Regarding attendance, here's how it's gone:
1. 2002 Barona - we had 36, and not all played both days. I'm looking right at my pairings sheet. It was a new course, everyone wanted to see it, and it was also a new concept. Thus it drew people from far and wide.
2. 2003 Pasatiempo: we had 28 for Pasa, only 21 for Pajaro. Again I have the pairings sheets right here. Obviously Pasa was a draw, but see what happens when we go to a more "unsung" course... all of a sudden other plans come up. Hey, no hassles, I thought the whole event was a great success.
3. 2004 Rustic: David says we have 44 and I believe him - it was a hell of a crowd. But of course that's due to the course... it is great, it is cheap, and most of all, it is talked about a LOT in here. Rustic will always be a great draw for this crowd. Hell do it there in 2006 and we'll likely top 40 again. I for one would be all for it...
4. 2005 Stevinson: we had 21 total players (some were Sat only, one was Sun only). So equate this to Pajaro in 2003. Hey as I say that was absolutely fine by me - I like the smaller groups. But I also was never going to beg anyone to come. The date was set well in advance... and was set when it was due to having little or no choice in the matter - miscommunication resulted in us not booking it until far later than we had originally planned, and thus the initial dates we wanted were unvailable. We took what we could get, and it all went quite well, I think.
So in the end, I don't think this year was either an aberration or that any segment was poorly represented. If it's a talked-about familiar course, perhaps more people come. But you all tell me where and how we could have done it better or differently, to get more people involved, this time. Pasa again? Unfortunately, here in NorCal, we have a lot of heavy hitter courses for sure.... but in terms of doing an event somewhere great and frugal and logistically feasible, well... we just don't have the locations. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna be in an outlying area like Stevinson... or up by Sacramento... or the likes.
In any case, I've always taken the tack that we plan these events and people either come or they don't. Everyone has lives, and they have their priorities.
So for those concerned about this, well... just figure on big attendance in the even numbered years, lower attendance in the odd.
Hell both ways is great by me. I can say without reservation that of all the KP's so far, I had the most pure FUN at this one... but what the hell, I do look at things differently.
TH