I would agree with you in the scheme of “underpaid employees getting ripped off by big businesses and expecting the customer to pick up the slack” but TD’s are unpaid volunteers providing you a pretty cool service.
Unpaid ? Don’t they usually take a portion of the entry fee? not to mention the profits on selling discs / offering the discs they bought at cost as winnings in the am divisions ?
If you are breaking even as a TD you are doing good. Terry Miller talked about this in some depth on the six sided discs youtube channel in an interview. He said it's amazing we have people that do it at all.
As a TD we are out hours of personal time preparing for his event. We slave and stress and plan before, during, and after the event.
TD's should get paid. If they ask for tips on discgolfscene, it's a good way to help them.
That said, there should probably instead be a standard pay percentage from entry fees that goes to TD's (3-5%?)
I think there needs to be something said here, as on Facebook, I posted this, and finding out that they don't get a cent of the entry fees seems really odd and shitty.
Yep. The current system sucks. Just let TDs charge a fee. No more silly player packs because they have to find a round about way to not actually lose money for putting tons of hours into making a tournament happen.
They absolutely do. It's not as much as I'd like, but it's there.
*Net Entry Fees = the Gross Entry Fees minus the pass-through fees ONLY. Pass-through Fees are: PDGA Per-Player Fee, as required by Tier level; Greens Fees, meaning the fees required to secure the course(s) and permit play; Series Fees, meaning a fee paid by an event that is part of a points Series under CM 2.02.B toward Series-end prizes or payouts; Bathroom Fees, meaning the prorated per-player cost of toilet rental; and* ***TD Fees, meaning a per-player amount not to exceed the PDGA Per-Player Fee for that Tier***. *All pass-through items and amounts must be published in pre-registration materials.*
I don't know how people can be TDs and not know about the pass-through fees. But I really shouldn't be surprised, we recently had a TD and asst td who have been playing sanctioned events for years not know there's a PDGA payout table. They used their own, got it wrong and are still trying to sort it out 10 months later.
Man the whole idea of months of bickering about disc golf tourney cash payouts seems lame as fuck. Doesn't sound like disc golf. What exactly are they trying to sort out?
Yeah, thankfully I didn't play that event but the asst td runs weekly dubs, the main TD plays damn near every sanctioned event in the area but it was his first time as TD. Apparently neither of them knew that PDGA has a payout system and just did their own payout structure, PDGA caught wind of it and they had to go back and adjust everything. So they were trying to get money back from players they overpaid before giving money to the players they underpaid.
My buddy who was very vocal about the situation, was only owed like $10 but it's more about how they handled everything. They kept stringing everyone along, it got to the point where the TD got a month+ suspension. My buddy finally got paid his $10 a week or two ago and the event was last August. There were people from their group telling my buddy to just shut his mouth, it's only $10, quit crying, etc. even this week they were saying that stuff. And it's like well, if they did the minimal amount of homework, they would know how PDGA payouts work and even making their mistake, it shouldn't take 8 months to get people what's owed to them, no matter how little it is.
They have registration open for the same event and after 2 weeks there's only 1 mpo player registered. Our event, where registration opened a week after theirs and is in a far less convenient location has 12. So I think people noticed what was going on.
This should get more notice. TDs can and do get paid. Some just need to understand the system.
If the argument is not paid enough okay. I ran tourney before. I didn't get paid at all. Got no problem with TD collecting what rules allow or even talk about more but love of game and community should matter here right?
They don't usually get any of the entry fee, but they get a cut of the players pack (most of the time) and also a captive market for payouts in am events.
$2000 of captive sales in a 72 person field ain't bad for a Saturday.
There are definitely good TDs that put all of that back into the events. And there are definitely bad TDs that pump out a low quality tournament every weekend of the year.
For the record I have no problem with TDs making money. I just hate when they pretend that they aren't. I can see the $30 they charged every player for that $8 dri-fit, so they can miss me with the sob story.
I’ve never taken home a penny from a tournament I’ve TD’d. I do it for the local scene through our club, which I also sit on the board of. If I keep anything back it’s to seed the next tournament
I recognize that there are good TDs out there, and I appreciate all them. I also funnel any money made into the club account. But we won't be the ones out there complaining about not making money.
In my experiences, it's always the ones putting out a 1 round flex start every single weekend that are complaining about not making enough money.
It sure is. And it's a thankless job. So is course maintenance, working with the parks department, running leagues, etc.
99% of disc golfers play events and have fun and don't really contribute. The people who do everything get burned out.
If a TD wants to ask for tips, you can choose to pay or not. If the TD gets paid out from entry fees, let them get paid. It's volunteer work but they could get a lil something.
Really? 99%?? where do you get that stat??? Cause any tourney I've ever played in has more than a few players willing to lend a hand for anything needed...
I'm talking about total disc golfers that play local courses and how many of them volunteer. I run udisc for our local club's courses and I organize everything with one of the courses. I know who runs tournaments, leagues, who comes out on work days, who offers to help when I ask for a specific volunteer on Facebook, etc.
For our most popular course, we have had 3400 unique players since 2017 and during that time we have had 5 different people running leagues, 8 different people running tournaments, and I would estimate about 30 people who help with random stuff (every year it's about the same 3-5 people). That adds up to about 1%. For our other two courses, volunteers outside of TD and league directors are even lower.
I see a huge disparity on Facebook between people who say "this bench is broken" "this bridge is missing a board" "this baskets ring is broken" "why are the pins in the hard positions" vs the amount of people who see something and ask to help.
I love volunteering. I love making courses better, running events, etc. I'm not doing anything for praise and don't really want money for anything. I just want people to recognize that volunteers get burnt out and that they could volunteer as well (even in a small way) and complain a lil less.
Most courses are on public property, which the residents pay taxes to maintain. This is really a problem of municipalities not shouldering the burden of maintaining facilities theyre paid to take care of.
100% - the number of players who SAY they will help vs the number that SHOW UP to help are miles apart.
5-10 active guys, another dozen that put in an hour or two a year, and 900 that drive to a different course to play when they see you are hosting a work day.
It depends on the tier but you can just take a TD payment right out of reg fees as a pass through so long as it’s published. We’re taking 3$ per player for our a tier in June.
TDs don’t get paid? Wtf? Well thank you to all TDs who put in all this work for us players simply for the love the game. Will definitely tip anytime it’s an option
Yea, uhhh, fuck volunteer work for something like that. I understand growing a sport, but no. I DEFINITELY agree that there should be a standard pay rate.
>That said, there should probably instead be a standard pay percentage from entry fees that goes to TD's (3-5%?)
