Daylight Saving Time is soon upon us, and that means that the spring disc golf leagues are about to start. For reference, here’s the more-or-less official list, although it’s usually outdated.
One thing to note is that the term “league” is a bit misleading for new players. You don’t have to sign up ahead of time, like you would with a bowling league. Just show up on the days that you want to play and pay your entry fee. Some leagues do track stats and offer season-end prizes, so there’s some incentive to be a regular beyond hanging out with your friends once per week.
These are the leagues that I play in.
Westside Wednesdays
Wednesdays @ 5:30 in the west metro.
First week: March 11th at Lions Park in Shakopee.
This is the main league for me, and I rarely miss a week. It’s of moderate size, averaging around 40 players in June, less in the early spring and fall.
During the summer the courses rotate between Bryant Lake, Hyland Hills, and Elm Creek (new for 2009). In the early spring we use Lions park in Shakopee, and in the fall we use Rosland Park in Edina.
The level of play is decent, with some real pro players as regulars. Open and Advanced are offered every week, with other divisions like Intermediate (most every week) and Women (rarely) as demanded. Most of us playing in the open division are actually advanced amateur tournament players. This is partly because a lot of us have these courses so dialed in that we play way above our rating on them, and we don’t want to crush the amateur divisions and drive away newer players.
Vibe: Relaxed regulars having a very good time, competing for small stakes.
Tim Gill runs this show. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and also one of the best players you could ever compete against.
Fees: Pro $6, Am $5. You also need to have a yearly ($30) or daily ($3) pass from the Three Rivers courses that we use (Bryant, Hyland, Elm).
Sundog
Tuesdays on a rotating series of courses around the east metro.
First week: Early April
The Sundog website hasn’t been updated yet for 2009, but the old one will give you an idea of the schedule and courses that are used.
This is the mother of all leagues for the state, and one of the largest leagues in the world. They draw 150+ players during the peak of summer. The level of play is very high. It’s essentially a tournament every Tuesday. I try to get to at least one of these per year.
Vibe: This is a tournament, but we’re still all here to have a good time.
Tim Gill and Matt Koerner do an excellent job of managing this beast of a league.
Fees: They haven’t been announced yet for 2009, but they should be something like $10/$8 for pro/am. Slightly higher fees and huge attendance make for some monster payouts.
The Solberg Leagues
John Solberg runs a series of leagues in the west metro. It’s a shorter season, which usually starts in April. His tee times are later, usually 6:30, which shortens the season due to daylight concerns. I try to make a couple of these per year.
This is a very laid back league. The level of play is good for amateurs, and not so great for pros. Advanced Am tournament players should be playing open here. This seems to be by design, as John caters very well to the newer players. His intermediate division is usually deep, and he draws the largest crowd of new players of any league in the area.
Vibe: Party time? That’s an overstatement, but I’d probably avoid bring kids to these.
Monday: Bassett Creek
Tuesday: (new for 2009) There’s a possibility that he’s starting a new league at Elm Creek.
Thursday: Plymouth Creek
Fees: In the past it’s been $5 to $7 depending on division. Should be roughly the same for 2009.
Feel free to send me any questions you have on leagues or disc golf in general.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
thanks for the info, ive been playing disc golf for a long time, but seriously for only a couple of years. im looking to get into a league this year and was wondering what you recommended for somebody in the east to southern metro, I usually play courses like north valley, kaposia, and hastings. I also dont know anybody who plays so I usually end up playing alone.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:17 am
You are in Sundog territory over there. If Tuesdays work for you, one of the amateur divisions should be a really good time.
Also, sign up for this Yahoo! group.
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/mfa-online/
That’s the Minnesota Frisbee Association’s email list. Some nonsense does get posted on there, but for the most part it’s all about disc golf in this region. You’ll get league and tournament announcements. If you introduce yourself on there, there’s a decent chance of finding some people to play some rec golf with in your area too.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
THANKS!
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
My name is Dave Ellis and I am the new Parks and Rec Director in Cherokee, Iowa. I found this site and thought, “huh this guy could answer some of my questions”. I am wanting to start a Disc Golf League here but have a few questions on how to run it. I looks like you are pro at it and that’s the reason for this random email.
