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 Now is the time to think about ways to change your spring or summer tournament to create a fun and successful event. Here are 10 ways to turn your outing into one golfers won’t want to miss. 1. STREAMLINE REGISTRATION Do you like standing in line? Golfers don’t either. A fast and simple registration process will get your event off to a great start. Arrive early and meet with your registration staff to make sure each volunteer knows their job. Have a greeter or two at the front of the registration line to talk to golfers about the fun day you’ve planned. Have another volunteer give out hole assignments and name tags, which will help your staff thank people by name throughout the day. Make sure the table with tee prizes is away from the registration table to prevent bottlenecking. Golfers often look through their goodie bag or talk about sizes if clothing is offered, which can back up registration if it all takes place at the same table. 2. GIVE NICE TEE PRIZES It’s good manners and good business to offer tee prizes. It’s also something players will remember long after they’ve left the course. A good rule of thumb is to spend at least 10 percent of your entry fee on gifts. But avoid the obvious. Most golfers have enough shirts, hats, towels and wind vests to fill several boxes destined for Goodwill. Be creative and memorable. Among the more interesting tee prizes I saw this year were a leather toiletry bag with an embroidered sponsor logo (www.jamblebags.com) and a pair of Sundog sunglasses with a sponsor logo on the zippered case (www.sundogeyewear.com). Both were a big hit with golfers. 3. MIX UP THE MULLIGANS Selling mulligans is a favorite fund-raiser at charity tournaments. While some golf purists might cringe at the thought, they can still be a fun and memorable way to enhance your tournament. Instead of selling two mulligans to players, consider selling one mulligan and a “throw,” which allows a golfer to strategically toss his ball once during the round. A tournament this year provided each golfer with a Frisbee to be thrown once on the course to advance a shot or get the team out of trouble. These mixed mulligans are fun and make for great photos for your post-tournament newsletter. 4. FIX THE FORMAT Variations on the typical scramble format will infuse some fun without adding time to the round. A Shamble (also called a Texas Scramble) uses the best drive on each hole, but golfers play their own ball after the drive. The two best individual scores become the team score. Another variation is the Progressive Scramble, which works well at golf courses with more than three tee boxes. If a team birdies a hole, they move back one tee box on the next hole. If they birdie that hole, they move back another tee box. If a team pars the hole, they stay on the same tee box, but if they bogey a hole, they move forward one tee box. This format levels the playing field because the better teams will have to continue to play from the back tees. 5. FUN AND GAMES The purpose of a charity golf tournament is to raise funds. However, if you change your focus from fund-raising to making your tournament more fun and creative, the funds will follow. People having a good time spend more money. It’s that simple. Besides a putting contest in the morning, consider a chipping contest, too. All it takes is another volunteer. Do fun stuff on the course as well. Try a one-club hole where each golfer plays a designated hole from tee to green with a club of their choice. A cool wrinkle I saw this year was the Survivor hole. Utilizing the format of the popular TV show, players vote people off their team after each shot until only one is left — the Survivor — who plays the rest of the hole alone. Their score becomes the team score. 6. RECOGNIZE YOUR SPONSORS Sponsorships are where the real funds are raised at charity events, and when sponsors are made to feel appreciated for their support, they will often stick with you year after year. Have someone from the charity or committee travel from foursome to foursome to introduce themselves and verbally acknowledge their appreciation. Have a list handy so you can greet golfers by name and be ready with a compliment regarding the product or service their company provides. If a sponsor has provided a nice tee gift, have a volunteer distribute it on a hole rather than sticking it in a goodie bag. Prep your emcee with information about the sponsor so he can offer a more personal thank you from the podium. Sponsor gifts presented at the evening banquet are a nice gesture as well, but select something unique that a sponsor will want to display. Putting some extra thought into creative sponsor recognition will create lasting relationships that go straight to your bottom line. 7. ADD SOME PIZZAZZ Here’s an idea for adding some spice to your event. Give the tournament a pro-am feel by engaging a tournament service such as Leaderboard (www.leaderboard-la.com), which scores your event and posts results on their big screen leaderboard, just like the pros. They also take candid photos of golfers on the course that are shown on the screen between scores during cocktail hour as golfers come in off the course. Leaderboard also supports sponsor recognition by displaying logos on the screen during the evening banquet presentation. 8. MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE WINNERS Winning teams typically return the following year. Defending a title is one of the cool things in sports, and people like to return to where they’ve been successful. So doesn’t it make sense to have more winners? Having three flights keeps most golfers in contention and produces more winners. As a reward, find nice items that golfers will want to keep or display. Check out www.protour-mem.com for some ideas. Winning doesn’t have to be contained to the course, however. Contest winners and raffle winners will also leave with a good feeling. 9. BE INNOVATIVE After attending a number of charity tournaments, golfers often start to think of the events as discount shopping opportunities rather than support for a worthy cause. To get golfers out of this mindset, you have to think outside the box when it comes to live and silent auctions. A Wine & Spirit Auction is a twist I saw this year. Representatives from Remy Cointreau USA donated six bottles of wine that were auctioned individually. Here’s the twist: Each bottle came with an envelope containing a four-number combination written on a card. After all the bottles were auctioned, the six high bidders came to the podium to try their combinations on a locked box containing a grand prize. It adds fun and intrigue to the event. And no one is considered a loser, since everyone leaves with a nice bottle of wine. 10. RECRUIT COMMITTEE MEMBERS The time to start planning next year’s tournament is before this year’s tournament is a wrap. You may be able to handle all the details, but you need a committee to bring in golfers and sponsors. Every golfer is a potential committee member for next year’s event, so don’t let potential members leave before you’ve offered them a handshake of appreciation and an invitation to serve on the committee for the next event. Then remember to follow up promptly with a phone call, note of appreciation for their support and a request for their feedback and input about how to improve your event. Then listen and learn. You may get a creative idea for how to make next year’s event even better. Eric Tracy is also known as the Mulligan Man. He emcees more than 50 charity tournaments a year at golf courses throughout Southern California. |
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