Golf Gifts & Awards

How to Plan a Golf Tournament

 

Golf tournaments are popular events for a variety of purposes such as charity fundraising, customer or employee appreciation, reunions, club or league recreation and competition!  But, if you have not previously organized one, getting started can be a little overwhelming!  Here are some helpful hints to getting you started with your planning!

 

Scope of Tournament For most large outings with people of varying degrees of ability, a scramble is usually the quickest, most enjoyable, and easiest approach to the tournament.  In a best ball scramble, each member of the team shoots from the best ball location in the group after every stroke.

 

Most 18 hole golf courses can handle up to 144 golfers, allowing for a shotgun start with two groups of four on every hole.  Beyond this number, a golf club with two courses will be needed, or a morning and afternoon start which prolongs the day and must be considered if you plan to follow the event with a dinner and awards ceremony.

 

Location of Tournament In considering the location of your golf tournament, not only should you consider the number of participants, and therefore, whether you will need to play on more than one golf course, but you will also need to determine whether you want food, beverages, or other amenities from the golf club.  After outlining your needs, identify some date and time options for when you would like your event.   Contact both public and private courses as, though the private courses may not be as accessible as the public, often they will make their courses available for outside events on certain days.

 

Establish a Budget In establishing a budget for your golf tournament, you will need to consider the following items:  course or greens fees, golf carts, food services (breakfast, lunch, dinner, hors doervres), beverages, use of driving range, bag room, entertainment, prizes and awards and any other items such as printing if you plan to send out invitations or mailers, and transportation, if you will need or offer it. 

 

Unless this is an event you plan on hosting for good will, such as an employee or customer appreciation golf tournament, you will want to subsidize the cost of the event with entry fees and sponsorships.

 

If you are able to secure sponsorships for your golf tournament, it is important to recognize the sponsors by having their names printed on the invitations, and prominently displayed at various appropriate locations during the event, perhaps their name or logo some of the giveaways.

 

Invitations To maximize participation in your event, invitations to your event should be sent out several months a head of the event.  In addition to including the pertinent details about the event, including date, time, location, cost, and response due date; remember to ask for any sizing information if you are planning to give out any apparel at the event such as golf shirts.

 

No later than two weeks prior to the event, send out confirming information to the golf tournament participants including the above information, directions to the golf course, golf course rules and regulations including dress codes and spike rules, as well as the full itinerary of events.

 

Planning the Tournament After invitations go out for the event, and while you are awaiting all the responses, you will be very busy with the planning of the details the event day.  First, you will want to determine how food and beverages will be handled before, during, and after the golf tournament.  What you do in this area will be driven by the size of your event and the size of your budget.  Remember to consider beverages on the course as well as in the club house. 

 

Assuming you will plan to follow the golf tournament with a dinner and awards ceremony, you should also make sure to consider how you will set up the seating, whether the meal will be sit down or buffet, the location of a head table, podium and microphone, prize and award table.  You many also want to consider if you want a guest speaker.

 

In considering the timing between the golfing and the dining, remember to allow for plenty of time for the final golfers to come off the course.  This can vary depending on the size of your group, and if you have any rain delays, but normally allow between four and six hours for a scramble golf tournament.

 

There are a number of other areas of preparation also.  These include:  List of participants and development of team foursomes; establishing rules sheet; preparing bag tags; marking of golf course; creating scoreboard, signs, and decorations; identification, procurement, and organization of giveaways/gifts/awards/prizes; booking a speaker and/or photographer if desired; developing award presentations.

 

Make sure to meet with the golf courses general manager to review the details of your event a couple of times during the planning process to assure you have covered everything.

 

One thing you will want to make sure you have covered a head of time is that there are enough golf carts for all your foursomes plus beverage carts, rangers, message and emergency runs.  If there are not enough normally available, work with the golf club to see how you can arrange to have extras the day of the event.

 

Tournament Day Make sure there is someone located at the entrance to the golf club greeting your participants and directing them to the registration table.  Some people will want to go directly to the locker rooms to change if there is a line up at the registration table.  Ideally, you would like to have your golfers check in first, so that is another reason to have someone positioned near the door to help direct people, if possible. 

 

At the registration table, you should have an alphabetized player roster/check-in sheet, name tags, pairing sheets and tee times, pencils, scorecards, bag tags, golf cart information, rules and regulations, and your golf giveaway gifts.&n