People play in a golf tournament for the following reasons:
- They do it to support you because they are a friend or relative or they believe in your cause.
- They can play a golf course that they usually wouldn't play.
- Because your prizes are substantial and they feel they have a chance at winning one.
Best way to fill your field of 144 players? Form a committee of nine people:
- You – make all of the final decisions.
- Honorary Chairperson (i.e. mayor, sports figure, local newscaster, local actor, etc.) – someone who supports your cause.
- Logistics Person – handles coordination of day of events.
- Volunteer Chairperson – gets volunteers to help with check in, witness the hole in one contest, etc.
- Prize Chairperson – visits local restaurants, taverns, and businesses and asks for donations (gift certificates and merchandise) for outing prizes and raffles.
- Golf Course Intermediary – works with golf course personnel to make all arrangements and negotiate fees.
- Outing Accountant – collects all of the entry fees and manages the finances. Offering a $5 discount for paying two weeks prior to the event helps when giving guarantee to the golf course.
- Sponsorship Chairperson – approaches businesses with regard to sponsoring the beverage cart, meals, hole in one contest, etc. Also sell hole sponsorships. Approach people you or someone on the committee knows. People tend to support their friends or relatives.
- PR Chairperson – works with local media to try to get PR on your event. Also in charge of outing website and sending out invitations to potential guests (golfers).
If you can hold each committee member responsible for only four foursomes, you have a full field of 36 teams or 144 players.
Additional Tips:
- Make sure you acknowledge all sponsors. You can do so with announcements, signs, collateral, and asking them to speak before or after the outing.
- You can give a sponsor a foursome in the tournament to persuade them to make a significant donation.
- Don’t significantly overcharge the golfers – make the event a good value to ensure the golfers return the following years. The sponsors should generate the majority of the revenue.
- Keep the post-outing dinner and awards ceremony to no more than 90 minutes. Keep the outing moving. Time is a valuable commodity.
- Golfers enjoy on course contests – longest drive, closest to the pin, beat the pro and straightest drive are a few common contests. The more prizes you give out the better the chance your golfers will return the following year. People love to win prizes.
- Other ways to generate revenue – mulligan packages, sell raffle tickets, silent auctions and 50/50 drawings.
- Get your pairings and guaranteed number of players to the golf course at least seven days prior to the event.
- Start your tournament preparation at least nine months prior to the event. The more time you put into organizing the event, the better the event will be.