How to Organize a Golf Tournament

Tip to organizing a golf tournament:

I would bet that the most commonly played golf tournament is the big corporate  event – the “Chamber of Commerce” annual $125 outing.  While I am not here to bash those tournaments, I think there is something to be said for a smaller event made up of local friends.  For the past three years I have organized such an event and since we just finished this years installment, I thought it would be a good time to share a few tips that I have found helpful.

Good planning will reduce the chance of disaster

1) Pick the date way in advance:  I secure the date nearly 10 months prior to the event and while it may seem obvious, there is nothing worse than finding out your event is two days after the course punches the greens.

2) Get the word out early:  Even if you only have a relatively small tournament, I would recommend using a email service rather than your personal email as you are going to end up emailing your group many times over the year.  I have found mailchimp to do a great job since it is free and super easy.

3) Get a good rate:  Shop your event around to a couple of courses.  Depending on your numbers, you should be able to get a deep discount off of the rack rate, and don’t be shy about asking them to throw in extras like range balls and drink tickets.  As a guide, the course our event was held at has a $50 rack rate but we only paid $35 including range balls.

4) Get prizes from the club:  The more you spend at the club, the better the rates they can give you.  For example, all of our prizes we had were gift certificates to the club house which I was able to purchase at a 30% discount.  In other words, I got $1000.00 worth of gift certificates for only $700.00.

5) Ask the club to donate a prize:  It is really easy for the club to throw in a free round of golf so simply asking will give you one more prize you do not have to pay for.

6) Hook up with a charity:  Attaching your event to a charity has a lot of benefits (most notably raising money for a good cause).  Additionally, it will add credibility to the event, reduce the bitching and generally give you an excuse for anything, ie, “dude, its for charity, get off my back!”

7) Use a raffle:  Selling mulligans and raffle tickets is a super easy way to raise money for the charity allowing you to utilize nearly all of the entry fee to fund the prize money.

8) Don’t skimp out on prizes:  Go big with your prizes.  I like to have about 1/3 of the field win some type of prize whether it is a top finish, closest to the pin or a raffle.  If you budget your money right you can make it such that anyone who wins a prize feels like they got paid to play golf.  Trust me, those guys will be back next year!

9) Ask for donations:  Again, this is why you hook up with a charity.  You would be surprised how many people want to give you stuff.  Whether it is a real estate broker who gives you koozies or a company who throws in logo golf shirts, it is all good for a raffle or goodie bag.

10) Take pictures: The old saying “a picture tells a thousand words” is true.  You will be have ample opportunity to use photos in your email blasts and will be happy you have them.

While this is not a complete list, I think it does help those who have never run a tournament, but are in the market to do so.  If you have run a tournament, I would be interested in what you think are some keys that I left off the list.