It could make breakthroughs
more rewarding.
A first birdie is a big moment. Double Birdies gives that breakthrough more weight in the round: one birdie offsets two bogeys.
Stroke Play+1
Double BirdiesE
Research offers a reason to explore this. In a video-game experiment with 121 participants, easier settings increased feelings of competence, which contributed to enjoyment. A 2025 study also found that success and manageable challenge influenced how much players enjoyed games.
There’s a disc golf connection, too: UDisc found that beginners starting on an easy course were 10% more likely to play a second round than those starting on a very challenging one.
The possibility: on a course where birdies are attainable, a bigger reward could make progress feel more satisfying. Double Birdies leaves the throws just as difficult, and players making no birdies receive no bonus. Its effect on enjoyment and return rates still needs testing.
It could make disc golf
more fun to watch.
Long makes give us something to anticipate, celebrate, replay, and share. Watch Simon Lizotte’s 194-foot eagle at the 2022 OTB Open. You can appreciate it immediately.
With a birdie worth twice the cost of a bogey, some long chances become worth running instead of laying up. More attempts give spectacular makes more opportunities to happen.
10,000 modeled tournaments · 16 pro-stat-informed players
More long attempts
More long makes
Make every two rounds*
*Approximately, for a four-player card playing 18 holes each round. “Long” means 50+ feet. Under the central assumptions, expected makes rose from 2.18 to 2.69 per card-round.
These are predictions, not tournament observations. The added makes came from 50–99 feet; an increase in 100+ foot throw-ins remains unproven. The model also did not produce more close finishes.
Explore the simulation and assumptions ↗More entertaining coverage could attract attention and give fans more reasons to share the sport. Whether that translates into more viewers or new players is the next question to test.
A small idea worth
taking to the first tee.
At Steady Vending Company, our mission is to grow disc golf. Double Birdies is a simple experiment in making the game more rewarding to play and more enjoyable to watch.
Try a round. Count the long makes. Ask whether people had more fun.
Evidence, sources & what we still need to learn
Feeling capable: Schmierbach and colleagues (2014) studied a tower-defense video game, not disc golf. The findings support exploring competence and enjoyment, but do not establish that a scoring bonus improves either. Brändle and colleagues (2025) found intermediate difficulty, success and expectations mattered across video-game datasets and controlled experiments; “easier is always better” would overstate the evidence.
Returning to play: UDisc’s 2025 Growth Report describes an observational relationship between first-course difficulty and playing a second round. It does not measure long-term retention or an effect of Double Birdies. Players who make more birdies receive more bonuses, so the format can also widen gaps between skill levels.
Watching and growth: the FAR/Ultiworld 2025 Fandom Survey found that over 82% of respondents following professional disc golf watched post-produced coverage on YouTube. It did not test a preference for long makes or Double Birdies. In UDisc’s 2024 Growth Report, 78% of surveyed app users were introduced by friends or family and 3% through video. More highlights helping participation is a hypothesis; local access and welcoming communities remain important.
The simulation: three rounds on a synthetic 18-hole course, using selected MPO profiles informed by StatMando’s 2025 DGPT statistics. Players choose run-versus-layup actions to minimize expected hole score. Exact-distance accuracy, miss costs and adaptation are assumptions. The model understates bogeys relative to the source season and has not been validated against shot-level pro data. Beginner retention and audience response were not simulated. Download results or read the full method.