Shaping the Pro Tour

Disc Golf Information: Shaping the Pro Tour for Tomorrow

It’s mid January 2015 just outside Tampa, a little early for the spring break madness to hit Florida. The third stop on the PDGA men’s pro tour is about to get under way in Plant City, just east of town. It will be held on two private courses owned by a disc manufacturing company from the Midwest and managed by a sports marketing company from New York. One course is a 12,000 ft. par 71, built from the ground up and designed to challenge all of the 144 players who have qualified for the tournament. This course is the cream of the crop with many elevated tees, manicured fairways, a 30 foot wide waterway, and two ponds. Small bushes, deep sand bunkers, and mounds guard the baskets and green areas. Half of the trees have been planted and all of the elevation changes are man made. The back nine is even lit for nighttime play.

Quite the contrast is the “tough” course near the swamps, which will require almost every shot you have ever thrown. It’s only 9,600 ft., but a hard-to-break par 72, carved out of the jungle with palmettos everywhere and lots of underbrush. Playing too aggressively will take you off the fairway and cause you to make bogey or double bogey on almost every hole. The swamp doesn’t really come into play but the thought of gators may keep you playing it safe; placement shots of 250-325 ft. and good putting will card good scores.

Entry fee for the tournament is $225.00 for everybody, with only one division. The top 100 money winners from 2014 who wish to enter will automatically qualify for each of the forty-two events on this year’s tour. 90 of those players have pre-registered, leaving 80 players signed up to play a qualifying round on Thursday for the remaining 54 spots to fill the field.

It’s now Friday morning at 6:30; half the players with early tee times are on the driving range or practice green. The other half are eating in the clubhouse or resting in their travel homes. I overhear advice from a caddy on wind condition and pin placements. (No practice is allowed on the course the day of the tournament.) Each course will be played once before the field is cut to the low 68 scores (plus ties) for Sunday.

A gallery of over 1,000 spectators is expected, made up of local amateurs from high school leagues, friends and family, and players who didn’t make the cut that opted to stay and watch over traveling to Myrtle Beach for a one-day B-tier event.

Cut to 4:00 pm on Sunday at the awards ceremony; the traditional long-winded “Crazy John” speeches are a thing of the past. The promoters thank the players, spectators, and sponsors, give a brief description of the action, award the first place trophy and the check for $5,600.00, and then say “see ya next week in Orlando.” Players who finish in the money can get their checks later that night or have them mailed.