How To Run A Golf Tournament

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How To Run a Golf Tournament

• The Basic Steps provided to you by
• Event Caddy
• Source http//www.eventcaddy.com/blog/how-to-run-
  a-golf-tournament-the-basic-steps

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As many of you know, hosting a charity golf
tournament is no easy task. Between creating the
days agenda, tracking down sponsorship payments,
and organizing contests, organizing golf
tournaments can very quickly become a full time
job. We at Event Caddy know how overwhelming this
can be, so weve put together 7 key steps that
will help you with your next event.
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1 Setting GoalsThere are a number of reasons
to host a golf tournament customer or employee
appreciation, fundraising, competitive fun, and
of course, networking. Youll want to determine
the overall purpose of this event.Setting goals
are an important step when trying to accomplish
anything in life. Running a golf tournament is
no different. Once you determine the overall
objective of the tournament, you should create
goals in order to achieve that objective.Some
questions to ask yourselfWhat is the purpose
of this event?How much does this event plan to
raise?How many players are needed?Youll want
to make sure that your goals and objectives are
presented to all committee members to ensure
everyone is on the same page. Too frequently, I
see committee members who are trying to go in
different directions. This not only causes more
confusion from a planning standpoint, but can
cause major setbacks to the overall execution of
your event.
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2 Selecting a CommitteeRunning a golf
tournament requires a lot of hard work, and its
important to put together a solid team that can
help things run smoothly. Youll want to put
together a committee that can help you reach your
tournament goals. Its important to find
volunteers who can help you with specific areas
of your event. Some areas youll want help in
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Budget This is one of the most important
areas of your event, so make sure someone with a
good understanding of costs is in charge of this.
Youll want to make sure all potential costs are
in place ahead of time to allow other committee
members to go about their duties freely. Be sure
player fees cover the majority of the costs and
allow sponsorships and event-day revenues
(mulligans, auctions, etc) to increase
profits.Sponsorships Assign a member to
contact to potential sponsors and keep in touch
with your current sponsors. Sponsors are a large
part of every golf event, so its essential that
you maintain a strong working relationship with
these partners.Registrations Make sure you
assign a committee member to be in charge of
registrations. You want to make it clear to
potential players who they should contact if
theyd like to register or if they have any
questions.
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Also, its always worthwhile to explore options
for online registrations, as manual registrations
can consume a great deal of time for both players
and organizers. This time can be better spent on
other areas of your event.Gifts/Donations
Youll also want to assign someone to gifts and
donations. Its fairly common that local
businesses will be more than willing to support
your event by providing gifts/coupons. They key
here is to ask! Put someone in charge of this
who has a strong network of contacts they can
reach out to, and that isnt afraid of getting
NO as an answer. If you are allocating money
for the purchase of gifts, be sure to budget
accordingly and ensure your designated committee
member remains within this budget.Promotion
When done correctly, you wont have to worry too
much about the promotion of your event as most
players should come from current relationships,
however you may want to assign someone this role.
They can look after updating websites/flyers and
getting the word out.
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3 Tournament FormatThe majority of tournaments
opt for a scramble format, as it allows all
golfers regardless of their skill to enjoy a day
of golf and to compete for the chance to be
crowned the winner. This format usually generates
the highest number of participants. However, when
selecting your format, it is crucial you take
into account the calibre of players, as a
tournament full of skilled golfers may be more
excited for a stroke event, or even a modified
scramble.
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4 Golf Course/VenueThis is the biggest
decision youll need to make when it comes to
planning your golf tournament. Selecting the
right golf course is crucial for your event to
succeed. First, you should look at the quality of
players you are expecting at your event. If you
have highly skilled golfers, they will likely
want to play a high end or more challenging
course, and would even be more willing to pay
more for this. Secondly, you need to have a good
idea on numbers. If you are expecting no more
than 144, a venue with one course should work
just fine, however if you are looking to have
between 144 and 288, youll want to find a venue
that has multiple courses.Remember, your
tournament will be bringing quite a bit of
business to the course. Be sure to shop around
and find the best deal.
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5. PromotionI constantly see organizers who
are concerned with promoting their event. Be
careful not to spend too much time or money on
promotion efforts, because its highly unlikely
that youll find golfers by promoting your event
publicly. Utilize current relationships within
your network to find players (e.g customers,
friends, etc). Golfers will be more likely to
take part if they have a relationship with the
person, business, or organization thats hosting
the event.The one thing you will want to
promote is your sponsors. Making sure signage
and displays for sponsors are done correctly is
crucial in getting them back in the years to
come. Your sponsors are typically happy to give
money for a good cause, however, they want to
feel like they are getting something in return.
Display sponsorships on a website to provide even
more value.
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6. ExecutionAs discussed earlier, players are
the most important part of your event. Making
sure everything runs smoothly and the players
enjoy themselves is crucial to running a
successful golf event. Host a quick meeting for
volunteers and staff prior to the start of your
event to review timelines and objectives for the
day.Remember, golf events should be fun. If
you and your committee are enjoying yourselves,
there's a good chance the players will too.
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7. Wrap UpOnce the event has ended, take the
time to review all aspects of your event. Any
feedback you can get from volunteers, players, or
even committee members will only help to improve
your event for next year. A quick email to all
involved thanking them for the support can go a
long way when attempting to get them back the
following year.For more information, please
visit http//www.eventcaddy.com/