Playing golf is one of the most leisurely, enjoyable activities a person can partake in – a day spent outdoors, surrounded by green scenery, playing a lightly competitive game with friends. Organizing golf, on the other hand, is not so leisurely. There are a lot of considerations and steps that go into hosting a golf tournament, from the inception all the way through to the actual event. This article will walk through the steps individually to make certain that your golf tournament is a hole in one.
Venue
Before anything else, you have to lock down a venue. Choose dates that will work well for everyone (i.e. a weekend, preferably, that doesn’t fall on a national holiday when people tend to travel with family). Contact the course, who will be more than happy to help hammer out specifics, such as food and drink provisions and the registration process.
Concept
There are two types of golf tournaments, roughly: charity golf tournaments and corporate golf tournaments. There are of course some heavily blurred lines between the two, but the main difference is in why this tournament is being held. If it’s being held internally for a company, as a team building exercise, or as a promotional event for a product launch, it falls in the corporate category. If the tournament is to raise funds for a charity organization, it obviously falls in the charity category. And then there are tournaments that do both. Sit down with your committee and decide what kind of tournament you’re hosting, and why you’re hosting it.
Clothing
Start printing tournament-related clothing: quality custom t shirts and hats, as well as bags and jackets are all good options. This step is really twofold, in that you want some branded apparel to promote your event, but you also want it to give to attendees as both a token of gratitude and a memento they can wear throughout the year. If you’re planning on making this an annual event, branded apparel can also serve to sustain interest throughout the year.
Invitations
Invitations are, clearly, a must when it comes to tournament building. But you need to think like a marketer – not like a party planner – when you craft these invitations, since for many they are the sole means of marketing they’ll engage with in regards to the tournament. They need to drum up excitement and interest, not just give a date and time.
The Follow-Up
Provided that the tournament when off without a hitch, and the award ceremony and subsequent party were a good time for all, you want to follow up with attendees sometime over the course of the following week. Allow the dust to settle a bit, and then thank everyone for their attendance. This cements the tournament in people’s minds and makes next year’s marketing that much easier.
It can be a daunting task hosting a golf tournament, one that requires plenty of planning, funds, patience and communication. Follow these steps, however, and you do fine.
