Ok, so I've been trying pretty hard to scedule an after work outing on the local disc golf course, instead of bowling and same old things, and was wanting some input on the most effective way to set up a glow round.I've played in a few glow tourneys and each had pros and cons to it. I'm wanting to keep cost as low as possible, but still wanna keep it fun and safe. Most of the people who'd be attending would be first timers, so I'd wanna make sure baskets and tees are clearly visible. I figure glow discs would work better than tape and a bunch of led lights...those tend to fly off if you hit a tree. I'd definitely wanna have a flashlight on each card, but as far as marking baskets and tees, I'm not so sure yet. Do the snap in the middle glow sticks work well on baskets and at tees or would a flash light on top of the basket work better? The course we'd be playing is fairly short, maybe 2 holes longer than 400 with most in the 250-320 range, and probably 3-4 holes where you can't see the basket very well from the tee. I'd guess there'd be enough people who had played the course before to put one on each card, to herd the new players along. Thanks for any input.

The glow sticks are decent for marking the basket. Last time we played we found a good deal on the long necklace type glow things and they seemed to work pretty good to. I would'nt worry too much about lighting the tee pads. Placing a person in each group that knows what they are doing is also a great idea.

I agree with using glow discs and not the LED lights. I've had bad luck with them flying off. Mini black lights work really well for charging them up. But my guess is there won't be many of those around. Flashlights work fine too. Hope you have a good time!

Some of the local "dollar stores" sell packages of glow bracelets. Here in Pittsburgh, our local store has two kinds: a 5-pack of yellow and a 6-pack of colors (yellow, pink, purple, etc.). The yellow seems to work the best for visibility as the darker colors like red or purple are more difficult to see. Either way, each pack of bracelets only cost a buck, so you can illuminate 18 pole-holes for less than $4-5.

Those of us who glow golf in this area have pretty much shelved the glow discs in favor of the LED fishing lights. No more "fire in the hole" when someone brings out their camera flash to illuminate the glow discs. And the bonus is that with LEDs, every disc becomes a glow disc! The key to attaching the LEDs to the top of the disc is to use two strips of clear packing tape (in an X pattern). Make sure the tape goes on smoothly with no air bubbles or loose edges as this is how the tape can come loose. Taping the LED to the top of the flight plate works better than using the bottom side. Lastly, bring a roll of the packing tape for the round just in case someone's LED comes loose.

You can't beat the visibility an LED illuminated golf disc. If you throw into the shule, it's easier to find at night than it is during the daylight! :)

I think the glow discs are going be more work than using tape and a glow stick. You don't need to use LED lights, just a 1.5" mini glow stick and either packaging tape or clear duct tape. My personal opinion is that glow discs don't hold long enough charges (especially with a "regular" flashlight as the light source). If it's going to be a "casual" setting I think the sticks are your better choice and much easier to find the disc.

When you use the clear duct tape you can move the stick from disc to disc without losing the adhesive. People would only need 2 or 3 sticks. We've all gone away from the packaging tape and use the duct tape here.

We only illumuniate the basket when we get "close" to it. Someone will put a tap light on the basket (uspide down) so the chains and basket are lit up. You can find the lights at the dollar store.

Just some thoughts.

We here in Charlotte use 2 packs of glow sticks for the targets, available at the dollar store, so you've got $9.50 invested in lighting weekly.

I am all about LED technology to light discs. Unless you are playing in 100% darkness, it is almost impossible to truly track a glow disc as it fades off into the night. But an LED, even when it flies off the disc, is a marker. The disc will usually be within 30 feet of the LED, sometimes more. But regardless, an LED can be seen by anyone from the tee.

I suggest one directional LEDs so you can drive with it facing away from you. With a 360 degree lighting source it is very hard to hold that disc up and line up your shot as the brightness of the disc diminishes your night vision.

Good luck and have fun! Always call fore if you are unsure where the group ahead of you are.

Some other tips:
- Pick a time / date when the moon will be out (additional lighting, safer for walking around the course).
- Pick a course without a lot of trees (especially since it sounds like it will be beginners playing).

LED Fish lights attached with automotive goop holds great. Best part is, pliers will pull them off, and you can cut the goop off with a knife and reuse it. I've been doing this for 3 years and have never knocked one off, even full on drives into a tree within 5 feet of the tee pad (we play completely blind, no illumination of the fairways or anything, so moonless nights can be hazardous). The easiest way to do it is put a small dot in the center of the disc, put the light on that, then goop over everything but the 1/4 - 1/2 inch (that's around the last 10-15mm for you metric folk). This way you can turn the lights on/off. It takes maybe 24 hours to get 100% set-up, but I've used them as little as 8 hours later.

yeah, so far i think using the longer glow strands woven through the baskets is what i'm leaning towards. that sounds like it'd look pretty sweet, almost like christmas lights. a bunch of glow putters would work well with beginners, especially since i think i could work out a deal with loaner discs, and people can buy them afterwards if they like it enough. that's kinda appealing, because then i'm not taping anything to discs if i'm returning them afterwards. a glow stick or led would be easier to spot, and am probably leaning toward glow sticks just on cost alone. i'd like to keep all the extras around 100 bucks (flashlights, glow sticks, etc). i figure between coworkers and family and friends, maybe between 20-40 people, and using leds could get pricey at that point. we've spent a lot more money than that for work events on things a lot less fun, but i kinda want people to see how much fun the sport can be for a fraction of the money they may tie up into other sports. there's a nice pavilion and grill area next to the first tee too, so aside from a glow setup there's gonna be a grub out before or after the round.

