SMT Golf Outing Services

Golf Event Planning, Charity Fundraising and Memorabilia

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Golf Outing Games

Mulligans, Yardsticks and Strings… Oh My!

Golf committees often find themselves concerned about or at least discussing pace of play in their meetings. It is recognized as a problem and sometimes field sizes are limited due the fear that the game of golf will simply take too long. After all, there are dinner and prizes to think about.

The day of your golf outing arrives. It is a beautiful day, everyone is in a good mood as they tend to be at a golf outing, and you are hoping for smooth sailing.

But at the registration table, players are stumbling through the stations, filling in last minute names and player substitutions, picking up goody bags, scorecards, cart keys, picking up range tokens, spending some early money here and there… and then they come to the girl selling them “a longer day” or “guaranteed slow play”, of course it is not called that, but that’s what it is. Your committee never saw it coming. Heck, every event has it, so you must need it at your event, even though you wanted your golf outing to be different.

The girl selling Mulligans is a charming volunteer, one that has all the best intentions… “Get your Mulligans fella’s, $5.00 a piece, limit of five per player, money goes directly to the _____________”.

Typically, 60% of the field buys into this. That means that in your typical full field of 144 golfers, 86 players are going to take advantage of a full compliment of cheating, errrrrr… Mulligans. In this example, that means 430 extra shots taken during your golf outing. Think about THAT number for a second.

Dare I say it is not so much the 430 extra shots taken, rather HOW they are taken. Some player gets up there, 5 beers in him, two clubs less than he could ever hope to use successfully on his best day, the island green par 3 and shockingly, dumps it 20 yards short into the water. Instead of quickly reaching into his pocket for a second ball, his first mulligan, he waits to see what his playing partners will do before deciding if he should burn one of his pre-purchased bonus shots. After some teasing of his group for faring no better, he decides to have another go at it, but needs to go back to the cart for another ball. But realizing the demise of his first ball and being fully aware that golf balls are not cheap, he takes another moment to dig for a lesser quality sphere instead of grabbing more club or better yet, simply playing from the drop area. Arriving back at the tee, he also realizes that he is out of golf tees, asking his playing partners to toss him one of theirs which he has to pick up off the ground because the wind grabbed it and took it out of his reach. Two well intended practice swings later, he addresses the ball sending it toward his target, its destination is not important as this story is all about math.

This little decision-making scenario added 3 minutes to this group’s time on this one single tee box. Now, multiply that 3 minutes by the 430 extra shots happening all around the golf course this afternoon your committee sold before the round started and what you have is……

A buffet dinner getting cold and a rushed awards ceremony because people need to get the heck out of there.

Not quite what you had envisioned 6 months ago when you set out to have a golf outing for your charity.

What you can do is simply increase every player’s green fee by the same $25, sell your outing as “the quickest golf outing they will play in” or an “all inclusive registration” as you will not need to hit players up for that extra donation upon arrival. Oh, and the math on this one is… you have secured money from 100% of the field instead of the average 60% who would have slowed things down anyway. You are up 40% in revenue and the ENTIRE field enjoys both a faster day on the links and less nickel and diming at registration so they have more to spend on raffle tickets and silent auction items at dinner.

Golf Outing Fundraising

“Networking and Camaraderie”

Three minutes into the meeting and the very first words out of my mouth to the golf outing committee were, “why are you having a golf outing”?

It was Earl, sitting opposite of me who proudly chimed in with what he had believed was the only reply necessary. “It’s about networking and camaraderie, that is why we hold a golf outing each year” he said.

Now I am perched on the edge of my seat, ready to make a point to Earl not even knowing the man, but based off 44+ years in the PGA and in the golf industry, I felt more than comfortable formulating a few opinions in my head during his one sentence remark. “Let me guess Earl, your Chamber outing is about 8 weeks out and I’m sure that you will be playing in it, am I right?” Earl said “I am and I have played in the outing each year for the past five years.”  “Awesome” I replied. “I bet you already have your team picked out”. He said, “same team each year, it’s a no-brainer.”

I couldn’t stop, I said “let me guess, this is the same group you play with every week, right”? Earl said, “every weekend, we have a permanent tee time at 8:52 am”. I said “Earl, knowing that and knowing that you are on the golf committee for this outing, I am going to guess that you guys play the same course that the outing will be playing in August, am I right”?

