Author: Ted Hegemann

Ted is the Chief Writer at Infinite Discs. He is responsible for the State of Disc Golf Survey articles and most of the "best discs" posts. Ted runs all kinds of local disc golf leagues and tournaments and tournaments in Northern Utah.

Introducing Doomsday Discs

24 comments

In my series focusing on the smaller brands that we sell at Infinite, I started each blog by highlighting where the company was headquartered. I’ve written blogs about disc companies from numerous US states and countries around the world. However, that tradition comes to a screeching halt with this blog, because I have no idea where Doomsday Discs is located! That specific question is on the list that I send to each company. But, they didn’t answer that question. I didn’t even get the name of the founder!

Here are the answers that I did receive. They will help you get a glimpse of this unusual company. Do yourself a favor and check out their website after you read the blog. You could even join their team and give input on future releases. For now, let me introduce Doomsday Discs!

Introducing Doomsday Discs

When did your company begin, and who started it?

The company conceptually started during the heart of the pandemic– a natural time for a brand built upon the pending apocalypse and a survivalist attitude. It was founded by a small group of anonymous disc golf enthusiasts and preppers who have come to accept the inevitable.

However, the “who runs this company” has always intended to take on a decentralized focus, where the fans of the brand become the team that ultimately runs the brand. We see it as the first brand run by the people, for the people, as least as long as there are people around to do so.

 

Can you give a brief history of your company?

We saw a need for new sources of essential items like food, water, fuel, and flying plastic. We began taking steps to fill that need by introducing new sources of discs to the market. Team Doomsday was initiated and is still growing daily. To join the team, interested participants simply need to visit the doomsdaydiscs.com website, enter the store, and purchase a Prepper Team Pack. They will then become a part of the brand’s early history.

Where is your headquarters located?

The founders are located in an undisclosed bunker. But since our focus is to make Team Doomsday into the driving force behind the brand, the headquarters can be anywhere, and will be everywhere.

Which were your first few molds?

We currently use five different plastics manufacturers, four of which had never made discs before. So it has been a long process to get from concept to mold to prototype and to final product. A lot of our disc concepts are still in those different stages. Some of the first prototypes to be available to our team were the Plague, Famine, Blackout, Flat Earth, and Land Mine. There’s more expected in the coming weeks and months.

 

How did you choose the names for your molds?

We came up with some of the initial names of our prototypes. A few of those have been kept, but others were renamed by our team. Since we want the members of Team Doomsday to make a lot of the decisions, we encourage ideas and names on the Doomsday Discs Discord server. For example, two of our discs were originally called the Can Lid and the Hubcap while in the design phases, but the team members chose to change the names to the Land Mine and the Frag, as part of the “Munitions Line” (also their idea). Mold names, plastic names, different lines, and flight path numbers…all now have the input of Team Doomsday members.

Which are your three most popular molds?

Since the Blackout is the proto that was shipped to the team members with their team shirt, it became one of the most loved. But almost every time we introduce something else, it seems to find an audience of fans. The Land Mine will probably go through a wave of popularity due to its very unique shape and dependable flight characteristics.

 

What plastics do you offer, and what is your most popular plastic?

Since we have several different disc lines from the different manufacturers, there will be many different plastic types in play. We have some names decided and others undecided. The Catastrophic Line has plastics like Meltdown, Uranium, Toxic Waste, and Fallout. The Munitions Line has plastics like  Weapons Grade and C-4 (soft). Prepper Line will have Ration, Survival, etc. There will be a lot of plastics to keep track of once things get rolling.

Can you tell us about some upcoming releases?

Almost everything is still upcoming. We’re excited about the Land Mine since it is so unique as far as an approach disc goes. Plus the Frag is super overstable, to a ridiculous level, which makes it fun.  But I think the real workhorse discs that are coming soon and we’re excited about are the Bleak putter and the Dystopia driver.

We’ve also started developing an oversized driver that will be epic.

 

Who are some pros or other players that you sponsor?

We do not currently have sponsored, touring pros, though we are excited about our entire team, from the ones that are highly rated to the ones who throw lower-speed discs and light up the course with their Doomsday swag and fun personalities. We believe everybody who wants to be on the team should be, and if they’re on the team, they are valuable and appreciated. After all, when the doomsday comes, every human relationship and interaction will be precious.

 

What does the future look like for you?

The future in general may be bleak…even hopeless…but we are optimistic that a lot of people will find a lot of joy throwing and storing up Doomsday Discs in the present and into the future. Whether chucking your disc across a Dystopian landscape, or using that disc to eat your cold squirrel stew, we feel like the future will be better if a lot of our discs make it into that future.

 

What will disc golf look like in the future?

In the near future, hyper growth. In the long term, maybe something like this (see photo below).

 

What is something unique about your company?

 

We feel like Doomsday Discs will be one of the most diversified and decentralized disc golf brands in the world. Discs will be sourced from many places, released in many forms, and we hope that many players will embrace it. We hope that many players try the brand for the love of that variety and their desire to be a contributing part of the brand image and growth. Who knows…maybe we’ll be the last brand standing after the sun goes micro-nova, the earth’s magnetic field collapses, and we no longer have the same rotational axis.

—- Dr. Death

 

Check out the Doomsday Discs website HERE

Check out Infinite Discs’ inventory of Doomsday molds HERE

Let us know what Doomsday molds you’ve tried

 

Have you tried Doomsday Discs? Post below and let us know what you think about them. Haven’t had a chance to try them? Post below and let us know which ones you would like to try.

