2023 LITTLE ROCK GAMES WEATHER UPDATE
Wednesday - March 29, 2023
Hello, Little Rock Games Competitors -
As many of you have seen, the Little Rock area is expecting some rain on Friday and a s ...
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2023 LITTLE ROCK GAMES WEATHER UPDATE
Wednesday - March 29, 2023
Hello, Little Rock Games Competitors -
As many of you have seen, the Little Rock area is expecting some rain on Friday and a smaller amount of rain on Sunday.
One of the values we hold closest is transparency, and another is clear communication. We want to make sure that all players planning to attend our events have clarity on what to expect going into any event we run. We ask that you read the entirety of this update so you’re fully aware of the considerations we have when making safety decisions about this event.
Based on this upcoming potential weather, and in close consultation with Perks and Re-Creation, who maintains these courses and put up the pop-up course, we have developed a contingency plan for this event if the rain on Friday becomes an issue.
As you have seen, if you’ve practiced the courses yet, there is a bridge that allows access to all three courses in play at the event this weekend. The creek which that bridge crosses feeds into the Arkansas river and will, if there is enough rain, flood. If the AR river gets to high, it will back up the creek. The parks department may shut down the park if that bridge floods. This happened last weekend for another tournament at the course.
Obviously, the idea of having to deal with a flooded bridge isn’t fun. We don’t want this to happen, and we’re hoping that the forecast changes for Friday. However, if it doesn’t change, then we have a backup plan that we will put into effect should the rain become an issue. Outlined below is our contingency plan based on what happens on Friday.
MINIMAL RAIN - If there is minimal rain and the bridge doesn’t flood, we will continue as planned with two rounds on Saturday, with a shotgun start. Then, we will continue as planned on Sunday with tee times on the pop-up course.
LOTS OF RAIN BUT THE BRIDGE DOESN’T FLOOD - if it appears that the bridge won’t flood, but there is otherwise a large amount of rain, we will run only two rounds for this tournament, both with tee times and both on the pop-up course. You would play one tee time round on the pop-up on Saturday, and one tee time round on the pop up on Sunday. The pop-up course drains better than the East and West courses.
LOTS OF RAIN AND THE BRIDGE FLOODS - if it appears that the bridge will be flooded on Saturday morning, we won’t be able to use any of the courses at Hindman Park. In this case, we do not expect that the bridge would be flooded by Sunday morning. So, we would run the first round of the event at Reservoir Park Disc Golf Course, which is located in central Little Rock. This course drains fairly well. We would likely run tee times also on this course if registration is finalized at over 72 players. This event is a B-tier which requires two rounds to complete. We don’t want to move away from Hindman for this event, but we will if we must. The baskets for Reservoir have been moved (as of 7:30 PM on Wednesday) to a mixed layout which will be used for round one if needed. I would recommend taking a look at the layout one time before Saturday. I’ll make and post a caddie book by Friday to have as a backup should we need it. Then, we would continue with Sunday’s round at pop-up as planned (tee times).
DECISION TIMELINE
As mentioned above, we want you all to have clarity on how these decisions are made. The rain on Friday is currently forecasted to start later in the day. This means it will be difficult for us to know early in the day what the plans are. I live close to Hindman, so I will be checking the creek level throughout the day on Friday. We will be making a final decision on how the event will be structured no later than 7:00 PM CT on Friday, and I will notify all players as soon as that decision has been made. Again, at this time we don’t expect the weather to impact the event greatly on Sunday, so those plans remain unchanged.
REFUND POLICY
As mentioned above, we hate that this is a concern for this event. But the simple truth is that the weather is the one thing we absolutely cannot control. So, as soon as we make our final decision on Friday evening, DSDGA will issue refunds to any player who decides they do not want to play in the event. We ask that you make your final determination at that time. If you decide to drop the event, please use the request refund button on discgolfscene.com so we can keep our records straight.
MOVING FORWARD
We would hate to see anyone drop the event, and we hope that you stick out any adjustment to the schedule that is required based on this weather. On a personal note, let me express that I know how frustrating weather can be for the competitor experience. Please know that we are doing all we can to provide you with the best experience possible, and this communication is a part of that effort. We ask that you continue to support this event and work with us as we work within the confines we have as we ensure that all players and event staff are kept safe.
Warmly,
Charles McCracken
DSDGA Co-President
2023 Little Rock Games TD