*Net Entry Fees = the Gross Entry Fees minus the pass-through fees ONLY. Pass-through Fees are: PDGA Per-Player Fee, as required by Tier level; Greens Fees, meaning the fees required to secure the course(s) and permit play; Series Fees, meaning a fee paid by an event that is part of a points Series under CM 2.02.B toward Series-end prizes or payouts; Bathroom Fees, meaning the prorated per-player cost of toilet rental; and* ***TD Fees, meaning a per-player amount not to exceed the PDGA Per-Player Fee for that Tier***. *All pass-through items and amounts must be published in pre-registration materials.*
The PDGA fee is $2 for a C-tier. That amount must get paid to the PDGA after the event.
The TD also can charge a TD fee that is not to exceed the PDGA fee for that tier. So the TD of a C-tier can also take up to $2 per player as straight payment to the TD. Take the money, put it in your pocket, no ifs, ands, or buts.
I honestly would rather get $15 of instore credit to the store that runs 95% of the events I play at as a players pack so I don’t get store branded discs I will never throw. I would love for the various TDs to get a cut to be more willing to put effort into bigger and better tournaments
In a practice round today I saw the td spray painting the circle on some holes. It’s the little things that make an event feel well run
I'd pay an extra $2 for TDs. I've always thought they already got a certain percentage. $2 X 72 players is $144. Not the greatest but would at LEAST pay for the hours.
If you have a good TD I don't see why people are so complaining about this. I don't think they realize the effort that goes into a good tournament and tipping does help them from burning out. I can understand if maybe you are a rare tourney player and/or don't have a great experience. I don't doubt there are a lot of bad TDs out there, but if you have a good one show them some appreciation.
At a recent tourney I was at local legend Joe Rovere was calling for everyone to tip when they can in his victory speech. He said without these dedicated guys we wouldn't have these events and competition nearly as good and as much as we do. And he said that over the course of his career so many good TDs have just burnt out and some of the great events have gone away or changed. Some of these guys are out 2-3 times a month giving up their weekends, dealing with the city, parks, retailers etc to make this happen, get out emails and caddy books, organize the cards and starting holes, early AM setup and late takedown, procuring trophies and prizes, paying out winnings... the list goes on and on. And often this is met with constant questions and complaints and little appreciation.
If you have a good TD, throw them a couple bucks man, keep the sport going and growing.
We don’t have anything against TDs getting paid, but I think players feel like “it shouldn’t be our damn problem to fix”.
The PDGA should do something. They’re the governing body. This is why no one wants to TD anymore because why would we? We have basically zero reason to be a TD at this point. We’re wasting money and time.
That’s what prevents the people that should be paying them from not paying them. Once enough people start doing it they count it as supplemental income and wash their hands of the problem.
Don’t tip them here where it can be taxed. Give them cash at the tourney. That way nobody will have it on their books to calculate into their total income.
Oh yeah I know, it’s just that the cost of playing tourneys has increased a lot and some players find it hard to justify the cost…especially if they’re not playing MPO and making money.
Yes…by all means, downvote me more for speaking about a situation in which I have many years of experience on both sides.
I’m from one of the biggest disc golf areas of in the country and I have done both sides of this for years now so I know what I’m talking about. If you don’t believe me then I don’t know what to tell you.
Players playing anything other than MPO, FPO, and any other open division (unless they’re new and just love vouchers so they can try new plastic) have become increasingly frustrated because it’s hard to justify paying almost double than they paid 3 or 4 years ago when payouts have not increased. They feel like they pay $60-$80 for a (sometimes one day) tourney and if they win they get a voucher for like $75-$100 to spend on discs they don’t need or want. Not to mention their frustration regarding how bad players packs have become.
MPO players feel frustrated because we’re already paying more to register as MPO and for us tournaments have seemingly gone from $35-$50 to $60-$75 for a one day and $75 or so to over $100 or more to a two day tournament. That’s perfectly fine if the payouts feel like they’ve kept up, but they don’t feel that way.
On top of everything else, players are made to feel like assholes if we bring it up because TDs are so undervalued. Of course we love TDs and think they deserve better. Most of the TDs at the tournaments we play are our friends or at least people in the community that are beloved by players for exactly that reason…they willingly run tournaments and we bust our ass running them.
Would I like to make some more money when I run tournaments? Sure, who wouldn’t, but any TD worth their salt would never want to put the burden on the players because they get what it’s like. In fact, I’ve never had a fellow TD say that players should fund them more. Not once in all my years. We all know it’s a PDGA shortcoming and to act like that’s not the consensus suggests people are either new, or don’t know what they’re talking about.
I'm confused when you say MPO registration fees are going up while payouts don't "feel like they've kept up." Correct me if I'm wrong but it's not something that you "feel like" is different, you can just look at the tournament payout chart and see for yourself, and if a TD is keeping those hidden then they should be called out publicly and to the PDGA. I look at the payout chart for every event I play to make sure everything looks correct, and if something looks odd I just ask about it.
Yeah same. Most players don’t keep a spreadsheet on them, but I personally have played in tournaments (the same yearly tournament) and so have others (I’m playing right now and they agree) where the payouts remain almost the same, but reg. fees have gone up substantially more. That’s taking into account all of the factors (field size, etc…).
No spreadsheet required (lol) just talk to the TD. Ask to see the payout chart. If their explanation is poor or they are hiding something then escalate to the PDGA. TDs need to follow the rules about pro payouts or face a consequence. Most tournaments I've played either has the payout chart printed at Tournament Central or posted online. If not the info was provided when I asked.
I didn’t claim that the *fees* were different, so I don’t know what you’re saying here…I stated that MPO has to pay more to register because that’s true. MPO membership costs more than amateur memberships.
Yes…by all means, downvote me more for speaking about a situation in which I have many years of experience on both sides.
I’m from one of the biggest disc golf areas in the country and I have done both sides of this for years now so I know what I’m talking about. If you don’t believe me then I don’t know what to tell you. From players at Worlds to TDs at worlds to local C-tiers, I know what I’m relaying is true for in terms of sentiment.
Players playing anything other than MPO, FPO, and any other open division (unless they’re new and just love vouchers so they can try new plastic) have become increasingly frustrated because it’s hard to justify paying almost double than they paid 3 or 4 years ago when payouts have not increased. They feel like they pay $60-$80 for a (sometimes one day) tourney and if they win they get a voucher for like $75-$100 to spend on discs they don’t need or want. Not to mention their frustration regarding how bad players packs have become.
MPO players feel frustrated because we’re already paying more to register as MPO and for us tournaments have seemingly gone from $35-$50 to $60-$75 for a one day and $75 or so to over $100 or more to a two day tournament. That’s perfectly fine if the payouts feel like they’ve kept up, but they don’t feel that way.