 

Congrats to our random disc winners:
Joe

Tyler

Dan

 

Best Disc Golf Carts

72 comments

One of the disc golf accessories that has become more popular in the last decade is the disc golf cart. With more and more cart companies trying to carve out a slice of the accessory pie, disc golfers have a variety of brands and models to choose from. Disc golfers of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned pros, have gladly converted to using a cart whenever possible. The help us save energy and avoid repetitive motion, and give us the ability to bring extra discs, snacks, water, or additional accessories. Carts make a round of disc golf even more relaxed and enjoyable.

As a devoted cart user I’m actually surprised more people don’t join those of us who have discovered their benefits. Maybe this blog will help! You can also click here to check out the top selling carts.

 

In this blog I will talk about the different types of carts available and break down the pros and cons for each one. That will help you find the cart that will fill your particular needs and wants, since we all have different tastes and approaches to disc golf.

Best Cart Types

I like to sort carts according to whether or not they need an additional bag to hold discs. Some carts are made to hold your bag in or on them, while others have built in shelves to hold your discs.

For the ones that require an additional bag, all you have to do when using the cart is to attach your current bag. It’s pretty fast and usually effortless. For some of those carts you can leave the bag in the cart while transporting. Others are separate and would take additional space in your vehicle for the cart and the bag.

With the carts that hold discs on their own, you would need to transfer discs from your bag to the cart. If you frequently play courses that are not cart friendly, you would have to move discs from your cart to your bag and back quite regularly.

 

Here are the carts, starting with the ones that require an additional bag:

 

ZUCA Trekker and Trekker LG cart

The ZUCA Trekker and Trekker LG cart is based on the ZUCA Backpack and Backpack LG. The ‘LG’ stands for Large and that model is slightly larger than the regular Trekker/Backpack cart. The Trekker has a 22” axel (which means the cart is 22” wide) and carries 20-25 discs, while the LG has a 24” axel and holds up to 30 discs. They both have a telescoping handle and a built-in seat that supports up to 300 lbs.

Pro:

  • Built-in Seat
  • No additional bag needed

Con:

  • An additional bag would be needed for non-cart courses
  • Takes a lot of space to transport

ZUCA Compact cart

 

The Compact is for people who don’t carry as many discs, and who don’t need as much space. It sits a little lower, but still has the 22” axel for stability. It also has a built-in seat, which sits a little lower than other carts.

Pro:

  • Smaller, lighter cart is easier to move and transport
  • Built-in seat
  • Low center of gravity

Con:

  • An additional bag would be needed for non-cart courses
  • Limited space for extra discs and accessories

ZUCA All-Terrain

The All-Terrain Cart is a larger version of the Compact cart. It carries up to 32 discs, with side pockets and interior storage. It has a built-in seat and a 22” axel.

Pro:

  • Built-in seat
  • Lots of storage space for discs and accessories

Con:

  • An additional bag would be needed for non-cart courses

ZUCA Transit Cart

The Transit Cart has a built-in bag for discs, and also has storage space below the bag. It has a 24” axel and a built-in seat. The Transit Cart holds up to 25 discs.

Pro:

  • Built-in seat
  • Extra space for storage or a cooler bag

Con:

  • An additional bag would be needed for non-cart courses
  • Limited space for extra discs

Frame Carts – Bring Your Own Bag

The other kind of cart is one you use to transport an existing bag. The bag will go on or in the cart. The nice thing about these disc golf carts is that your discs are always in the same place (your disc golf bag) so when playing courses that are not cart friendly, you don’t have to shuffle your discs around.

These kinds of carts vary in size and style. Some have seats, while others don’t. Some have two wheels, and one model has three. Here are some of these carts where you need to provide a bag:

ZUCA Backpack and Backpack LG

 

Zuca Backpack and Backpack LG are carts that have a seat, telescoping handle, water bottle holders, but no extra storage space. All of the storage must come from the bag used in the cart. The Backpack cart has a 22” axel, the LG’s is 24”.

Dynamic Discs offers a version of this cart that is the same as the Zuca, except the front plate says, “Dynamic Discs”.

Pro:

  • Easy to remove your bag for non-cart courses
  • Built-in seat

Con:

  • Larger cart to transport
  • Additional cost of buying a bag
  • Storage space is limited to the size of the bag

 

MVP Rover Cart

The Rover Cart is a small cart and the most compact of any cart. It does have water bottle holders and a telescopic handle, but no built-in seat. It has a low center of gravity, making it easy to move and maneuver.

Pro:

  • Easy to remove your bag for non-cart courses
  • Low center of gravity for ease of moving
  • Small cart to transport
  • Easy to get in and out of car trunk

Con:

  • Additional cost of buying a bag
  • Storage space is limited to the size of the bag
  • There is no seat.

ZUCA EZ Cart

 

The EZ Cart has a shelf for your bag to sit on, and a little storage area under that shelf. Like the Rover Cart, it doesn’t have a seat, so you would need to carry one. It has a 24” axel.

