The Pitch for Pins contest started back in October with the aim of finding one special community that would receive free disc golf baskets and tee signs. The contest has officially come to an end, but due to an interesting mixture of generosity and luck, instead of one special community receiving baskets, there will be three.
What Was Pitch for Pins?
Pitch for Pins was created by Elliot Zettas with promotional and organizational help from Dynamic Discs. Zettas won the 2020 U.S. Amateur Match Play Championships, which earned him 18 Dynamic Discs Veteran baskets (their top-of-the-line target) and tee signs as a reward. You might have expected him to use the baskets to create a new course in his area or simply sell them for profit, but Zettas took an entirely different route.
The USAMP champ, who is currently seeking a PhD in social entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Denver's School of Public Affairs, decided to create a competition where people from all over could explain to him how their community would benefit from receiving the free baskets. Entrants had to send in a written application answering questions Zettas had created and also a short video making their elevator pitch.
"The entries by far exceeded my expectations," Zettas said. "We collected submissions from 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The effort and time people put into their applications were incredible. We had a broad diversity of applicants from middle schoolers to County Commissioners. The amount of 'extra credit' people turned in along with their applications was just crazy. All of the applicants put a ton of time and effort into explaining why their ideas were the best."
Originally, the plan was to narrow down the applicants to a top three with the public deciding a single winner through online voting. After what Zettas called "countless hours" of going through submissions, he could only bring himself to make it a top five. The five videos and links to entrants' full pitches were posted on the USAMPC website, and the endgame began.
How One Winner Became Three
An entry from Gateway Woods, a facility in Indiana that runs five group homes for teenagers in the juvenile justice system, very narrowly received the most votes. By the original guidelines of the contest, they should have been congratulated, gotten their baskets, and second place would have been left with the bittersweet knowledge that they'd gotten far but not quite far enough.
That isn't how it all played out, however.
The second place entry had been put together by a team of students in a Pennsylvania school district and proposed a course that would be situated between three schools and a retirement community. That cause – along with the extreme closeness of the vote tallies – hit a nerve among Dynamic Discs' management, and they decided to award the second place entry a full set of 18 baskets, too.
"Gateway Woods' story and video were top-notch, and congratulations to them on their win of the fan vote," Robert McCall, Dynamic's Marketing Director, said. "However, the final vote totals were so close that we couldn't just let one of these amazing submissions win an 18-hole disc golf course. The students from our second-place submission created their video and pitch on their own accord – no help or prompting from teachers or staff. We loved seeing their initiative and diligence, and we truly believe these baskets will go to good use in their hands!"
This extra donation from Dynamic made for an interesting twist to the contest's story, but it wasn't the last one. When Gateway Woods was informed about winning, they were ecstatic, but they also saw something amiss: They could only use nine of the 18 baskets on their property. Ironically, being unaware of Dynamic's plan to reward an additional winner, they suggested giving the extra nine baskets to the second place entry.
In the end, the only thing to do was to send Gateway nine baskets, the students 18, and award the third place entry – a pitch to install a course in a remote and low-income area of New Mexico – the other nine. It's a fittingly unusual end to Zettas' unexpected use of his USAMPC winnings.
The Winners React
We got in touch with each of the winners to learn more about what the process of creating their pitch was like and how it felt when they heard they'd be receiving baskets. Below you can read their answers to our questions.
Gateway Woods: Leo, Indiana
As we mentioned earlier, Gateway Woods is a facility where young people in the juvenile justice system live in group homes. They believe having disc golf on their property will be a big boost to the happiness of both residents and staff. The facility's Communications Administrative Assistant Emily Fischer helped us learn more about their journey to Pitch for Pins victory.
What was it like creating the pitch video?
"An email about the contest was forwarded to me on October 16th. I had our script written by October 20th. We got approval to move forward and filmed the week of November 2nd. Editing was complete by November 9th and we had our application submitted the next day. I still can’t believe we pulled it off in less than a month!"
What will it mean to your residents and staff to have a disc golf course?"It means hours of outdoor physical and mental therapy (through a little bit of fun) in a time that has us all cooped up. It means relationship building in a time that has us all feeling disconnected. It means using our campus in creative ways to help our residents get the most out of their time spent in our care – despite the crazy times we’re living in. Ultimately, it means fulfilling our mission of providing help and healing to our residents and their families so that they can bless others."