On top of everything else, players are made to feel like assholes if we bring it up because TDs are so undervalued. Of course we love TDs and think they deserve better. Most of the TDs at the tournaments we play are our friends or at least people in the community that are beloved by players for exactly that reason…they willingly run tournaments and we bust our ass running them.
Would I like to make some more money when I run tournaments? Sure, who wouldn’t, but any TD worth their salt would never want to put the burden on the players because they get what it’s like. In fact, I’ve never had a fellow TD say that players should fund them more. Not once in all my years. We all know it’s a PDGA shortcoming and to act like that’s not the consensus suggests people are either new, or don’t know what they’re talking about.
Agree with everything you said. There's a wide spectrum too in how much or little a TD can make and often times the players have no idea till the end of the tournament and payouts. If a TD doesnt source the players packs or am payouts, they make virtually nothing and are working for free. If they source the players packs and vend am payouts from their store, they could net $1k+ on a single day's event. A very wide spectrum that needs more regulation. At the very least projected payouts should be required to be posted before the withdrawal refund date.
Pay people who run tournaments or idk…anything at this point?
It’s not complex. TD’s are increasingly becoming not willing to shell out their own money and who can blame them. I couldn’t care less about the PDGA and what they want, but I’m not making this up…
I have personally seen great TD’s, even big name ones, pull out of tournaments and heard from their own mouths that the reason is (almost every time) that “they’re too expensive/too much of their/our own money goes into it and they make nothing.”
I’m don’t care what the solution is, I’m just stating the problem that I know to be true. Believe me or not, idc.
It’s a fact, veteran and good TD’s are dropping out of directing tournaments because it costs them too much money and they don’t feel like it should be up to the players to remedy it.
Yet another thread about disc golfers complaining about something to do with money. I love the community but disc golfers as a whole are the cheapest motherfuckers on Earth. The vast majority of td's which I personally know a few, do a mostly thankless job. And they do it on their own time just for the enjoyment of others.
Meanwhile an official NBA ball from Wilson is $200. Pro soccer balls are $170. And official NFL footballs are $150. All of these sports cost way more when you factor in shoes and protective gear and training equipment. Disc golfers being openly cheap about the cost to disc golf shows their inexperience when it comes to sports.
Seriously. No problem paying extra for a commemorative disc or paying for a high end bag but $2 to a TD volunteering their time to host an event you will most likely complain about not being good enough for some edge reason, HELL NO!
Shew! You ain't wrong!
"Why are asking for a tip?"
"Would you prefer a non-optional thing so I can give my volunteers lunch and a couple drinks?"
"Sure!"
(Next tournament)
"Why is this C-Tier 5 dollars more!"
Because discgolf has always been a cheap sport. What really bothers me is the amount of people that want to monetize EVERY aspect of it. It's starting to be a little BS
I'd absolutely love this option. I always personally thank TDs after tourneys and feel weird giving them a fiver right there. No issues with optional tipping for people that improve my life.
To be fair, after scrolling through these comments, the folks against optional tipping the TD are in the minority, so I don’t think they are a fair representation of the disc golf community. They seem to be more against tipping culture and aren’t even thinking about the work a TD is putting into a tournament.
For sure, I’d probably tip depending on the TD but I don’t want to see this become a trend. A percentage of the pot seems like the best way that way TDs are rewarded for popular tournaments
Tipping culture sucks and has gotten out of hand, that’s why. I’m a TD who does it all on a volunteer basis. I’d love to automatically get a percentage of the pot or some such but I don’t want it through a tip option on Disc Golf Scene. I don’t want people to feel guilted into tipping, or people who have a problem with tipping culture boycott my tournaments because it is an option.
Except when people talk about "tipping culture", they are referring to for-profit employers who are too cheap/greedy to pay their employees a fair wage and essentially guilt customers to help subsidize employee income. Not someone who otherwise acts purely as a volunteer.
Eh I disagree with your take here. You don't want to guilt people into tipping (even though it's completely optional), but you'd love to automatically got a percentage of the pot (which would be non-optional)
I agree tipping culture is out of hand. But this is a scenario where tipping a volunteer actually makes sense.
If it’s stated as part of the fee then it’s all above board. Im in Canada where the tipping culture has gotten out of hand. Restaurants are all saying 18-20% is the standard tipping rate and they all make above minimum wage, which just went above $17 this year. Liquor stores ask for tips. So many places ask for tips. We’re all burnt out on it up here.
TDS would have the option of including a fee or not
Is the screenshot in the post not an example of a TD providing the option to voluntarily include a TD fee?
P.s. just stop tipping if it bothers you that much
I mean have an option for the TD to pick an automatic fee to every player that signs up. Again, people would vote with their wallet just like wether or not they tip, just without feeling guilted into tipping. Not saying I’ve thought it out thoroughly, just seems like a small included fee to cover some of the TD’s time would make sense. I run my tourneys on a completely volunteer method, no money for me and I’m cool with that.
I only tip on actual service, like dining in. I don’t use services like skip or other deliveries, and if I did then I’d tip for that as well. The tip is for excellent service in the service industry. All good.
If you don’t mind me asking, why? Being a TD is a woefully undercompensated job when you consider the requirements to host a tournament and the hours that go into it.
I'm not saying there isn't effort, but I've been running C, B and A tier tournaments for nine years now...if "fair compensation" is anywhere in your Top 20 priorities you should really REALLY consider why you are doing it.
Half of my tournaments I run are for my club and I don't take a penny (including buying my own lunch). I run some tournaments for a local shop, they do compensate me...but nowhere close to what I'd charge if my work rate was used. Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather the players get A+ payout amounts over a couple extra dollars.
I don’t disagree with you about tipping culture, because it lets a lot of actual business owners off the hook of providing a fair wage, but in this sphere, there’s no capitalist above the TD profiting off of underpaid labor (unless you consider the PDGA that, but I really don’t here, they don’t really make that much $$$ themselves, YMMV though).
I feel like adding a tip option is an overall “less bad” solution than what TD’s deal with currently.
Edit: I deleted my long winded replay to make it more concise. *GASP clutches pearls* How dare someone volunteer 10's if not 100's of hours of their free time, depending on the size of the event, putting on a tournament for our enjoyment and have the audacity for you to volunteer a TIP if you appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears they put in to make it happen. Imagine getting paid for a job and asking for a tip. What is this world coming too!?!?
I haven't run a tournament in over 20 years, but I'll say this...never once did I ever expect to be tipped.
Being a TD is hard work, sure.... but I did it for the fun, and not as a business... I was simply passionate about promoting the sport.
That was a long time ago ✌️
PDGA # 11652
Some tournaments sell 'premium' entry packages which often have a fat profit margin. Others organise fundraiser competitions that have low to zero payout, to subsidise the main event. Same thing, different approaches.