Pro:

  • Easy to remove your bag for non-cart courses
  • Low center of gravity for ease of moving
  • Small cart to transport
  • Extra storage space for accessories or a cooler bag

Con:

  • Additional cost of buying a bag

Rovic RV1D

The Rovic RV1D is a foldable cart from ball-golf cart maker, Clikgear. It will hold any bag. The Rovic has a locking brake to prevent the cart from rolling away on an incline. There is a small storage area for snacks, keys, etc. It comes with drink holders, an umbrella storage loop, and a place to hold your umbrella when it’s up. There are many accessories available, including a seat with cushion, insulated storage bag, and mitts for cooler weather. The cart doesn’t push well on bumpy, uneven ground, but you can simply pull the cart over those sections of the course. The large handle makes it easy to get the cart up curbs and over ditches. I was concerned that the cart has plastic pieces, but I’ve been using one year ‘round for three years (including in the winter) and it has held up perfectly.

Pro:

  • Easy to push: I never thought tipping back a two-wheeled cart to get it to roll was a big deal. But, when I didn’t have to do it, it was really nice!
  • Accessories available to increase storage space, give you a place to sit, and make your life a little easier on the course.
  • Very Compact. Folds up into an impressively small space.
  • Holds your bag higher, so you barely have to bend over at all to retrieve a disc.

Con:

  • Since the front wheel doesn’t pivot, you have to tip the cart back to turn the cart. By mounting your bag a little higher, it makes the tip-to-turn a little easier.
  • The accessories are an added expense.
  • The cart fold up very small, but if you add the dimensions of your bag and accessories, the total space is comparable to a large cart.
  • The included water bottle holders are too small for larger water bottles to fit.

Bagboy Disc Golf Quad XL Push Cart

BagBoy Quad XL Disc Golf Cart

The Bagboy Quad XL is a four-wheel push cart that boasts more stability and two- and three-wheel carts. It is easy to set up and once you hang your bag on the cart, you’ll be ready to roll. It comes with a drink holder, umbrella holder, and built-in storage for snacks, phones, or accessories. The BagBoy has a handle-mounted brake for parking on an incline.

Pro:

  • Stable and easy to push
  • The bag sits higher than most carts, making it easily accessible without bending over.
  • Has built-in accessory holders

Con:

  • Has an optional seat, but it is very expensive
  • Other accessories are expensive
  • The front wheels don’t pivot
  • Built-in water bottle holder won’t accommodate larger bottles

The BEST Disc Golf Cart

Now that you know the pros, cons, and features of these disc golf carts, you can narrow down your selection by considering your disc golf needs.

Do you play most of your rounds at courses that are cart-friendly?

Do you enough room in your vehicle to transport a cart?

How much extra space will you need for accessories, food/water, and extra discs?

How often will I be using the cart at tournaments? (Tournament needs are different than casual-round needs. You’ll want to make sure you can take food, water, chair, repellant, sun screen, umbrella, raingear, etc.)

How much can you spend for the cart and all the accessories you’ll need?

Do you want to be able to sit during rounds?

Once you answer these questions, you’ll start to see which cart makes the most sense for you. Then you can further refine your choices by looking at available colors and styles.

Carts FTW!

I’ve heard many times how glad people are that they bought a cart! With all of the benefits a cart provides, it really is a game changer for many of us. Use this guide to help you decide which cart will be best for you, then check out the selection at Infinite Discs HERE.

What features do you like or wish you had in a disc golf cart?

We want to hear from YOU about your thought on carts. Do you have a cart? Let us know which one (or, which one is your favorite if you have more than one). Don’t have a cart? Tell us which one would best suit your needs. Won’t ever get one? Tell us why.

 

Introducing Prodiscus

10 comments

If one travels from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean toward northern Europe, they might reach the Baltic Sea. The eastern arm of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Finland. Along the shores of Gulf lies the Capital of Finland, Helsinki, and northwest of Helsinki is the city of Nokia.

Nokia is known throughout the world for the phone/electronics company that used to be located there, and bears its name. For disc golfers, Nokia is where The Beast at Disc Golf Park is found. And Nokia is home to disc golf manufacturer, Prodiscus.

First in Finland

Prodiscus was founded in 2006 by Kai Vesa, and started as an importer of disc golf products. However, after a few years, the company wanted to expand beyond just importing products. They decided to work toward producing their own line of discs.

In 2010, their first disc was approved by the PDGA for production. That disc was the Jokeri, an overstable putter that remains one of their most popular molds, and an exceptional throwing putter. Following the Jokeri, Prodiscus began adding more discs to their lineup. For the next few years they would design and release 1-3 new molds per year, slowly growing their brand and the discs they offered.

Popular Molds

Their most popular molds are the Jokeri, Midari, and Laseri. Those are a putter, midrange disc, and a control driver, respectively.

As mentioned previously, the Jokeri is an overstable putter. It is beadless, an excellent driving or approach disc, and perfect as a headwind disc. The Jokeri was the first mold for Prodiscus, and it has been a hit from the beginning.

The Midari is one of Prodiscus’ midranges. It is shapable with its straight flight and good fade. The Midari is available in base and premium plastics.

The Laseri is a control driver that lives up to its name. It is a laser-straight disc with just a little turn and fade. Pick up a Laseri in a premium plastic and it will give you consistent flights for a long time. It also comes in base plastic.

Finnish Names

The naming convention used by Prodiscus is to choose English words, then add a Finnish vowel. Thus, the Joker becomes the Jokeri, and the Laser becomes the Laseri. The proper pronunciation is to say the English word, followed by long ‘e’ sound, as in ‘feet’. Their names also take inspiration from mythology and ancient civilizations. Sparta, Titan, and Troija (an ancient city in Asia Minor) were chosen for that reason.

