I know that Dave reads any and all comments on the D7s and takes them how they are intended - as constructive criticism rather than just whinging - and as you can see he's been working hard on improving the facilities at Dartford in line with the players feedback.
But do please bear one thing in mind - money! Remember that in February there was just a rough, bumpy, overgrown piece of scrub land at Dartford, now there's 3 (4 very soon) permanent playing fields, a staging area, toilets, admin area and so on. All this has cost Dave a very large amount of money to set up both in materials and people, money he's had to pay up front before a single person plays. Also bear in mind that the ground rent there (i.e. the amount Dave has to pay for each player at a tournament) is much higher than most tournament sites. By my (very rough) reckoning, by the end of the season Dave will be unlikely to have made enough over the whole series to have paid himself around minimum wage or less for the hours that he himself has put in over the year.
Of course he could pay the refs more & have more per field (provided they are available!), or pay travel and hotels to get the PA refs down, he could buy or rent fields with more bunkers rather than borrow ones from our very kind sponsors, he could supply more toilets, more general staff, increase the players staging area. But only at the cost of putting the entry fees up by quite a considerable sum. That would mean fewer teams being able to afford entry, and fewer teams would mean less income & "profits" and poorer competition, and so on. When the idea for the D7s first came up there were many hours of discussion on getting the balance right between facilities and entry fees - hopefully we got it just about right.
Also please bear in mind that I have no personal stakes in how much profit or loss the series makes, as I get paid the same amount whatever happen. I just get less people complaining to me when things go right, giving me an easier and more relaxed day
But do please bear one thing in mind - money! Remember that in February there was just a rough, bumpy, overgrown piece of scrub land at Dartford, now there's 3 (4 very soon) permanent playing fields, a staging area, toilets, admin area and so on. All this has cost Dave a very large amount of money to set up both in materials and people, money he's had to pay up front before a single person plays. Also bear in mind that the ground rent there (i.e. the amount Dave has to pay for each player at a tournament) is much higher than most tournament sites. By my (very rough) reckoning, by the end of the season Dave will be unlikely to have made enough over the whole series to have paid himself around minimum wage or less for the hours that he himself has put in over the year.
Of course he could pay the refs more & have more per field (provided they are available!), or pay travel and hotels to get the PA refs down, he could buy or rent fields with more bunkers rather than borrow ones from our very kind sponsors, he could supply more toilets, more general staff, increase the players staging area. But only at the cost of putting the entry fees up by quite a considerable sum. That would mean fewer teams being able to afford entry, and fewer teams would mean less income & "profits" and poorer competition, and so on. When the idea for the D7s first came up there were many hours of discussion on getting the balance right between facilities and entry fees - hopefully we got it just about right.
Also please bear in mind that I have no personal stakes in how much profit or loss the series makes, as I get paid the same amount whatever happen. I just get less people complaining to me when things go right, giving me an easier and more relaxed day
