Registration opened this morning and Sunday’s field is already full.  So it seems an appropriate time to address the waitlist and how it works.

The waitlist will require a $5 down payment.  For players who get into the tournament, the $5 will be applied to their entry fee when they pay it.  If there are any players who remain on the waitlist after registration closes and the tournament field locks on June 3, their $5 will be refunded.  Also, players can request to be removed from the list for a refund as well.

Players that get into the tournament from the waitlist will be notified by email (the one they used on DiscGolfScene) and given a link to pay the remainder of their entry.  Those players will have a limited amount of time (see below) from when the email is sent to register or they will be removed from the tournament and replaced with the next player on the waitlist.  No contact at all will result in forfeiture of the $5 fee.

Deadlines for elevated waitlisters to pay before losing their place:

• Before May 21, players have two weeks to register from first contact
• May 21-May 25, players have one week to register from first contact
• May 26-May 31, players have 48 hours to register from first contact
• June 1-June 2, players have until registration closes (June 2 at 5pm)

Historically the waitlist has been free to sign up for, so why the change?  In past years, there have always been a number of people signing up for the waitlist that then seemingly forgot they were on it.  To the point where a number of players have been elevated from the list into the tournament, only to fail to respond to repeated attempts at contact for payment.  This makes more work and leaves too much up in the air, especially as the event gets closer.  The hope is that the fee and the deadlines will weed out some of those folks.

With the state lifting all COVID related restrictions for events, we’re expanding the field for both days from 96 (chosen to keep the total under the mandated 100) to 108 total players.  In order to do this, we have divided each day into two pools of 54 and placed divisions in those pools in a “best fit” manner based on current registration/waitlist numbers.  Waitlists will now run by pool, so if a player drops from pool A on Saturday, then the first player signed up for a pool A division (who may not be #1 on the list for that day) will be elevated from the waitlist.

Now an explanation on why 108 and not, say, 144 for each day.  Parking to accommodate nearly 150 people is a challenge at Dragan Field.  Heck, parking for 72-90 players is a challenge.  108 players is as big as we’re comfortable trying to squeeze in for a single day.  At least until we can work out a solution to expand our parking capacity.

Capping each pool at 54 will allow for us to primarily utilize cards of 3 players, which will have the effect of keeping things moving more smoothly all day.  We hope the result will be an even more enjoyable day for everyone.

Also, a quick explanation on the held spots for the doubles league raffle winner.  No, we’re not giving away four spots.  Just one.  However, without knowing which division the winner will want to play, we are reserving a space in each pool.  Once the winner is drawn, the unused spots will go to the first player on each appropriate waitlist.  The drawing will take place on the Monday before the tournament, so waitlist players will have ample time to register and plan their trip to Dragan Field on tournament day.