How To Organize A Charity Golf Tournament

Charity golf tournaments are usually always a great time and for a great cause. If you’ve played golf for a while now, surely you have played in a charity tournament or at least been invited to one. While charity tournaments are a blast to play in, have you ever wondered about all the hard work that it takes to organize one? Better yet, do you have a cause or project that you are interested in hosting your own charity/fundraising golf tournament for? Well, this article will try to help provide you some knowledge and tools to get you on your way to hosting a memorable golf outing!

Create a Budget and Find a Golf Course

The first step is to create a golf tournament budget, which should include the amount of cost that you feel comfortable asking people to pay to play in it. Once you have an estimated budget, the first step you should do is to contact a few golf courses to determine their tournament policies and what fees they typically charge (i.e., green fees, tournament fees, food and beverage, etc.). The golf course tournament planner, if they are smart, will assist you by plugging your tournament information and ideas into a one-stop shop tournament organizing program, such as GGGolf’s tournament module.

Determine When You Want to Host the Tournament

Once you narrow down your list of potential golf courses, your next step is determining when your tournament will be held. The price is likely to fluctuate depending on different courses “high” and “low” seasons. Also, it’s important to choose a date at least 8-10 months away so that you have plenty of time to market your tournament and the guests can plan their schedules around it.

What Kind of Tournament Format?

While some charity tournaments feature individual stroke play (like a typical PGA Tour tournament), the majority of them use a “Four Man Scramble” format. This format is great because each foursome works as a team and it is more beneficial for high handicap players that might struggle on their own. Another perk, is this adds an incentive for your potential guest to buy a foursome, as opposed to just a single ticket, so they can create a whole team.

What are The Prizes?

Most charity tournaments provide some sort of prize for the top 3 lowest scoring teams (and sometimes the team that comes in dead last as well). These can be trophies, gift certificates (from sponsors), or anything you’d like. It’s also a good idea to include a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, and putting contest to help increase the amount of donations to your charity.

Food & Beverage Choices

Most, but not all, charity tournaments provide a post-round meal included in the cost of a ticket. Some tournaments provide free beer and wine as well, but that is more subject to the tournament atmosphere you’re trying to create.