The UTAH OPEN is part of the Disc Golf 2017 Pro Tour and it powered by Latitude 64. As part of the Utah Open tournament fundraiser, there are a bunch of really nice Latitude 64 discs available to order at Infinite Discs. This is a run-down of the discs available with the Utah Open stamp. They are available on some nice plastic types, including a lot of smooth, white Gold Line discs and Opto Sparkle:
You can search these Utah Open stamped discs, as well as other special editions discs, or discs of specific plastic types, weights, colors, and more by using the Infinite Discs Advanced Disc Search function. Here is a video that shows you how…and the Utah Open stamps can be browsed by searching “extras” and “Utah Open Stamp”:
When it comes to disc golf brand awareness, Innova remains king. While Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 have taken great strides to increase their popularity and reputation, far more disc golfers are aware of Innova than any other brand.
This graph shows a break down of the overall awareness of brands included in the survey by combining all categories other than the “not aware of”.
While more disc golfers are aware of the long established “Discraft Brand” when it comes to “regularly follow”, Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 rank higher. Westside Discs ranks #8 for brand awareness, but #5 for “regularly follow.”
It’s interesting to see that while the gap isn’t very big in awareness between the companies, when it comes to “regularly follow” there is a large gap between Innova and everybody else. Discmania, MVP, and Prodigy who rank 6th – 8th were only “regularly followed” by about 15% of the surveyed disc golfers.
Favorite Brands
At Infinite Discs we are able to get a good feeling for which brands are favorable by what sells. It’s also interesting to see which brands people find favorable based on a survey. The results are pretty similar and not surprisingly, Innova is the most favorite brand according to the 2017 State of Disc Golf Survey. The graph between “Favorite Brands” and “Regularly Follow are pretty similar.
It’s interesting to note that the trend over the last few years made it appear as if Dynamic Discs and the Trilogy brand might overtake Innova as most popular, but 2016 saw a significant step back from the up and comers. Through 2017, we are seeing a trend with Innova widening the gap.
I Bag ‘Em
While 75% of those surveyed include Innova among their favorite brands, the number of players that throw at least one Innova Disc is even higher! 83% of surveyed disc golfers carry at least one Innova Disc in their bag. This is 24% higher than second place Discraft where 59% of surveyed disc golfers bag their discs.
An interesting relationship occurs here between “bagged discs” and popularity in that Discraft doesn’t rank nearly as high in terms as popularity as the Trilogy Brands, yet a higher percentage of disc golfers actually throw their discs. This could say something about the quality of Discraft discs and the relationship to their limited marketing efforts.
Limited to an Exclusive Manufacturer
Likely a result of Innova’s dominance in terms of recognition and the number of people that own their discs, when the question “If you could throw discs made by only one manufacturer?” was asked, nearly half (45.5%) of survey respondents said they would choose Innova. One third (32.6%) chose the Swedish manufactured trilogy discs. Only a very small percentage of disc golfers said they would choose any other manufacturer if they had to exclusively throw only that brands discs. Discraft came in third at 7.8% followed by MVP at 6.5% and Prodigy in a distant fifth at 2.7%.
As disc golfers, most of us watch professional disc golf. 85.6% of those surveyed said that they watched professional disc golf at least once in 2016. The preferred method of watching professional disc golf is after production YouTube videos where nearly 94% of those who “watched professional disc golf” participated.
About two thirds of those who watched professional disc golf spent time watching live videos (30.8% less than post production). 46% followed live scoring during tournaments, 70% watched instructional videos or clinics, and 28% attended a tournament where they watched the pros live.
Favorite Professional Disc Golfers
71.4% of those surveyed follow professional disc golfers. At Infinite Discs, we regularly see the impact of professional disc golfers as their “signature discs” regularly outperform sales of ordinary stock discs.
Among those that follow Professional Disc Golfers, Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton, and Simon Lizotte were the favorites of 2016.
Disc Golf Podcasts
Many disc golfers get their disc golf news and pro information by listening to podcasts. 28.9% of those surveyed said that they listened to at least one disc golf podcast. The most popular disc golf podcast according to respondents is Smashboxx.TV (71%) with the Disc Golf Answer Man (64.1%) close behind. Inside the Circle was the only additional Podcast that at least 20% of Podcast Listeners had tuned into at least once.
