2 Months to Tee Off: Must-Do Tasks Before Your Golf Event
With just two months until tournament day, your planning efforts should be shifting into high gear. Many of the biggest decisions are behind you, and now it’s time to focus on execution. The more you can accomplish over the next several weeks, the less stressful the final countdown will be.
Planning should be in high gear at two months before your golf tournament.
This installment of the blog series will walk you through the key tasks to focus on two months before your charity golf tournament, working to fill the remaining team spots, secure sponsorships, outline logistics, and make sure every detail is coming together.
It’s important to note that while having more time to plan is usually better, it’s possible to plan a successful golf tournament in a matter of a couple of months.
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Golf Tournament Checklist and Planning Timeline
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Pre-Planning & Reference
Whether you need a refresher on GolfStatus features, planning best practices, or ideas to raise more money, take advantage of the educational tools and resources available to you. If you haven’t already:
Get a GolfStatus demo. GolfStatus is the industry’s leading platform for charity golf tournaments and fundraisers. Find out how to save 40+ hours and raise thousands more dollars!
Get a GolfStatus Education Session. Once you’re on board with GolfStatus, our client success team will walk you through the software’s backend.
Book a consultation with a Fundraising Specialist. Your dedicated GolfStatus Fundraising Specialist will walk you through opportunities to raise more money and qualify for GolfStatus Rewards.
Watch a GolfStatus webinar. GolfStatus holds free monthly webinars on topics like sponsorships, planning basics, logistics, marketing, and more. Browse upcoming webinars.
Planning Team & Committee Meetings
Your committee meetings should become increasingly focused on progress and accountability. Review outstanding tasks, celebrate accomplishments, and make sure every committee member knows exactly what’s expected of them between now and tournament day.
Hold monthly committee meetings. Continue to talk through the budget, sponsorship prospects and outreach, logistics, on-course contests or games, and promotion.
Date & Golf Facility
Clear communication with the golf facility becomes more important as your field starts to take shape. Keeping staff informed and asking questions helps prevent surprises and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Share access to GolfStatus’ backend. If you haven’t already, share access with the golf facility so there are no surprises in the weeks leading up to tournament day. There’s no cost to grant staff at the golf facility access to your GolfStatus tournament management platform’s backend.
Touch base with facility staff with questions. Don’t be afraid to reach out to golf facility staff with any questions or concerns.
Event Website
Your golf tournament website should serve as the central hub for golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and supporters. Keep it current with the latest information so participants can find everything they need to know—without having to contact your team.
Make event website updates as needed. Continue to add and update information as needed. Common updates include new raffle prizes or auction items, contest or challenge announcements, special guests, and the event’s schedule.
Include the link to your event website in every outreach—texts, emails, social media, flyers, and more.
Team & Sponsor Packages
Now is the time to fill any remaining sponsorships and encourage golfers to register before spots disappear. Consistent follow-up, flexible sponsorship options, and clear deadlines can help create urgency and keep registrations moving.
Follow up with prospects for each sponsorship. Follow up with prospective sponsors to see if they have questions on next steps or would like to talk about a custom sponsorship opportunity.
Add custom packages as needed. As you reach out to sponsors, ask them what their goals are for sponsoring your event, and don’t be afraid to create custom packages or modify existing packages as needed to help them get the most out of their investment in your tournament.
Determine a registration closed date. Decide when you’ll close registration, both for teams and sponsorships. Having a deadline can create urgency for prospective sponsors and teams, and you can always extend the deadline if necessary.
Order items as necessary. If a sponsorship is tied to any materials, such as golf balls, golf towels, bags, or other items, order them as soon as the sponsorship is sold and payment is received. This gives you plenty of time to deal with any ordering or shipping issues or misprints.
Marketing & Promotion
With registration open and in full swing, your marketing efforts should become more frequent and targeted. Use a mix of email, social media, local outreach, and personal invitations to encourage people to register as soon as possible.
Send targeted promotional emails. Segment your list and target messaging to past participants (if applicable), donors, and supporters. Send a series of emails leading up to the registration closed date.
Promote on social media. A combination of organic posts and a modest paid campaign targeted to people in the area can help drive registrations.
Distribute your tournament flyer. Print copies for every committee member and send them loose, asking them to post them in libraries, coffee shops, gyms, community centers, grocery stores, or any other visible place.
Send a press release to local media. Send a release to local television and radio stations with information about the event, what it’s raising money for, any notable tournament components, and your organization.
Submit the event to community calendars. Community calendars are a cheap and easy way to spread the word to potential golfers. You can even use AI to help you identify local calendars and submission instructions.
Reach out to friends and family. Ask committee members to call, text, or chat with five people and invite them to play in the event. There’s no substitute for personal outreach!
Refine your promotional strategy as needed. Update and further refine your promo plan as details come into focus and advertising budgets are set, if applicable.
Helpful Golf Tournament Promotional Resources
Details & Logistics
The behind-the-scenes work starts to take center stage over the next two months. Staying on top of logistics now gives you time to solve problems before they become last-minute emergencies.
Determine food and beverage. Connect with the golf facility, a caterer, or an in-kind donor to determine food and beverage needs. Be mindful of allergies or special dietary needs.
Determine player gifts. Whether you’re selling a sponsorship for player gifts or purchasing them outright, now’s the time to move forward, especially if anything needs to be produced.
Outline a schedule. Add this information to your event website. Include times for registration, warm-up, shotgun start, and estimates for any post-golf celebrations.
Determine contests. A hole-in-one contest is an easy and popular addition to a golf tournament. Research and purchase hole-in-one insurance to protect yourself from financial risk. Putting contests, longest drive, and closest to the pin are other popular contest options.
Determine on-course games or challenges. On-course games have the potential to drive additional dollars for your cause. Keep them simple, easy to understand, and quick to play to keep the tournament’s pace of play moving smoothly.
Determine raffle details (if applicable). Add a raffle ticket package to your event website, and start procuring donations for prizes.
Determine auction details (if applicable). Add a link to your online auction listing (if applicable) from your event website, and start procuring donations for items.
Now’s the time to move forward with player gifts, like those from the Max Well For Life Charity Golf Tournament.
What’s Next?
You’re entering the home stretch. By the end of the next two months, most registration should be complete, sponsorships sold, and logistics largely finalized. The more proactive you are now, the more confident you’ll feel when tournament week arrives.
The next installment of the series will cover everything you should focus on during crunch time—the month before your tournament—to make sure event day runs as smoothly as possible. After months of planning, it will finally be time to bring it all together and deliver an unforgettable experience.