Increase women's participation at tournaments.

There are several ways to help increase the turnout of women players at tournaments and leagues: reduce entry fees, boost women's payout and offer all women's divisions.  These strategies assume there are already competitive women players in your area that may not be attending events. When women players enjoy a tournament, they are likely to let other women golfers know it is a women friendly event

Here are some suggestions for improving women's turnout at tournaments.

A.    Reduce Entry Fees. Make entry fees lower for the women's divisions at your local tournaments. You may even consider zero entry fees.  This may require some type of sponsorship money to cover entry fees or provide payouts. Additional sponsorship will ensure awards for the women participants. At every tournament, the fees should be significantly lower for the Intermediate and Recreational/Novice divisions than the Advanced and Pro divisions.

B.   Boost Payouts. Try to get sponsor donations aimed specifically at increasing the payout to the women golfers at your event.  Often, because of the low number of women players, the payout is minimal.  Payout is lower still when reduced entry fees are used. When women golfers realize that there are good payouts at an event, they are likely to let other women golfers know about the event and increase turnout in the future.

C.    Pay more players.  Use a flat payout schedule to determine awards for Recreational and Intermediate divisions. Consider paying every woman participant in these divisions. The Advanced and Pro level players do not need such a flat payout, as they are generally more competitive and realize they need to play well to win. Avoid the temptation to pay the first place Advanced or Pro player less, in order to pay more players. If you are truly committed to boosting the payout and/or lowering entry fees for women players, please find additional prizes, sponsorship and support to provide payout for all the women competitors. 

D.   Offer all women's divisions. Allow all women to play the division of their choice regardless of the number of registered players. For events without pre-registration, do not worry about having trophies for all the women's divisions. Simply offer a generic trophy stating “First Place – Women”, as opposed to a specific division. You can always order additional trophies or nameplates after the event if necessary.  If you have a left over trophy, they can be recycled with new nameplates for the next event or donated to an area women's league.

E.    Publicize incentives.  If you are offering special incentives or entry fees for the women players, make note of it on tournament flyers, course bulletin boards and club websites.  Have flyers available in advance and try to give them to all women players you see at the course and at every event you attend.

F.    Raise awareness among male players. Many of the rules and customs of disc golf are second nature to men as they may have more experience playing sports. Remind men to have patience with the women players and provide as much encouragement as possible.