Just like any event, organising a golf day can be time-consuming but incredibly rewarding. Whether you are planning to hold a golf day to raise money for charity, a corporate occasion or any other reason, it is important that proper planning and preparation are undertaken.
The golf course is where many great things happen, and not just moments that will live long in sporting memory. Businesspeople routinely utilise a round of golf as networking opportunities, fundraisers hold events to raise money for their cause of choice and organisations book a tee time as a team-building exercise. A golf day can serve many purposes but should always be fun.
So, what do you need to consider when organising a golf day?
The Course
Where are you planning to hold your golf day? There are two key things for you to consider – the location and the course difficulty. Of course, you want to choose a course that is going to be reasonably easy for people to travel to, particularly if you are expecting/hoping for guests to travel that may not be local. For this, consider courses that are located near to main roads and/or have suitable public transportation links (i.e. train stations etc…).
The difficulty of the course can so easily be overlooked. This is when you need to consider the standard of golfer that will be attending – do you even know what their standard is? You can get a decent idea of this by asking attendees to provide their handicaps (if they have one), otherwise, you should look towards an easier course. Beginners will likely struggle on courses designed for more advanced players and that may take away from their enjoyment of the day.
Format
What format will you be playing on the day? This could help to determine the course that you choose for your golf day. Stroke play is, of course, the most popular while others also like to play stableford. Decide on the format early on to avoid any confusion, especially if you are planning on utilising multiple formats throughout the event.
You should also take into consideration how long you want the event to last, as well as how long you are allowed to be on the course. There isn’t any point in playing a championship 18-hole round if your attendees aren’t likely to finish their round in the time that you require.
Pricing/Fundraising
What is your budget for the day? This is an important consideration, especially if you are organising a charity golf day. Every expense ultimately eats into your takings, so it is important to keep these costs down and look at other avenues you can utilise as a source of revenue. This could include sponsorship for the day, as well as the price that you charge for guests to come and play.
If you are raising money for a charity, for example, you can discuss this with the course who may be willing to offer a discount (this would be at their discretion). With the prospect of potential media coverage of your golf day, the course may be more willing to offer use at a cut price.
You may also wish to consider what will be offered on the day in terms of potential fundraising opportunities. Just some of the things you may wish to include are:
- Auction – ask for items to be donated for an auction to take place after the golf day at a lunch or evening function
- Longest drive and nearest the pin competitions – ask for guests to pay a fee to enter competitions as part of the day
- Keepsakes – something that guests can take away from the day such as glasses, keyrings, shirts, pictures etc…
- Donation envelopes – leave a blank envelope on the table of your lunch or evening function for guests to place any donations they wish to make
When to Hold a Golf Day
Ideally, you should aim to hold a golf day in the spring or summer, as this is when the weather is likely to be fairer and, more crucially, the days are longer. Holding a golf day in the middle of winter, when the nights are long, limits your playing time with days seeing just a few hours of daylight. You are also more likely to have people who want to turn up during the fairer months and stick around for longer, which is crucial if you are aiming to raise money.
In saying that, however, there is also an argument that autumn may be the best time of year to arrange a golf day. This is because prices tend to come down after peak season, the weather isn’t yet freezing (still reasonably warm in early autumn) and there is more availability – which also means that courses remain in good condition due to less traffic.
In the United Kingdom, we can never be confident that the weather is going to hold up whatever time of year it is…that’s why Wimbledon put a roof on Centre Court. Think about what provisions you could have in place should blue sunny skies make way of grey clouds, but we recommend playing the averages and organising your golf day for the time of the year when the sun is more likely to make an appearance.
Promotion
If you are organising a private golf day, then this section won’t apply to you. If you are organising a charity golf day, then please read on. Promoting your golf day is essential because how else are you going to tempt people to pay to play at your event? If nobody knows that your event is even taking place, then you are likely to be very disappointed come the day of the event.
As soon as you have booked your golf day that is the moment to begin promoting it. Ideally, you will give yourself a few months to allow for time to drum up interest and sell tickets for the golf day. The course that you are holding the event at will naturally want it to be a success, so make sure to utilise the club for promotion – this can include posters/leaflets in the clubhouse, posts on social media and/or their website and more.
The next step depends on how far you are casting your net – are you expecting attendees to be fairly local or will this be something that guests would travel to from across the country? If local, then make use of all local media outlets and send out some PR material for them to publish across their channels. You may also wish to invite members of the local media to your golf day to keep them interested, as well as to maximise the exposure that your event has (this could be useful if your golf day is not a one-off event).
Whether local or national, make sure to promote the golf day online and list the event in directories. For example, Golf Empire lists many charity open golf competitions held at courses across the country.
Trophies and Medals
What good is a golf day without any trophies or medals to award at the end? If those participating have paid for the privilege, then the winners will rightly expect something to recognise their achievement. Of course, if your golf day is for charity, you won’t want the cost of trophies to eat too much into your proceeds.
Here at Fen Regis Trophies, we offer a wide range of golf awards and trophies to suit all budgets. This means that you can decide on how much you wish to spend on trophies and medals for your event, whilst still ensuring that your winners are adequately recognised. You may also wish to view our novelty golf trophies, perfect for those that perhaps aren’t troubling those at the top of the leaderboard.
Know You Know How to Organise a Charity Golf Event
Once you have all the above in place, the only thing that is left is to enjoy your golf day. We hope that it is a successful one!