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Holding a golf event can be a terrific way to combine business and pleasure for your company’s own staff or for your clients and customers. Because 18 holes of golf takes about four hours, golf makes a great foundation for an all-day meeting format. Participants get to enjoy a round of their favorite game, while there’s still plenty of time to take care of business. Here are some tips on planning your golf event to get the most out of it.
Business or Pleasure?
Is your event going to be a substantial business meeting with some golf thrown in, or a golf game accompanied by some business? Most courses will accommodate a large event with either an 8:30 AM tee time, or a 1:00 PM start. Paradoxically, if your meeting is intended to be more business-oriented, you should get the golfing done first: golf in the morning, lunch and the meat of the day in the afternoon. That way, participants aren’t yearning to fast-forward through the business to get to the golf. For a lighter, more recreational event, have your business events in the morning and then let folks head to the links.
Know the Numbers, Know the Players
Beware the course sales executive who tells you that her facility can easily handle 144 golfers a day. It can, but at the cost of long delays and a lagging play experience that will leave golfers grumbling. To keep the pace smooth, a limit of 72 or 108 golfers (18 or 27 foursomes) should be observed. In addition, if your event is intended to foster a lot of company-to-client interaction, you will want a company representative in each foursome, so plan your guest count accordingly. In addition, realize that individual golf skill will vary widely, and highly-skilled players will not have much fun if paired up with duffers. Query your invitees about their skill level (“novice”, “intermediate” and “expert” should be sufficiently granular) and try to match foursomes accordingly.
Food and Drink: Fancy or Functional?
The catering budget for an all-day golf event can go up like a skyrocket if you let it. If your company is intending to present an affluent, lavish image this might not be a problem, but most organizers will want to keep the budget low where possible. Consult with the facilities staff at the club to find the most economical arrangements; breakfast buffets and boxed lunches are one good way to shave the food budget. Most courses will gladly provide water or soft drinks on a pay-for-consumption basis, so these items can be offered to guests without having to buy a fixed amount up front. Finally, it’s a good idea to check with your company’s executives to find out what clubs they already belong to. Many courses will give steep discounts (and not just on food) to events hosted by their own members, and you can leverage your people’s connections to keep the company’s costs down.
There are very few people who do not look forward to summertime's schedule of outdoor public events. Planning one of these events requires a different set of concerns in order for the event to be successful. Here is a checkllist of things you have to think about:
- Make sure the location for your event is close to public transportation and parking. Make friends with people at local media outlets and ask their help in determining the best spot.
- Get the right permits, whether that means contacting the parks department, department of transportation, or department of building permits. Don't assume you can just pick a spot and show up!
- Pick the right day, one that doesn't conflict with other events that are planned and that compete with yours.
- Help sponsors for your event promote their brands whether that takes place on the music stages or other signage.
- You'll need security for your event--and that includes before and after the event as well as on site.
- Have a Plan B: what will you do if there is rain? excessive heat? electrical failure? a big name no-show? Think all of this through early on to ensure success no matter what happens!
