Stamp Wars 2020 First Round Results

January 24, 2020 Todd Durrant Leave a comment

The voting has been finalized for the first round of Stamp Wars 2020. Theses are the results with total votes cast for each stamp design. The list on the LEFT are the stamp designs that are moving onto the 2nd Round and the list on the RIGHT are the ones that are not moving on.

The Great Horned Owl got the most votes in the first round. Let’s see how the 2nd round comes together with only half of the surviving submissions. After the 2nd round, the 3rd will feature the final 16 stamp designs for voting.

Once again, the voting will take place on the Infinite Discs Facebook page and on this round you’ll be able to select and vote for your favorite 8 designs. You’ll also be able to see the vote tally during the entire week. The voting for round 2 will continue until next Friday, January 31st, and then we’ll narrow the field again.

GO HERE TO PLACE YOUR ROUND 2 VOTES NOW!

https://contest.app.do/stamp-wars-round-2-voting

Infinite Discs RUIN – Overstable Approach Disc

January 2, 2020 Todd Durrant Leave a comment

THE CONCEPT

Infinite Discs is very excited to kick-off the 2020 year with a new disc release to help enhance your disc golf short game. We’ve been working with Innova, the manufacturer of the Infinite Discs line, to create a mold for a small diameter, overstable approach disc. We’ve noticed that a lot of players, including pro players, have turned from standard mid-range discs to approach discs that have dimensions more like putters. We wanted a disc that would fit that trend, with a relatively flat-top and manageable rim size for both forehand and backhand throwers. We also wanted the disc to be overstable enough that it could be thrown with speed and confidence to hold the line for a longer stretch and still finish with a solid fade.

Maybe you’ve watched players like Paul McBeth throw the Discraft Zone for shots approaching the basket from a couple hundred feet away. Or you’ve watched Ricky Wysocki throw some amazing approach shots with the Innova Pig (used to throw the Westside Harp for similar shots). The list could go on, with many players using overstable “putt-and-approach” discs to get through tight fairways or to make runs at the basket from longer distances. That’s what we wanted in our own disc line.

THE PROTOTYPE TEST

Several months passed while the mold was created and prepared for a test run. In late 2019 we received a small box of prototype discs from the Innova factory so we could test our overstable approach disc. It was exactly what we were hoping for. The profile was just right with a flat-top that would feel great for forehand approach shots, plus a rim size that was not too tall so that it could also be thrown backhand with comfort.

Some of us at Infinite Discs took the disc out to throw it around and see how it flew. It felt like a great overstable complement to the already popular Infinite Discs Tomb, which is more of a straight-flying approach disc with minimal fade. We could throw the new test disc even harder without turning it over and it had significantly more fade.

We made the remaining prototype discs available to Team Infinite and VIP Club members as “Infinite Proto Mold #15” and those few discs sold out immediately. Our office team sought feedback from outside players who picked up those prototypes, and that feedback was very positive. So, we decided to order a complete run in durable, long-lasting C-Blend plastic (Infinite Discs equivalent to Innova Champion plastic).

COMING UP WITH THE NAME

You may have noticed that the Infinite Discs lineup has been using names that primarily recall ancient cultures. The brand kicked off with ancient Egyptian references, including the Pharaoh, the RA, the Sphinx, etc. Some discs were named after elements that could move across different ancient cultures, like the Myth, the Tomb, or the Chariot. In the second year, we moved into some ancient Roman names like the Emperor, the Centurion, the Cohort, etc. Our third year is intended to be themed with ancient American cultural names, like with the early release of the Aztec. But with the new approach disc, we again wanted to pick a name that would cross all of the cultures.

Plus, as an overstable approach disc, we thought it should sound dense, or heavy. Well, all of the ancient cultures we know about have left their mark on the landscape through ruins. The heavy, megalithic ruins tend to last the longest and are often more memorable. Whether the ancient pyramids, the ruins of the Roman Empire, or the impressive temples of central and south America, we can still see and visit the remains of those cultures today.

Thus, the RUIN was named and will feature artwork with any number of ancient cultural references. The name was first revealed with the PDGA approval announcement. We found some of the initial reactions to the name to be quite humorous. “This disc is going to RUIN your game,” or “this disc will RUIN the course.” Luckily, most of us at Infinite Discs think that disc golf should be fun and that making fun of names is pretty harmless. So, why not wreak wreck and ruin with your overstable approach disc?

