Tag: PDGA

Playing Up Can Be a Downer: Rethinking Tournament Division Rules May Help Grow the Sport

by Parked, posted in Opinion

By Cory Wiebusch ~

Eight-year-old Hayden Wiebusch showed up to play at the 2021 PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Championships, but she would not be allowed to take home the trophy for the ≤8 division.

The 2021 PDGA Junior Worlds wrapped up in Emporia, Kansas earlier this month, and nine juniors were crowned World Champions. However, there could have been a tenth, my daughter Hayden who represented Team Throw Pink in the junior girls ≤8 division (FJ08).

She was one of two girls invited to compete in this division and the sole entrant in the field when registration closed on July 2.

Since Hayden was the only registered player in her division, the PDGA sent us an email prior to the event stating, “We don’t run divisions of one at the PDGA World Championships,” and that she was required to “play up” at the main event if there was not a second entrant in her division.

Continue reading “Playing Up Can Be a Downer: Rethinking Tournament Division Rules May Help Grow the Sport” →

Chapter 5: Ed Headrick’s Most Influential Achievement Wasn’t the Frisbee

by Parked, posted in Rise of An Unknown Sport

Permanent human-made infrastructures are the key to growth

By Josh Woods ~

WATCH THE video ESSAY HERE:

Chapter 5 Video Essay

Ed Headrick’s importance to disc golf is not a subject of debate. I mean, the guy perfected the flying disc, invented the pole hole, installed the first formal disc golf course and founded the Professional Disc Golf Association. And that’s only the first page of his resume.

But which of these deeds most influenced the rise of competitive disc golf? Now this is a question worth debating. As I often do when I wonder something, I recently took to the internet and posted a poll on Twitter.

Continue reading “Chapter 5: Ed Headrick’s Most Influential Achievement Wasn’t the Frisbee” →

Chapter 2: Disc Golf’s Popularity Contest Began Well Before the Rise of Brodie Smith and It Will Shape the Future of the Sport

by Parked, posted in Rise of An Unknown Sport
Professional disc golfer and social media influencer Brodie Smith, pictured above, suggests that disc golf should be organized more like traditional golf.

Watch the Essay Here:

Chapter 2 video essay

Culture is a little like muscle memory. You can’t see it, but it does something really important.

Culture is the grease in the wheels of sports. It coordinates all the meanings and actions on the field; organizes, motivates and engages all the players, coaches, fans, businesses and media.

Continue reading “Chapter 2: Disc Golf’s Popularity Contest Began Well Before the Rise of Brodie Smith and It Will Shape the Future of the Sport” →

Why Disc Golf Is Pandemic Proof and Other Sports Are Not

by Parked, posted in Opinion, Public Health

By Josh Woods ~

Cover art A baseball dimond behind a locked gate. Photo Robert Rosales
The familiar sight of a baseball diamond behind a locked gate. Photo Robert Rosales.

Live sports are currently on pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving the $160 billion US sports industry in a tailspin. Only about half of all sporting events that were originally scheduled for 2020 will likely take place, per a new report.

While all sports will take a hit, some will weather the storm better than others. The esports industry, for instance, will probably do okay. The big stadium events are on hold, but gobs of gamers and fans are still nestled safely online.

Disc golf has a few obvious advantages in the “Don’t-Stand-So-Close-To-Me” era. Continue reading “Why Disc Golf Is Pandemic Proof and Other Sports Are Not” →

New Ice Bowl Art Raises Awareness about Global Warming

by Parked, posted in Community Outreach, Politics

By Josh Woods ~

Cover art

Ice Bowl events have been tackling social problems for more than two decades. Since 1996, this series of disc golf charity events, played in dozens of cities, has been raising funds for good causes, amounting to over $4.55 million in total, including over $322 thousand in 2019. Continue reading “New Ice Bowl Art Raises Awareness about Global Warming” →

Disc Golf’s Two Paths Forward

by Parked, posted in Grow the Sport, Social Movement

Is Disc Golf a Business or a Social Movement?

Josh Woods ~

Cover art

How do small sports become big ones?

When answering this question, most commentators point to the economics of sports and media. Sports grow when major media outlets pay attention to them. Increased media coverage attracts more participants and consumers, which entice even bigger media companies and corporate sponsors, which then foster stronger sport institutions. Continue reading “Disc Golf’s Two Paths Forward” →

Who Gets Hooked? The Demographics of Disc Golf Involvement

by Parked, posted in Gender, Race/Ethnicity

By Josh Woods ~

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One of my best friends almost died from a disc-golf addiction.

He and I had recently discovered disc golf and were still in the honeymoon stage. Some days we’d play three rounds in the high hills of West Virginia under the hot summer sun.

Old men trying to relive their childhoods rarely ends well. This was no exception. Continue reading “Who Gets Hooked? The Demographics of Disc Golf Involvement” →

A Demographic Portrait of Disc Golf Land

by Parked, posted in Gender, Race/Ethnicity

Results from the 2017 Parked Facebook Study – Part 1.

By Josh Woods, PhD ~Cover art

In early 2017, we collected the first large-scale random sample of disc golfers and estimated the size and characteristics of the organized disc golfer population in the United States. The results discussed in this post will appear in the International Journal of Sport Communication early next year.

If you haven’t read my last two posts, consider taking a look at the theory behind this study and the method we used to explore it before plunging into the findings below. Continue reading “A Demographic Portrait of Disc Golf Land” →

Why Do People Play Disc Golf?

by Parked, posted in Gender, Race/Ethnicity

A brief look into the psychology and sociology of disc golf.

By Josh Woods ~

Cover

The other day my seven-year-old daughter asked me, “Why do people get married?”

I gazed into her curious brown eyes, knowing that my answer would not satisfy her. “Because they want to,” I said.

“Why do they want to?” She chirped, of course.

“Because it makes them happy,” I said.

“Why does it make them happy?”

I tried to explain that people get married for different reasons, that not everyone wants to, and that the reasons for getting married usually depend on where people live, when they live, and what the people around them think about marriage.

“I’m going to be a zombie bride for Halloween,” she said. And that was that. Continue reading “Why Do People Play Disc Golf?” →

The Future of ‘Golf’ May Not Be on the Links

by Parked, posted in Grow the Sport, Opinion

Cover photo
Photo credit: Jari Hindstroem

By Josh Woods~~

{This article appeared first in The Conversation}

Could disc golf become more popular than ball golf by 2028?

Ask disc golfers and they’ll say, “You bet – our sport is growing like crazy.”

But for most Americans, the answer is, “What’s disc golf?” And the typical ball golfer will likely respond, “No – and stop calling my sport ball golf.” Continue reading “The Future of ‘Golf’ May Not Be on the Links” →