Has Anyone Ever Set Up a Tournament?

[Mors Ab Alto]

Well, I have volunteered to head up the fund raiser for the 56 Club (my base's Sergeants' Association). Well, I have decided to put together a golf tournament. I have played in a million of them, but have never been a part of planning them.

Has anyone ever planned a tournament? What are some of the secrets to a successful tournament (besides hot beer cart girls and nice weather)?

[Sandy]

Rule #1 of organizing any kind of fundraising event:

Get yourself a big committee to work on it, each of whom should be expected to put a foursome together themselves to guarantee the start of a decent field.

After that, think of all the best bits from other fundraisers you've been to, and most importantly of all weigh up how much of a financial risk you and the organization to take compared to the potential earnings from it all.

Fundraising events of any kind have to be fundraising first, and events second if they're to work from the organization's perspective.

[Rockford35]

Good prizes and incentives to raise money.

I'm on the prize committee for a tournament in May. We get 288 golfers (two flights of 144, AM and PM tee offs) and have to turn down at least another 100 people for bookings. It's gong show.

The success lies in the course, the meal afterwards and the format. We play best ball/Texas Scramble, and have 3 holes that offer very good prizes. While your budget might be tight, look for donations or reduced rates from local organizations like Best Buy or Nevada Bobs. Both will likely be passionate about raising funds for a good cause.

Also look for sponsors. They often can donate door prizes likes shirts, mugs, beer, golf passes or golf balls and would gladly do so.

Venue means alot. Pick a good course and see what they will do for rate. If you can get 18 holes, shotgun start for like 30 bucks, and the meal is costing you 10 per person, charge 60 dollars for the tourney. You'll get more turn out if the price is more reasonable, and that translates into dollars.

I'm not sure how much of this helps, but this seperates the men from the boys at tournaments, bigtime.

R35

[Bravo]

I agree with Rock's post....you've got to put together a budget that will provide good prizes for winners...AND you need a way to insure that there are multiple winners.

The Door Prizes are very important. Go to your local retailers and get them to contribute equipment and use this as Door Prizes...Drivers, putters, golf bags, golf balls....even Brush Tees - just for the humor.

I suggest you budget backwards...figure out:

1) Your course costs...you're going to need to shop a bit on this.

2) Your cash prize costs....1st, 2nd, 3rd place.

3) Food costs....people expect to be fed.

Once you have your costs, then you can do a revenue calculation on what the entry fees must be to cover your costs and then provide funding for your charity.

1) Sell Mulligans for $5 a piece. You'd be surprised how many you will sell.

2) Get Hole in One Insurance and offer to give away a car. See if a local dealer would be willing to have one of their employees drive one of their demos out to your tournament and have the car closeby at registration. You can work in cooperation with the dealer and get it set up where the car could be purchased from the dealer from the insurance claim if somebody knocks it in the hole. In exchange, the dealer gets some free advertising by bringing the car out and putting up a sign.

3) Go down to your local Hooters and ask several of the girls if they would be willing to work the tournament for a reasonable amount of money ($60 a piece). If they agree, then you could advertise that you are going to have Hooters Cart Girls driving the beer cart on the course. Find out if the course will permit you to sell your own food and beverages on the course. If they will and you have Hooters Girls driving the carts, you will make a bunch of $$ and they will load up on tips. Even if the course requires that you sell their beer on the course, the Hooters Girls will still make a ton on tips and this will make them more likely to participate.

Sell the hell out of your tournament....put out flyers. Maybe even a small ad in the local paper that explains the prizes you are giving away (car, $$, Hooters Girls).

[Farquod]

My best bit of advice: hold a raffle at the dinner after the event, and sell this beforehand to nonattendees (read, non-golfers) as well as the golfers beforehand and on site.

I've done this a few times, and it has invariably generated a huge amount of revenue, which can offset other costs, and virtually ensures a successful event. One soccer club for whom I ran these events got rid of the tournament and just ran the raffle, it was so lucrative.

One additional caution--check to see if you need a permit to do the raffle. Though it's always easier to ask forgiveness than permission, CYA.

The first raffle I did had a 3 prize structure: caribbean cruise (1st), dinner at Morimoto's (2nd), $250 gift cert at Dick's (3rd). At $20 per ticket, this raffle generated $20k in excess revenue. It was a winner.

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by Farquod

My best bit of advice: hold a raffle at the dinner after the event, and sell this beforehand to nonattendees (read, non-golfers) as well as the golfers beforehand and on site.

This is one thing I forgot, and a huge bread maker. Have a novel way of selling tickets too, like pulling multi coloured tees from a foam green or something like that. Paint some red, some blue and leave others white. Then, sell "5 pulls" for 5 bucks. A white tee gets 1 ticket for a draw, a blue gets 2 and a red gets 3.

Novelties like that bring in the big cash cows.

R35