The RUIN was born.

THE LIMITED EDITION FIRST RELEASE

Infinite Discs has kicked off some of the previous disc releases with limited edition stamps. We thought the RUIN deserved the same treatment, so our initial limited edition will feature an XXL stamp. And what better way to ruin the ancient Egyptian ruins than with an alien invasion? Some of our stamps featuring Aliens taking over ancient cultures have been well received, so this fits right in.

WATCH FOR THE LIMITED EDITION RELEASE ON JANUARY 17th, 2020

Note: Some X-Out / Factory 2nd discs were made available in advance of the release, for those who wanted to try it early.

Also watch for a limited edition Las Vegas Challenge I-Blend RUIN to be featured in the am player packs at the event!

Infinite Discs Stamp Wars 2020

December 18, 2019 Todd Durrant 3 comments

It is time once again for STAMP WARS where we accept stamp designs from aspiring artists and then let the public decide which ones will appear on special runs of discs. Here is a quick look at how it will work.

STAGE ONE – December 2019 – SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN

In order to submit your stamp design for voting, you must read and agree to the rules and submit THIS FORM along with your stamp design file.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO ARTWORK SUBMISSION FORM

It is important to understand the rules, so be sure to read them. Basically, you will be promising that your work is original, not taken from anybody else, and not including any copyrighted material or characters. We’ve had to disqualify some stamps in past years for being traced or flat-out copied from other people’s work. That included some clip art submissions and monochrome versions of existing photos. We will also disqualify any stamp that we consider tasteless, pornographic, or offensive. Please stick with your own, original designs and in good taste.

Get your creative juices flowing and get your ideas submitted. THE SUBMISSION DEADLINES IS JANUARY 15th, 2020!

STAGE TWO – The VOTING

Once the submission process is over we’ll begin the process of elimination through a voting process. The Voting will be open to all Infinite Discs customers. We will announce the voting each week through our social media. The field will be narrowed each week until there are only four remaining finalists.

You are welcome to encourage your friends to vote and to campaign as much as you’d like for your design. On our end, we’ll simply move the stamps with the most votes during each round of voting onward to the next level. Voters will not be able to vote more than once on each round. IF WE DISCOVER CHEATING then we can remove the contestant.

STAGE THREE – THE FINAL FOUR

The final four stamp designs remaining after the voting process will be stamped onto discs to be released in the Infinite Discs store. We will stamp the same quantities on the same molds of the same brands in order to make sure that there is no unfair advantage for any of the four designs. Then the grand prize winner will be decided by which design sells the most or the fastest. We will either wait until for a period of one month if there is a close race, or we will declare the winner if the disc quantity for one of the stamps gets low enough that it becomes the obvious winner.

PRIZES

The prize for reaching the final four is a $100 gift card to the Infinite Discs online store, plus 5 discs with your design. The prize for winning 1st place after the sell-off is an additional $250 gift card to the Infinite Discs store. Plus, we’ll continue to use that winning design on additional runs of the stamp across several popular brands.

We’re excited to see your designs, so let the 2020 Stamp Wars begin!

DESIGN HINTS:

To be usable as a disc stamp, please make your designs monochrome (black “ink”).
Do not submit full color or multi-colored artwork.
Do not make thick, filled patches in the artwork– those thick areas would trap bubbles under the foil which causes drop-out when stamped.
Any shading should be line-shading or half-tone shading, since a foil can’t “fade out”.
Stamp designs which fit nicely into a circle will typically look better on discs, rather than very wide or very tall images which “shrink” the circular space in which they are presented.
Incorporating an Infinite Discs logo in some way is always a plus.

Cyber Week Deals Day 4 – Trilogy Day Sale! – Saturday, Nov 30th

November 29, 2019 Alan Leave a comment

Our cyber week deals continue with Super Saturday featuring Trilogy discs.

What’s On Sale Today

This sale includes the Dynamic Discs, Latitude 64, and Westside brands. Discmania Discs manufactured by Latitude 64 are not considered Trilogy discs and will be on sale on Tuesday, December 2nd.

The Trilogy Day sale is especially significant because this is the only time of the year we are allowed to offer Trilogy discs for sale at prices below MAP (Minimum Advertised Price, which is our normal price). If you are a Trilogy fan, take advantage of today to get all your favorite Dynamic, Latitude, and Westside discs at the lowest prices of the year.

