by Jen Wemhoff, Communications Manager at GolfStatus

Registration is the first interaction many golfers and sponsors have with your charity golf tournament, so a cumbersome registration process may turn some people off from participating. An easy way to make a good first impression is to offer an intuitive, streamlined process that uses a robust online registration form.

Registration is the first interaction golfers may have with your golf fundraiser.

This guide answers your FAQs about golf tournament registration forms, including how to leverage a golf tournament management platform for the best possible experience.

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FAQs About Golf Tournament Registration Forms

Sample Golf Tournament Registration Form

FAQs About Golf Tournament Registration Forms

How do I get our golf tournament registration form out to golfers?

Instead of relying on direct mail to distribute paper registration forms, start by choosing a golf-specific event management software that includes a professional, polished golf tournament website complete with online registration.

The website is the home base of your tournament, where golfers and sponsors can go to learn more about your organization and submit their registration. All of your tournament’s promotion should direct people to your event website, including email campaigns, social media, newsletters, your organization’s website, and printed flyers or invitations (using a QR code).

Much of the information that typically appears on paper registration forms can be added to the event website, such as:

• Event information. The tournament’s date, time, host golf facility name, and facility address should appear prominently on your tournament’s website.

• Tournament and/or organization branding. Include the tournament logo if you have one, as well as your organization’s logo and brand colors when appropriate.

• Format and scoring. Be sure to mention the tournament’s format and how it will be scored, like a four-person 18-hole scramble or best ball round.

• Tournament schedule. Include the event’s schedule, including specific times for registration, meals, shotgun start, and any other special events like a live or silent auction, banquet, or raffle drawing.

• Information about contests or games. Highlight any hole-in-one contests and their corresponding prizes, on-course games or challenges, and add-ons like mulligans.

• Policies. Include information about policies related to inclement weather, refunds, media rights, alcohol use, conduct guidelines, etc.

• Golf facility logo (optional). If your tournament is being held at a high-end, prestigious golf facility, including the logo on the website might help attract golfers.
  

What fields should my golf tournament registration form include?

Golfers are prime candidates for donors, so it’s crucial that you capture complete, accurate contact information for each golfer to include in your donor database. Include the following form fields:

• Name

• Address

• Email address

• Phone number

• Sponsor information

When sponsors register, your golf tournament form should include fields to upload logos and share website links and messaging.

You’ll also want to ask for additional event specifics on your registration form, such as:

• Dietary restrictions or preferences. If you’re providing a meal, you’ll want to accommodate any restrictions or preferences.

• Apparel size. Many tournaments include t-shirts, polos, or other apparel items with registration or as a player gift.

• Payment information. Instead of relying on paper forms that include cash, checks, or handwritten credit card information, an online form should be equipped with secure payment processing. Golfers submit their payment information when they register, automatically receiving a receipt and confirmation, eliminating manual processes and data entry errors.

With online registration forms, golfer and sponsor registration information can be easily accessed and managed in the software’s back end. There’s no need to bounce between paper forms, emails, information from phone calls, or spreadsheets—it’s all in one place.

Using an online registration form as part of a robust golf tournament management platform is a game-changer for tournament organizers, golfers, and sponsors.

What other information should we include on our golf tournament registration form?

Using an event management platform built for golf to power your registration form makes it seamless to collect and manage golf tournament-specific information, like:

• GHIN number. This is a unique ID for golfers in the Golf Handicap Information Network that tracks golf scores to calculate a handicap.

• Handicap. A handicap is a number that reflects how many strokes above par a golfer might play.

• Team pairing preferences. Golfers may want to be paired with friends, family, or colleagues during the tournament.

• Course preferences. Some golf facilities have more than one course, so it’s helpful to ask which course golfers would prefer to play on.

• Tee time preferences. While most charity golf tournaments utilize a shotgun start, tee times are also an option. If yours offers tee times, be sure to collect that information during registration.
  

What are the benefits of using an online golf tournament registration form instead of a paper form?

• You’ll save time and effort. Tournament planning teams can expect to save 30-40+ hours by utilizing online registration, freeing them up to focus on sponsorships, donations, and the overall tournament experience.