Along the way they developed several different plastic blends for their discs. Those include Basic, Basic Hard, Premium, Ultrium, and Platinium. The most popular of these options is the Ultrium.

Ultrium is a premium plastic that feels like a slightly more grippy Star plastic. Their Premium plastic is similar to Champion in durability, but a little gummier for added grip. Basic is similar to other base plastics. It is grippy and less durable than other Prodiscus plastics.

Sponsorships

In addition to the new molds and plastics they were releasing, they also started serving the disc golf community by sponsoring some of the most promising players in the world. Current European Champion Henna Blomroos, Devan Owens, and Henrik Johansen were all sponsored by Prodiscus. Other big names originally sponsored by include Kevin Jones and Luke Humphries, who have gone on to make careers out of disc golf. Some of the current athletes sponsored by Prodiscus include a top European Masters player, Kristian Bengtsson and US Tour disc golfer, Josh Coghill.

 

Prodiscus has also created several different levels of sponsorship and made them available to disc golfers with a variety of skill levels. Here are the Team levels:

Team Spartan: This entry-level sponsorship if for people who use Prodiscus products and want to help promote them. It is the Team for amateurs who just love to play, or who want to improve and compete at higher levels.

Team Ambassador: This Team level is for Prodiscus fans who are already working to grow the sport. It is for people who run tournaments and leagues, and who promote the sport. These team members will be supported by Prodiscus as they help grow the sport.

Team Prodiscus: This is the highest Team level. It is for players who compete regularly and are committed to improving their game while serving as a representative of Prodiscus. This level already has members who are growing as disc golfers, and whose names you will be hearing about in the future!

Anyone Prodiscus fans interested in applying for any team membership may contact Prodiscus directly at: team@prodiscus.fi

New Molds

Prodiscus works hard to give the best possible equipment to the disc golf world. They are also working to add to their product line. There will be several new molds coming out soon. Prodiscus says one of the new molds, the JokeriX, which was PDGA approved on May 9, has a rim depth that is between the Jokeri and the Sparta. The JokeriX and MidariX will be joined shortly by the SpartaX.

Kai Vesa, the founder of Prodiscus is optimistic about the future of the sport, and the future his company. Like other businesses in the industry, they got a boost from the pandemic that will last for years to come.

“Our future looks really promising. We’ve made major investments for our own factory and our manufacturing volumes are going up significantly”, he said. “And so is the demand for Prodiscus products.”

Disc Golf In The Future

Kai anticipates big things for the sport as well. He predicts even bigger sponsors and audience than ever before. He also expects that Finnish and European players will be regularly challenging the top US players for the top tournaments every year. We got a glimpse of that earlier this year with Kristin Tattar either winning or finishing on the podium at several major tournaments.

Whatever the future may hold for disc golf, Prodiscus will continue to innovate and create new molds and products for the disc golf world. They were the first Finnish disc golf manufacturer, and they strive to be the best. According to Kai Vesa, “We try to be down to earth company that serves the customer the best way possible.”

 

Visit Prodiscus here: Prodiscus USA

Check out our Prodiscus products at Infinite Discs here: Available Products

Win a Prodiscus Disc

Let us know your thoughts about Prodiscus discs and you could win a free disc! Have you tried a Prodiscus mold? Let us know which one(s) and what you thought. Haven’t tried Prodiscus  yet? Check out their discs and let us know which one could make it in your bag. We’ll pick three random commenters and send them a free Prodiscus disc.

 

Introducing Wing It Disc Golf

9 comments

Cache County, Utah, is in the northern most part of Utah. Commonly called the Top of Utah, the county sits on the border of southern Idaho. It is about an hour from the Fort, home of the 2021 World Disc Golf Championship. The county gets its name from the trappers in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s who used to store, or ‘cache’, their furs in the valley while waiting for an upcoming rendezvous.

Cache County has a long history of dairy production and a reputation for producing delicious cheese. It is home to a land grant school, Utah State University. The County Seat is Logan, Utah, where the largest disc golf retailer in the world has its headquarters: Infinite Discs. And Cache County is home to Wing-It Disc Golf.

Starting A Disc Golf Business

 

I suspect that a large number of us have thought how fun and interesting it would be to design our own discs or start our own brand of disc golf. Whether we are picturing ourselves as the new Innova, or just wondering if we could produce a mold or two that would resonate with other disc golfers, the idea of creating a new disc is appealing to many of us. Two brothers that live in Cache County decided to pursue that dream.

Brothers With A Plan

 

Wing It Disc Golf began fairly recently, and started with conversations among Eric and Jamin Burningham and their friends. The group shares a love of disc golf, and wondered what it would take to produce discs locally. Ed and Jamin decided to act on that idea, and found a local plastics producer to talk to about making molds for a disc.

After finding a plastics manufacturer in the county, the brothers began working on a 3D model of the disc they wanted to make. Then came the process of making a mold out of the 3D design. Once that was done came the job of finding a plastic that they liked.

Eric and Jamin decided on a polyurethane/ABS combination that they like. The plastic was durable yet grippy. Plus, it felt good to the brothers and other people who gave their input. That brought them one step closer to a finished product.

Winging It In Utah

 

Along the way to producing a disc, the pair had to come up with a name for their new company. The name they chose was Wing It Disc Golf. According to co-founder Jamin, “We picked Wing It Disc Golf because neither of us were pros. We were basically ‘winging it”. Eric, the other co-founder, is a serious birder, so the name turns out to be a nod to his other hobby.