Doorbuster Deals – Premium Plastic Only $9.99!

We have a limited selection of Trilogy discs at Doorbuster prices. These discs are available on a first come-first serve basis and these prices are only while supplies last.

What’s New/Featured

Tournament Burst Westside Maiden

For Super Saturday we introduce the Tournament Burst Westside Maiden — available only through Infinite Discs. This is the first time the Maiden has been available in a premium plastic. There are four different stamp versions of this exclusive run, giving you the opportunity to get exactly what you want from this popular putt and approach disc.

Shop Tournament Burst Westside Maiden

Mermaid Metallic Latitude 64 Trident

The retired Trident utility driver is back as part of this limited edition release. Our Black Friday edition features the Sea Queen Mermaid stamp and was produced as part of a limited run in a shiny Metallic Opto plastic.

Shop Mermaid Tridents

In addition to the exclusive edition Tridents and Maidens, the Roman Bomber stamp will be released on many of the most popular Dynamic, Westside, and Latitude 64 disc molds. There’s no better time to get this new stamp than while they are sale for Super Saturday.

Shop Roman Bomber Stamped Discs

$20 Gift Card for Purchase of Dynamic Discs Bags and Carts

Dynamic Discs makes some of the best and most popular disc golf bags and carts on the market. When you purchase any DD backpack or cart priced over $70 you will automatically receive a $20 InfiniteDiscs.com gift card!

Eligible products for this Black Friday week offer include:

Wondering what else is for sale for Cyber Week? Check out our full Black Friday ad here.

Top Selling Discs–Q2 of 2019

July 22, 2019 Jace Smellie Leave a comment

The always hectic summer in the disc golf world is in full swing! We are doing everything we can here at Infinite Discs to stay on top of it all. This post is a little late, but it is time to take a look back at the top selling discs of the second quarter in 2019!

Top 10 Overall

The disc formerly known as Kong, aka the Discraft Zeus, has been flying off the shelves, but it still wasn’t enough to beat out the “original” Paul McBeth distance driver. The Innova Destroyer stayed at number one this quarter, but it will be exciting to see if the stock stamp release of the Zeus will push it up to the top spot. Beyond that, we see most of the same names we saw last quarter with the most movement coming from the Innova Firebird that dropped from 5 to 10.

Top Distance Drivers

As always, we see Innova with a strong presence in the distance driver category. They manufacture 8 of the 10. But the other two discs may not be going anywhere soon. The Zeus has proven to be a hit, and the Raider was an instant success for Dynamic Discs. It will be interesting to see if both of these discs can continue to compete with the rest of the Innova made distance drivers that seem to always be at the top of the charts. Oh, and don’t sleep on the newly released Infinite Discs Emperor. I think we will continue to see this disc in the top 10 for a while.

Top Control/Fairway Drivers

Like with the distance drivers, Innova manufactures 8 of these top 10 discs. I think this is the first time we have seen the Innova Thunderbird take the number one spot. It is always near the top, but the new Swirly Star Jeremy Koling Thunderbirds finally bumped it to number one. The newly released Discmania Evolution Instinct came in at 6 with a lot of hype. We will see if it continues to sell well down the road. Beyond that, we have a lot of the same in the fairway drivers.

Top Midrange Discs

The top half of the midrange chart stayed nearly identical featuring the same top 4 as last quarter, but the bottom half shook up a bit. We haven’t heard a lot about Mint Discs since they released the very successful Alpha a few years ago, but now they add a midrange to the mix with the Bobcat taking our 7 spot. Also we see Discraft continuing to have a positive year on the sales charts with the Buzzz SS making its first appearance on the top 10 for as long as I can remember.

Top Putt and Approach Discs

This is something I’ve never seen before. All top 8 selling putt and approach discs this quarter are in the exact same position as last quarter. I guess we are pretty consistent with our putt and approach game here at Infinite Discs :). The Streamline Pilot cracked the top 10 this quarter with help from a Special Edition release in Streamline’s Neutron and Cosmic Neutron. The MVP Entropy is a newly released overstable approach disc that fills a great slot in the MVP lineup.

And that does it for our 2019 Q2 top sellers! Do any of these charts surprise you? What discs did better/worse than you would have expected? Tell us in the comments! And see you next quarter!