What were the reactions of all the people involved in the pitch when you heard you won?"When I texted my coworker (who was the visionary and editor of the video) he said he literally screamed out loud...then his wife asked if he was okay. I screamed a bit too...then may have teared up a bit when I realized we actually pulled it off!"
How do you feel about the cause the nine baskets you couldn’t use will go to support in New Mexico?
"We are stoked to be helping out a place that is a literal desert and a disc golf desert. To be able to bless a fellow contestant who worked hard to put together their pitch is really amazing to be a part of."
Brylan Anderson & Classmates: Spring Grove, Pennsylvania
Brylan Anderson was the driving force behind the second-place entry in Pitch for Pins that unexpectedly earned 18 baskets thanks to the generosity of Dynamic Discs. Anderson filled us in on what this process was like for him and the fellow classmates who helped him create the pitch.
How long did it take to put together your pitch video?
"We did not hear about the pitch for pins giveaway until a few days before it was due. With the help of our schools media team we threw together our video in three days and snuck it in before the deadline."
Did you advertise the contest much at school?
"We wanted to advertise the contest on the morning announcements but just as the final started, we went online for two weeks. However, a few students posted about the contest on social media and encouraged others to share it. Additionally, we shared the contest link with all of the staff at Spring Grove and the word spread quickly."
What will it mean to you and your classmates to have a disc golf course nearby?
"We know a lot of people that are interested in disc golfing and want to start playing since there will be a course in Spring Grove. We are also looking forward to starting a disc golf club that will occur once a month. Additionally, the design team wants to hold disc golf seminars in the summer to teach members of the community the basics of disc golf."
How did you feel when you heard from Dynamic that you’d receive baskets?
"When we first heard that we will be getting baskets, we didn’t believe it. The generosity of Dynamic Discs to include us as winners even though we did not win the vote was overwhelming. We are all super excited to start constructing our dream course and growing the sport of disc golf in the area."
Alan Hansen Begg: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
There's not much to do in the rural Truth or Consequences, and if you want to play disc golf, it's a 75-mile/121-kilometer car ride to the nearest course. Begg, a seasoned disc golfer with course design experience, wants to give area residents a low-cost, healthy activity to enjoy. The nine baskets his pitch earned and a local traditional golf course manager excited to add in disc golf have put him on track to do just that.
And if you're wondering about the town's name, it's not something out of the Old West. It's the name of a bygone radio show. The town changed its name in 1950 when the show was looking for a place to do just that to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
We mention all this because we think it could be worth Begg's time exploring if Dymamic might throw in the other nine baskets if the town re-renames itself EMac Truth or Consequences.
Did you feel confident that your pitch would stand out?
"I knew that the lack of courses in the area would be a significant difference than most entries. This area has a poverty problem too. I thought that would set us apart as well. The area has a lot of natural beauty though! I tried to capture some for the pitch."
What do you believe disc golf will provide to people in your area?
"A cheap, fun activity in a place with very few cheap, fun activities. I hope to design a fun course with alternative pin positions that would make a challenging course for tournaments. I have the goal of hosting tournaments here, and drawing in some top professionals, which would provide some entertainment and boost awareness."
How do you feel about receiving nine baskets as a result of this contest and your pitch?
"Wonderful! We have the full support of the City Manager, the Parks and Rec manager and the golf course manager. It is exciting and the plan is to buy at least nine more baskets to make an 18-hole course. The whole process was extremely exciting and positive."
The Takeaway From This Giveaway
The path this contest took shows that the decision of one person can set off a chain reaction that affects the lives of many others. Zettas opting to give something valuable away rather than keep it for himself snowballed into three communities across the country having the chance to bring disc golf to a huge number of new players.
And it's clear that Zettas couldn't be happier about how it all turned out.
"A true three-for-one deal: In my wildest dreams I could not have foreseen this when I started my local match play tournament in Denver, Colorado," Zettas said. "I saw all walks of life participate in this contest and drum up ideas for their communities. What I was even more surprised about was how receptive communities were of the course ideas. When I started disc golf 10-plus years ago, no one knew what disc golf was. Now it seems like everyone knows about it and wants a course in their community. I can only imagine what the next 10 years will look like!"