The brothers also wanted to use birds and their flight to be themes for the names of their discs, but that turned out to be more challenging than they thought. Said Jamin, “We found that bird names were very popular choices for disc names. So much so that we felt it a little overused. “

 

High In The Sky

 

Instead of a bird-related theme, the name Stratosphere was chosen for their first mold. The Stratosphere was PDGA approved at the end of 2021, and the first run was selected for the Infinite Discs VIP club and sent out in early 2022. Since then, the Stratosphere was released to the public. The plastic for those first runs is called Lift Plastic, a nod to flight in general, birds and discs.

The disc-making duo is planning their next disc, which will be a higher-speed driver. They are still in the early phases of development for that disc, so it will still be a while before it is released. However, they have more lined up for the future besides new molds.

Currently, Jamin and Eric are experimenting with plastics, including adding agents into the Lift Plastic that will allow them make the lighter weight discs that are popular among beginning disc golfers. They don’t have that process down yet, so it may be a while before they can release lighter discs. Until then, they’ll keep experimenting with plastic and working on new molds.

Following A Dream

 

Eric and Jamin are brothers who share a love of disc golf. They truly enjoy playing with each other and with friends, and just having fun in the outdoors throwing discs! They also share the desire to grow a business, and both have a goal of providing discs for people who want to enjoy our sport. The two brothers are excited about the future of their company and the sport of disc golf. They love the growth that disc golf has seen the past few years, and are happy to be a part of increasing that growth. The fact that they are able to produce their discs here in Cache Valley makes chasing their dreams all the better.

Follow the progress of Eric and Jamin on their website here:  Wing It Disc Golf

Be sure to visit Infinite Discs to see the Wing It Discs we have in stock, here: Infinite Discs

Post below and tell us what you think of Wing it Disc Golf’s first disc. Have you thrown it? Let us know what you think.

 

The State of Disc Golf: Disc Golf Con

One comment

Throughout the course of the State of Disc Golf survey results bogs, I’ve mentioned the effects of the pandemic on our sport. Everything from supply issues affecting our purchases to our attendance at tournaments were affected to some degree by Covid-19. Infinite Discs was no different.

If you’ve been shopping with Infinite, or have been following our social media, you’ll know that the past two years have been challenging and at time frustrating as we grappled with supply chain issues. Just as the number of people who were playing disc golf skyrocketed, many of our suppliers were having trouble making the products that we, and other retailers, desperately wanted to have to sell to our customers.

While all retailers were in the same boat when it came to keeping stocked with the discs we wanted, there was one aspect of the pandemic that cut a little deeper for us. That would be the forced postponement of what was to be the inaugural Disc Golf Con.

 

Disc Golf Con

 

In case you aren’t familiar with Disc Golf Con, it was going to be a convention dedicated to the fans of disc golf. There were going to be flymarts with vendors selling disc golf goodies, professional disc golfers running a variety of clinics, limited edition discs for attendees, the option to caddy for pros, the option to play with the pros, and it would have opportunities to attend panels and a swap meet. Attendees would also have the opportunity to watch the top pros in our sport play for $84,000 cash!

The Disc Golf Con (DGC) was going to be held in Las Vegas in conjunction with the Las Vegas Challenge. We worked hard to prepare for the DGC.  We worked with pros, a hotel/convention center, and Wild Horse Golf Course to plan for a successful convention. Then, in January came a spike in the number Covid-19 cases and the decision was made to postpone DGC until 2023.

While it was very disappointing to put in the work preparing for the DGC, only to have it postponed, we also feel like we learned a lot and the inaugural event next year will be better because of our experiences. Which brings us to the topic of this week’s survey results: your thoughts about Disc Golf Con.

Were You Going?

 

In our survey we asked several questions about the Disc Golf Con. We asked if you had been planning on attending, and if not, what might make you change your mind. We also asked about your opinions on several aspects of the convention that we had planned. Below are the results.

The first question we asked was simply, “Were you planning on attending the Inaugural Disc Golf Con?”

Here are the results:

While only a small percentage of us indicated that we were planning on attending for sure, we were confident that those numbers would rise as the convention got closer. Between those who had already purchased tickets, those on the fence, and those who were just learning about DGC, we felt like there would be enough people attend to make the convention a success.

 

Not Going to Attend

 

The next thing we wanted to find out in the survey was why people weren’t going to attend. We had a list of responses, and allowed people to add their reasons if they weren’t on our list. The overwhelming majority of the ‘other’ responses were because of scheduling or responsibilities that prevented people from getting time off to attend. Many people chose more than one answer. Here are the results of the options offered:

 

 

The most popular answer is location. We’ll explore that a little more in the next section. The next highest answer is time. You would definitely have to use some vacation days to attend a multi-day event. Ten percent of us are still concerned about the pandemic, and nearly 20% of us wouldn’t attend because of the costs.

 

Motivation

 

The next question was for people who indicated that they definitely were not attending DGC. We asked what it would take for them to attend. Since it took a while to get through all of the answers!

After dismissing all of the responses that wouldn’t ever happen, such as covering for people at their job while they were in Vegas or babysitting for them, we were left with a good idea of what would get the most people to attend. Below is a list of the top 5 answers.

