Tag: Survey

What We Know and Don’t Know about Disc Golf

by Parked, posted in Grow the Sport

A new method for studying the sport

By Josh Woods ~

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I’m not a fan of phrases like “close, but no cigar” and “close only counts in horseshoes.”

They make it sound like close is a bad thing. As if anything short of first place, anything other than perfection, anything besides certainty is a grave defeat.

Even Reese Bobby’s celebrated absurdity – “If you ain’t first, you’re last” – was debunked by Reese himself at the end of Talladega Nights.

Black-and-white thinking doesn’t work well as a sports mentality, and it’s even worse for science. Scientific research never leads us out of the grey, not entirely. At best, we merely increase our confidence in fundamentally questionable propositions. Continue reading “What We Know and Don’t Know about Disc Golf” →

Two keys to growing the sport: Money and safer courses

by Parked, posted in Course Design, Opinion

Results from the 3DiscGolf Survey (Part II)

By Dee Leekha and Josh Woods, PhD ~

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Disc golf is a player-driven sport. For decades, the players have built their own courses, created their own clubs, and told their own stories. Their volunteerism and charity are legendary. Without their common desire to join with friends and build their own worlds, disc golf would hardly exist.

Yet, the willingness of players, by choice or necessity, to shoulder so much responsibility also has downsides. Continue reading “Two keys to growing the sport: Money and safer courses” →

The most important problems facing disc golf courses in the United States

by Parked, posted in Course Design

Results from the 3DiscGolf Survey (Part I)

By Josh Woods, PhD, and Dee Leekha ~

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Garbage on disc golf courses, long grass on fairways, uneven or small tee pads, erosion, and no bathrooms top the list of concerns among experienced course developers.

Disc golf has changed a lot over the last twenty years.

Two decades ago, there were 4,776 active members of the PDGA in the United States. Today, there are more than 28,861. Americans played in 329 PDGA sanctioned events in 1998. They will play in no fewer than 2,368 in the coming year, per the PDGA.

In 1998, Scott Stokely broke the World Record for distance with a jaw-dropping throw that carried 693 feet. In 2017, Simon Lizotte parked a 726-foot hole during tournament play, and the World Record is now held by David Wiggins Jr. with a distance that exceeds Stokely’s by nearly 400 feet. Continue reading “The most important problems facing disc golf courses in the United States” →