The first success point is attained with the establishment of the Tournament Committee. The Tournament Committee shall consist of three positions, Club President (approves all monies spent and tournament guidelines) Club Administrator (collects, records, and pays all monies), and the Tournament Director (tournament coordinator and administrator).
The Club President and Administrator, in coordination; must appoint a Tournament Director. The Tournament Director should be someone with intimate knowledge of golf, however not solely limited to that. As long as the person commits to put forth the effort to coordinate and administrate the event, other individuals with golf “smarts” can support. He/She should be dedicated solely to the Club and its success, and not to their own personal gain. This individual would become the focal point and face for the tournament.
The second success point is reached with the Strategic planning session. The Tournament Committee in whole would be in attendance and should be conducted at a minimum nine months before proposed date. The atmosphere and location of this meeting should be conducive to business. At this meeting, several critical objectives are established:
1. Establishmentof Goals
a. Raise Money
b. Team building
c. Membership recruitment
d. Community Relations
2. Establishment of Budget
a. Marketing
b. Printing
c. Postage
3. Selecting a Tournament Date
What is the purpose of holding this event? Is it to simply raise money for current liabilities, equipment purchases, future capital acquisitions or investments, funding a scholarship program whether it be with the Club or a college fund. Is it a Team Building event?
The tournament date should be set so as not to coincide with in season soccer games or tournaments, school graduations or other annual area events. The date should be far enough in advance to allow for marketing the event to players, but more importantly for potential sponsors who typically budget a year in advance. At a minimum, allow 9 months lead time. Better would be 1 year. Establishing a Tournament Date becomes your third success point. A “Save the Date” card printed and sent out to the current club membership announcing the Tournament Date with more information to follow is an excellent way to get everyone energized and talking about the event.
4. Selecting a Tournament Site
The tournament site should be convenient and if possible kept within the local community. Doing this garners community relations which is attractive to potential sponsors. The selection of a host Tournament Site becomes your fourth success point.
5. Tournament Entry Fee
Obviously a very important decision to make is the entry fee for the tournament. There are a couple of factors that should be considered in determining what price you should charge for the event. The first being what does your host site charge the tournament for green fees, cart fees, driving range usage, food and beverage. Other factors to consider are prizes for the event and player mementos. My feeling on the matter is the entry fee should be enough to cover all golf expenses and no money should be deferred from sponsor packages or other outside income generated. Don’t plan on getting any gifts or prizes donated, budget for the worse case scenario. If in doubt on what to charge for the event, canvas the local golf courses and ask for their opinion on what a good price would be to charge. Once you’ve decided on an entry fee, all players must pay. You should not allow anyone to play compliments of the Club. The purpose of the event is to raise money not give it away. Establishing your Tournament Entry Fee becomes your fifth success point.
6. Create a Timeline
The last preliminary item that you should do is creating a timeline. This serves several purposes. First, it keeps everyone on task. It creates a level of expectation and assigns responsibility to complete certain important tasks by a specified date. Every item is interrelated and relies on the previous one being completed timely. Secondly, it allows you to validate the Official Tournament Date and ensure your ability to accomplish proposed tasks.
