Advice for holding a golf outing

[Hacker60521]

Looking for the expertise and experience of this group. I’ve been asked to chair a golf fundraiser for four local hospitals that will use three different courses at the same club (Medinah in Illinois). I know we’ll use a scramble format to keep things moving but I’m looking for some ideas around golf itself. Of course we have the traditional 

• closest to the pin
• longest drive
• longest putt

But im looking for other ideas that you may have experienced.  I’m also considering stableford scoring to reduce the potential for sandbagging indexes. I’m assuming most of the crowd will be leisure players that don’t play a lot or have an official index.  Also, Medinah has one well known course “Dubsdread” that experienced golfers like to play. Is it worth switching this one to a traditional round for the players and award low net and low gross?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Rosey31]

The first thing I would do is understand why you are holding the event. If this is to raise as much money as possible, I wouldn't worry about sandbagging and focus on filling the event, side games, and keeping pace of play going. If you really want to keep people honest then you could do 2-man teams and pair 2 teams on each hole. 

To keep pace, I would make bogey max. To make money you can sell things like mulligans, putting string, gimmies etc. Is this a single day event and you are filling up 3 courses or is this over a couple days?

I would also work with the Pro there as they should have some great ideas as well. Plus, since they will be scoring it you won't want to make it too complicated for them. 

[Hacker60521]

3 hours ago, Rosey31 said:

The first thing I would do is understand why you are holding the event. If this is to raise as much money as possible, I wouldn't worry about sandbagging and focus on filling the event, side games, and keeping pace of play going. If you really want to keep people honest then you could do 2-man teams and pair 2 teams on each hole. 

To keep pace, I would make bogey max. To make money you can sell things like mulligans, putting string, gimmies etc. Is this a single day event and you are filling up 3 courses or is this over a couple days?

I would also work with the Pro there as they should have some great ideas as well. Plus, since they will be scoring it you won't want to make it too complicated for them. 

Thanks @Rosey31 for your reply. The event is on one day over three courses so it’s a big event. The goal is to raise funds for four hospitals that are all part of the same affiliation. This is the first year doing a combined event rather than having each hospital do their own. 
 

I think the level of golfers will be all over the place. And to your point I don’t want to turn this into a six hour death march. So if the first goal is to raise money the second goal will be to keep a good pace of play. We will definitely be looking to the course for their thoughts on what has worked well from their experience: But this is such a diverse group I was hoping for ideas or suggestions from their combined experience. For example I completely forgot about buying the putting string. That’s a great one. 

 

[AccrualGamer]

Sounds like a blast for the golfers, but a nightmare to host. Make sure you have a veteran volunteer at each course that can assist the golfers with any issues that arise.

I highly recommend implementing a two-putt max for every hole. If the group misses the first putt, then it is an automatic two-putt. Greatly speeds up the round. 

Your goal is to raise money, so sell as much extra "trash" as you can. Usually, you could sell a mulligan and a red tee for an extra $20-$30 donation. 

Ask retailers around the area for freebies that you can auction off through an online auction for the event. Most courses in the area should donate a free round to auction off. Golf stores will usually give you free clubs.

 

[fixyurdivot]

You might also want to check with the course pro staff/shop manager.  They should be able to provide some suggestions as well based on experience.  If it's largely charity, with a wide cross-section of players and capabilities, I say keep it simple and just add a few wrinkles like you have already noted; KP's LD, LP and maybe fewest putts.

One company tournament I used to play had complimentary one free roll, throw, and kick that could be used anytime during the round.  For instance, players in a sand trap and has no experience hitting out of sand, he/she can use one of the options for that shot.  They also offered additional roll/throw/kicks for a donation ($5 each back then, 1980's dollars ). Some of the 19th hole stories on how these were used were quite entertaining.

Kudo's to you for taking on the role, good luck, and let us know how it all turns out.

[OdinSnipes414]

@Jordan ODIN Golfgot any pointers for putting together a shindig of sorts!

[Hacker60521]

On 1/31/2024 at 12:27 PM, AccrualGamer said:

Sounds like a blast for the golfers, but a nightmare to host. Make sure you have a veteran volunteer at each course that can assist the golfers with any issues that arise.

I highly recommend implementing a two-putt max for every hole. If the group misses the first putt, then it is an automatic two-putt. Greatly speeds up the round. 

Your goal is to raise money, so sell as much extra "trash" as you can. Usually, you could sell a mulligan and a red tee for an extra $20-$30 donation. 

Ask retailers around the area for freebies that you can auction off through an online auction for the event. Most courses in the area should donate a free round to auction off. Golf stores will usually give you free clubs.

 

Thanks @AccrualGamer  I hope the event will be fun, and to your point it’s to raise money. You definitely raised some new ideas - especially around gifts / freebies. I’ve never been afraid to ask and the worst anyone will say is no. Much appreciated 

[Hacker60521]

On 1/31/2024 at 7:28 PM, fixyurdivot said:

You might also want to check with the course pro staff/shop manager.  They should be able to provide some suggestions as well based on experience.  If it's largely charity, with a wide cross-section of players and capabilities, I say keep it simple and just add a few wrinkles like you have already noted; KP's LD, LP and maybe fewest putts.

One company tournament I used to play had complimentary one free roll, throw, and kick that could be used anytime during the round.  For instance, players in a sand trap and has no experience hitting out of sand, he/she can use one of the options for that shot.  They also offered additional roll/throw/kicks for a donation ($5 each back then, 1980's dollars ). Some of the 19th hole stories on how these were used were quite entertaining.

Kudo's to you for taking on the role, good luck, and let us know how it all turns out.

Thanks @fixyurdivot. I like the free toss idea. I’d gladly pay $5 to toss my ball out of a deep trap! The event is in September, and I’ll try to remember to report back! Thanks.