How to Plan and Host a Successful Golf Tournament
You’re thinking about staging a big corporate or fundraising golf tournament. No doubt, without proper planning, budgeting, and “feet on the ground” site inspections, these team tournaments can go off the rails pretty quickly! Here are just a few things that can go wrong:
- Complaints about beginner players who just want to have fun being paired with “too serious” players
- Event prizes that don’t mesh with the tournament’s scope and vibe
- Confusion about rules and various contests
- Cart and seating demand that exceeds availability
- There wasn’t a good “Bad Weather” Plan B in place
When you combine impeccable planning with enough sponsor support, revenue generators and promotional buzz, you’re well on your way to a smashing success. This guide is provided to help you ensure that’s exactly what happens. As you get going, be mindful of the five-ingredient “secret sauce” for cooking up a great event that generates maximum revenue:
- Good captain (tournament director) and crew (volunteers/committees).
- The right course, playing format and inclusions.
- The right entry fee.
- Event communication and promotion using today’s digital mediums.
- Revenue generation through sponsorships, donations, auctions raffles and contests.
Timetable
One Year Prior to the Event:
Select and reserve a golf course to hold your event. Determine if you need a director or coordinator for the event.
Nine Months Prior to the Event:
Set a budget for your event. Allocate money for food, beverages, gifts, prizes, green fees, golf carts and photography. Put together a guest list email or send out printed invitation. Select the event format (scramble, stroke play, match play, etc). Find volunteers to help plan and organize from now until the day of the event.
Six Months Prior to the Event:
Coordinate food and beverage menus and arrange for event sponsorship. Select any contests you may want; i.e. hole-in-one, longest drive, closest to the pin, etc. Obtain hole-in-one insurance if necessary and select prizes for the contests and tournament winners.
Three Months Prior to the Event:
Meet with the golf course staff to finalize arrangements with course times and banquet facilities. Send out invitations that include directions to the course and specific starting times. Also remember to order tee prizes, awards, hand-outs and tee signs.
Two Months Prior to the Event:
Check the progress of outside vendors providing tee prizes, awards, giveaways, and tee signs. Finalize menus and beverage or snack carts. Follow up with event volunteers. Do a walk-through of the course facilities to familiarize yourself with the location. Tabulate a preliminary number of guests based on invitation responses.
Two Weeks Prior to the Event:
Finalize preparations of all tee prizes, awards, giveaways and tee signs and have them delivered to the tournament director or to the course. Set up a preliminary player list and begin selecting team captains.
Two Days Prior to the Event:
Finalize the player list and send it to the golf course director. Double check any final details with the golf course. Review jobs for volunteer staff and coordinate any possible timing issues to ensure the event runs smoothly. Take into consideration the time for golfing, food, and an awards ceremony.
Day of the Event:
Arrive at least two hours before the guests. Be ready for possible no-shows, cancellations, and last-minute changes. If you’re playing in the event, be sure you are in the first group to finish in order to get back to the clubhouse to check on dinner preparations and the awards ceremony. Last but not least, don’t forget to have fun!
When & Where
Next up is when and where to play. Start your search by leaning on your own personal and business golfing network. Go online to view course websites, Google images, course rating sites, etc. You’ll quickly get a feel for each course’s infrastructure and ability to host tournaments. Some courses will stand out with a greater emphasis on tournaments.
You should already have a couple of dates and times as options to plan around as well as an idea of your event’s food, beverage and social/staging needs. It’s important to check for any area events, holidays and other tournaments that may conflict or complicate your event.
Because your event’s large block of players will essentially close the course to other golfers for much of the day, most courses have well-established tournament rules and policies. Events are usually restricted to weekdays or specific days of the week with a shotgun start time such as 9AM or 1PM. If you can’t guarantee their minimum required number of players, they may revert your format to a “1st tee” or split tee start.
If your goal is to raise a lot of money, a private course will allow you to charge a higher entry fee because of perceived value. It will also attract a higher income golfer demographic which will also allow you to make more money. This may also provide you the opportunity to land bigger sponsors.
Most private clubs only allow outside events on Mondays. Course rules should be well understood before any additional effort goes into the event! You should visit the course(s) on your short list to meet the general manager and other key personnel like the clubhouse/pro shop, Food & Beverage staff, etc. This will help clear up any ambiguity or open issues.
How Many Players
18-hole golf courses can handle up to 144 golfers – that’s 36 teams of foursomes. Two foursomes would be at each tee for a shotgun start, allowing everyone to finish about the same time. If the number of players is large a morning and afternoon split tee time is needed – or a second golf course. Play goes much faster if you have 128 golfers or less-thus only one group starts on each of the par 3’s. Since the profit comes mostly from sponsors, fewer golfers will not cost the event much money unless you negotiated a flat fee for the course vs per player.
The Format
The format you choose will impact sign-ups as well as how long the event lasts, so you need to understand your tournament’s goals and your “target market” well.
The scramble format is the most popular as it’s the least intimidating and easiest-to-keep-score option. Scrambles can be played by 2-, 3- or 4-person teams with all team members hitting their own ball. After each shot, the team decides which shot is the best one. Everyone shoots again from that spot, and so on, until a ball is in the hole.
Better golfers tend to enjoy a best ball tournament (best score from your group) while groups featuring a wide range of abilities might be best suited to a modified scramble format like the Shamble (the best drive is used by everyone in your group and you play your own ball the rest of the hole, using the lowest score).