• It eliminates manual processes. Instead of manually processing paper forms and payments, plus entering and re-entering data, everything is automated as soon as the golfer hits submit—data collection, payment processing, confirmation emails, and receipts.

• You can better manage cash flow. Payments flow into the platform, where they’re held until you’re ready to request a payout. You can track tournament revenue in real-time and better project profit and loss.

• It’s easier to upsell. Include add-ons like mulligans, on-course game entry, merchandise sales, and raffle tickets in your registration process, so golfers can simply click to add them to their cart instead of hassling with cash on tournament day.

• You can track inventory in real-time. When they visit your event site to register, golfers and sponsors can see exactly how many packages are available. In the back end, organizers can utilize waitlists if necessary.

Explore Strategies That Save Time & Boost Revenue to Transform Your Golf Fundraiser

How do we create our own golf tournament registration form?

It’s easy! Get started with a tournament management software like GolfStatus and build a tournament, event website, and registration form in minutes. Simply plug your tournament information into the software, add logos and graphics, set packages and pricing, and determine form fields. Share the tournament website link with your networks as soon as the site is live, and you can start collecting registrations and selling sponsorships right away.

Best of all, you’re not on your own! GolfStatus’ team of golf fundraising experts is there to help every step of the way, from building your registration form to going live with your website to answering questions.

Sample Golf Tournament Registration Form

Using an online golf tournament registration form and an event website are game-changers for your fundraiser.

Golf Tournament Registration Form

Effortlessly collect golfer and sponsor details, shirt sizes, meal preferences, and more with an online registration form.

Collect Golf-Specific Information

A purpose-built platform makes it easy and seamless to collect golf-specific details, like handicap and GHIN, on your golf tournament registration form.

Golf Tournament Website

Your golf tournament registration form should be part of an attractive, intuitive event website.

Registration Packages

Site visitors can browse packages and register with just a few clicks—instead of filling out a paper form.

Confirmation Receipt

Online registration automates sending confirmation emails and receipts.

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Sample Websites With Golf Tournament Registration Forms

AG Foundation Annual Golf Classic

Small, First-Year Tournament

17th Annual Chenega Golf Invitational

Established, Mid-Sized Tournament

Desert Financial Golf Tournament

High-End, High-Grossing Tournament

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Final Thoughts

Your golf tournament registration form does more than just collect names and payments. A clean, intuitive online registration experience signals professionalism, builds trust with golfers and sponsors, and helps your tournament start strong.

By using a golf-specific event management platform to power your golf tournament registration form, you simplify the process, reduce manual work, and gain real-time visibility into registrations and revenue. From capturing donor data and managing sponsorships to selling add-ons and tracking inventory, everything lives in one place—saving your team valuable time and minimizing tournament-day headaches. A well-built golf tournament registration form helps you work smarter and creates a better experience for golfers and sponsors.

Streamline Golf Tournament Registration

Securely collect and manage golfer and sponsor information with GolfStatus!

About the Author

Jen Wemhoff - Communications Manager at GolfStatus

Jen Wemhoff accidentally discovered her passion for nonprofits in college. An internship while earning a degree in Communications from Doane University led to a 20 year career in the nonprofit sector, where she found a strong desire to be part of something bigger than herself. Her vast nonprofit experience includes roles in marketing, fundraising, and direct programming. When Jen came to GolfStatus as Communications Manager in 2020, she was struck by the power of the sport to raise money to power nonprofit missions. She tells GolfStatus’s story across platforms and channels and develops educational tools and resources to help nonprofits tap into golf’s giving power. Jen, her husband, and two daughters call Lincoln, Nebraska home.

When it comes to fundraising events, there are plenty of event management platform options out there: CRMs, event-specific platforms, ticketing platforms, peer-to-peer platforms, and more. But how will these work for your golf fundraiser? Can they handle the specific nuances of a golf tournament? Will they make your life easier—or require workarounds and adaptations to make it function the way you need it to?

A purpose-built solution is a must-have to make the most out of your golf tournament’s fundraising potential.

The last thing you need is costly, complicated software for your golf event that drains your time and resources instead of driving fundraising. As you evaluate software options for your golf event, here are 10 tips for choosing the right platform.

