Three Disc Golf ‘Holiday’ Letters

I was planning on using the term ‘Christmas Letter’ because I initially had the idea of mimicking those cringy annual missives certain families send off en masse to friends and family at the end of each year, listing their many great achievements. Change of plans! Christmas has come and gone, for one thing. Also, the idea of writing such a letter, even in jest, is as dreadful as reading one.

Although disc golf does have much to brag about, these letters should read more like annual reports. I want to look forward to the next year in addition to looking back on 2023.

Without any more preamble, a letter from Jack Tupp, a letter from School of Disc Golf, and a letter from disc golf itself.

a letter from the sport of disc golf

Disc golf continues to grow fast, in all directions, like the jungle vines in the old Jumanji that used to freak my daughter out so much. And after the previous few years’ growth which was largely about new “pandemic” players, 2023 and 2024 will be remembered (in my mind, anyway) for a better kind of growth: Infrastructure and worldwide geographic expansion.

The McBeth Foundation, Eagles Wings Disc Golf, and others have broken ground on new courses in places where disc golf’s incredible, unparalleled accessibility (including, but not limited to, affordability) will have the biggest impact.

And just imagine! Entire new peoples (many who live in places where weather-wise they can play year-round) having the opportunity to take up disc golf! I wrote about this in The Disc Golf Revolution, specifically the significance of disc golf knocking down the barriers that have kept those same people from ever experiencing golf, period.

The Paul McBeth Foundation in particular has put this expansion into overdrive. Check out all the projects they have ongoing or planned right now.

My comments on the professional competitive landscape are brief, as I like to leave the blow-by-blow to others. Kristen Tattar is one of my favorite players, even though she has for now squashed the parity we were about to finally see in that division. I like her because she seems single-minded about perfecting her disc golf craft, and everything else (at least professionally) comes in a distant second place.

I wrote when Brodie Smith first joined Discraft that he would quickly become good enough to be a legit tour competitor, but wouldn’t ever be a top player or win anything significant. Why? Because his primary business isn’t disc golf, it’s content creation. Which is fine. The reality is that the large majority of touring players do not make enough money from winnings and sponsorship alone to do much better than break even. Unless you are competing for the victory most weeks, a current common formula is to get and stay good enough to be a legit tour player (and earn a tour card), then look to content creation and the resulting revenue to make it all sustainable.

In 2024 and beyond watch for a continued negative correlation between the list of top finishers each week and the players releasing the most content on their own. As the talent pool deepens, it will be harder and harder to have a disc in one hand and a selfie stick in the other.

One interesting development in 2023 on the business side of the sport was a bit of consolidation, something not uncommon for an industry with disc golf’s profile (rapidly shifting from niche to early majority). A couple of private equity firms in Scandinavia partnered with Latitude 64 to create House of Discs, which then acquired three more established brands in Europe and another in the U.S., former Latitude 64 partner Dynamic Discs.

Will 2024 see more similar moves, by House of Discs or others? Who will be the first investor in the United States with no previous ties to disc golf to understand where the sport is headed and “get in early?”

2025 will see the Pro disc golf world championships held outside the United States for only the second time, and in Europe for the first time. This is fitting as the era of U.S. players dominating competitive play seems to be rapidly coming to a close. It has already pretty much happened on the FPO side at majors, with the repeated performances of Henna Blomroos, Eveliina Solonen, and others in addition to Tattar.

a letter from school of disc golf

Whether you are a customer, blog subscriber, or a disc golfer of any stripe, thank you! We could not even attempt to make this work without you. As the sport grows, so do our opportunities to make a living by introducing people to the game and helping others get better. Please keep telling others about us.

As with the sport of disc golf itself, 2023 was a year for School of Disc Golf to build infrastructure for future growth. We completed our private training facility, a 9-hole course in Santa Cruz where private lessons and teambuilding events take place. Having a controlled environment rather than shared public spaces has been a game-changer!

We also created a second website just for the e-commerce side of the business. The most important new feature is self-booking: the ability to browse available dates, and then reserve and pay for lessons and group events. It may still look funky in spots, but so far things are running smoothly so check it out when you get a chance. I’d love feedback. The site also has a few items of merch, and we plan to add more. Look for unique disc golf items to pop up there in 2024.

Much of our corporate business comes from big tech companies in nearby Silicon Valley, and in 2023 we felt the repercussions of the continued layoffs among them. Group social outings are obviously among the first cuts when things get tight. But another trend is providing hope.

Those same companies are now also requiring remaining workers to return to the office. Netflix, Facebook and Google teams have found us to be an affordable (and of COURSE fun) way to get teams reacquainted with each other. Please think of us when you or someone you know needs an affordable option for an outdoor group experience.

Another new addition to School of Disc Golf in the past year has been incorporating TECHDISC technology into our lessons. We use it to establish benchmark metrics, measure improvement, illustrate the relationship between disc properties and throw metrics, and plenty more.

A couple of my remote clients have already bought their own, giving us yet another way to interact without getting together in person. Check out my initial review of TECHDISC if you haven’t seen it yet.

We’re also considering scheduling group classes for the first time, now that we have a controlled facility. Let me know if you’d be interested. Classes targeting beginners, youth, seniors, and women are all considerations as these are fast-rowing segments of the disc golf population.

a letter from jack tupp

(As you may or may not know, Jack Tupp is a disc golf persona I created first as a character name when I produced Discmasters TV in 2011, then used again as a pen name for my books. Given my industry and position, and the stereotypes about disc golf at the time, I felt the need to keep things separate online. Plus, no one can pronounce my real last name, anyway. So here’s Jack Tupp’s Christmas letter!)

I still love to play, and apparently NEED to compete, even if it’s mostly local. In that regard, I did not have a great 2023 when I measure my potential against my results. I only played four PDGA events and did manage to get my 10th PDGA victory in the Enduro Bowl, one of my favorites due to the ironman format and my success over the years. But my rating went down overall this year, so I’ll be looking for ways to coax more out of this old carcass.

2023 has also been a year for assuming additional roles in the local disc golf community. Until almost the end of 2022, a treasured local course in a redwood forest had remained closed due to fires and the pandemic. I led a group that formed a new club and signed an agreement with the school district to reopen the course.

“I’ve got disc golf riches, I’m a frisbee king.
Play anytime I want, barely costs me anything.
I can make magic happen, when nothing else in life goes right.
I can still control my frisbee flight.”

Jack Tupp and SPAM

More recently I was asked to join the board of directors of the DeLaveaga Disc Golf Club, and quickly accepted, honored to serve in that capacity.

The coming year is setting up nicely for School of Disc Golf, and I have also spoken to a couple of other disc golf business owners about partnering in various capacities. We’ll see what unfolds. Stay tuned!

Now, for those who have read this post to the very end, something only tangentially connected to disc golf. I used to be in a band, and about six months ago I was coaxed out of retirement by my old bandmate and friend Eric. He and a couple of other guys were tired of playing covers. I joined ’em, bringing my old originals with me, and have so far written seven new ones! So much fun.

The most recent one is the first song I’ve ever written about disc golf. In it I try to convey how great it is that a resource can be so desirable, beneficial, and available*— all at once! Think about it. Apply that triple standard to anything else. Usually one element precludes one or two of the others. Put another way, disc golf is as desirable as ice cream, as beneficial as kale, and as available as rice.

Keep in mind this is a live recording of a song that is not yet complete, with two musicians new to the band. It’s a work in progress, but I thought it’d be fun to share it with y’all.

Have a great next year. My wish for everyone is to find new, even deeper ways to enjoy our sport. Volunteer for your club. Take someone new out. Think deep about how to shave strokes. Have fun!