Interview with The Players Cup TD Mike Barnett | 1000 Rated Disc Golf Players, News, scores, and more

Interview with Four-time Players Cup Tournament Director Mike Barnett

The Players Cup is only a few days away, and who would know better than four time Tournament Director and Players Cup architect Mike Barnett? Sure he’s busy with the last minute details, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t spare a few moments to answer some of our questions about the tournaments inception, the hole changes for this year, and his thoughts on who has a chance to win the 2008 event…
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1000 RATED: Now in it’s 4th year, the Player’s Cup is one of the premier events in the game. How did this tournament get it’s start and what kinds of things have helped you continue its success over the last few years?

MIKE: The concept came from my constant desire to get involved with a big event and was partially inspired by the World Championship events in Flagstaff, Arizona where the host hotel featured one of the courses right on the hotel property. Keith Murray (now handling The Memorial and with Spinners on the Green in Scottsdale, AZ) was the GM at Discraft at the time and we had been kicking around ideas for nearly two years when he asked about golf courses and more specifically, golf resorts down here in sunny Florida. He was really taken by the concept of having the course and hotel side by side and Florida, being a vacation destination was a perfect backdrop to start searching. I was still working for a Budweiser distributor at the time and remembered one of my new accounts had a great reputation and The 2008 Players Cup - Presented by Discraft better yet, a classy hotel on the property. After doing some initial legwork, Keith told me that Discraft was ready to make the plunge and put some major sponsorship money behind the project if I could find a home for the event. I look back now and it’s somewhat surreal, as after I pitched the concept over the phone to the head of group sales at the Plantation Inn I was invited up for a meeting with the Director of Golf, the head Golf Pro and the head Greenskeeper. I don’t think it took 20 minutes to sell the idea and almost immediatley they were all throwing discs around! They were “all in” and within a few days and a couple of calls to their corporate office our event had a home! The course went in permanent in the spring of 2004 and we haven’t looked back since. I think the success from the event is truly derived from the property and all it’s natural beauty. In addition, Discraft’s support has turned the concept into a reality.

1000 RATED: How has your relationship with the Plantation Inn affected the Professional aspect of the tournament, and how have they gone out of their way to make this tournament a special event for all?

MIKE: I think the fact that the Plantation Inn is essentially a 4-star facility has really brought out the notion that the course and hotel is really something special. Since the first year, we’ve received continuos accolades about the property and most players say it’s one of their favorite stops, especially as a way to wind down the year in style. This part of Florida, known as the Nature Coast, also boasts unique wildlife and cool adventures, thus adding to the mystique of the event.

1000 RATED: What changes, if any, have you made to the course this year? Does the format or course change every year, or has it primarily stayed the same?

MIKE: Our two biggest changes this year were to Holes #1 and #14. Hole #14 was stretched another 60 feet (820ft total) down it’s famous tunnel and then to the right opening up a true risk-reward ”monster hyzer” opportunity featuring an OB golf green, a low ceiling and another OB line 25-30 feet behind the basket. We kept it a par 4 for now but will check the score distribution after the event to see if we need to make any further changes. To the delight of many of the players, we also removed the unpopular BunCRs (Bunker - Casual Relief) on both #1 and #16. On #1 though we basically replaced the BunCRs with OB and then moved the target down 140 feet close the original pin position from 2005. This is actually the first time we’ve added an artificial OB area to the Red Hawk as the course has many existing natural OB features such as ponds and cart paths. With it’s 880 feet of narrowing fairway, we moved #1 to a par 5 and with both holes mentioned being pushed back, we are currently offering a 10,080-foot Par 66 layout for the 2008 Players Cup.

The 2008 Players Cup - Presented by Discraft In regards to how often we make changes, Hole #1 has changed every year, mainly due to construction at the Plantation Inn, but now it’s almost become part of an annual tradition. Most changes come from the numbers though. Denny Ritner and I will sit down and go over the scores after each tournament and start to look to see where we need to improve the course. He has a pretty good system and I let him do his “magic”, he really digs crunching the numbers and analyzing all the data and coming up with changes for next year. The remaing changes come from feedback from the players themselves. That was one of the concepts we had going into the project was to be able to experiment with ideas and slowly fine tune the event. For example, I previously mentioned we scrapped the BunCR concept for now and also dumped the guaranteed $10,000 first place prize that we had the first three years due to the lopsided payout. Some things that have stuck and even influenced other events is the fancy sit-down dinner we provide before the event and the fact that players get to pick their first round tee times. Up next for discussion will be wether or not to move the event to spring and also adding a 4th round to the event.

