Your Complete Guide to Golf Tournament Clusters
While golf courses regularly profit from people on a Sunday morning, the real revenue comes from tournaments. It's motivating to hear that a PGA golf tournament profits approximately $700 million annually.
However, a local competition will bring in nowhere near that amount of money. Luckily, it's still possible to bring in anywhere between $5,000-$100,000 when correctly hosted.
If you're looking to host a memorial golf tournament, one just for fun, to raise money or to profit, then you're in the right place.
Keep reading to discover the necessary steps to host a successful and profitable golf tournament cluster.
Planning Your Golf Tournament
While it seems like golf tournaments are easy to plan and operate, they're actually living, breathing organisms. Without months of tedious planning and consideration, your fun golf tournament turns into a money drain.
The first step when planning a golf tournament is to determine what it's for. Are you hosting it to raise money? Do you want to get people together for the entertainment aspect, or is it for more exposure?
Determine the goal you want to achieve from the golf tournament today before sitting down to hatch out a timeline.
Timeline, Committees, Budgets and Awards
Even the Masters golf tournament requires a detailed timeline and sponsors to stay on track. That means having a timeline that includes monthly meetings, creating a budget and following the marketing plan to the tee.
Many times, hosts decide to bring on their friends and family members to be a part of the committee. You would think they would make great chairmen of different sectors like operations and marketing. However, if they're not as excited as you are about the tournament, it might be time to bring on new members.
Once you have excited and motivated committee members, it's vital to manage your tournament to stay within budget. Better yet, attempt to allow some breathing room for emergencies in case you need to spend a little more than expected.
Your budget should include the cost per golfer and all income sources like food, contests and advertising fees, to name a few. A helpful tip for staying within budget is to set up registration fees and work with volunteers.
There are several factors that make a course truly great. These include good conditions, a challenging course and quality food. To ensure a great time, consider buying out the course for the duration of your tournament.
When selecting a golf course, you must also consider its aesthetics on top of the maintenance and overall condition. An excellent course moves the earth to create a challenge, has optimal irrigation and a balanced design to accommodate players of most levels.
It's also important to consider including an awards ceremony regardless of why it's being held in the first place. Everyone appreciates a little recognition when they've just played the best 18 holes of their life!
Your Successful Golf Tournament Cluster
Once you successfully complete your golf tournament, it's time to clean up and count your profits on the way to the bank. Take a few minutes to congratulate yourself on a job well done before planning next year's big game!
Are you planning a golf tournament soon? Get in touch with the Laurel Oak Country Club to see why our course is the best choice for your players.