GolfStatus’ on-staff PGA Professionals—Cash Dinkel, PGA; Jason Meininger, PGA; and Paul Murcek, PGA—have years of experience running golf tournaments from the facility point of view, in addition to working with nonprofits to plan and execute golf fundraisers. Their insights have been shared in our PGA Q&A blog series. This installment touches on how to narrow down and choose a tournament date and how to integrate live scoring into your event.
Q: What’s the best way to negotiate a good price with the golf facility?
Paul Murcek: In my experience, most facilities don’t do any kind of negotiating on price. If you are able to get them to negotiate at all, that’s a win for your nonprofit, in my opinion.
Cash Dinkel: Since the pandemic, golf has exploded in popularity, with the number of rounds played annually setting records. Because golf facilities can fill their tee sheets with normal play, they may be less likely to give discounted prices to events. That being said, look at ways to bundle offerings from the facility to get a better price. For example, if you're getting food and beverage, player gifts, or anything else extra from the facility, it’s worth asking if you can bundle that into player pricing to see if you can get a better rate.
Jason Meininger: This can be difficult, as most courses have a set price they charge for outside outings like charity golf tournaments. And with the popularity of golf right now, it’s unlikely they will be willing to come down on price. My best advice would be to see if the course has a slow day during the week that’s typically not filled with an event, and see if they are willing to negotiate on price just to fill the tee sheet for that day.
If you’re using the golf facility for food and beverage, player gifts, or any other extras, you might be able to negotiate a better rate.
Q: What are some factors I should consider when choosing a date for my golf fundraiser?
Jason Meininger: First, check with the course on their availability. Spring and fall event dates may be more readily available—and can be the best options weather-wise to have a tournament.
Paul Murcek: Reach out to the golf facilities at least six or so months before your event date to get the best availability. Keep weather in mind—the best weather months for a majority of the country are June and September. Another thing to keep in mind is that these months generally have the most tournaments, so there could be added competition for golfers and sponsors.
Cash Dinkel: I’d say these are the biggest aspects to consider when picking a tournament date:
Other local events: Check local event calendars to make sure you aren’t hosting your tournament on the same day as other large community events.
Pricing: Pricing will be higher in the summer months and on weekends.
Weather: Shoulder season (spring and fall) may be less expensive, but the weather can be unpredictable.
Other organization events: If your organization hosts other fundraising events, make sure there’s adequate time between them to avoid donor fatigue.
Q: In your experience and opinion, what’s the best day of the week for a charity golf tournament?
Cash Dinkel: Friday. You may or may not get charged weekend pricing, but a lot of golfers are willing to take a Friday off and make it a three-day weekend, and you’re likely going to see higher participation. Monday is also a great day, but without the chance of weekend pricing and the same benefits as a Friday tournament for a three-day weekend.
Jason Meininger: If you can find a course with availability, I’d say a Friday afternoon or Saturday.
Paul Murcek: I agree with Cash on Mondays or Fridays and giving your golfers the opportunity to have a three-day weekend. That being said, Friday can be considered a weekend day and will cost more. If you are booking a tournament at a private golf facility, likely the only day available is a Monday.
Shoulder season—spring and fall—can be a great option for your charity golf tournament.
Q: How do I determine the tournament’s schedule?
Cash Dinkel: The golf facility can help you pick the ideal starting time and slot out the schedule. In the hot summer months, morning starts are ideal. During shoulder season (spring and fall), later starts help ensure the warmest temps for play. Once you have determined a starting time, you can build out the schedule for the day. I recommend allowing two hours for check-in, registration, and warm-up. Most facilities will allow volunteers to arrive two hours early to set up. Some golfers like to arrive early to give themselves extra time to warm up, mingle, or check out auction items or raffle prizes. It’s a good idea to schedule announcements for 15-20 minutes before the start time. Post-event timing depends on when the round finishes—most likely four-and-a-half to five hours to play the round. Any meal and awards can take place after golf concludes.
Jason Meininger: Definitely speak to the golf staff to see what the options are. Most likely, they will offer an early morning or early afternoon shotgun start. You can guesstimate that the round will take around 5 hours, so plan your meals and post-golf festivities accordingly.
Use your event website to share the tournament’s schedule with participants, as well as information about live scoring.
Q: I want to live score my tournament. How do I make sure my golfers participate in live scoring?
Jason Meininger: One way is to tell golfers that their team’s score will not count unless they use live scoring, or you could offer a separate, valuable prize to one of the teams that live scores.
Cash Dinkel: Overcommunicate to the field leading up to the event about scoring. Send multiple emails to registrants giving them instructions on what app to download and how to use the app to score. It’s a good idea to encourage them to download the app ahead of time, if possible. Also, make sure information about live scoring is communicated to players as they check in for the tournament and during announcements right before the start.
Paul Murcek: I say make it mandatory! Tell golfers that you won’t be accepting paper scorecards, and if they don’t live score with the mobile scoring app you choose, they aren’t eligible for prizes.
Communicate information about live scoring to golfers ahead of the tournament, including where to download the app, how to use it to submit scores, and where to find a team’s live scoring code.
Q: My host golf facility has its own live scoring software, but we’ve sold a leaderboard sponsorship, so I want to use GolfStatus’ mobile scoring. What should I do?
Jason Meininger: Simply have a discussion with the golf course and explain the situation. More than likely they’ll be willing to work with you in one way or another, either using your chosen platform or finding a way to add the promised logo placement to their system’s leaderboard.
Paul Murcek: Remember, you are the customer at the golf facility, so they should be willing to do what they can to accommodate. As long as it is not in the contract that you must use the facility’s software, then it shouldn’t be an issue. In the rare instance that you’re forced to use the golf course’s software, make sure they are aware of what you need to have done to meet what has been promised to your sponsors.
Cash Dinkel: This is something that should be communicated to the golf staff right away. As soon as you decide to live score your tournament, connect the golf course staff with the app and platform’s staff to ensure golf staff understands the tools they have at their disposal on event day. Stress to golf staff that you’ve sold sponsorship recognition through live scoring. If the facility is truly interested in helping you put on the best possible event, they will accommodate. If they aren’t willing to use the live scoring system, make sure they know they MUST add logos to the materials that you’ve promised your sponsor.
Ask the Pros!
If you have a question for GolfStatus’ PGA Professionals, email it to [email protected] with “PGA Pro Question” in the subject line!
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