 

 

Hands down, the top response was location. Not that everyone disliked Vegas in general, although many specifically mentioned that they didn’t want to go there. It was mainly just too inconvenient to travel that far to attend a convention. Many in the survey indicated that they would attend a regional disc golf convention. Others said it would have to be in their home town for them to attend. While having a DGC in every major city would be impossible, having one more centrally located is something to consider.

The second most popular response was concerns about Covid. Some people were concerned about being around that many people at an indoor event. Others were mainly concerned about traveling in a plane during a pandemic. We sincerely hope that Covid will be much less of a factor next year.

The next three responses on the list are things could be considered and/or implemented. They are: Virtual options, all-inclusive packages (flight, hotel, tickets to the convention, etc.), and more unique swag.

 

Ticket Pricing

 

The next DGC-related question concerned the cost for tickets to the convention. We put a lot of thought into the ticket pricing, given everything you would get for your ticket. We felt it was a fair price, and certainly in the range of other large conventions. Here are how those who were not attending thought about the ticket prices.

 

 

Over half of the respondents either thought that the price was what we could expect for a convention of this size, or that the price wasn’t preventing them from attending. Over 46% indicated that they would pay less than $100 for tickets, with about 20% saying they would buy tickets if they were under $50, and nearly 27% saying they would spend between $50-100 for tickets.

 

Excited/Don’t Care

 

The final question about DGC we wanted to cover in the survey was to see which aspects of the convention appealed to you. We asked you to rank those events on a scale from ‘Don’t Care’ to ‘Very Excited’

Let’s start with the list of events that respondents are very excited about. Below is the list. I was surprised to see the high-stakes rounds rank so low. That was one of the things I was most looking forward to! Topping the list is people’s desire to get something unique from the event.

 

Conversely, below is the list of things that are the least appealing:

 

DGC Next Year

 

We are looking forward to next year and the inaugural Disc Golf Con. We are already planning and preparing so we can make sure it is a memorable event, and one that will grow and become better in the future. We’ll start making announcements as soon as we can. We sure hope to see you there!

 

 

 

The State of Disc Golf: Clubs and Leagues

Leave a comment

 

Our local club, Cache Valley Disc Golf, began about 10 years ago. Currently, to ‘join’ the club, all you really need to do is just come out to play at league. We do offer a bag tag for $15, which is completely optional, and that tag allows you to compete for various CTP prizes that are reserved for tag holders. Don’t want to buy a tag? No problem, you can still compete at league.

The cost to play in league is $5, if you want to play competitively. You pay and choose division you want to compete in. Don’t want to play competitively? No problem, we offer a free Recreational division. In other words, if you either can’t or don’t want to pay to play, you can still join us for some disc golf.

We also offer two ace pots: a $1 ace pot and a $5 ace pot. The $5 one obviously grows much faster, often times making for a sweet payout for an ace. There are two optional CTP’s that cost $1 each, one for the cash in the ace pot, and one for a gift card. The total cost for the weekly single league if you pay for every option is $13.

In addition to our weekly singles league, we have a weekly doubles league. The total cost for everything is in doubles is $10. Recently, one of our club members started a flex league. That costs $6 to play if you want to compete for cash and buy in to the ace pot.

Total weekly cost if you want to play in all of our leagues and choose all of the optional buy-ins: $29.

 

Clubs

 

Which brings us to this week’s State of Disc Golf Survey subject: Clubs and leagues. In the survey, we asked how many of you belong to a Club, and all of the costs associated with joining and playing in your club events. Let’s check out the data.

The first thing we’ll look at is how many of us belong to a club. Many of us have played in clubs for years and can’t imagine not having that camaraderie and competition in our sport. Others of us are fine playing with the friends and family that we always play with. Many of us play alone, competing against ourselves, or just playing for fun.

The question we asked was, “Did you belong to a local disc golf club in 2021?” Here are your responses:

 

Since nearly two-thirds of us indicated that we belonged to a club last year, the next thing we wanted to look at was the cost to join the club. Many people gave a range, so we took the highest amount in the range for comparison. For those respondents outside the U.S., I did my best so convert the cost to USD.  Here are the costs to join for those who indicated that they belonged to a club last year:

 

 

Some people indicated that they got some swag like a disc or clothing when they joined the club, and those costs were a bit higher than the rest. Other people indicated that they could (or have in the past) buy a lifetime membership. Naturally, those would cost more than a yearly fee. The average cost to join a club is around $15, which is right where our club is at.

 

Leagues

 

The next cost we wanted to look at was the price to play in weekly events run by the club. Here is what we found:

A large majority of clubs charge very little for weekly events, $10 or less. A few charge $50+ dollars per week. I would guess those are larger clubs with a lot activities to choose from. Next year it would be interesting to have people indicate approximately how many people are in their club.

Our club came in at the highest 10% for weekly costs. Since those costs are mostly optional, it doesn’t have to cost much to play. (Our doubles league has a mandatory buy-in of $5.) Where does your club fall on the chart?

 

Our Skill Level

 

Now that we have the numbers for club membership, we can check out the varying demographics to see how many are in clubs. We’ll start with skill levels. The chart below was taken from a previous blog. It shows the percentage of us in each skill level.

 

 

We can now look at the percentage of each skill level that belongs to a club.

 

 

Based on the numbers, we could conclude that belonging to a club improves one’s skill level. However, I think it is more likely that as we improve in disc golf, we are more likely to feel comfortable playing around other people and testing our abilities.