1. Use a Purpose-Built Solution

No other fundraising event comes with the level of specificity required for a golf tournament. Generic event management platforms simply don’t have the capacity to handle the unique components of a golf tournament, like team pairings, event formats, hole assignments, handicaps, live scoring, and flighting. Your chosen solution should be built just for golf, with baked-in features to manage everything from registration and payments to sponsor exposure and live leaderboards.

2. User-Friendliness is Non-Negotiable

When tech isn’t easy to use and learn, your attention shifts from the critical tasks of attracting golfers, connecting with donors, selling sponsorships, and providing a great experience to troubleshooting software issues, finding workarounds, and generally wasting your time. Your tournament management software should be intuitive so anyone on your staff or planning team can create an event or duplicate an existing tournament with a few clicks and make changes, additions, and updates quickly and easily. A web-based platform with shared access lets you, your team, and even golf course staff access up-to-the-minute information.

3. Look for Tools to Boost Revenue

If the goal of your golf tournament is to raise money, you’ll want a platform that comes with baked-in tools that help facilitate fundraising, including the ability to collect donations (plus a way to set a donation goal and track your progress), the option for registrants to cover any fees, and easy ways to receive your funds during planning or after the event. Look for a provider that offers tournament add-on options to drive thousands of dollars in additional revenue, like:

• Hole-in-one contest insurance

• Custom pin flags

• Hole signage

• Exclusive sponsorship opportunities

Look for a provider that offers tournament add-ons that help boost revenue, such as hole sponsor signage.

4. Save Time & Effort at Every Stage of Planning

Technology can certainly automate time-consuming tasks and manual labor, but poorly designed software or tools that aren’t quite what you need can quickly offset the time-saving benefits of technology with additional training, troubleshooting, and complicated workarounds. Choose a solution that’s both powerful enough to meet your needs and simple enough that you won’t spend hours training staff, trying to work out adaptations, and fixing problems. Look for features that ease common tournament planning pain points, like online registration, pre-formatted documents and printouts, hole assignments, live scoring, and sponsor onboarding.

Any software solution should keep you organized by tracking golfer, sponsor, and donor information in the platform’s backend, and you should be able to easily export donor data for seamless inclusion in your nonprofit’s donor database.

5. Expect a Free, Professional Event Website

Experienced tournament organizers and event planners will tell you that every fundraising event you hold should come with an event website. When evaluating event management software, ensure that it can generate a clean, sleek, well-designed event website where golfers and sponsors can find more information, register a team, purchase a sponsorship, and pay securely. The event site serves as the home page for the tournament and presents your organization and sponsoring businesses in a professional light, with user flows that make it easy to complete transactions.

An event website simplifies everything from promotion and marketing to registration and sponsor exposure.

What’s more, with an event site, promotion becomes as easy as sharing a link in email campaigns, social media, your organization’s website, and even on printed pieces with a QR code. This way, folks can commit to your tournament right when they hear about it, instead of filling out a paper registration form and finding a stamp to mail it back.

6. Elevate the Experience for Golfers & Sponsors

The best software lends a professional experience to every aspect of your tournament and gives it instant credibility, which can be especially helpful for first-year events. Processes and materials that look outdated or unsightly can cheapen your event, which can influence the caliber of players and sponsors it attracts. The ultimate goal is to provide a professional experience from the moment someone hears about your tournament and visits your event site to when they submit their team’s score on the live scoring app.

7. You’ll Want Live Scoring (Trust Us)

A golf-specific feature—sometimes underrated and underused by tournament organizers—to look for in your tournament management software is live scoring. Teams input their scores on a mobile app, which syncs in real-time to live leaderboards. Golfers can see hole-by-hole standings, organizers can follow the round’s progress and keep the overall event moving smoothly, and golf staff can quickly finalize the tournament’s results because there’s no need to hunt down paper scorecards. Look for a solution that offers professional, glitch-free live scoring with a leaderboard sponsorship that offers digital exposure that can be sold at a premium.

Live scoring and leaderboards engage golfers throughout the tournament and offer sponsors additional digital exposure.

8. Don’t Break the Bank

With limited budgets, nonprofits need solutions that work well and don’t cost a fortune. Software that’s so expensive that it forces you to limit resources in other areas isn’t actually saving time or money. When choosing a tournament software platform, certainly consider baseline costs, if there’s a cost per user or for support, and look out for hidden fees, any upcharges, and tricky contracts. Many solutions offer extremely limited access at no cost and then charge substantially more for necessary features. Look for straightforward pricing, fees, and payout procedures.

