A corporate golf outing is an especially attractive option for companies looking for a way to engage employees, clients, and even the community. It’s an opportunity to raise awareness about your brand in a unique and meaningful way, while also advancing important business relationships and even raising money for a nonprofit or cause.
But if you’ve been tasked with planning such an event, you know that there are a number of moving parts and important aspects to consider to ensure the outing delivers a positive return on your company’s investment. Here are five keys to a great corporate golf event:
1. Use Tools That Save Time
It’s likely that planning a company golf outing isn’t your full-time job, or even something you do on a regular basis, so you might not know where to start or how to maximize efficiencies that save your precious time. Most event management systems aren’t able to intuitively manage the intricacies of a golf outing (hole assignments, player pairings, scoring and leaderboards, flighting, handicaps, etc.) so look for one that’s built specifically for golf tournaments.
Online registration is a must-have—golfers seamlessly submit their information and payment online, saving hours of dealing with spreadsheets, checks, and receipts. Plus, all information should populate into the platform’s back end, which means all the event’s information is stored and accessible in one place by organizers and even staff at the golf facility. Need to quickly communicate with all registrants? Look for built-in communication tools like emails and push notifications. Want to print branded score cards and cart signs? Use a platform that comes with pre-formatted, professional printouts.
A golf-specific event management platform lets you easily make hole assignments and team pairings while handling flighting, handicaps, and other golf-related details.
2. Raise Money for Charity
Golf has an undeniable tie to philanthropy—the sport contributes nearly $4 billion to charity annually. Its capacity for fundraising is unmatched and provides high visibility for the benefiting organization to raise awareness about its work. So whether it’s a corporate foundation, partner charity, or favorite nonprofit, raising money as part of a corporate golf event not only provides a ton of brand lift, but fosters goodwill among your company’s employees, the community at large, and your client base.
More and more, people want to work for and do business with organizations that prioritize community impact, which makes a charitable golf event a banner addition to your company’s corporate social responsibility portfolio. An event website is the perfect place to share the charity’s story, why you’ve committed to raising money for it, and even collect donations from folks that may not be able to participate in the golf event.
Golf outings not only provide high visibility for the benefiting charity, but a ton of positive brand lift and fosters goodwill among your company’s employees, the community at large, and your client base.
3. Promote the Outing
Particularly if your golf outing has a charitable component, drum up some positive PR for your company and what the event is raising money for. Invite members of the press and the community to participate and work together to raise awareness for a good cause (and give your brand a substantial lift). If you’re live scoring the event, post a link to the live leaderboards on your social media channels to get even more exposure for your company and brand, the benefiting charity, and the leaderboard sponsor (if you have one).
4. Focus on a Great Experience
What sets a great event apart from a good event is the overall experience. Folks will remember if the event was chaotic and plagued with snafus—or if it was well executed. Using technology tools to manage the event holistically frees golf facility staff up to assist and cater to golfers instead of scrambling to handle last minute tasks like hole assignments, scorecards, cart signs, and alpha lists.
Beyond a well-run event, add-ons and extras like contests, auctions, on-course entertainment, and custom player gifts make for a top-notch experience and one participants won’t soon forget! Live scoring adds an element of professionalism unlike any other and lets spectators (as well as event organizers who are keeping an eye on the round’s progress to facilitate an awards ceremony, banquet, reception, or other post-round gathering) follow along on live leaderboards.
Above all, your corporate golf outing should offer a top-notch experience that provides a positive return on your company’s investment.
5. Use the Day Wisely
As most corporate professionals can attest to, a ton of business happens on the golf course. Unlike other events, a golf outing gives you three to four dedicated, focused hours on the course to engage with clients, partners, and vendors. What’s more, think about ways to connect with employees, whether it’s through a pre- or post-round meal or reception, on-course interactions, the opportunity to volunteer, or informal networking.
Be strategic when making hole assignments and how they might further business objectives. For example, you may want to pair your company’s top executives with their counterparts from a major partner or prospective client to spend the day on the course talking business and potentially even closing deals. Or group staff or board members from the benefiting charity with potential partners or donors to help advance their mission and open doors for additional support. Make sure any event management system you use has the capability to easily assign holes and pairings.
Technology Makes the Difference
The right technology streamlines your company’s golf outing. GolfStatus provides an event website for your tournament where golfers and sponsors can register (complete with secure payment processing), find more information about the benefiting organization, see details about the course, and even make a donation to the charity. The platform’s reliable live scoring gives any event a professional feel and keeps golfers engaged throughout the round and even lets spectators follow along with the progress.
Through the Golf for Good program, nonprofit organizations and individuals, businesses, corporate entities, or other partners holding a golf event that benefits a nonprofit, can qualify for no-cost access to GolfStatus’s technology. It offers solutions to all things golf tournaments—flighting, hole assignments, mobile scoring, and much more. Click below to get qualified or email [email protected].