State of Disc Golf 2019–Disc Buying Habits

May 23, 2019 Jace Smellie 4 comments

We are getting into our busy season here at Infinite Discs! People are playing lots of disc golf which means they are buying lots of discs. So it seems like a perfect time to take a look back at our disc golf buying habits from 2018.

How Many Discs Do We Own?

First, let’s look at how many discs we own. Are we a bunch of hoarders? Let’s find out!

Surprise, (not really) we own lots of discs! The pie chart is a bit crowded, so here is a bar graph featuring the same information:

The most popular response was 41-60 discs, and from the pie chart we can see that almost 3/4 of us own more than 30 discs, which is more than you can fit in an average disc golf bag or cart. I remember when I first started playing disc golf and I saw someone on the course with a backpack full of discs. I thought there was no way I could ever own enough discs to fill a backpack bag. Now I have boxes and boxes of discs…

But that is the literal state of disc golf and disc ownership! And it is something that is pretty unique to our sport. You don’t see many golfers who have multiple bags of clubs, or casual basketball players who have closets full of different basketball shoes. We don’t just own the discs we need to play, but we also collect disc golf equipment.

How Many New Discs Though?

So how many new discs did we add to our collections in 2018? Again, here is both the pie chart and bar graph with this data:

So from this we could say that a rough “average” for the community as a whole is around 10-14 discs since a little over half of us bought at least 10 discs in 2018. I personally would say that is a little higher than I expected. 10 discs is a lot, especially for players who have a pretty established bag. But I think there are a couple of factors that drive us to buy more and more discs.

First of all, there are new releases. I usually write our quarterly sales reports on the blog, and almost every single time one of the top selling discs in every category is a new release disc. We for some reason in disc golf love trying out and collecting new disc molds, and there are definitely more than 10 new molds released every year.

I also think there is a sweet spot in the competitiveness and experience of disc golfers in correlation with how many discs we purchase. Beginners often purchase a lot of discs because they are excited about this new thing in their life and they are jumping in full swing. These new disc golfers are figuring out how to play and what molds will work in their bag. Then after maybe a year or more, once that disc golfer has gotten the hang of things, their purchasing may slow a bit.

This is that sweet spot. Experienced disc golfers who have for the most part found their comfort zone in the game. They don’t feel as strong of a need to buy more discs. However, if that experienced disc golfer becomes more competitive and play more frequently, they become more involved in the replacement market of disc golf. Depending on the types of courses they play, they might be losing more discs than average. Also their discs get worn in quicker and may need to be replaced sooner.

But something else that always needs to be remembered when analyzing this data is that the data is from people who cared enough about disc golf to take a survey put out by a disc golf company. We get a large number of respondents every year, but they are generally more active in the online disc golf community. So it makes sense that our numbers might be higher than expected when it comes to disc golf purchases.

How Many Discs Did We Collect?

Now, back to the data! And an interesting question that gets back to my comments earlier about us being collectors: How many discs did we acquire to collect and not throw? I think just the pie chart is sufficient for this one:

Again, we are collectors! Over half of us got a disc that we had no intention of ever throwing. This also doesn’t include discs that we collect but also want to throw a few times before hanging it on the wall or storing it away in plastic totes. This is great news for disc golf manufacturers and retailers. As we can see, their special edition, signature series, and first run discs are working in getting us to spend more money on new collectible discs.

But Where Do the Discs Come From?

So where do we get our new discs from? We asked that question, and provided survey takers with a variety of options for their responses. Here is how we answered:

As it is with the rest of the retail world, online is a dominant avenue through which we acquire new disc golf discs. So some may be surprised to see that the most popular selection was local disc golf stores that are focused primarily on selling disc golf equipment. This is encouraging for small business owners who have invested in building their own small business. It is also why companies like Dynamic Discs have opened several locations across the country.

But in a world that has seen brick and mortar stores go under because of the pressure from online retailers, why would most survey takers still buy discs from local stores? Again, this gets to a quirk in disc golf–there are benefits to seeing and holding a disc before you buy it. It is always nice to try on shoes and see them in person, but a size 11 of the same basketball shoe is going to be the exact same whether you buy it from a local Foot Locker or from Amazon or Eastbay online.