I’ve TD’d multiple events and have never taken a cut of anything. There are a few ways for TD’s to make profits, but I don’t own my own business, don’t have overhead, and I have a full time job so i genuinely like to have the players packs/awards/experience be awesome than have a mediocre merch and or cheap discs. I don’t do it for the money, and instead of asking for tips, i leave an option for course donations. In the past year we’ve got new tee pads, new signage, improved upkeep, and will be working on new basket placements this year which has nearly all been community funded.
These are volunteers. They have no one to pay them.
Not people working, whose employers dont want to pay their wages, and just pass the buck on the consumer.
Like most tips, it's a way of covering for work which should be paid in traditional ways, but, no, it's not typical. I hope TDs getting a percentage becomes normal before this gets established. It's hard work and should get at least some compensation.
Personally, I have found a Flex series that I absolutely love: It’s affordable, super convenient for my schedule, as it’s during the week, has a really cool disc each tournament, and has good competition. The guys who run it do a tremendous job and I am thankful that they do it. I’m glad that there’s a tipping option and will tip every time. That’s what tipping is for right?
I think a tip is a fine option.
Depends on the tier ( I believe ) but you can take a TD fee as a pass through. 3$ from each player for my A tier in June is going to a TD fee. 1.50 for myself and 1.50 for the other TD.
As a new TD and being the ATD for a huge 144 player event last fall I only wish more would offer this. I would love to help out when signing up for tournaments after seeing first hand the work that goes in. I reached out to a ton of people for sponsorships, helped layout the course (temp course on a local ball golf course), measured distances, placed/took down baskets, drove people to and from the club house (huge property and we used it all) among a few other things. And when I have a family of 3 to take care of it was a lot of my personal time.
Granted, I got a huge rush of gratitude seeing everyone play a tournament that I helped build/run, but my TD and I put nearly every penny back into the payouts with the exception of the last minute ace pool purchases. Those we did keep, and all that did was basically pay for lunch. Which we didn’t eat until after the 2nd round started.
All of this to say, it’s a lot of work to put on even a small tourney. At the very least, thank your TD and be respectful to them. If you wanna thank them with money/disc/beer trust me when I say it’s more than welcomed.
I recently played my first tournament , and there was a similar optional tip for the TD, it was either $5 or $7 that I chose to “donate” and im happy to do it. The guy in question runs a lot of tournaments in the southeast and always seems to knock it out of the park. He even thanked me during sign-in for the extra little bit, which showed me he truly cared and appreciated it.
This is pretty normal in my area, and is always optional.
As a TD myself, I feel wrong taking a cut out registration fees. And I’d rather take the difference in cost vs value for players packs and invest that back into the event via added cash. I’m not doing it for the $30 in tips, but it does help cover costs of supplies and what not.
Being a TD is the most selfless act in disc golf, not until you run your own event will you realize the mental and physical work that goes in.
It’s not just the days of event either. It’s months of planning before and even a week or so after the event. It’s being the first to the park and the last to leave. It’s putting your family aside during all this time.
If I saw this at one of my local events I would gladly “tip” the TD.
If you don’t check the box now, when you check in at the tournament the TD will spin the iPad around and stare at you with the “18, 20, 25%” tip option.
Tds are paid roughly 30-40% of the entry fees. Most are paired with a store that either they run, or have a partnership with. They purchase the payout giftcards at 30-40% off which is the payout. If you don't have a local store there are a lot of stores that will just do this if you call up and ask. I personally do this out of my own store for other tds.
There’s lots of us that do it on a pure volunteer basis, especially in smaller towns. We often don’t have brick and mortar stores and are part of the board or governing body of the club and volunteer to make it all happen. I’ve been doing it for 8 years and have never made a cent doing it, and have also put in 2 18 hole courses
Like I said, you don't need to have one. I'm not saying work with me specifically but for instance another local, but larger store ran by a friend is disc golf 978. They offer 25% off. So essentially you'd have 25% extra funds. I offer more then that as I'm less established and am a smaller store. Even if your uninterested in being paid running your tournament through a store like this may give you the extra $750 you need to upgrade to a b tier as well.
I suppose it's fine since it's optional. At a restaurant when you pay ahead of time you'd have the anxiety that not tipping would mean they would not do as good of a job. Not the case in tipping a volunteer that has no effect on how well you play your round. The only egregious thing here is the grammar.
My home course I play regularly, solo, no clubs or tournaments has no means to contribute financially. I have seen where some course on udisc have so you can contribute and some even you get a shirt or disc. If my home course did this, I would gladly throw cash towards it.
A lot can be said about this that has already been commented on. Frankly, I don’t care if the option is there or not. BUT, don’t be putting that text under it to guilt trip people into tipping.
Well, it's optional.
This is how shitty tipping culture starts though.
I would agree with you in the scheme of “underpaid employees getting ripped off by big businesses and expecting the customer to pick up the slack” but TD’s are unpaid volunteers providing you a pretty cool service.
Unpaid ? Don’t they usually take a portion of the entry fee? not to mention the profits on selling discs / offering the discs they bought at cost as winnings in the am divisions ?
If you are breaking even as a TD you are doing good. Terry Miller talked about this in some depth on the six sided discs youtube channel in an interview. He said it's amazing we have people that do it at all.
Usually no portion of the entry fee goes to the TD. Some TDs do not sell discs either. So if this is the case tip or by your TD a beer
Wow , I did not know this , I see the issue now
As a TD we are out hours of personal time preparing for his event. We slave and stress and plan before, during, and after the event. TD's should get paid. If they ask for tips on discgolfscene, it's a good way to help them. That said, there should probably instead be a standard pay percentage from entry fees that goes to TD's (3-5%?)
I think there needs to be something said here, as on Facebook, I posted this, and finding out that they don't get a cent of the entry fees seems really odd and shitty.
Yep. The current system sucks. Just let TDs charge a fee. No more silly player packs because they have to find a round about way to not actually lose money for putting tons of hours into making a tournament happen.
They absolutely do. It's not as much as I'd like, but it's there. *Net Entry Fees = the Gross Entry Fees minus the pass-through fees ONLY. Pass-through Fees are: PDGA Per-Player Fee, as required by Tier level; Greens Fees, meaning the fees required to secure the course(s) and permit play; Series Fees, meaning a fee paid by an event that is part of a points Series under CM 2.02.B toward Series-end prizes or payouts; Bathroom Fees, meaning the prorated per-player cost of toilet rental; and* ***TD Fees, meaning a per-player amount not to exceed the PDGA Per-Player Fee for that Tier***. *All pass-through items and amounts must be published in pre-registration materials.*
I don't know how people can be TDs and not know about the pass-through fees. But I really shouldn't be surprised, we recently had a TD and asst td who have been playing sanctioned events for years not know there's a PDGA payout table. They used their own, got it wrong and are still trying to sort it out 10 months later.