When Did We Start Playing

 

I thought it would be interesting to look at when we started playing and see if that affects our club membership. The people who started the most recently are less likely to belong to a club, for a variety of reasons, but what about people who started 20 years ago? Or 30 years ago? Here is the chart:

 

 

The numbers bounce around a bit, but don’t really vary a whole lot. The percentages dwindle towards the end of the chart, which was pretty much expected. Earlier we mentioned that 37% of us belong to a club. Other than the first and last year(s), there isn’t much difference from average.

 

Gender

 

The last demographic we’ll look at is gender. Since 96% indicated that we are male, we already know that the male segment of our survey will be very close to the average number of people who belong to a club. Our average as a group is 36.5% The male average is 36.3%. For those who indicated that they are female, 43.4% belong to a club. For those who did not indicate a gender, 34.5% belong to a club.

 

 

Past Years

 

Finally, let’s look at an earlier State of Disc Golf survey and see if there have been any changes to the percentage of us who belong to a club. Here are the results for the 2015 survey for the question, “Do you belong to a club?”

 

That is a significant difference in club membership from 2015 to this year. Based on the chart above that indicates the year we started playing, we can’t really blame the drop in club attendance on the pandemic and the people who started playing in the past couple of years. We might be able to blame the pandemic for people not wanting to play in a club because of social distancing fears, despite disc golf being a non-contact, outdoor sport. Perhaps in the next few years we’ll see an increase in the number of people joining clubs, which would be evidence of the effects of Covid.

Let us know in the comments about your club and leagues. Is your experience in line with the majority? Or are you an outlier?

Tune in next week when we’ll look at more survey results.

State of Disc Golf: Aces!

Leave a comment

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone to hear that the people I know who play the most (or have been playing the longest) have the most hole-in-ones, or ‘aces’. Most of them can tell you exactly how many aces they have. Some retire and save their ace discs, while others continue to throw them, often times picking up multiple aces on the same disc. I frequently see pictures of found discs that have aces or multiple aces, so I know a lot of us continue to throw them. Others of us have few or no aces, always hoping to add a hole-in-one to our scorecards.

Because of the size of the target we are aiming for in disc golf, we get a lot more aces than our sister sport, ball golf. Even so, our first ace often takes years to accomplish. I talked to one disc golfer a few years ago who had a PDGA number that indicated he had been playing since the 80’s, yet he didn’t have a single ace! The often elusive ace is what we are going to be talking about in today’s installment of the State of Disc Golf 2022.

Did We Ace?

 

In our survey for last year, we asked a couple of questions about aces. First, we asked if you got an ace in 2021. Second, if you did get an ace, we asked how many aces you got. We’ll look at those answers, as well as a breaking down the aces by a few different demographics.

 

Checking out the survey results, we see that over a third of us indicated that we got an ace last year.

 

 

Multiple Aces

 

After we established how many of us got an ace, we asked those people how many aces they got last year. Which is kind of disgusting to those of us who didn’t get an ace. But, as painful as it might be, we wanted to know how many aces people got. It turns out that some of us get a lot!

 

 

Almost all of the people who aced last year got five or less. But, there were quite a few who got between 6-20 aces. And there were a select few who averaged a couple aces per month! If you play a lot and have some short courses near you, it would certainly increase the odds of getting aces.

 

Play More, Ace More

 

Speaking of playing a lot, I wanted to isolate the people who aced last year, and see how many rounds they played. Obviously, the more you play, the more opportunities you have to ace. I took the people who indicated that they aced last year, and sorted them by the number of rounds that they average each month. Since there were a range of the number of rounds played, I just took the low of 1-5 rounds, and the highest two ranges, 25-30 rounds and 30+ rounds. Here are the stats:

 

 

Want more aces? Play more rounds of disc golf!

 

Skillful Aces

 

Another demographic I wanted to examine is the skill level of the people getting aces. Again, it is pretty obvious to predict that the higher the skill level, the more aces. The interesting part might be to look at how many more aces an average pro will get, versus an average beginner. Here is a chart showing the percentage of each skill level that got at least one ace.

 

 

Him, Her, Them

 

When it comes to a comparison between men and women, it is another example of knowing the results, but not knowing the margin of difference. Men can throw farther on average which gives them an advantage of being able to reach more holes, thus giving them more opportunities for aces. Here are the numbers:

 

 

Around 20% of the women who took the survey got an ace. With the guys, over a third of them got an ace. The sample size for the men is significantly larger than for the women or N/A, so it is likely more accurate.

 

Past Ace Data

 

One last piece of ace-related data that I wanted to look at is to check with the results of the 2018 survey and compare the aces rate from then to now. My first thought is that there wouldn’t be a big change from year to year for the percentage of us who get an ace. Then I looked at the numbers:

 

 

 

I was surprised to see a significant difference in the number of us that picked up an ace in 2018 over 2021. There were 44.2% of us that got an ace in 2018, but only 36% of us aced last year. To figure out why we dropped in numbers last year, I looked at some of the survey results shown above.

The first thing I looked at was the number of rounds played in 2018 to see if there were numbers that would point to something significant. It turns out that number of rounds played were done so at a nearly identical rate in 2018 and 2021. However, the percentage of people getting aces were lower in 2021 for every category of rounds played. That made me think that skill level was to blame.