However, a max weight Star Destroyer from your local shop may be different from all of the max weight Star Destroyers available right now on Infinite Discs or any other online retailer. One might be more domey or have any other idiosyncratic feature you have learned that you like or dislike in your Star Destroyers.

I know when I worked in the warehouse at Infinite Discs I always got calls asking how flat a certain Champion Firebird was that we had listed online. Well when you shop in with a local disc golf store, you can inspect the disc however you want before buying your purchase. Due to overhead, some local stores may have higher prices than online retailers, but it may be worth the extra cost knowing exactly what you are getting before you buy it.

Over the last few years, I have been able to help out at our local Infinite Discs store in Pocatello, Idaho. I have seen the above scenario play out several times, but also I think a local pro shop is more inviting to newer players who may feel overwhelmed by all of the options available. Online retailers try their best to provide new players with information, but for many people it is nice to be able to have a face to face conversation with a store associate who knows about disc golf and are qualified to answer their questions.

But another interesting aspect of local disc golf stores being the most popular way that survey takers acquired discs is simply the fact that that many people have access to a dedicated local disc golf store. It would be interesting to know how many disc golf stores have opened over the last few years, but from this survey we know that at least over 60% of survey takers have access to a local disc golf shop, which is exciting for the growth of the sport.

So there you have it! What bit of data stood out to you? Is there something I failed to discuss that should have gotten more attention? Please let us know your thoughts and feelings in the comments!

Tiger Woods Just Won The Masters–What Does That Mean for Disc Golf?

April 16, 2019 Jace Smellie 5 comments

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the last couple of days, you probably heard something about Tiger Woods winning The Masters at Augusta National on Sunday. He entered the final round two strokes behind the leader and fought to shoot -2 for the day which was just enough to win his 5th green jacket.

But isn’t this a disc golf blog? Why are we talking about “ball” golf (or as the rest of the world knows it: “golf”)? Disc golf is better than that sport, so we shouldn’t even care about what Tiger Woods or any other ball golfer does, right? Ball golf is dying, and disc golf is thriving, right?

Well, that last question is exactly where Tiger Woods winning his 15th career major and his first in over a decade becomes interesting for disc golfers and disc golf as a sport. But first of all, for those who unlike me became a disc golfer without any prior affiliation with ball golf, let’s take a quick crash course on Tiger Woods.

If you want to know more, any google search right now should lead you to a variety of articles about Woods and his historic comeback to the top flight of a sport that he single-handedly revolutionized at the turn of the century. Personally, I’d recommend this article from ESPN if you want a little more info than what I am giving here. But basically, Tiger Woods is the undisputed GOAT of golf. He was so dominant in his heyday, that golf courses were literally renovated just to make them harder for him (they called it, “Tiger-proofing”). He was even considered by some to be the greatest athlete of all time regardless of sport. After becoming the youngest to win a major in 1997, he shattered record after record playing at a level that you had to see to believe.

Sunday afternoons in my house were all about watching Tiger Woods. If there was a family dinner at my grandparents’ home, Tiger Woods was always on in the background. He was an American icon, and his influence is definitely part of why I played golf and now play disc golf.

And I wasn’t the only one. Some say that Tiger Woods caused a “golf bubble” (we will use that term more later) bringing an unprecedented number of new fans and players to the sport. Nike created Nike Golf pretty much just for Tiger Woods. Sales were up, the sport’s popularity was up, and there was no sign of that changing. Tiger was the icon and the soul of the sport as he dominated for the better part of a decade.

And then as Tiger fell, so did golf. In 2009 Tiger was involved in a car crash that started the ball rolling in a very public and humiliating divorce. Around the same time, his body started to show signs of wear and tear resulting in multiple surgeries and very little golf. After knee and back operations, his body was not the same, and in many ways he had to completely relearn how to play. He’d come back for an event or two just to miss the cut or drop out early due to injury, and then announce he’d undergo another procedure.

Pretty much every sports analyst online and on TV predicted his career was over. We would never see Tiger compete at the highest level again. The human body just couldn’t come back after everything he’d been through.

And in the meantime, Tiger wasn’t the only one not playing golf. And we as disc golfers are pretty aware of this. Over the years I have seen many disc golfer Facebook friends share many reports about the decline of golf in America and the world. These articles have been used as an attempt to advocate for disc golf courses being added to golf properties in order to make up for the low numbers of golfers hitting the links.