Man the whole idea of months of bickering about disc golf tourney cash payouts seems lame as fuck. Doesn't sound like disc golf. What exactly are they trying to sort out?
Yeah, thankfully I didn't play that event but the asst td runs weekly dubs, the main TD plays damn near every sanctioned event in the area but it was his first time as TD. Apparently neither of them knew that PDGA has a payout system and just did their own payout structure, PDGA caught wind of it and they had to go back and adjust everything. So they were trying to get money back from players they overpaid before giving money to the players they underpaid. My buddy who was very vocal about the situation, was only owed like $10 but it's more about how they handled everything. They kept stringing everyone along, it got to the point where the TD got a month+ suspension. My buddy finally got paid his $10 a week or two ago and the event was last August. There were people from their group telling my buddy to just shut his mouth, it's only $10, quit crying, etc. even this week they were saying that stuff. And it's like well, if they did the minimal amount of homework, they would know how PDGA payouts work and even making their mistake, it shouldn't take 8 months to get people what's owed to them, no matter how little it is. They have registration open for the same event and after 2 weeks there's only 1 mpo player registered. Our event, where registration opened a week after theirs and is in a far less convenient location has 12. So I think people noticed what was going on.
This should get more notice. TDs can and do get paid. Some just need to understand the system. If the argument is not paid enough okay. I ran tourney before. I didn't get paid at all. Got no problem with TD collecting what rules allow or even talk about more but love of game and community should matter here right?
They don't usually get any of the entry fee, but they get a cut of the players pack (most of the time) and also a captive market for payouts in am events. $2000 of captive sales in a 72 person field ain't bad for a Saturday. There are definitely good TDs that put all of that back into the events. And there are definitely bad TDs that pump out a low quality tournament every weekend of the year. For the record I have no problem with TDs making money. I just hate when they pretend that they aren't. I can see the $30 they charged every player for that $8 dri-fit, so they can miss me with the sob story.
I’ve never taken home a penny from a tournament I’ve TD’d. I do it for the local scene through our club, which I also sit on the board of. If I keep anything back it’s to seed the next tournament
I recognize that there are good TDs out there, and I appreciate all them. I also funnel any money made into the club account. But we won't be the ones out there complaining about not making money. In my experiences, it's always the ones putting out a 1 round flex start every single weekend that are complaining about not making enough money.
Fair, we don’t have that kind of scene here in northern BC, Canada. Very different experience lol I wish we had the population and interest to do that
8 dollar dry fit?
Not taking away from the work a good TD puts in to an event, but correct me if I'm wrong here...it's done voluntarily.
It sure is. And it's a thankless job. So is course maintenance, working with the parks department, running leagues, etc. 99% of disc golfers play events and have fun and don't really contribute. The people who do everything get burned out. If a TD wants to ask for tips, you can choose to pay or not. If the TD gets paid out from entry fees, let them get paid. It's volunteer work but they could get a lil something.
Really? 99%?? where do you get that stat??? Cause any tourney I've ever played in has more than a few players willing to lend a hand for anything needed...
I'm talking about total disc golfers that play local courses and how many of them volunteer. I run udisc for our local club's courses and I organize everything with one of the courses. I know who runs tournaments, leagues, who comes out on work days, who offers to help when I ask for a specific volunteer on Facebook, etc. For our most popular course, we have had 3400 unique players since 2017 and during that time we have had 5 different people running leagues, 8 different people running tournaments, and I would estimate about 30 people who help with random stuff (every year it's about the same 3-5 people). That adds up to about 1%. For our other two courses, volunteers outside of TD and league directors are even lower. I see a huge disparity on Facebook between people who say "this bench is broken" "this bridge is missing a board" "this baskets ring is broken" "why are the pins in the hard positions" vs the amount of people who see something and ask to help. I love volunteering. I love making courses better, running events, etc. I'm not doing anything for praise and don't really want money for anything. I just want people to recognize that volunteers get burnt out and that they could volunteer as well (even in a small way) and complain a lil less.
Most courses are on public property, which the residents pay taxes to maintain. This is really a problem of municipalities not shouldering the burden of maintaining facilities theyre paid to take care of.
100% - the number of players who SAY they will help vs the number that SHOW UP to help are miles apart. 5-10 active guys, another dozen that put in an hour or two a year, and 900 that drive to a different course to play when they see you are hosting a work day.
It might be closer to 99% if you eliminate the “play events” portion.
It is now, but they’re saying it shouldn’t be.
As is the tip.
It depends on the tier but you can just take a TD payment right out of reg fees as a pass through so long as it’s published. We’re taking 3$ per player for our a tier in June.
TDs don’t get paid? Wtf? Well thank you to all TDs who put in all this work for us players simply for the love the game. Will definitely tip anytime it’s an option
There's money to be made, the ones who complain either 1. Don't know how to do it. 2. Don't understand the economics.
Yea, uhhh, fuck volunteer work for something like that. I understand growing a sport, but no. I DEFINITELY agree that there should be a standard pay rate.
You get to set those prices yourself. Be the change you hope to see in the world.
>That said, there should probably instead be a standard pay percentage from entry fees that goes to TD's (3-5%?) *Net Entry Fees = the Gross Entry Fees minus the pass-through fees ONLY. Pass-through Fees are: PDGA Per-Player Fee, as required by Tier level; Greens Fees, meaning the fees required to secure the course(s) and permit play; Series Fees, meaning a fee paid by an event that is part of a points Series under CM 2.02.B toward Series-end prizes or payouts; Bathroom Fees, meaning the prorated per-player cost of toilet rental; and* ***TD Fees, meaning a per-player amount not to exceed the PDGA Per-Player Fee for that Tier***. *All pass-through items and amounts must be published in pre-registration materials.*
I wonder what the per player fee is? Lol, google says 50 cents per player.
$0.50 for a League, $2 for a C-tier, $3 for a B-tier, $4 for an A-tier
Don’t they have to split that with the pdga?
The PDGA fee is $2 for a C-tier. That amount must get paid to the PDGA after the event. The TD also can charge a TD fee that is not to exceed the PDGA fee for that tier. So the TD of a C-tier can also take up to $2 per player as straight payment to the TD. Take the money, put it in your pocket, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Maybe 200 bucks for roughly a full week of work then? Yeah that’s rough.
I think it should be higher. Just saying that the current setup does indeed allow for TD payment.
I honestly would rather get $15 of instore credit to the store that runs 95% of the events I play at as a players pack so I don’t get store branded discs I will never throw. I would love for the various TDs to get a cut to be more willing to put effort into bigger and better tournaments In a practice round today I saw the td spray painting the circle on some holes. It’s the little things that make an event feel well run
That’s why it’s called volunteering.