Our glow discs will last for several hours without recharging and the wholesale price is $8.
we use a material called strontium not zinc phosphorescence.
the price difference is 17 a lb for zinc and closer to 50 for strontium, plus we over kill it with glow.

yeah dave, it looks like i'm making some progress with getting that glow round set up in collinsville i'd emailed you about a few weeks ago. i brought back a glow wizard from centralia, and was gonna take that in and let people take a look at it and really push the cause more. we'll see what happens

When we do a glow tournament we usually purchase our glow sticks from Extreme Glow (http://www.extremeglow.com/Merchant4/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1W&Category_ Code=112). Green is the brightest color.

any of the super glow plastic or the photon will hold the glow for atleast a couple of hours, if not more. you can chrge at your house, just in a room with the light on. or lodge em up against the headlights of your car.

I can vouch for this. My "superglow" wizards charge throughout the night with only the energy of sunshine from a round played before dark. They will have visible glow from a distance for the entire night.

I haven't read all the posts yet, but I would recommend a couple things. You want to make sure that the glow sticks you use for the baskets are adequate at a distance. Do some testing before the event. You will also have to consider that the darker the course is, the more easy it will be to find the discs because they will contrast better in darkness. This could potentially make the terrain more dangerous though, for players who are not used to the course. The phase of the moon will matter (if it's in the sky at night) so will the level of clouds (clouds reflect city light and make it brighter) so the darkest nights will be with no moon and a clear sky.

We've tried several different methods of lighting. On discs, the led fishing lights are my favorite. I just use clear packing tape and haven't had any terrible problems. You can even get them in a variety of colors, so you can be creative with the way your discs look when they are lit up. The snap glow sticks are used by several people here and they are almost always the ones who are doing the most searching for discs. We haven't tried any of the Gateway glow discs, so I can't give any feedback on those. But the regular glow discs just don't seem to cut it in my opinion.

For the baskets, there are many ways to light them up. The 6 inch snap sticks work OK, and the come in a variety of colors and they are relatively cheap, so you can put multiple colors on the targets. The longer ones (necklaces) are cool because you can weave them in the chains and baskets for a different effect. The downside of these is that they aren't really very bright, and they only last for one outing. What I like to use is is a light stick with an on/off switch made by Garrity (www.garritylites.com). They are about 8 inches long, battery operated, and are very bright. They are plenty tough so they can take a hit from a disc without breaking. They also come in multiple colors to spice up the course a bit. I've also tried some products that are made for joggers/cyclists that are led lights in a sleeve that magnifies the brightness(I believe pet product suppliers have something similar for dog collars)so motorists can more easily see you when you are exercising in the street at night. They have a velcro type fastner so you can attach them to your arm or leg, and i believe they also have a hook type attachment point. I don't remember the brand name, but they worked rather well, and they also have an on/off switch so you can use them many times before the battery runs down. Then you just install a new battery and you're good to go for a few more rounds. Also I have used products made by the company that produces the "Flash Flight" discs (the catch discs that light up for night-time play). They have a product called the "Tail Light" that is basically a led light/battery in a small plastic case (about the size of 50 cent piece) with a flexible fiber-opitic type tube coming off of it. They work good also, and you can get really creative with them. For these types of lights, you have to invest a little more up front, but you can re-use them many, many times so in the long run they are better in my opinion.

Handheld blacklights work great with glow discs. Try www.blacklight.com. (http://www.blacklight.com.) The cheapo ones fall apart quick, the one for about $40 has worked great for many seasons for me.

-E

<font color="red">RED</font> LED's for sure...

"Most of the people who'd be attending would be first timers . . . "

Look -- I know that reality rarely exists on a message board but I've played lots and lots of glow with lots and lots of golfers and there's no way I'd ever try to organize a bunch of first timers at night. I'd be shocked if this wasn't very frustrating for you. Disc golf fanatics (anyone reading this . . . ) think that everyone that gets out to the course is going to love it . . . .some do some don't. Glow fanatics (myself . . .very few others) don't understand why everyone leaves when the sun goes down -- the reason is they don't like to play at night. They'll come out once a year or so for the novelity of it -- but for the most part golfers just don't like it. To me glow has several advantages -- no crowd, no lost discs, cooler temperatures just to name a few -- but most disc golfers don't like it.

It's difficult to run a glow event with first time GLOW participants . .. they have no idea what to expect so you have to hold their hands through the entire proces -- to think that you'll then have to deal with first time players -- fuhgettaboutit.

Play during the day time -- save the night time for the addicted . .. (in the case of Sedgley Woods . .. the addicts too!!)

Oops -- I forgot to add, what's all this talk about lighting the baskets . . . .they're at the same place they are in the daytime . . . ??

Illuminating the basket is not allowed at our night league during the winter. We play on a mostly open course which makes it a little easier. At first we put a flashlight on top of the basket once we got close, but decided it was getting too easy and that we would no longer be allowed to even shine a flashlight toward the basket (unless looking for a lost disc). Lights on the discs is enough help, there is no need to put lights on the basket.

daytime isn't gonna be an option...i work for best buy and it's gonna have to be a sunday evening when the store closes early so we can maximize who makes it out for a round. at our particular store it's primarily younger people...i feel like an old man, and i'm 25, aside from management. i've been trying to get people from work come out and play a round here and there, so they are more comfortable once we get this planned out in stone. anybody who i've brought out with me so far has loved it, and definitely said they'd go again given the chance. so given the work environment, i'm not too concerned at all about first timers having a hard time in the dark...our after work outings usually turn out pretty competitive. at one of the last ones, we were racing go karts for money.

Sunday morning, 6AM.