Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2022/03/29/dgpt-seeking-to-standardize-baskets-in-future-seasons/
The Disc Golf Pro Tour is in the early stages of working to standardize the baskets used at its events, DGPT CEO Jeff Spring told Ultiworld Disc Golf.
In an interview with The Nick & Matt Show yesterday, Paige Pierce broke the news. “I know the Disc Golf Pro Tour is in the process of making their own basket, so that we won’t go on an Innova basket, and then a Discraft basket, and then a Prodigy basket,” she said. “We’re just going to have one standard basket for all DGPT events.”
The idea of a standardized basket for Elite Series events has been discussed for years, and the Pro Tour set out basket standards (and broke them) in its early days. Currently, different tournaments on tour utilize different baskets, typically ones manufactured by each event’s sponsor. Increasingly, players are voicing dissatisfaction with the changes from week to week, or even sometimes from course to course during the same event.
“We are hearing a growing chorus of opinions from touring professionals is that the best course of action on baskets is to standardize them, whether it’s to pick one or to develop one,” said Spring. “We are understanding and sympathetic and interested in developing that in the future. However, it’s a long process. I’ve made clear to players that we have a lot of partners that have business interest in showcasing their best baskets on tour.”
Spring said that this change wouldn’t be made for years, and that standardization could take different forms: a basket designed and manufactured by the DGPT, a bid process to select one company’s basket as the official basket for a set number of years (a common practice for equipment in other professional sports), or a set of specifications that multiple basket manufacturers could follow to create a licensed DGPT basket that could be used on tour.
“We want to make sure all stakeholders are heard from before making a change,” said Spring.
The PDGA designates more than 100 baskets as “Championship” quality, but in practice only a handful of top baskets are used on tour.