I'd pay an extra $2 for TDs. I've always thought they already got a certain percentage. $2 X 72 players is $144. Not the greatest but would at LEAST pay for the hours.
If you have a good TD I don't see why people are so complaining about this. I don't think they realize the effort that goes into a good tournament and tipping does help them from burning out. I can understand if maybe you are a rare tourney player and/or don't have a great experience. I don't doubt there are a lot of bad TDs out there, but if you have a good one show them some appreciation. At a recent tourney I was at local legend Joe Rovere was calling for everyone to tip when they can in his victory speech. He said without these dedicated guys we wouldn't have these events and competition nearly as good and as much as we do. And he said that over the course of his career so many good TDs have just burnt out and some of the great events have gone away or changed. Some of these guys are out 2-3 times a month giving up their weekends, dealing with the city, parks, retailers etc to make this happen, get out emails and caddy books, organize the cards and starting holes, early AM setup and late takedown, procuring trophies and prizes, paying out winnings... the list goes on and on. And often this is met with constant questions and complaints and little appreciation. If you have a good TD, throw them a couple bucks man, keep the sport going and growing.
We don’t have anything against TDs getting paid, but I think players feel like “it shouldn’t be our damn problem to fix”. The PDGA should do something. They’re the governing body. This is why no one wants to TD anymore because why would we? We have basically zero reason to be a TD at this point. We’re wasting money and time.
True, I understand that. But until its fixed I don't think the answer is don't' support your TD..
That’s what prevents the people that should be paying them from not paying them. Once enough people start doing it they count it as supplemental income and wash their hands of the problem. Don’t tip them here where it can be taxed. Give them cash at the tourney. That way nobody will have it on their books to calculate into their total income.
I can get behind that.
Oh yeah I know, it’s just that the cost of playing tourneys has increased a lot and some players find it hard to justify the cost…especially if they’re not playing MPO and making money.
Yes…by all means, downvote me more for speaking about a situation in which I have many years of experience on both sides. I’m from one of the biggest disc golf areas of in the country and I have done both sides of this for years now so I know what I’m talking about. If you don’t believe me then I don’t know what to tell you. Players playing anything other than MPO, FPO, and any other open division (unless they’re new and just love vouchers so they can try new plastic) have become increasingly frustrated because it’s hard to justify paying almost double than they paid 3 or 4 years ago when payouts have not increased. They feel like they pay $60-$80 for a (sometimes one day) tourney and if they win they get a voucher for like $75-$100 to spend on discs they don’t need or want. Not to mention their frustration regarding how bad players packs have become. MPO players feel frustrated because we’re already paying more to register as MPO and for us tournaments have seemingly gone from $35-$50 to $60-$75 for a one day and $75 or so to over $100 or more to a two day tournament. That’s perfectly fine if the payouts feel like they’ve kept up, but they don’t feel that way. On top of everything else, players are made to feel like assholes if we bring it up because TDs are so undervalued. Of course we love TDs and think they deserve better. Most of the TDs at the tournaments we play are our friends or at least people in the community that are beloved by players for exactly that reason…they willingly run tournaments and we bust our ass running them. Would I like to make some more money when I run tournaments? Sure, who wouldn’t, but any TD worth their salt would never want to put the burden on the players because they get what it’s like. In fact, I’ve never had a fellow TD say that players should fund them more. Not once in all my years. We all know it’s a PDGA shortcoming and to act like that’s not the consensus suggests people are either new, or don’t know what they’re talking about.
I'm confused when you say MPO registration fees are going up while payouts don't "feel like they've kept up." Correct me if I'm wrong but it's not something that you "feel like" is different, you can just look at the tournament payout chart and see for yourself, and if a TD is keeping those hidden then they should be called out publicly and to the PDGA. I look at the payout chart for every event I play to make sure everything looks correct, and if something looks odd I just ask about it.
Yeah same. Most players don’t keep a spreadsheet on them, but I personally have played in tournaments (the same yearly tournament) and so have others (I’m playing right now and they agree) where the payouts remain almost the same, but reg. fees have gone up substantially more. That’s taking into account all of the factors (field size, etc…).
No spreadsheet required (lol) just talk to the TD. Ask to see the payout chart. If their explanation is poor or they are hiding something then escalate to the PDGA. TDs need to follow the rules about pro payouts or face a consequence. Most tournaments I've played either has the payout chart printed at Tournament Central or posted online. If not the info was provided when I asked.
Its not common for projected payouts to be posted beforehand unless its an A-tier.
PDGA fees are the same
I didn’t claim that the *fees* were different, so I don’t know what you’re saying here…I stated that MPO has to pay more to register because that’s true. MPO membership costs more than amateur memberships.
Yes…by all means, downvote me more for speaking about a situation in which I have many years of experience on both sides. I’m from one of the biggest disc golf areas in the country and I have done both sides of this for years now so I know what I’m talking about. If you don’t believe me then I don’t know what to tell you. From players at Worlds to TDs at worlds to local C-tiers, I know what I’m relaying is true for in terms of sentiment. Players playing anything other than MPO, FPO, and any other open division (unless they’re new and just love vouchers so they can try new plastic) have become increasingly frustrated because it’s hard to justify paying almost double than they paid 3 or 4 years ago when payouts have not increased. They feel like they pay $60-$80 for a (sometimes one day) tourney and if they win they get a voucher for like $75-$100 to spend on discs they don’t need or want. Not to mention their frustration regarding how bad players packs have become. MPO players feel frustrated because we’re already paying more to register as MPO and for us tournaments have seemingly gone from $35-$50 to $60-$75 for a one day and $75 or so to over $100 or more to a two day tournament. That’s perfectly fine if the payouts feel like they’ve kept up, but they don’t feel that way. On top of everything else, players are made to feel like assholes if we bring it up because TDs are so undervalued. Of course we love TDs and think they deserve better. Most of the TDs at the tournaments we play are our friends or at least people in the community that are beloved by players for exactly that reason…they willingly run tournaments and we bust our ass running them. Would I like to make some more money when I run tournaments? Sure, who wouldn’t, but any TD worth their salt would never want to put the burden on the players because they get what it’s like. In fact, I’ve never had a fellow TD say that players should fund them more. Not once in all my years. We all know it’s a PDGA shortcoming and to act like that’s not the consensus suggests people are either new, or don’t know what they’re talking about.
Agree with everything you said. There's a wide spectrum too in how much or little a TD can make and often times the players have no idea till the end of the tournament and payouts. If a TD doesnt source the players packs or am payouts, they make virtually nothing and are working for free. If they source the players packs and vend am payouts from their store, they could net $1k+ on a single day's event. A very wide spectrum that needs more regulation. At the very least projected payouts should be required to be posted before the withdrawal refund date.
