While we live in a place of perpetual sunshine, where golfing is a year-round activity, we know not everyone does. If you live up north, you’ll appreciate that golf season is here again and with it come golf outings, tournaments, and events. Are you ready to coordinate one for your company or non-profit? After reading these four easy steps you will be.
Golf Outing Budget
For every event you need a budget. Calculate what you plan to spend so you can figure out if sponsorships are appropriate and what you’ll need them for. Your golf outing expenses could include:
- Green fees and cart rentals
- Printed programs, marketing collaterals, brochures, advertising
- Trophies or plaques, awards/prizes, and/or recognitions
- Customized golf balls
- P.A. system rental
- Promotional products or pieces for sale
Your budget should also include sources of revenue, that way you’ll have an idea of what you need to charge per golfer and the sponsorships and donations you’ll need to cover your budget. These could include:
- Hole sponsors
- Golfers entry fee
- Auction or raffle items
- Corporate sponsors
- Fun hole contests or drives
Timing
Give yourself 9-12 months, more on popular courses. Since you must have a course to have a tournament, this is one of the first things you’ll want to book. Have several dates and times in mind and don’t be locked into the daytime hours. Some organizations have a great time playing glow golf in the evenings and during summer nights. Also, keep in mind what other events are going on in your area. Social calendar competition is fine but not if you’re going up against the biggest community event of the year.
Format
Your golf outing needn’t run on a traditional golf game format. There are a lot of fun golf options involving scrambles and ball drops that make it enjoyable for golf novices and long-time players to have a good time.
Extras
There are a lot of legal and hospitality matters to deal with before you start marketing the tournament. You’ll need a cancellation policy, an inclement weather policy, a sign policy, dress and etiquette recommendations, and contest rules and regulations. You’ll also want to figure out how beverage service will work. Will it be open bar, limited tickets, holes with drinks, etc.
Now that you know how you’ll pay for it, where it will be and when, the format of the outing, and the legalese behind it, you’re ready to start getting the word out. We’ll get to those tips in our next post.
Leave a Reply