Earl confirmed my suspicions and I said, “So, to summarize, you are playing with the same three players that you have played in this outing with for the past five years. You are playing with the same guys that you play with every weekend, and are doing it on the same course that you have played forever… only now, you are getting a worse tee time, as the outing starts at 1 pm, which is a tee time your group would NEVER even dream of playing, and you guys are going to pay $125 each to play it when it normally would cost you $42 each. Tell me about the Networking and Camaraderie thing again”.

I went on to explain to Earl and the group that golf outings should only held to make money. They are really kind of terrible for “networking and camaraderie” as you are stuck with the same 3 people all day and more often than not, one guys leaves before the dinner anyway. That means you have lost 33% of your networking possibilities within your very own foursome, let alone the entire field.

Every task the committee undertakes should be handled as if you had to report to only two people, your accountant and your banker.

Charity Golf Outings

Why will golfers play in your golf outing? Is it the Cause, Course or Incentive?

As long as you get a full field, more than likely you don’t care and moreover, never even bothered to find out the reason why. You are too busy counting money and thanking heaven that the whole thing is over for another year.

But it really isn’t. This day, you have unlimited face to face access of every single “customer” in your field and you need repeat customers. Take advantage of this precious time. Ask questions, shake hands, thank everyone personally and invite them back verbally next year!

Golf outings are like the three corners of a triangle. None are more important than the other, but each are absolutely critical to the structure itself. Your goal is to make sure that your particular “triangle” remains intact and strong. Allow me to explain.

Triangle Point #1 – Golf outing committee members oftentimes organize golf outings under the assumptions that the golfers they hope to entice to play actually care about “the cause” as much or more than they personally do. More often than not, they would be wrong. “The cause” merely gives you a reason to hold an event, a reason to get together. It will bring out some loyal fans, some fanatics and some that are simply out there because they were asked by influential committee members and couldn’t refuse because their invitation will be coming later in the summer for their cause.

Triangle Point #2 – Golf outing committee members oftentimes make golf course decisions based upon cost, which ends up a very real part of their bottom line for the day. Sometimes they vote to sacrifice quality or location for price. They are almost always wrong in doing so, for this point of the triangle is critical to the strength of the other two. Bottom line dollars are based off green fees and players will balk at paying 4 times the standard rate for a course they can play at their leisure but still choose not to because there are nicer places and summer is short, so why would they play this place because you are having an event there? Regardless of “the cause” people weigh the value or perceived value of the course when filling out the registration form. Pick a beautiful or exclusive facility and you can command both a higher price and secure players who simply want to play a more elite property. The way to measure this is to simply ask each person on the committee if they would stop in the pro shop to buy a logo shirt or logo cap from this place as they probably will never get back there to play it and they would be kind of proud to show people that they had been there. If more than 50% say “yes they would”, that is probably a course that satisfies this point of the triangle.

Triangle Point #3 – The average golf outing has 20% of the field participating based on value, PERSONAL value. In other words… What’s in it for them? These are also the very same people that are more than likely guests of Point #1 above or friends of the player that loves to play ritzy courses as in Point #2. Ironically these 20% are guests and really don’t care about any of the above. They are often getting a free round of golf compliments of their host or are asked to fill the spot on the team by a sponsor who was awarded a couple of foursomes and oddly these are the same 20% that will be talking the loudest about your golf outing long after the event has ended, good or bad. Golf outing committee members oftentimes put far less thought into player incentive gifts or “goody bags” than they should. They opt for the easy route by asking for donations of items from local businesses to stuff into plastic bags. Sunscreen, a pack of tees, a hand towel, a sleeve of logo balls from the local bank and a logo visor from the local insurance agent that nobody would wear fishing or gardening let alone around town ( if you notice, the same insurance guy is even wearing a Nike logo cap and not his own giveaway visor ). There is a reason, and it is because nobody wants this stuff. I have heard it referred to as “give it away or throw it away merchandise”.

Of course I am not saying that everyone should get the keys to a new car in their goody bag, but I am saying that people remember their participation gift long after they forget their score.

Please know that I am not saying that you need to spend any money either! In fact, by utilizing current sponsors and coupling your sponsors into group packages ( goody bag, beverage cart, tee signs ) as I have talked about in other blogs, you can give away AMAZING participation or “goody bag” gifts, actually make money for your event doing it, and bring your sponsors an actual return on their investment instead of having an unsightly logo of the local bank on the left chest of the rain jacket donated.

I am not advocating going straight to the most elite club in town, ordering steak dinners for all and giving away silver goblets to three generations of people that play in your event. I am saying that things can indeed be too cheap and that people will pay for VALUE. Keep your Golf Outing Triangle strong.