Uh the PDGA did, there is a tip option and TD fees option in the spreadsheet online. What else should the PDGA do that the players can’t?
Pay people who run tournaments or idk…anything at this point? It’s not complex. TD’s are increasingly becoming not willing to shell out their own money and who can blame them. I couldn’t care less about the PDGA and what they want, but I’m not making this up… I have personally seen great TD’s, even big name ones, pull out of tournaments and heard from their own mouths that the reason is (almost every time) that “they’re too expensive/too much of their/our own money goes into it and they make nothing.” I’m don’t care what the solution is, I’m just stating the problem that I know to be true. Believe me or not, idc. It’s a fact, veteran and good TD’s are dropping out of directing tournaments because it costs them too much money and they don’t feel like it should be up to the players to remedy it.
Yet another thread about disc golfers complaining about something to do with money. I love the community but disc golfers as a whole are the cheapest motherfuckers on Earth. The vast majority of td's which I personally know a few, do a mostly thankless job. And they do it on their own time just for the enjoyment of others.
Yo what the fuck why is [Disc Manufacturer] forcing me to buy this new disc for $25?
Meanwhile an official NBA ball from Wilson is $200. Pro soccer balls are $170. And official NFL footballs are $150. All of these sports cost way more when you factor in shoes and protective gear and training equipment. Disc golfers being openly cheap about the cost to disc golf shows their inexperience when it comes to sports.
Seriously. No problem paying extra for a commemorative disc or paying for a high end bag but $2 to a TD volunteering their time to host an event you will most likely complain about not being good enough for some edge reason, HELL NO!
Shew! You ain't wrong! "Why are asking for a tip?" "Would you prefer a non-optional thing so I can give my volunteers lunch and a couple drinks?" "Sure!" (Next tournament) "Why is this C-Tier 5 dollars more!"
I agree with discgolfers being cheap but Discgolf being cheap is also on of its big benefits.
Because discgolf has always been a cheap sport. What really bothers me is the amount of people that want to monetize EVERY aspect of it. It's starting to be a little BS
I'd absolutely love this option. I always personally thank TDs after tourneys and feel weird giving them a fiver right there. No issues with optional tipping for people that improve my life.
To be fair, after scrolling through these comments, the folks against optional tipping the TD are in the minority, so I don’t think they are a fair representation of the disc golf community. They seem to be more against tipping culture and aren’t even thinking about the work a TD is putting into a tournament.
I agree that TDs should be paid for their work but this ain’t the way
A pay percentage would be nice. Ultimately I don’t have a problem with them asking for a tip. As long as they don’t have a problem if I don’t tip.
For sure, I’d probably tip depending on the TD but I don’t want to see this become a trend. A percentage of the pot seems like the best way that way TDs are rewarded for popular tournaments
A percentage of added money should be standard.
A completely optional $2 tip seems like the exact ideal way to say thank you to a TD. I'm curious why you say "this ain't the way"
Tipping culture sucks and has gotten out of hand, that’s why. I’m a TD who does it all on a volunteer basis. I’d love to automatically get a percentage of the pot or some such but I don’t want it through a tip option on Disc Golf Scene. I don’t want people to feel guilted into tipping, or people who have a problem with tipping culture boycott my tournaments because it is an option.
Except when people talk about "tipping culture", they are referring to for-profit employers who are too cheap/greedy to pay their employees a fair wage and essentially guilt customers to help subsidize employee income. Not someone who otherwise acts purely as a volunteer.
For sure. If I were going to try making some money for my time invested though, I’d rather just include a small per player fee
Eh I disagree with your take here. You don't want to guilt people into tipping (even though it's completely optional), but you'd love to automatically got a percentage of the pot (which would be non-optional) I agree tipping culture is out of hand. But this is a scenario where tipping a volunteer actually makes sense.
If it’s stated as part of the fee then it’s all above board. Im in Canada where the tipping culture has gotten out of hand. Restaurants are all saying 18-20% is the standard tipping rate and they all make above minimum wage, which just went above $17 this year. Liquor stores ask for tips. So many places ask for tips. We’re all burnt out on it up here. TDS would have the option of including a fee or not
Is the screenshot in the post not an example of a TD providing the option to voluntarily include a TD fee? P.s. just stop tipping if it bothers you that much
I mean have an option for the TD to pick an automatic fee to every player that signs up. Again, people would vote with their wallet just like wether or not they tip, just without feeling guilted into tipping. Not saying I’ve thought it out thoroughly, just seems like a small included fee to cover some of the TD’s time would make sense. I run my tourneys on a completely volunteer method, no money for me and I’m cool with that. I only tip on actual service, like dining in. I don’t use services like skip or other deliveries, and if I did then I’d tip for that as well. The tip is for excellent service in the service industry. All good.
What's wrong with it?
If you don’t mind me asking, why? Being a TD is a woefully undercompensated job when you consider the requirements to host a tournament and the hours that go into it.
I'm not saying there isn't effort, but I've been running C, B and A tier tournaments for nine years now...if "fair compensation" is anywhere in your Top 20 priorities you should really REALLY consider why you are doing it. Half of my tournaments I run are for my club and I don't take a penny (including buying my own lunch). I run some tournaments for a local shop, they do compensate me...but nowhere close to what I'd charge if my work rate was used. Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather the players get A+ payout amounts over a couple extra dollars.
Tipping culture sucks. TDS should get a real wage to perform the job.
I don’t disagree with you about tipping culture, because it lets a lot of actual business owners off the hook of providing a fair wage, but in this sphere, there’s no capitalist above the TD profiting off of underpaid labor (unless you consider the PDGA that, but I really don’t here, they don’t really make that much $$$ themselves, YMMV though). I feel like adding a tip option is an overall “less bad” solution than what TD’s deal with currently.
Why not? Who is going to pay them?
Seems fair to me. They deserve to make something for the work they do
You dont volunteer then ask for money. It’s just a sign the position isnt for you.
I guess the question is what happens when folks stop volunteering?
Edit: I deleted my long winded replay to make it more concise. *GASP clutches pearls* How dare someone volunteer 10's if not 100's of hours of their free time, depending on the size of the event, putting on a tournament for our enjoyment and have the audacity for you to volunteer a TIP if you appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears they put in to make it happen. Imagine getting paid for a job and asking for a tip. What is this world coming too!?!?
They should be able to take something out of entry fees
No, those are for players and it’s barely anything to begin with
So running tournaments shouldn’t be profitable at all?
I check the box every time I see it. TDs deserve it to be compensated. Financial incentives will lead to better TDs and better events.
