Do you play disc golf? Then we're looking for your feedback.

The PDGA recently released its 2018 Disc Golf Interest Survey, a broad-ranging questionnaire with a simple objective: to help gauge disc golf’s worldwide growth and popularity. It is the first time the organization has undertaken a survey since 2011, and since then its active membership and number of sanctioned events have more than doubled, while the number of disc golf courses has increased at a similar rate.

The survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, was created in cooperation with Assistant Professor Nicole Peritore of Augusta University. Dr. Peritore was working on a project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2015 until the fall of 2017 when she found disc golf as a means for developing physical activity infrastructure in low-income rural communities. She and her family are now avid players.

“Being in academia, I am always interested in the ‘why’ behind things,” Dr. Peritore said. “So naturally the ‘why’ behind the growth of disc golf has caught my attention. More specifically, there is a gap in published or research information about why people enjoy disc golf so much and the ways that enjoyment may contribute to the growth of the game.”

PDGA Marketing Manager Mary Sicard noted that, in addition to Peritore's hard work, the release of the survey has been a total team effort. Memberships Manager Vic Allen helped Peritore define and refine the initial survey questions, and the PDGA Media team worked on publicity and outreach. A soft launch to the PDGA Board of Directors and select tournament directors on the national and international level provided a sounding board before a wide release to more than 67,000 PDGA members.

Nine days after the survey's release, more than 9,000 people have taken time to fill it out.

"I'm thrilled with the high response rate to the survey, and we’re only a week or so in," Sicard said. "In addition to boosting the survey's Facebook post and running Google Ads, many of our members shared the survey link on social media. That has helped us receive participation from the non-member disc golf population, too."

Indeed, the survey is not only intended for PDGA members. PDGA Executive Director Joe Chargualaf is hopeful that, much like the sport has grown in a grassroots fashion, the questionnaire will be shared far and wide to yield more comprehensive results.

“In addition to better understanding what’s contributing to the growth of disc golf, the survey will help us identify what is working and what isn’t working so that we can improve PDGA programs, services, and activities we offer,” Chargualaf said.

There's still plenty of time to make your voice heard, and we'd love to know what you think. Please share the link far and wide. The survey closes Aug. 27, 2018, with results set to be released in September.