And in many ways it has worked! We have seen lots of disc golf courses pop up on the same property as ball golf courses. Popular ones include the Emporia Country Club course used during the Glass Blown Open in Emporia, Kansas, Wildhorse Golf Club used for the Las Vegas Challenge, and one of my personal favorite local courses, Mulligan’s Golf Course in Marriott-Slaterville, Utah. The latter is used during the Utah Open and will be featured during the 2020 PDGA World Championships. Mulligan’s was on the brink of shutting down, and disc golf helped resurrect the 9-hole golf course that is adjacent to Toad’s Fun Center.

One of the more popular articles shared in disc golf circles since its publication in 2014 has been 5 Reasons Why Golf Is in a Hole featured by Money Magazine. The first four reasons we talk about all the time as disc golfers–We’re too busy! Golf takes too long. Golf is elitist and expensive. Golf isn’t really that cool. And golf is just too hard! These are all reasons disc golfers will use to try and convince their friends as to why disc golf is better.

And frankly, they are the reasons why I even started playing disc golf. I loved the game of golf. I loved the mental challenge and idea of the sport. But it was hard to find time in my schedule for 18 or even 9 holes at my local course. My clubs were expensive, and green fees were ridiculous. Also, I wasn’t that great of a golfer! I knew I could get better with more practice, but in order to practice I had to take the time and pay the money to go out and play.

And then my friends introduced me to disc golf, and it was so easy for me to get hooked. Our local park didn’t have any fees, plastic discs are way cheaper than golf clubs, and I could finish 9 holes in less than 30 minutes. It was everything I loved about golf minus all the things I didn’t care for in the sport.

But Money’s article has a fifth reason, and it is the reason that we disc golfers have just kind of ignored when discussing the decline in golf. We’d rather focus on the reasons that appeal to our logic and sensibility. But this 5th reason gets at people’s passion and heart. Maybe we haven’t talked about it as much because something in us knew–improbable as it may be–that this reason could change. This problem with golf maybe wasn’t necessarily a permanent one. What was that final reason that golf has been struggling?

Yep. Tiger Woods.

“Skeptics insist that golf isn’t dying. Not by a long shot. The sport’s popularity, they say, is merely taking a natural dip after soaring to unjustified heights during the “golf bubble” brought on by the worldwide phenomenon that was Tiger Woods.”

Wait, golf isn’t dying?! Disc golf isn’t replacing it? Those multi-million dollar purses on the PGA tour aren’t going to shift over to the PDGA in a few years?

But what about all the golf courses closing and needing disc golf to come in and save them?

Again, from the Money article, “So perhaps it’s not so much that golf is losing favor with the masses today as it is that golf’s widespread popularity a decade or so ago was something of a fluke…Golf courses were overbuilt, saturating major cities and secondary markets with ridiculous golf hole per capita ratios.”

So if anything, this is a bit of a reality check for our hopes and dreams for the growth of disc golf. Maybe golf wasn’t ever really going anywhere besides back to normal popularity levels over the last few years. I’m sure I haven’t been the only one who has thought that maybe once golf dies off in the next decade or two, society’s demand for disc golf will grow to such a place where disc golf will just slide in and take it’s place. But if these years have really just been the backside of the Tiger Woods “golf bubble,” it doesn’t bode well for disc golf’s future as a mainstream sport.

That future may have also taken another blow this weekend. Because Tiger’s story didn’t end with the humiliating divorce and what should have been career ending injuries. He fought back over and over again, showing a resilience pretty much nobody knew he had. He finished the 2018 season with a few strong finishes including winning the 2018 Tour Championship.

But he had his eyes set on something even bigger–he wanted another major, specifically The Masters. Another quick note for those unfamiliar to golf–The Masters is arguably the golf equivalent of the PDGA World Championships. It is the most prestigious event in golf.

So as Tiger Woods hung around the top of the leaderboard all weekend, it wasn’t just his old fans who started to cheer for him. It wasn’t just Americans who love a great comeback story who started pulling for him. The entire sport of golf and any individual or company who has a vested interest in golf’s future wanted Tiger to win on Sunday. I guarantee that every golf equipment and apparel company was hoping Tiger would beat out any other pro that they sponsored. Every golf course owner and sports equipment store was cheering for Tiger. Why?