9. The Golf Facility Should Love It, Too

Staff at the host golf facility stand to benefit from tournament management software as much as you and your planning team do. You should be able to share access to the platform with golf staff so they can assist with finalizing hole assignments, flighting, tie-breakers, and other golf-specific tasks.

Look for pre-formatted printouts, like scorecards, cart signs, and alpha lists, so golf staff can literally just hit “print” instead of having to create these pieces from scratch, saving them hours and allowing them to provide better service to you and your tournament’s golfers. Some golf facilities have an internal system in place that they rely on to manage and execute outside events and live scoring, but at your request, they may be willing to accommodate whatever platform you decide to use.

10. Demand Free, Responsive & Knowledgeable Support

Failure to provide adequate support is, unfortunately, common among software providers, so look at the level of support provided when choosing a tournament management tool. Be sure to ask about the support you can expect to receive:

• Are support staff in-house or outsourced?

• As a user, do you have immediate access to the support you need leading up to, during, or after your event?

• Is support available seven days a week?

• What tools are available to assist your team and the golf facility in the evenings and on weekends when events are in full swing?

Bonus points if the support team includes PGA Professionals who know the ins and outs of golf events and fundraising specialists who can provide guidance and coaching on format, pricing, and fundraising enhancers.

Your software solution should come with responsive, expert support with no additional cost.

Get Started With the Industry’s Leading Tournament Management Software—At No Upfront Cost

GolfStatus’ mission is to help nonprofits tap into golf’s giving power by providing tools, resources, and support to plan and execute lucrative golf fundraisers. Get started with a professional event website, online registration and payment processing, live scoring, exclusive sponsorships and add-ons, and live support seven days a week at no upfront cost. Connect with the GolfStatus team to make your next golf event the best one yet!

Organization Snapshot

Melwood’s six decades of serving those with disabilities began with a small group of parents and community supporters who had a bold idea—to create jobs and training for these individuals. They started by teaching plant care to young adults who were thought to be unemployable, and expanded into workforce development services that teach marketable, useful skills to adults with disabilities and provide a valuable workforce to partner businesses.

Based in the Washington D.C. area, the nonprofit advocates for and empowers individuals with disabilities to trans­form their own lives through unique opportunities to live, work, and thrive in their community. Sarah Boynton, Director of Corporate at Foundation Giving at Melwood, says their approach is individualized for each individual’s goals and to overcome the barriers to employment that they might face. “They have a ton of value in the community and are driven to find their purpose,” she says. “We look for ways to transform their lives through unique opportunities so everyone is included.”

The Challenge

The Melwood Champions Golf Tournament was originally an informal gathering of supporters who loved to golf and donated to support Melwood’s work. When Melwood decided to brand the golf tournament as an official fundraiser, they wanted to increase professionalism and elevate the entire event experience. Melwood’s newly-created fund development team heading up the golf tournament needed a way to easily collect registrations and payments, provide exposure to sponsors, and promote the tournament to its supporters.

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The Solution

GolfStatus offered an all-in-one solution for Melwood’s golf fundraiser, from registration and payment processing to tie-breakers and reporting. The nonprofit qualified for GolfStatus’ Golf for Good program, which gave Sarah and the entire planning team full access to the tournament management platform at no cost. After the first year of using GolfStatus, Sarah said it was a no-brainer to continue with GolfStatus. Beyond the software’s ease-of-use, GolfStatus’ in-house client success team was there to walk Sarah and her team through the software and troubleshoot issues every step of the way.

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“I talked to the support team more times than I care to admit, and they were always reassuring, like ‘We got you, don’t worry.’”

— Sarah Boynton, Director of Corporate and Foundation Giving at Melwood

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The Results

Making Everything Easier

When Sarah came on board with Melwood a few months prior to the 2022 golf tournament, GolfStatus was already in place, thanks to her boss, Heather Sherman, Melwood’s Vice President of Fund Development. An event website was actively collecting registrations and sponsorships as Sarah was tossed into the deep end of planning a golf tournament for the first time.