1000 RATED: How many volunteers does it take to run an event of this capacity? What kinds of jobs are necessary in order to make it such a quality event for the players?

MIKE: Great question! We typically use 35-45 volunteers. I’m not sure, this may seem small compared to other PDGA Majors, but we’re lucky enough to have the help and year ’round support of the Plantation Inn as well. Besides a truckload of spotters (look for the orange shirts!), we have course directors, scorekeepers, volunteer hospitality, The 2008 Players Cup - Presented by Discraft merchandise tent staff, photographer, drivers and even an announcer who calls everybody up to tee on Hole #1. Course directors each have several holes to monitor and are basically my eyes and ears on the course. They report and potential issues and also move personnel into position. The hospitality crew has the ever important job of making all the lunches for staff and making sure everyone is operating on a full belly. The drivers are tasked with taking the players from Hole #18 to scoring table in the pro shop. Volunteers are massively important and an event is usually only as good as the committment they receive from their volunteers and I’m convinced we have some of the best.

1000 RATED: Do you think you ever could have done this without the support of Discraft?

MIKE: Nope. Never. Jim Kenner and crew have been instrumental in making this event a reality. From donating the baskets to the annual fundraiser disc, the Players Cup would’ve ended up as a cool concept without their faith and support.

What have they brought to the table over the years that has made this tournament so popular? Besides the almighty dollar, Discraft has allowed us the ability to help create our fundraiser discs every year, they’ve created our tournament artwork and even do a bunch of work to maintain the tournament website (thanks Sully!).

1000 RATED: What skills and past achievements do you think have shaped your mentality, focus, determination, and organization that make you a quality tournament director for an event like this?

MIKE: Wow that’s a loaded question…LOL! First off was my passion for the game. Second was having a vision. Next was probably my salesman experience. I knew that if I could “show” somebody why something made sense rather than “sell” somebody on an idea, that I could make progress. After moving to Florida in early 2001 from Chicago, I soon was involved with the Fabulous Florida Tour. After learning the ins and outs from the likes of long timers like Shawn Harrigan in Gainesville and Tim Willis in Sarasota, I became enthralled with improving the disc golf scene in Florida. Things were clicking pretty good, but I knew we could do better. Eventually, I met Denny Ritner and his previous experience and “ball golf” expertise was exactly what was needed to help put the finishing touches on the Red Hawk course design and Denny helped create some of the original concepts behind the event as well. Without his knowledge and input I would’ve had a tremendous amount of trial and error and the event may have never been recognized as a PDGA Major.

Over time I truly think it was the relationships that I built that put me in the position to pull off The Players Cup with the support from the FFT players and staff. I also think having integrity goes a long way to keeping things in moving in the right direction and we always strive to lead by example. Lastly, it’s the belief from others that you can make great things happen. Having that can allow you to move mountains.

1000 RATED: Without being partial - who do you think has a chance this year? Will it be a past winner or someone new? Any guesses or assumptions on who could make the top five?

The 2008 Players Cup - Presented by Discraft MIKE: Since we haven’t had a repeat winner yet and a different playing style has won it each year, I think the trend could continue, although Dave and Cale Leiviska were the first registered players I saw out on the course this week getting ready for this weekend. Both Dave and Nate are having a solid year and Nikko seems ready for the spotlight, not to mention he’s coming off a dominant win in Clearwater. Other Florida favorites include Kenny, John E. and Double G and who can leave out Barry, Avery or Markus?

1000 RATED: We finish every interview with the same question: Who is your favorite 1000 rated player at the moment and why?

MIKE: At the moment I would have to say it’s a tie between two local young guns, Garrett Gurthie and Corey Wisenburg. It’s been an absolute pleasure to watch them grow up into top players before my eyes. They are now competing with perrenial favorites like Kenny and John E. McCray here in Florida and it truly makes the scene better when your disc golf family continues to grow in a positive manner.

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***We would like to thank Mike Barnett for taking time out of his busy schedule this week to answer some of our questions.
***Images in this article are a © of Discraft and The Players Cup

Mike Jones on November 19th, 2008 at 3:31 am

This goes to show what an individual within the sport can accomplish with a little determination, networking and pride. Mr. Barnett is doing something no one else is doing right now: providing a Major disc golf tournament on pristine property without being on the payroll of the PDGA or a big time manufacturer. Hopefully we will see more of this in the future.

I hope they don’t move the Players Cup to the Spring. Leave it be. Now it’s someone else’s turn (perhaps in TX, CO, or CA) to start a new Major in the West or the West/Midwest). Either that or one of the NT’s needs to step it up and find a big time sponsor to donate $25,000 for the pro purse. If this doesn’t happen how will we ever be taken seriously?

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