I am curious to find out what makes disc golfers decide which tournaments they will play in. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

http://www.hollerinthehills.com

Priorities change with me over time. Currently they are:

Schedule. Long drives and late Sunday afternoon rounds aren't compelling for me anymore.
Tourney staff reputation. I'll skip events if they haven't been run well in the past. I'll also take vacation days to make a long trip work, if I can, when I know an event is well run.
Quality of the course(s) played.
Perceived value. If a tournament has a hefty entry fee, I need to feel like I'm getting a good value for that price as opposed to feeling like I, as an am, was only invited to make the pro purse bigger. For me, a big entry fee needs a pretty darn good player pack and an included meal or two. I don't really care about huge stacks of plastic for the am winners, but if you're charging over $40 and only giving a cotton tee and no lunch....well, then there should be stacks. I'd rather get a good players pack and lunch/dinner for all than stacks for the winner, but there needs to be something coming back.

One day, two round events on a Saturday, within reasonable driving distance, is the primary enticement for me. The course and the fees are secondary considerations.

The courses mainly (they don't have to be great, but they can't suck), but I'll pretty much play any tourney in town.

1. Proximity - 95% of my events are within 2 hrs.
2. Carpooling - the more locals that are going, the more likely I'll go. Not just money but comraderie, especially further drives.
3. Course - great courses are worth playing despite how the event is run.

As someone whose outside commitments make me choose a limited number of events to play, my priorities are:
1---The course. I'll go to greater efforts to play a great course, and avoid a mediocre one.
2---The calendar. Where an event fits in relation to other events in the area (I can rarely play back-to-back weekends), and of course my personal calendar.
3---Attendance. It's a chicken/egg thing, of course. But I'd rather play in an event likely to fill, or near-fill, than one that may only have 25-30 players. If I end up in a 3-person division, playing 4 rounds with the same group, it's less a tournament experience and more like 2 days of casual play.
3A---Attendance by certain other players. I'm more likely to play if they're also playing.
4---Commute. Events I can commute to from my home (say, within 90 minutes) and not stay overnight.
5---TD. I'm not sure there's much difference in my decision between a decently-run event and an excellently-run event, though I prefer the latter. Badly-run events may keep me from returning.
6---Player's package, payouts, entry fees. Don't matter to me, except when the entry fee gets really high.