<DG> Supporting the PDGA
Rodney
Using information from the latest DGWN, I was
surprised to find that of the top 25 money-winning
Open players and the top 10 money-winning Women
players, only 3 (three!) are members of the
PDGA's Ace or Birdie clubs.
The Ace and Birdie clubs are a PDGA member's
chance to help out the PDGA by giving either
100 or 50 dollars (and getting some commemorative
stuff in the process).
Ken Climo won over 15,000 dollars last year, but
he can't give 50 back to the organization that
makes it all possible? And in the very same
magazine, Climo laments that the payouts aren't
high enough. Go figure.
My compliments to Ron Russell, Rick Voakes,
and Joel Kelly for giving something back. To the
others, I wonder what the reason is. Oh, I can
almost hear them now:
Player: I don't believe in the current direction
of the PDGA.
Rodney: So start your own organization, but do
something to make the sport bigger and better.
To me, the PDGA currently has the best chance
to make a difference in disc golf. If you think
you can do better, please, be my guest.
Player: I volunteer my time and efforts on a
local scale.
Rodney: Yeah, big deal, so do I. You still
find time to go play tournaments and reap the
profits of the tour schedule the PDGA has
put in place.
Player: I don't really profit anything, due
to travel expenses and so forth.
Rodney: Who cares about profit? You get to
go and do something fun, possibly at the
expense of a sponsor, and maybe break even
or make a little money. Doesn't sound like
a bad gig to me.
Player: I do more for the game just by being
a big money winner than I ever would by donating
some money.
Rodney: Whatever.
Player: I'm just a student/unemployed/poor
boy, I don't have the money to give.
Rodney: But that doesn't stop you from travelling
to tournaments and paying the entry fee? Or
from buying discs? Or bags? Or shoes?
Anybody else got any good ones?
Oh, by the way, I'm not in the Birdie and/or
Ace club. My post isn't about the thousands
of us who belong to the PDGA (some who never
play in a tournament and many who never "cash");
rather, it is about those who lead the money
lists.
Thanks,
rodney
stokely
because I only care what the sport can do for me, not the other way
around. Actually, Dan Roddick just asked me over the weekend why I
wasn't a member and I couldn't come up with a very good answer so I'm
going to renew my membership with "Ace" status this winter.
I would like to point out however that there are many ways of supporting
the PDGA without paying extra dues and most of the top players do so in
their own ways. A tournament director could easily pick on an Ace Club
member for never running an event or a PDGA board member could criticize
a Birdie Club member for their lack of volunteer work.
The point is you need to tell me how to beat Ken in Rochester next
year. Now get to work on it. I expect a full report in the morning!
Here in Minnesota
the organization that makes it all possible?"
How do you know that just because he didn't join the "birdie or ace club"
that he hasn't donated to the PDGA and other Disc Golf organizations?
My local club has a "birdie and ace club"; birdie is $350 and Ace is $500
over 3 years. My disc shop is listed as a "birdie" even though we donate
over $1000 a year in prizes, baskets etc. That's six times more than I'll
need to be a ace member. I'm not complaining I just choose not to put my
donations in a lump sum to get the ace title; that's not the reason I
donate.
If Ken Climo won $15,000 or 15,000,000. It's his money; he can do what he
wants with it.
It's good that you encourage players to give to disc golf and/or the PDGA
but don't bad mouth anyone for not GIVING what you think they should give.
Rodney
>How do you know that just because he didn't join the "birdie or ace club"
>that he hasn't donated to the PDGA and other Disc Golf organizations?
I don't. And I didn't say that he hasn't.
All I said was that he won 15,000 dollars at PDGA sanctioned events
and that he wasn't a member of the Birdie or Ace clubs. I found
that to be odd.
My thinking is that if you win 15,000 dollars, you might as well
go ahead and toss the PDGA a spare hundy in addition to all of the
numerous (I'm sure) other contributions he already makes.
rodney