Growth of the Sport
Most of the participants surveyed (78.8%) would like to see disc golf grow and become a mainstream sport. Only 4.5% would like disc golf to stay small while 16.7% have no preference.
We got a late start on the first annual INFY AWARDS voting, but the results are now in. This was designed as a contest of pure popularity, where voters picked their favorite new discs of 2016 in three categories. They also chose the male and female professional disc golfers that they felt were the most influential in 2016 and their favorite 2016 disc golf moment. So, total sales figures had nothing to do with these results. The winners were chosen 100% by vote count.
Certain contests were looking pretty tight as we watched the voting results come in, but then a certain disc brand pushed the poll to their mailing list and we saw a surge of voting that turned the tide dramatically. So, without further ado, here are the results…
Most Popular New Putt-and-Approach Disc of 2016
The three new-release putters of 2016 that topped the voting, in order were as follow:
All of these new mid-range discs received a lot of love during the year, but the #1 spot finally took over with a lot of momentum and won handily in voting:
This was a race where the Discmania DDX was in solid control for most of the voting, but once the Dynamic Discs crowd started flocking to the poll, a new winner emerged:
Female Professional Disc Golfer
Who Made the Biggest Impact in 2016
This was a very very tight race between both Valarie Jenkins and Paige Pierce. They actually swapped places several times during the voting before polling ended and our winner took the top spot. The winner for this Infy Award in 2016 was…
The voting on the biggest disc golf moment of 2016 was a run-away win with the huge, viral albatross on a par 5 hole by Philo Brathwaite winning by a landslide.
Alright, the final week of Disc of the Week has arrived! After much deliberation, we have decided for our final week to feature what has been the hottest new release of 2017 so far. Our final Disc of the Week of 2017 is the Dynamic Discs Sheriff.
The Sheriff has already proven to be a great addition to the DD lineup. This high-speed driver fills the slot of a straight, stable, and workable bomber. It is one of those nice discs that can fit in the bag for beginner golfers as well as professional level players. All disc golfers should like the incredible glide (rated at a whopping 5) and the nice, soft and predictable fade at the end of the flight. And like I said already–this is a bomber. She flies far!
If you haven’t had the opportunity to try one of these beauties out, we highly recommend it!
And this week is your chance to grab these for the best price! This week only take 15% off any Dynamic Discs Sheriff in stock (including our custom Sheriff and Aztec stamps) by using the code: DWSHERIFF17.
Also, to send out the Disc of the Week promotion with a bang, we will not only giveaway a Sheriff on Facebook, but we will also post giveaways on our Twitter and Instagram accounts! That gives you three chances to win a new DD Sheriff! So if you don’t already, be sure to follow us on those social media platforms, and watch for those giveaways to be posted soon!
We already know that a lot more men took the State of Disc Golf survey than women. 91.8% of survey participants were men, compared to 8.2% for women. That was a large increase for the women over previous survey years, so the women are definitely gaining ground. There was a large enough sample of the sexes for us to take a look at how gender plays into disc golf participation.
First of all, the number of courses played for female vs. male really showed no difference, with the vast majority playing 10-15 courses in a year. Here is a look at the number of courses played in 2016, as reported by survey participants.
How Many Different Courses Did You Play This Year?
But how do men and women compare when it comes to seasonal play? The following charts show the number of times each of the sexes plays disc golf during the four seasons:
You can see that there are similarities in the frequency of game play, even season by season. It appears that men generally favor the 2-3 times per week more than women, and the women favor that 2-3 times per month more than men. It looks like men play more frequently, particularly when the weather is cold, but the differences are not large enough to make any definitive statement on who plays more per-capita. There are certainly more men playing, but when it comes to how often vs. the smaller number of women, the differences are only slight.
This seems to suggest that when it comes to the two sexes, there may be a difference in number of players, but the level of passion is relatively equal.
Gender in Tournament Play
Let’s take a look at how many women vs. men reported playing in tournaments in 2016. First of all, 31.1% of women surveyed reported that they did not play any tournaments at all. Of those who said they did, this is how many of both PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA Tournaments they reported playing in 2016:
So, for the women, it looks like it non-PDGA tournaments are favored, and the vast majority of tournament-playing lady’s played in the range of 1-5 tournaments in 2016. The 2-3 tournaments choice was the highest spike, especially for non-PDGA tournaments.