Thankfully, the GolfStatus client success team quickly got Sarah up to speed on the software, walking her through the back end to make sure she felt comfortable using each feature. “They showed us how to download reports and assign holes and what to send to the pro at the golf course,” Sarah says. She says check-in the morning of the event was super easy thanks to the pre-formatted printouts with all golfer information and team codes.

Online registration spared Sarah and the planning team from having to manually process payments and forms, saving a ton of time. “Having golfers and donors cover the fees really helped get us over our goal,” Sarah says. “As a fundraiser that’s huge.” Registrants could also round up their purchases to raise additional dollars. 

Unlike standard event management platforms, GolfStatus is built specifically for golf events, with tools to manage things like handicaps, flighting, and tie breakers. “I had a panic attack about halfway through the event about breaking ties!” Sarah says. She reached out to the client success team, who reassured her that the system is able to break ties automatically. “That was a relief!”

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“GolfStatus makes it easy for nonprofits to be successful. At the end of the day, that’s why we’re coming back.”

— Sarah Boynton, Director of Corporate and Foundation Giving at Melwood

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Carrying On A Tradition of Generosity

The Melwood Champions Golf Tournament had humble beginnings, starting out as some friends getting together to play golf and raise money for Melwood’s mission. The “Melwood Champions” are a group of longtime supporters and friends of the founding families of Melwood, who have supported the organization’s work for close to 60 years. The Champions led the golf event until the fund development team branded it as an official fundraiser in 2020. Since then, the tournament has grown and flourished, and with the help of GolfStatus, leveled up the event experience and raised even more money. In 2022, the tournament brought in $107,000 and is looking to raise even more for the 2023 event.

Proceeds from the tournament benefit different programs each year. For example, the 2022 golf fundraiser benefited the Camp Accomplish Scholarship Program, which provides financial support to attend the inclusive day and overnight summer camp for all ability levels. The 2023 tournament will raise money for Melwood’s Workforce Development and Career Exploration Programs, which supports over 2,800 individuals with disabilities achieve career goals in the greater Washington D.C. area.

Elevating the Event

GolfStatus clients have access to exclusive add-ons and sponsorships that take their tournaments to the next level. For example, Sarah said they knew they wanted to incorporate a hole-in-one contest to the tournament and were pleased when they discovered GolfStatus’ exclusive contest packages. The planning team originally wrapped the Technology Sponsorship into the tournament’s Title Sponsorship, but saw the premium value in the space and decided to purchase it themselves to provide to a longtime sponsor as a thank you, along with an accompanying stay and play package from the Dormie Network Foundation. “Dormie Network has opportunities to play golf at some pretty awesome places, and that just added to the high-end tournament we’re going for,” Sarah says.

The sale of the Technology Sponsorship combined with the hole-in-one contest also unlocked a cash donation from the Foundation. “The extra products and opportunities for our tournament that GolfStatus offered just made it so easy!” Sarah says. 

Sarah looked for other ways to make the event memorable, adding golfer swag bags with player gifts and items from sponsors (giving them even more brand exposure). They also used GolfStatus’ live scoring to give the tournament a professional touch. Sarah’s not a golfer, but says she lost count how many golfers told her how much they loved the live scoring. Teams would submit their scores via the free GolfStatus mobile app, which synced with live leaderboards that were updated in real-time. Golfers could check standings throughout the round in the app and on the screen in the clubhouse. “We sent golfer information ahead of time about where and how to download the app,” says Sarah, as a way to set them up for success. “Everyone loved how easy it was to keep track throughout the day.”

celebrating Success

Melwood is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023 and 25 years of Camp Accomplish. “We’re celebrating all things Melwood!” Sarah says, and that the golf tournament is a big part of that celebration and a way to connect with donors and partners. “GolfStatus is a big part of making the golf tournament super successful.”

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Golf for Good

Looking to make your next golf event the best one yet? GolfStatus’ tournament management system streamlines and simplifies prep and planning, and exclusive sponsorships and add-ons help raise thousands more dollars for your cause. Best of all, nonprofits (and organizations hosting golf events that benefit one) can qualify to use GolfStatus at no cost through the Golf for Good program. Click below to learn more and get qualified.