Golf Tournaments: Fun and Networking for a Worthy Cause

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Incentive Travel Solutions, a Charlotte, NC based Company, invites you to discover how a golf tournament can be a great way for your meeting attendees to interact and give to a community at the same time.  Kevin Devanney, President of Incentive Travel Solutions says, “Golf is a great way to have fun while strengthening business connections and even supporting a worthy cause. This year we had clients who wanted to give back to the destinations that were hosting us.  So we designed their annual golf tournament to raise money for charities at their President’s Club trip”.   “Many of the Caribbean Islands are wonderful destinations with beautiful resorts, but the islands themselves are sometimes immersed in poverty.  Just a little help from incentive groups can go a long way in helping some needy families”.  Devanney provided some tips for staging a successful golf event.

• Establish your goals: Think about your objective for the day. Is your tournament a corporate, competitive, or charity event? Once you’ve chosen the type of tournament you want to host, you can decide how to make it a success.

• Pick a tournament format: Four-man scramble is a popular choice, but there are lots of other options. About.com defines more than 150 tournament formats and other golf games, and The Complete Book of Golf Games is another great resource.

• Create a tournament website: A website is a valuable tool for publicizing your tournament, acknowledging its sponsors, and promoting the charity that will benefit from the program. A website also allows participants to register quickly and pay their tournament fees ahead of time. For tournament website creation tools, consider TournEase, Golf Digest Planner, or GolfRegistrations.com.

• Inform players of tee-times: It is a good idea to send out reminder emails/mailings of participant tee times and teams. Reminders should be delivered to players a week in advance. Also mention any events being held post-tournament.

• Let participants pick teammates: Allow players to pick their teammates. Offer a sign-up sheet on the on-line registration site. Make teams and tee times available for perusal on the site.

• When teeing off: On the first green have the starter announce the names of each player about to tee off. For corporate events, announce the company each player is representing. Recognition is always an incentive.

• While on the course: Everything a golfer may need while on the course should be readily available. Extra equipment should be kept on-hand in case it is needed. Refreshments and snacks should be offered periodically to each player. Golfers should be given any refreshment they choose and snacks should be prepared in a way that is comfortable to be eaten while on the course.

• Post-tournament: When the tournament comes to an end host an after-event ceremony or dinner. This will give both the golfers and guests the ability to interact with one another. The winner of the tournament can be announced at this time as well as a cause summary of the event.

• Get lots of feedback: On the day of the big event, make sure you’re out on the course mingling with the players. Get their impressions and record their ideas so you can make improvements for next year. It’s also a good idea to survey participants after the event for their comments and suggestions.


• Hole Sponsorship: Partner with your most important suppliers to sponsor the 18 holes on the course.  This gives them some well need exposure to their important clients and raises money for the local charity.