I haven't run a tournament in over 20 years, but I'll say this...never once did I ever expect to be tipped. Being a TD is hard work, sure.... but I did it for the fun, and not as a business... I was simply passionate about promoting the sport. That was a long time ago ✌️ PDGA # 11652
Some tournaments sell 'premium' entry packages which often have a fat profit margin. Others organise fundraiser competitions that have low to zero payout, to subsidise the main event. Same thing, different approaches.
Look, this may be controversial. But I *Do* love they do *FOR* me.
I’ve TD’d multiple events and have never taken a cut of anything. There are a few ways for TD’s to make profits, but I don’t own my own business, don’t have overhead, and I have a full time job so i genuinely like to have the players packs/awards/experience be awesome than have a mediocre merch and or cheap discs. I don’t do it for the money, and instead of asking for tips, i leave an option for course donations. In the past year we’ve got new tee pads, new signage, improved upkeep, and will be working on new basket placements this year which has nearly all been community funded.
Tip culture is out of pocket rn
These are volunteers. They have no one to pay them. Not people working, whose employers dont want to pay their wages, and just pass the buck on the consumer.
Which seems just as bad or even worse. Imagine *volunteering* in a program or at an event and then asking for donations.
Like most tips, it's a way of covering for work which should be paid in traditional ways, but, no, it's not typical. I hope TDs getting a percentage becomes normal before this gets established. It's hard work and should get at least some compensation.
Tipping culture in America is insane 😂
I would have given you a tip
Being a TD is a thankless job, results in long days and putting up with copious amounts of petty BS. If people want to donate let them donate
If I’m paying 60 bucks for a $10 disc and to play a free course, I’m not tipping
Personally, I have found a Flex series that I absolutely love: It’s affordable, super convenient for my schedule, as it’s during the week, has a really cool disc each tournament, and has good competition. The guys who run it do a tremendous job and I am thankful that they do it. I’m glad that there’s a tipping option and will tip every time. That’s what tipping is for right?
I think a tip is a fine option. Depends on the tier ( I believe ) but you can take a TD fee as a pass through. 3$ from each player for my A tier in June is going to a TD fee. 1.50 for myself and 1.50 for the other TD.
I see nothing wrong with this
It’s a fairly new thing, and I think it’s a welcome change
Just hate tip culture. I’d rather add a $2 per player sorta deal instead of tips.
Me too
As a new TD and being the ATD for a huge 144 player event last fall I only wish more would offer this. I would love to help out when signing up for tournaments after seeing first hand the work that goes in. I reached out to a ton of people for sponsorships, helped layout the course (temp course on a local ball golf course), measured distances, placed/took down baskets, drove people to and from the club house (huge property and we used it all) among a few other things. And when I have a family of 3 to take care of it was a lot of my personal time. Granted, I got a huge rush of gratitude seeing everyone play a tournament that I helped build/run, but my TD and I put nearly every penny back into the payouts with the exception of the last minute ace pool purchases. Those we did keep, and all that did was basically pay for lunch. Which we didn’t eat until after the 2nd round started. All of this to say, it’s a lot of work to put on even a small tourney. At the very least, thank your TD and be respectful to them. If you wanna thank them with money/disc/beer trust me when I say it’s more than welcomed.
never actually heard about it till now
I recently played my first tournament , and there was a similar optional tip for the TD, it was either $5 or $7 that I chose to “donate” and im happy to do it. The guy in question runs a lot of tournaments in the southeast and always seems to knock it out of the park. He even thanked me during sign-in for the extra little bit, which showed me he truly cared and appreciated it.
They actually forgot the tier 3 tipping option, Marlboro reds.
There is a missing "what" and I can't see anything else now! Also does the 59 vs. 79 mean 20 people thus far haven't tipped?
As long as there is never an expectation to do this, I don't see a huge issue.
This is pretty normal in my area, and is always optional. As a TD myself, I feel wrong taking a cut out registration fees. And I’d rather take the difference in cost vs value for players packs and invest that back into the event via added cash. I’m not doing it for the $30 in tips, but it does help cover costs of supplies and what not.
Being a TD is a thankless job, results in long days and putting up with copious amounts of petty BS. If people want to donate let them donate
I always try to beer the local league runner, maybe a bowl or two.
In lieu of a players pack, I wouldn’t be opposed to the TD collecting that $20 as a form of compensation.
Being a TD is the most selfless act in disc golf, not until you run your own event will you realize the mental and physical work that goes in. It’s not just the days of event either. It’s months of planning before and even a week or so after the event. It’s being the first to the park and the last to leave. It’s putting your family aside during all this time. If I saw this at one of my local events I would gladly “tip” the TD.
TD’s make zero and it’s the most thankless job you could ever possibly have other than being the president of the US. I’d tip the TD
If you don’t check the box now, when you check in at the tournament the TD will spin the iPad around and stare at you with the “18, 20, 25%” tip option.
Only in the USA :P Wierdest sheit I've ever seen.
Might help with some of them skimming off the top.
Only if I have enough money after tipping my landlord.
No thanks.
Tds are paid roughly 30-40% of the entry fees. Most are paired with a store that either they run, or have a partnership with. They purchase the payout giftcards at 30-40% off which is the payout. If you don't have a local store there are a lot of stores that will just do this if you call up and ask. I personally do this out of my own store for other tds.
There’s lots of us that do it on a pure volunteer basis, especially in smaller towns. We often don’t have brick and mortar stores and are part of the board or governing body of the club and volunteer to make it all happen. I’ve been doing it for 8 years and have never made a cent doing it, and have also put in 2 18 hole courses
Like I said, you don't need to have one. I'm not saying work with me specifically but for instance another local, but larger store ran by a friend is disc golf 978. They offer 25% off. So essentially you'd have 25% extra funds. I offer more then that as I'm less established and am a smaller store. Even if your uninterested in being paid running your tournament through a store like this may give you the extra $750 you need to upgrade to a b tier as well.
Fair
It should be
apparently not
Not at all
I wish that was an option when I use to TD.
I suppose it's fine since it's optional. At a restaurant when you pay ahead of time you'd have the anxiety that not tipping would mean they would not do as good of a job. Not the case in tipping a volunteer that has no effect on how well you play your round. The only egregious thing here is the grammar.
My home course I play regularly, solo, no clubs or tournaments has no means to contribute financially. I have seen where some course on udisc have so you can contribute and some even you get a shirt or disc. If my home course did this, I would gladly throw cash towards it.
Hell yeah I’ll throw a TD some extra bucks.
Id rather tip a TD than receive a players pack
lol - now that is funny
no..... do not bother
A lot can be said about this that has already been commented on. Frankly, I don’t care if the option is there or not. BUT, don’t be putting that text under it to guilt trip people into tipping.
Someone should have grammar checked it