Now, let’s look at what the men said. First of all, only 27% said that they don’t play tournaments, while 73% said that that they did play at least some tournament in 2016. Right way, we can see that a larger percentage of disc golfing men play tournaments than do the women. Here are the charts for number of PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA tournaments for the men:
Though the number of players differs greatly, the general tournament quantity curve is fairly similar between the sexes. Again, most men who played tournaments played in that 1-5 tournaments range, with 2-3 being the most popular response in the survey.
The similarities between the charts again suggests that the women surveyed are not shying away from tournaments. They like to play, and they like to compete. But the number of female competitors is much smaller. But that competitive spirit should continue to bring more competitors and a higher level of play to events with time.
All in all, we’re encouraged at the growth of disc golf when it comes to both sexes, and we’re encouraged by the level of passion shown in both casual play and in competitive play from both the men and the women. We expect that the difference in numbers between the sexes will continue to narrow with time, especially as very talented women are beginning to take the spotlight in professional disc golf tournaments.
On January 26th, 2017 we kicked off a winter season stamp dual here at Infinite Discs. We launched a popularity contest between two stamps — The Aztec and The Tommy Cat. We explained the origin of the dual in our initial announcement. It had started basically as an office feud where the older contingent generally believed that ancient culture could provide wonderful disc art, and the Aztec stamp was preferred. The younger contingent believed that the internet’s apparent love affair with kitty cats would garner the most love from the disc-throwing public, so they preferred a gun-toting cat stamp called the Tommy Cat. Rather than argue continually over which stamp to launch for the winter, we opted to put both onto completely equal quantities of discs from Innova and see which one sold the most. In other words, the customers would decide. Facebook pages were launched for Team Aztec and Team Tommy Cat where trash-talk and the sharing of photos could keep the contest exciting.
Here we are, a month later, and the disc-buying public has decided. The Aztec stamp sold the most, reaching a 78 disc lead at one point. The contest is over. Ancient art trumps the kitty cat, and we face the consequences…
The Infinite Aztec stamp lives on and is now being released on discs from multiple brands so that more and more people can throw some truly stunning discs around their local courses. Players will impress their friends with their fine, artistic taste and apparent cultural depth!
In the meantime, the Tommy Cat will be left behind. Only the few remaining Innova discs with the stamp are left to be sold, and then it is banished forever.
Discs from Trilogy (Dynamic Discs, Latitude 64, and Westside) are already going online, including some beautiful new Metallic Lucid Sheriff distance drivers with the Aztec stamp! The Metallic Lucid plastic features sparkle flakes inside the traditional Lucid plastic for a lot of extra shimmer and shine. There are many other great Sheriff discs including the crystal clear Lucid plastic with an awesome “grunge” stamp that looks more ancient. There are oil-slick, party-time, and many other great foil color schemes to choose from on many other popular molds, including the River, Trespass, Judge, Havoc, Destiny, and more!
We also launched our first full-color version of the Infinite Aztec stamp on a small run of Vibram discs including the Lace, O-Lace, Solace, Unlace, and Sole. Those nearly sold out in the first few hours on our website, but we have more coming! Keeps your eyes open for more and more brands featuring the this beautiful stamp. Long live the Aztec!
And for this week’s feature, we go back to our traditional format featuring just one disc. This week, the disc is one that we got to see Ricky Wysocki fling around quite a bit on his way to sealing up the win at the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge yesterday. The Westside Harp is the disc of the week.
The Harp is a putt and approach disc that gets used more for approach shots than putts. It has a nice flat profile and a beadless rim that fits perfectly in the hand for both backhand and forehand shots. It also offers a smooth and predictable overstable flight that any disc golfer could afford to have in their repertoire. It is one of our highest rated approach discs.
The Westside Harp has grown into one of our top selling discs as more and more golfers have given it a try and fallen in love. If you haven’t tried one yet, now is the time to do it! This week only, take 15% off the Westside Harp by using discount code: DWHARP17. Also be sure to watch our Facebook page for your chance to win a Harp of your choice from our inventory!
The War is Over…
The Infinite Aztec stamp lives on and is now being released on discs from multiple brands so that more and more people can throw some truly stunning discs around their local courses. Players will impress their friends with their fine, artistic taste and apparent cultural depth!
crystal clear Lucid plastic with an awesome “grunge” stamp that looks more ancient. There are oil-slick, party-time, and many other great foil color schemes to choose from on many other popular molds, including the River, Trespass, Judge, Havoc, Destiny, and more!
