Editorial

The following views are written as an editorial.  Therefore they are opinion.  They may or may not represent the views of Circle Three or anyone else for that matter.


To basket or not to basket?


The word on the street is that there will not be baskets at the Wrightsville Open.  We'll be playing on some very Vermonty sap buckets instead.  There's no question that buckets represent our fair state well, but are they appropriate for a Green Mountain Points Series event?


My answer: No.  I love and respect the work that Colin and Al have done in the transformation of Wrightsville.  Last year, when the course was new, we played sap buckets for a bit of the tournament.  There was some grumbling, but it was novel and fun.  Having them there this year seems like a bit too much to me.


Sap buckets and totem poles harken back to the roots of disc golf, before many of us were playing.  But, in 1977, Eddie Headrick applied for the first patent for a disc golf basket (http://www.discgolf.com/downloads/patents/machI-patent.pdf) and the game was vastly improved.  Baskets add legitimacy to our sport and make for a better experience.  To me, playing a tournament with sap buckets is like skiing long, straight skis in the year 2011.  The new technology exists and it has improved the experience, so why wouldn't you take advantage of it?


I don't often support the Professional Disc Golf Association, but I decided to look into their opinion on baskets for a tournament.  I was surprised on what I found.  There aren't strict requirements on basket dimensions, but there is an approved list of baskets that can be used at PDGA events  (http://www.pdga.com/documents/pdga-approved-targets-pdf).  Furthermore the PDGA will be moving to a standard where basket requirements will be leveled (see Table 2: http://www.pdga.com/files/documents/TourStandards.pdf).  That means that some baskets will be approved for National Tour events and some for B-Tier and C-Tier events.  So what, you ask?  Well, sap buckets aren't on the list and the PDGA seems to be saying that not only do baskets matter, but the type of basket matters.  


So, I ask you.  Am I making too big a deal out of this?  It wouldn't be the first time.  Or, am I correct to ask the questions about sap buckets?  Vote in the poll on the right side and let us know your opinion.  If you're on a smart phone, you won't be able to vote in the poll, so go sit down at your computer for a moment.