Why I'm No Longer a Disc Golf Tournament Director

Mike is a fantastic tournament director. He’s been running disc golf tournaments for some 25 years and they’ve ranged in size from a few people to hundreds. His ability to run a smooth, fun event is one of the reasons why the Northwoods Open is arguably the most popular disc golf event in the state of Wisconsin. He credits all the support he gets from the disc golf community, which includes a staff of experienced tournament directors and statisticians; however, I happen to know his success comes not only from his experience, but also from his personality.

First of all, he’s a golfer and has been since 1974. He loves the sport, loves the discs, and loves most of the people who play. He’s got a strong voice, with stock-market-trained diaphragm projection, and he has created an amazing 27-hole course, literally carved out of the forest. Maintaining it is a top priority. It’s impossible not to notice all the thought and care that goes into the course at Sandy Point Disc Golf Ranch.

Also, he gives everyone who participates in the Northwoods Open a player package, Pros and Ams alike.

 

THE SUBJECT OF PRO PLAYERS vs. Amateur players came up today in a phone conversation I had with a person who called to ask about the tournament. He wanted to participate, but hasn’t had any tournament experience—even though he insisted he and “his partner” were phenomenal players. I suggest he enter the “Intermediate” Division for men, as it’s the competitive division for players just getting started with PDGA competition. The entry fee for this division is $35, which is $70 less than the Open Pro Division. Also, because this is a PDGA-sanctioned event and players must be current dues-paying members to participate (or in the case of amateur and recreational divisions, pay a PDGA tax of $10), his total fee would be $45 for two days of competition.

After asking several questions about the format, scoring, the check-in procedure (which would be “impossible” for him because he works two jobs—blah-blah-blah—) he wanted to know about payout.

“Now, I don’t mean to be modest (?), dear, but I noticed there’s nothing on your website about payout,” he said.

“Well that’s because we have no way of knowing what the payout will be until we have a final figure on the number of competitors. But the payout will be in line for the requirements of a PDGA A-tier event for the pros and B-tier event for the amateurs.”

“What kind of cash are we talking?”

“Amateurs don’t receive cash awards in PDGA events. It would compromise their amateur status. Instead they receive merchandise vouchers that are redeemable in our pro shop.”



“Well, that’s not right,” he said.


 

What came out of his mouth next was a combination of an incredulous reaction to this ridiculous practice, and a lecture of how it wasn’t right to contribute $45 to an event and expect to get no cash in return.  “Let me put it to you this way, dear, how would you like to go to a competition, pay for it, win it and get nothing but a voucher in return?”


Sigh. I looked at the clock and remained calm. “If you want to play for money," I said, “then you should play in the Open Pro Division.” I wanted to add: “But it’ll cost you even more, DEAR!” But I didn't.

As he blathered on with his complaints and his lecture, my cell phone rang with my husband’s personalized urgent-sounding ring, and I knew I had to end my call with the incredulous lecturer disguising himself as a disc golfer. I had already spent far too much time explaining things like foursomes, saying your score out loud after each hole, turning in your card and being responsible for the math. . . . 

I’m happy to take entry fees over the phone and give lodging and local campground information, but I can’t conduct a player’s meeting on my dime when my other phone is ringing and I have a list of five other calls to return.



“I can’t have this conversation,” I said. “I have to go.” CLICK.




 

ANY SEASONED TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR will tell you that there can be 200 wonderful people participating in a tournament, who help make the experience fun and exciting. But he’ll also tell you that there’s ALWAYS one a$$hole, who threatens to mar your positive efforts.

The trick is to not let him get to you. 

Mike learned that a long time ago. I, on the other hand, crave an a$$hole-free existence and simply won’t tolerate a bully on any front. (Especially one that calls me “Dear” in every sentence he utters). This is why I’ll be back in Tucson during the 15th Annual Northwoods Open and Mike will be here, running what I’m sure will be another highly successful disc golf tournament.

Best of luck to all the great players who grace our Northwoods home each year. Have fun, and remember to LOOK UP!

Piper in the Pro Shop

Musician, Dave Graham, Illinois resident and Sandy Point guest for the past seven summers, treated the resort today with his bagpipe show. Decked in a jaunty Scottish tam, this year he left the kilt behind and first played at the beach, where it was a bit windy. He brought the pipes up to the cabin area and when he played, a large group of disc golfers stopped in their tracks, held onto their discs for a moment and listened. Soon, putting practice took on a ceremonial feel.

Friday is always a busy day on the course and today was no exception. So, Dave brought his pipes into the pro shop and gave me a personal performance. "It's going to be a lot louder in here than it is outside," he warned as he stepped inside and filled his lungs with air and his pipes with music.

