Tips on How to Plan a Golf Tournament
Tips: How to Plan a Golf Tournament
Golf Tournaments are a wonderful way to generate funds for your charity and/or to create a team building event for your company. Golf Tournaments can be structured to either persuade competition among your participants or they can be formatted to encourage light-hearted fun.
If you are not an avid golfer, the first step is to not feel intimidated about the concept of a golf tournament. The Golf Pro and golf staff will be available to help organize your event and answer questions as you go. Golf Courses work with new tournaments everyday and from personal experience, I can guarantee that there is no wrong question to ask!
Tip #1: Set a goal for your event
• If you are planning a fundraising event, establish the approximate amount of money that you would like to raise for your organization. Keep in mind that the average fee to participate in a golf tournament is $100 - $150 per golfer. This fee can include greens fees, golf carts, use of the driving range and a food and beverage package.
• If you are planning a corporate or team-building event, establish your budget for the entire event and the number of golfers that you plan to invite. This will help in not only choosing a golf course based on the golf fees, but in planning a gift or goody bag for each golfer.
Tip #2: Shop for a golf course
More than likely, there are many golf courses in your area to choose from. Start the selection process by separating the public golf courses from the private golf courses. A great tool in finding golf courses within your community is www.publicgolfcourses.net
There are 3 key points in selecting a golf course for your special event:
Location-
• Will your golfers be traveling from all points of direction?
• Will your golfers need accommodations before or after the event?
• If your golf course does not offer a private space for the awards banquet, is there another option close by (restaurant, club, etc)?
Quality-
• Like many things in life, golf courses can be moderate to extravagant. The quality of a golf course may determine your level of competition and overall price. In our area, we are fortunate to have fantastic Golf Course Maintenance Teams that work to keep our golf courses balanced and green.
Price-
• This is probably the most important factor when choosing a golf course for your event. Do not plan to raise money on your golfer’s entry fee to participate. The entry fee should cover the cost per golfer to the golf course, the food and beverage package and one or more miscellaneous items: event advertising, goody bags/gifts and event signage/banners/trophies. For a fundraising event, your money will be raised by selling Tee Signs and Event Sponsorships. The Event sponsorships can include, but are not limited to Lunch Sponsor, Dinner Sponsor, Prize Sponsor, Contest Sponsor, Beverage Cart Sponsor, etc.
Tip #3: Form a committee
Like most successful events, it will take an army of volunteers to fulfill your event. There are many tasks that will need to be delegated and the first task is to establish and event chair(s) to oversee the event. The event chair(s) will be in charge of coordinating tasks and assisting volunteers. Several jobs you should consider are…
• Creating event flyers and collateral for advertisement.
• Advertising the event in local papers, websites, public events and radio stations.
• Finding golfers and handing out event flyers.
• Visiting local businesses for donations and event sponsors.
• Coordinating golfers and golf teams.
• Fulfilling “day of” job duties.
For further information regarding golf tournaments and the “how to” of a successful golf tournament, contact Stefanie Barfield at (302) 337-9910 ext. 316 or email to sbarfield@heritageshoresgolf.com!