners. We did offer up numerouse CTP prizes which were donated by club members and/or the club. The trophy's were inexpensive picture frames we picked up at the dollar store and we simply inserted photos of the course, adding PhotoShop text like "1st Place Open Division", etc. The bag tags were plastic key chains (also purchased at the dollar store) where you could insert photos....same deal on those with photos reading "1st Place...". We raised $335 last year with our Course Championship and hope to raise between $400 and $500 this year!

Good luck on your events. :D

You are selling yourself short with the entry fee's.
The concept of keeping it cheap is all well and good , but your players will soon realise that they can not yeild much of a return for their money .

Up the entry fee's for the Pro's . If this is a monthly thing, make it 25 bucks...... When the local pro's realize they can come out and pick up some $$$$, they will show every time . Pro player's will show up if they can make a quick hundred bucks or more..... Attendance will probably suffer if everybody is fighting for 30-40 bucks ...

10 players @ 20 dollars to pay out = 200 dollars
1st place - 120
2nd place- 55
3rd place- 25

or

10 players @ 5 dollars to pay out
1st place - 30
2nd place - 13
3rd place - 7

I would pay the 25 dollar's once a month, anything less seems like a waste of time .

Something like that once a month will have a good pull. People will show up.....

Just to give you an idea of how it works around here, here is a run down of the local mini fee's

Z-Boaz
Thursday's - 8 dollars
Sunday - 11- dollars

Crowley
Tuesday nights- 12 dollars
Saturday morning dubs- 16 a team

Veterans
Wednesdays- 9 bucks I think
Sunday - 11 bucks

Cedar hill
Saturdays - 11 i think

That is about 3/4 of the mini's held in the metro area , every week...

Keep in mind , these are held weekly..... I am not the best disc golfer in the area, but if I attend all these events in a week , I have yeilded 150-200 dollars a week playing mini's .. Possibly more..... If a 1000 rated player were to hit every mini here in the metroplex, every week, they could supplement their income by @ least 300 dollars a week.

If your player base is in a large metro area, you can charge more for your monthlies. If you are in a smaller area with a smaller core group, you may need to charge less. To avoid having the same one or two players always at the top of the winner list, try doing a weekly (or monthly) handicap round. Start with smaller entries then adjust as the regular players get comfortable with the schedule.

Check our website www.lodga.com (http://www.lodga.com)

We just started monthlies. Ours so far have been 2 rounds of singles, with a lunch break. The biggest problem has been the speed of play difference between the pro cards and some of the am cards - as much as an hour difference. We're trying to figure out how this can best work. Playing just one round would defintely help. Is that the normal format for most monthlies? How do other clubs deal with the speed of play differences?

Every mini I've ever played in has been a 1 rounder.