Teeing Up a Golf Event

With proper planning, even novices can score a hole-in-one.

By Larry Bleiberg

Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Club, Orlando

Three years ago, the Gibbs Junior College Alumni Association wanted to add a new dimension to its annual meeting — a chance for members to socialize, relax and raise money for scholarships. It found the answer on a golf course.

Its first golf tournament attracted 50 participants. This year, the group anticipates 100. “Our members were very excited about it,” says Bill McCloud, who organized the tournaments at Tampa’s Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort.

He’s not surprised. “I’m a corporate executive and I understand the power of golf,” McCloud says. “There are lot of deals and a lot of information that passes in a golf outing. You’re stuck with someone for two to three hours and you get to know them and they get to know you.” Golf in many forms can make any gathering memorable, planners find. “When you throw golf and meetings together, it’s a great way to get folks out in the mix … to mingle and connect and reconnect,” says Steve Vigiano, PGA director of golf at the Coyote Creek Golf Club, a 36-hole course in San Jose, Calif. “It’s a way to make meetings more enjoyable.”

With many meetings held at conference centers overlooking perfectly manicured courses, planners may feel pressured to schedule a golf outing, if only in self-defense. Otherwise attendees may be lost in daydreams during meetings, staring out the window, evaluating swings and watching the greens when they should be listening to a presentation. But for planners, organizing a golf event can seem as daunting as the ninth hole at Pebble Beach. (Translation: They’d rather host another cocktail party than figure out how to manage a 144-player tournament.)

Not all golf events require hours on the links, though. Some hotels offer night golf or putting contests with glow-in-the-dark balls. Others even have members lining up to chip frozen marshmallows across a ballroom. These “hit and giggle” events, as they’re called at the Innisbrook Resort, break the ice and get even novices excited about the game. “We work very hard to integrate everyone into the golf experience,” says Lloyd Williams, Innisbrook’s managing director. The resort has four courses and hosts the PGA Tour.

Luckily, many hotels and resorts have golf specialists that can walk planners through every step of organizing an event. The key, they say, is to determine what you want from a golf activity. Is it meant as a team-building exercise? If so, golf can be ideal, as many friendships and business alliances have formed on a golf cart.

It also can be just about fun.

Putting contests are usually low-key and can be played in business clothing, even high heels. “Anyone can putt,” says Vigiano of San Jose’s Coyote Creek course. “You don’t have to be Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus. It’s like swinging a broom.”

As planners soon discover, there are many variations. Sometimes a group will have an outdoor buffet followed by putting with glow-in-the-dark balls and tee markers. Hotels also can provide glowing beer mugs and necklaces. Night golf can be played under floodlights, but often it just covers a few holes.

The Golf Club at Ballantyne, Charlotte

Some take the golf theme even further. At the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge in Charlotte, N.C., staff will set up stations where guests can play Wii golf on a big-screen television. They also can bring specialized golf equipment to videotape attendees’ swings, which are analyzed by a pro from the resort’s golf school. The resort has an 18-hole course, driving range and putting greens, but it also will organize poolside activities that have players hitting foam golf balls into a floating inner tube.

As for chipping frozen marshmallows? “It’s kind of goofy,” admits Woody Allen, Ballantyne’s director of golf. But it appeals to both experienced golfers and duffers. It can be used to build excitement before the next day’s golf tournament, or as a substitute activity if a golf outing is rained out.

The most common event, though, is a tournament, which appeals to those with some experience. Although many courses can provide turnkey setup, planners still have to provide an accurate count, and set up teams of players. This can be crucial because you want to have experienced and novice golfers distributed equally among teams. Then, tournament scoring can equal out skill differences.

It’s important to determine the ability of your audience, says Steve Mays, director of marketing for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, which promotes the scores of courses in the South Carolina oceanfront city. “Know your crowd,” he says. “You can hurt yourself if you assume everyone’s a novice, or if you think everyone is experienced.”

New players might not know even basic golf rules, says Dave Scott of Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando, which has a top-rated 18-hole course and a golf academy.  A golf pro can offer a quick introduction for newbies.  “Some people are scared of golf,” he says. “They don’t know they’re supposed to tee up between the tee markers. They don’t know they need to rake the bunker. They don’t want to look stupid.”

The key to a successful golf event is preparation. Planners should begin to promote it as early as possible, and if there’s a charge, get prepayment from players so no one has to worry about checks and credit cards at the course. Planners also need to determine the number of rental clubs required. With escalating airline baggage charges, many players opt to leave clubs at home. Courses can provide rental sets, but they do need notice to ensure availability.

Then there’s the matter of time. Playing a full 18-hole course can take four or five hours. If you include a luncheon and awards ceremony, the event easily will cover most the day. Planners also need to consider providing activities for non-golfers, like shopping or touring excursions.

The tournament itself is a chance to relax and bond. Dave Herndon, executive director of the South Carolina Asphalt Paving Association, has offered many prizes, including one for the “shot of the day.” Teams are encouraged to describe their nominee, whether it’s a perfect drive or one that banged into a house and scared a babysitter. The winner is read aloud at a dinner following their tournament. “It can be a best shot, or worst shot or how crucial it was that he got a three-foot putt,” he says.

John Ward, vice president of resort activities for the Resort Collection of Panama City in Florida, which has 27-hole and nine-hole courses, cautions planners to avoid scheduling a demanding program following a golf outing. “A round of golf is physically as well as mentally draining. People don’t realize it,” he says. “To go out and play golf, and then sit in a meeting for four or five hours is going to be a little taxing.”

ChampionsGate National, Orlando

Another option is to play a shorter course. The Omni Orlando at ChampionsGate has two 18-hole courses and a golf academy, but some groups gravitate to its Champions Nine, a nine-hole course where the longest hole is 90 yards.

“It’s not intimidating,” says Eric Carlson, the resort’s golf sales manager. “It’s great for a person who has never played before.” The course is fully lit, allowing groups use it at night after their meeting sessions. Some even schedule what the club calls a wacky tournament: Players might have to use a putter on the first hole, for example, and play using the opposite hand on another. One hole might have to be played while on the knees and the next hole might be played with a Frisbee. “It can be a fun social event,” he says.

Golf pros and meeting planners all offer one word of caution: If you’re organizing a golf event, don’t expect to get any course time yourself. “We’re running around looking after things and getting ready for the luncheon,” says McCloud. “I never get a chance to swing a club.”

Read more on golf:

10 Strokes to a Great Golf Tournament

Case Study: NTIA Annual Meeting and Golf Tournament