Revenue Rich Formats – the bigger the show, the bigger the dough. Consider different formats like a pro or celebrity- am that places a local golf pro or celebrity in each foursome to warrant higher registration fees. A golf-athon would be another option where players raise pledges for each hole they play.
The Budget
Once you’ve selected the course, format and activities, you can start your budgeting. Details to consider include: golf and cart fees, website, food services (breakfast, box lunch, dinner), beverages, driving range use, bag service, photography, speakers/entertainment, printing and other promotional costs, insurance, lodging, transportation, decor, tee prizes and awards. Prizes and awards need to be about 25% of your budget. The more products you buy → the more sponsors you get → the more money you make. See our sample budget at the end of this guide.
Once you’ve estimated all expenses, you can determine your entry fee. Golfers are looking for a good deal. Fair pricing gives you a better chance at filling your tee sheet and should cover all variable costs. At this point you should focus on leveraging sponsorships, games, raffles and donations as primary revenue generators. See more information in the Revenue Generation section.
Invite & Promote to Maximize Sign-Ups
It’s key to announce, promote, advertise and send out invitations for the outing at least three months in advance. If it is a returning event, send out a “save the date” at the beginning of the year. This gives you time to get a head start on other activities. You also need to consider whether participants will be coming from out of town and need to make travel and lodging arrangements.
For building your invite list, start with everyone you and your committee members know that golf. Many golfers are quite engaged with the sport and look for any chance to play, especially for a cause. Your office, client or donor base are obvious places to start this effort. All of these communication methods should be considered:
- Business/personal relationships and networking
- Event website or page on your organization’s website
- Printed and mailed invitations
- Mass emails using a service like Constant Contact
- Consider integrating email effort with online reservation
- Dedicated Facebook Event page
- Office/local bulletin boards – small posters or cards
- Local paper
- Twitter, Instagram or other Social Media posts
Keep in mind that it’s much easier and more effective to use today’s easy-to-use digital tools to promote your event. These can convey more event information than any brochure and can be updated at any time.
Invitations and registration forms should include the event date, time, location, format, cost and RSVP deadline. If providing free event apparel, be sure to ask for shirt, pant, glove hand and shoe sizes.
Two months prior to the event, send out the final event details and post them online, making sure to include a map to the course, relevant phone numbers, lodging information, course rules (dress code/no-spike rules) pro shop hours, range hours and the hours of any social activities.
Be prepared, depending on the event’s scale, to call on your committee assistants for help with: preparing and mailing flyers, creating rule sheets, printing score sheets, collecting fees, preparing bag tags, managing the check-in table, preparing a list of participants, assigning golf carts, creating special event signs, photography during the event, posting results after golfing, food service, decoration installation and hiring entertainment or speakers. Be sure to lean on your contact at the course for “plan and prep” assistance!
Revenue Generation
Golf’s annual charitable impact is $3.9 billion, mostly from regular golfers playing in 143,000 events. The average event has 80 players and raises $5,000. We like to teach you how to raise at least $40,000. Many larger events are generating $300,000 or more.
Selling sponsorships for the event name, carts, driving range, holes, awards and the meals can quickly increase your profits with little overhead. Your fundraising and sponsorship efforts must be a top objective. They need to be well-planned and staffed. Starting early in the year and with a well-oiled approach is a key for success.
Sponsorships generally receive recognition through signage, event premiums, the event website, and participant networking. If you’re able to offer media coverage as a part of the sponsor package this greatly increases your opportunity for success.
In-kind donations can greatly offset your expenses, allowing you to enjoy more profits. Some donations might include food, beverage, event premiums and prizes. Consider soliciting for donated products or services for auctions and raffles. Keep in mind that items donated for the goodie bag may actually take away revenue opportunities for the event if you follow the philosophy of $2 of sponsor funds for every $1 of product purchased.
Sponsorship Ideas
- Major Event Sponsors. Signage upon arrival at the tables and on the website.
- Driving Range Sponsor – have a sign on the range thanking them or have custom tees laying on the range with their logo on them.
- Drink Sponsors – use poker chip ball markers.
- Photography and Video Sponsors – hand out team photos in a picture frame with the name of the event and the sponsor.
- Lunch and Dinner Sponsors – If providing a lunch box, have logoed napkins, place-mats or drink-ware.
- Course Event Sponsors: Long Drive (Mens-Womens), Closest to the Pin, Straight Drive, Shortest Drive, Longest Putt, Hole in One, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place teams – Each can have different sponsors. Great items for these winners are the Coolers, golf equipment, gift cards, eye wear, a GPS watch and other technology products like the rangefinders or televisions.
Registration
A fast and simple registration process will get your event off to a great start. The registration table is your first chance to make a favorable impression on the tournament participants. Meet early with your designated registration table volunteers to review any last minute questions. It’s good to have an enthusiastic greeter in and around the line to mix with players and add to the fun.
Designate another volunteer to hand out hole tee-off assignments. It’s a good idea to move the prize table away from the registration table to prevent bottlenecking as players rifle through their goodie bags, talk about sizes (if clothing is offered), etc.
The table should be located near the clubhouse entrance or the first tee. Arm the table with, among other items: pencils, scorecards, bag tags, tees, divot tools, tee gifts, pairing sheets, tee times, contest sign-up forms, alphabetized player rosters, cash box, rules and format sheets, paperweights and a trash can.
Want more information about planning and hosting a golf event that leaves a lasting impression? The Full & Comprehensive Golf Tournament Guide is available upon request.
Make sure to check out promotional golf products that are ideal for any golf function and contact us to discuss your product needs.
