In the interest of public safety to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infections, the Kansas City Disc Golf (KCDG) Board of Directors today voted 7-2 to postpone the start of all KCDG Leagues until May 4, pending another assessment on April 27. This postponement also extends to those affiliated events that choose to maintain their affiliation with KCDG.

We encourage all disc golfers, especially event organizers who choose to proceed with their events anyway. to promote the Disc Golf-Specific Mitigation Strategies, authored by the Professional Disc Golf Association today.

Disc Golf-Specific Mitigation Strategies

As of the date of this Statement, nearly half of the reported cases of COVID-19 are in California and Washington. That said, this is subject to change over time and other communities are also certainly dealing with this pandemic. It should be noted that the elderly and individuals with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, are approximately twice as likely to suffer serious outcomes compared to younger, healthy people. In areas where competition continues, the PDGA advises that, whenever practicable, tournament directors immediately implement the following disc golf-specific strategies to help mitigate the spread of the virus and help “flatten the curve” of community spread:

  • Do not hold gatherings of large groups of people. This includes player meetings, awards ceremonies, and any ancillary activities that bring a group together.
  • Hold player meetings online via Facebook Live, YouTube, or another streaming service.
  • Send pre-event emails with rules and FAQs instead of holding in-person player meetings.
  • Implement a “handle your own disc” policy.
  • Add more tables to check-in areas to spread people out.
  • Use gloves when handling cash, scorecards, player packs, merchandise, and other communal items.
  • Implement online merchandise payouts and awards ceremonies.
  • Encourage one player to keep score for the group in lieu of passing around scorecards or phones.
  • Limit the passing of scorecards by performing digital scoring.
  • Acquire extra practice baskets to keep players more spread out when warming up.
  • Limit food service at events. Those handling food and associated products should wear gloves and be properly trained/certified to handle and distribute food products.
  • Encourage players to bring their own food and water for the entire day.
  • Offer bottled water instead of water in coolers, or consider other alternatives to mitigate the contamination of food and beverage.
  • Utilize tee time starts rather than shotgun starts, again to avoid mass gatherings.
  • Provide handwash stations where possible, to also include hand sanitizer.
  • Increase communication to players about limiting high-fives, handshakes, and other physical contacts.
  • Discourage attendees from sharing food or drinks.
  • Remind players who are sick, or those with high-risk medical conditions, to not attend mass gatherings.
  • Ensure event organizers have arrangements in place to safely isolate and transport people who become ill onsite.
  • Implement organizational measures for the event to prepare for cancellation, postponement, or rearrangement of the tournament, to include refund policies.
  • Prohibit spectators from attending events.