It was a true treat from one of the nicest guests we are lucky enough to see each summer at Sandy Point. Dave is also known as Dave "Catfish" Graham. He is a member of The Salt Creek Boys, probably best described as a folk rock band, and regularly performs in venues around the Chicago area. He not only plays the bagpipes, but also guitar and dulcimer. For more information about the Salt Creek Boys, visit their website at: www.saltcreekboys.com. Meanwhile, check out the Pro Shop Performance:

The Cost of Good Clean Family Fun

Yesterday was Camille’s birthday—a family holiday to be sure. Each July 15 we all do minimum tasks at Sandy Point Resort and put the pro shop in the very capable hands of our man Stu, so we can spend the day celebrating our youngest member.

After watching her annual renewed membership in the Northwoods Birthday Club on NBC Channel 12, she opened her gifts and plastered a smile across her beautiful face that lasted the entire day. It doesn’t take much to please Camille. She could have opened a box of rubber bands and it would have made her happy. So, the iPod touch sent her soaring.

In years past, we’ve gone to an indoor waterslide facility, a place called The Waters; however, last year her broken arm prevented that. This year she was looking for something “new.” I’m not sure who had the idea to go Go-Karting, but it was certainly in-line with all our thinking (particularly because we’ve seen the movie “The Great Outdoors” about a thousand times) that it’s a great—even classic— Northwoods family activity.

And it was.

The kids went on all three tracks, dad on two, I on one. The kart was a little kramped for me, but I accelerated around those curves and loved the feel of the wind in my face. It was a fun-filled five minutes of burning fossil fuels.

Total cost for 15 minutes of activity (45 if you add up all our individual five minute runs): $54 . . . plus six bucks for the ice cream, bringing us to $60. This means that while we were out gallivanting, our own business that tries to attract the family-activity crowd, needed to take in 12 green fees to pay for our expenses.

We might have had half that number.

Something is wrong with this picture. Sandy Point Resort and Disc Golf Ranch offers a great family activity that costs five bucks a head and kids under 12 are FREE. Further, as compared to a Go-Kart run that lasts five minutes, a disc golf green fee is good for the entire day. With 25-27 holes on the course, an average round takes 1-1/2 to 2 hours; but you can play it twice, even three times. You can even leave and come back, and like some of our die-hard fanatics, play night golf til 3 AM.

Even if you don’t care for the game, no one can deny that the grounds are gorgeous, and walking with your friends or family while they play is a great outdoor exercise. There’s a picnic area and a lovely, clean public bathroom. 

So if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to spend time with your family this summer OR if you want to bring out the kids for a birthday party, head out Hwy. 70, 20 minutes West of Minocqua. It's worth the drive and we’re open during the road construction. 

We've got a fabulous, unique shop too, and frankly, we could use the business. For one reason, we have to find a way to pay for that iPod.

The Beyotch at Sandy Point Resort

What a nightmare. I have been the crabbiest beyotch on the planet for the past six weeks due to the Internet project put before me at a time of year when I hardly have time to go to the bathroom without interruption.

The problem: Our original webmaster, who could never get the shopping cart to function on our online store, gave up. Yes, he threw up his hands, pushed aside the keyboard and said, "I quit." He doesn't feel good about it and has offered to make some kind of restitution; however, this cost us A LOT of money and even more time photographing and uploading products to said site. 

So, we hired a new guy, who promised us a working site in 12 days. He agreed to match the cost of the original but failed to mention we'd have to duplicate the number of hours (and we're talking hundreds of hours) to upload the some 200 products we had in the store.

After 12 days, we weren't even close to having a working site. Every day there was a new glitch, snafu or problem. The misspellings and grammar errors alone made the editor in me ROAR (and I've never been much of a copy editor). I lost count after day 45 of correspondence that usually began with a morning email from me asking: "When is our site going live?"

That was at least a week ago.

Well, it looks like we finally have an operating online store. I can't be sure because we haven't had any REAL customers yet, and I suppose that means I'm going to be spending whatever minutes of time I can find during the remainder of the season to promote this thing . . . hence this blog.

The Shop at Sandy Point Resort

Get in the Groove

The UPS man has made a few trips down our driveway this week, and Mike’s as excited as a kid awaiting The Wells Fargo Wagon. THE GROOVES ARE HERE! THE GROOVES ARE HERE!

My husband, a bona fide golf disc expert, says the Groove Driver is the hottest new disc on the market. Manufactured by Innova-Champion Discs, it’s the second SPEED 13 DRIVER “featuring an innovative groove on the underside of the rim.” (The first was the Monarch, a hot seller last summer). It’s especially good for beginners or those with slower arm speeds, and comes in lighter weights, from 165 to 175 grams.

Check out his ebay listings, featuring a variety of colors and weights in champion plastic, and get ‘em while they’re hot. Better yet, get ‘em while they’re Groovy!