Do your leauges:
Have a set night of the week that you play?
How many weeks do you play?
What is the scoring system that you use?
Do you have an end of the year tourney?
What kind of prizes do you offer?
Thanks for your time and your help.
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Have a set night of the week that you play?
Definitely. Regularity is one of the most important things in a league. If everyone can plan ahead, you’ll get better attendance. If you don’t think that you can show up every week, then you should have a partner who can. You want someone in charge to be there, early, every single week. Most leagues start out very small, but stick with it. Well run leagues with cool people will eventually grow.
How many weeks do you play?
It depends. My main league runs from the start to the end of Daylight Saving Time. This is pretty long. Most seem to run about a 16 week schedule centering on the summer. No one needs to sign up for the entire season. It’s all week to week.
What is the scoring system that you use?
They’re all stroke play singles around here. If you’re talking about league total stats, that’s an extra complication that you might not want to deal with right away. I’m in the process of bringing back my old league stat tracking site. I’ll update here when it’s back up. You’d be welcome to have an account there.
Do you have an end of the year tourney?
Depends on the league. They are certainly fun and a nice reward for the regulars.
What kind of prizes do you offer?
It depends on the league and the division, but they basically all pay out 100%. For example, these are the fees for the main league that I play in.
Open division: $5 entry + $1 ace pool.
Advanced Am division: $4 entry + $1 ace pool.
All of the open money (the $5 from everyone) is pooled together and paid out that day. It’s typical to pay out to approximately the top 40% of the field. It’s more art than science, but I can see if I can dig up a payout schedule for you.
For am, since we’re backed by a disc golf store, the payout is in gift certificates. The store makes a little money on the mark-up, but the payout to the field is still $100. i.e. 10 players means $40 total paid out in merchandise for the night.
Ace pools build up from week to week until someone hits an ace. They can get pretty large sometimes, which tends to draw more players. People like lotteries. If two people ace on the same night, they split 50/50. If one person aces, and another hits 2 aces on the same night they split 33/66, etc. If someone doesn’t put in their $1 that night, but aces anyway, they get nothing.
“Closest to pin” [CTP] is also a fun side game that people enjoy. You can either put up your own prize, like a disc, and offer it free to everyone or have anyone who is interested chip in $1 for a cash CTP. Give an irrigation flag and a slip of paper to the group that is starting on the CTP hole. Whoever gets closest marks where their drive landed. Anyone who gets closer moves the flag and adds their name. Closest at the end of the night wins the prize.
Randon Notes
* Bring a lot of $1 bills. Everyone pays with $20’s and breaking up payouts is a huge pain. You might as well have $50 in ones on you just in case.
* Bring scorecards. Generic ones should be easy enough to find online, or you could make your own.
* Bring paper and pens to keep track of people entering. Have a system for marking who has paid you and who you owe money to. If someone says, “Hey, sign me up. I’m going to my car to grab some cash,” mark down their name but don’t mark them as paid. This will save your sanity in the long run. Also, people sometimes have to leave right after their round and can’t stay for the awards. Mark down anyone to whom you owe money. Keep your notepad with you from week to week.
* Your highest division should have the most lop-sided payouts. That means that you might only pay out the top 33% of the Open players, which concentrates more money to those winners. For lower Am divisions, it’s better to spread the cash down farther — maybe 40 or 50% of the field gets paid. This helps prevent sand bagging, and generally matches the way that tournament payouts work.
* Make sure that you ask about any permits that you need from the city before starting your league. Some parks require that you have a permit for cash-based leagues. Some don’t care. It’s always nice to have that paper when the police ask you what you’re doing with a bag of money in the park after dusk.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:06 am
The Minneapolis Disc Golf Meetup Group is another local group that plays all over the cities. We are usually out on the courses 3 to 5 times a week and have people from all levels of expertise and age groups, though you are more likely to run into a crowd of late 20s and early 30s in our group. We’re happy to help people new to the sport, and offer an easygoing and friendly atmosphere to those that don’t want to play competitively.