Because if you have watched the Masters every year for the last 5 or so years (like I have), then you know that you have never seen or heard a crowd like the one at Augusta National on April 14, 2019. The “Tiger roars” were back, and some say they were even bigger than they had ever been before. When Tiger tapped in that final putt, the collective golf world erupted. Their champion and hero was back.

Does that mean that they will be back on their local courses as well? Will we see a second Tiger golf bubble form? I know that is the hope and dream of every golf company.

And should it be the nightmare of every disc golfer? Maybe. It is hard to say. As I watched those final holes at Augusta on Sunday, the kid in me was hoping Tiger would pull it off, but the cynical disc golfer in me was hoping to see him choke. Because if Tiger is back, then golf could very well be back as well.

But maybe disc golf doesn’t have to be at odds with Tiger and the golfing world. Maybe we can coexist within each others’ spheres. I could spend a whole different article talking about how disc golfers think that golfers are rude, uppity rich folks who think they are too good for our sport; and how golfers think that disc golfers are a bunch of uncultured pot heads who need to get out of the parks and go find a real job. But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.

Because as much as I love golf, I have learned that disc golf is my true “golf” calling in life. So when I saw Tiger’s return and felt that tug on my heart, it didn’t send me looking for my old golf clubs.

It sent me to the disc golf course.

Top Selling Discs–Q1 of 2019

April 8, 2019 Jace Smellie 2 comments

The weather is warming up, Spring has sprung, and the 2019 disc golf season has begun! It’s April, which means it is time to once again take a look at our top selling discs of the first quarter! As we go through the top sellers, we will see a lot of changes from last quarter. Most of those changes can be traced back to one person…yep, Paul McBeth!

Top 10 Overall

If you are still of the belief/delusion that Paul McBeth doesn’t influence sales numbers, hopefully looking at this overall top 10 and comparing it to all of the top 10 charts from last year will be enough to change your mind. Paul’s signature has been printed on over half of these discs at some point in time. While it isn’t unheard of for new releases to crack into the top 10, the Luna debuting at number 5 is very impressive. Also the Discraft Force has never been on this or the distance driver top 10 list. For what it’s worth, if March had been one day longer, we’d probably have another McBeth disc on this top 10 list (the Kong). So overall I think it is safe to say that Discraft has taken full advantage of adding Paul to their team so far. Discraft numbers are way up across the board here at Infinite Discs.

Top Distance Drivers

The previously mentioned new Discraft Kong made it all the way to number 7 on the distance driver chart after selling out in just a few hours on its release date. I think it will be interesting to see how the Force and the Kong perform in sales throughout the rest of the year since McBeth mostly used one distance driver with Innova–the Destroyer. Of course, that might be the key–how much McBeth uses either disc. Beyond the new Discraft additions, it is mostly more of the same for the distance driver category this quarter.

Top Control/Fairway Drivers

Last quarter I mentioned that the Discraft Undertaker surprised me by cracking into the top 10 at the number 9 spot. Well, it made another big jump this quarter finishing as the number 2 fairway driver. The big surprise this quarter is the Axiom Insanity coming in at number 6. The high sales numbers this quarter are primarily because of the special release Axiom did for their new Prism plastic blend. We also see the Innova TeeBird3 cracked back into the top 10.

Top Midrange Discs

The top 7 on this chart is pretty business as usual with only a couple of small shifts from last quarter’s top 10. But the last 3 are all new names to this list, or they at least haven’t been on the list for a while (looking at you Discraft Buzzz OS). One of the biggest surprises of this whole article for me is the newly released Kastaplast Gote finishing as the 10th best selling midrange. New releases have a tendency of making surprise appearances in these top charts, but this might be the first Kastaplast mold to crack into a top 10, which may be an indication that the small Swedish disc manufacturer is continuing to grow into the mainstream.

Top Putt and Approach Discs

There aren’t too many surprises here besides the two Discraft molds making such a big jump up the charts. The Dynamic Discs Deputy made it back into the top 10 after not making it last quarter. Also the Westside Harp is the lowest it has been ever since making the top 10 if I remember right. It will be interesting to see how the Harp performs throughout the year now that Ricky Wysocki is not throwing it and Paul McBeth is throwing a similar mold in the Discraft Zone.

And that’s all we have for this quarter! What will the next 3 months of sales look like? Was there anything that surprised you this quarter? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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