 

Pandemic Affect

 

One of the byproducts of the pandemic was a huge influx of new disc golfers. The survey results affirmed that fact. Here is the breakdown by skill level of survey respondents in 2018 and 2021:

 

 

 

Clearly the upper divisions have shrunk slightly and the lower divisions have grown a bit. That seemed to validate my theory that we have a smaller ratio of people in the higher division, leading to a smaller ratio of people getting aces. However, when I looked at the percentage of aces in each division, each division is lower in 2021 than it was in 2018.

 

I still think the lower ace percentages are affected by the growth that came about because of Covid. I suspect there are more people in the sport which might lead to people moving up divisions earlier than they should. Perhaps next year’s Survey will shed more light on the lower ace numbers.

Check back next week for more survey results!

 

 

State of Disc Golf: Brands in Our Bags

One comment

There was a time early in my disc golf ‘career’ that I threw only one brand. It was a conscious decision and every disc I threw was an Innova disc. Eventually, I started adding other brands to my bag, and it became much more diverse. As I starting throwing more Infinite molds I really liked the feel of the I-Blend plastic, as well as the S-Blend, and started replacing my go-to molds with Infinite molds. From then on, I started throw any brand on the market. The majority of the brands in my bag are Innova and Infinite, but I also have discs from many other companies, including Elevation Disc Golf and Thought Space Athletics. I like it that way.

From what I see in disc golf, most of us throw a variety of brands, even if we have a favorite. It is fun and interesting to throw discs that are new to us, and fun to try new plastic types.  Even though most discs we experiment with won’t make it into our bags, some do. And some make a difference in our confidence and our game. Our choices of regular throwers is what this week’s blog is about.

Brands We Throw

In this blog we will look at the State of Disc Golf Survey to find out about the brands we throw. We will check out a few factors that might affect which brands we throw. We will also look at the brands we know about. Let’s get to the survey results.

Since most of us throw a mixed bag, in order to find out which brands are bagged the most we asked simply, “Which of the following brands are included in your bag?” Our checklist included all of the big brands, most of the smaller brands, and even some tiny brands with only a few molds. Survey participants could also write in any other brands we didn’t include. Here is a graph of the results:

 

You could probably have guessed which brands would land in the top two spots. Innova, the perennial champion, and Discraft, home to arguably the best MPO and FPO players on the planet. As we’ll see shortly, Discraft doesn’t always fill the runner-up spot. But they are always in the mix. And they are followed by many of the ‘usual suspects’. Let’s see the order of popularity of the top brands in 2018:

Innova has a surprisingly similar percentage of us who bagged their brand in 2018. They still had the lead with 81.2% of us carrying their brand, versus 82.8% of us bagging Innova last year. Dynamic Discs held the second place spot, with Discraft rounding out the podium. The jump in numbers that Discraft made from 2018 to last year could very well be attributed to the aforementioned GOATS, and some new molds. And the jump was supported by a couple of staple molds, the Buzzz and Zone.

I pulled up a graph of the 2015 results of the same survey question. The top brands look similar to this year’s survey results. Some of the smaller brands percentages have changed a lot. Vibram, who stopped making discs in 2018, was in 16.7% of our bags in 2015. Last year only 3.7% of us still bagged the rubber discs. (Just last year Vibram started releasing some of their older molds in a new rubber blend.)

Brands Thrown By Pro/Am’s

I wanted to use the data we have to see if there was a difference in bagged brands between skills levels. I took the least-experienced players, Beginner/Recreational disc golfers, and compared them with Professionals. I don’t know how many of the professional players are sponsored, thus limiting their choice of brand (except Infinite Discs sponsored players who, can throw any brand!), but it is probably a small amount of survey respondents. Here are the graphs of the top 15 brands

Naturally, the top two spots for each skill level are the same for each skill level. After that, the brands and percentages vary. It appears that the pros throw fewer different brands than beginners. That is probably less about sponsorships and more about only throwing a few molds, and having multiples of those molds.

Top Selling Brands at Infinite

To give you a comparison of what brands are in your bag versus which brands we sell the most, here is a graph showing the breakdown by brand of all the discs we sold last year. Keep in mind that Covid affected those numbers. Even so, the leaders are still the biggest, oldest brands in the business. With a few exceptions.

Brand Familiarity

We are always curious how many people are familiar with certain brands, particularly the smaller ones. This has never been truer than the last couple of years. With so many new brands and molds coming to the market, it has been hard even for us to keep track of all of them. In the survey we asked how familiar you are with the brands on our list. Survey participants could rank their familiarity from 1 (‘Not Aware of Them’), to 5 (‘Regularly Follow Them’). Here are the results, sorted by brand familiarity.

Single Brands In Our Bags

At one end of the mixed-bag extreme, we had people who indicated that they have over 30 different brands in their bag. That sounds like an intentional choice, but since there is great plastic and molds from tons of manufacturers, someone could make that their goal and still have many discs to choose from.

At the other end of the spectrum are the people who, like I used to be, only throw one brand. I wanted to see how many of those people there are, and what single brand they throw. So, I ran the numbers and here is what I learned.

Of the 7709 people who took the survey, 261 of us have single-brand bags. That is just over 3% of us who are loyal to one brand. Here is a chart showing the brand name, and the number of us who bag only that brand. While the top two brands will surprise no one, it’s kind of nice to see some of the smaller brands have such loyal fans.

An extra shout-out to the handful of people who bag only Infinite Discs!

Tune in next week when we’ll feature more results from the State of Disc Golf survey.

 

1 … 18 19 20 21 22 … 28