Plan Like a Pro...A Golf Pro

Tournament planning can be overwhelming. It's challenging to know where to begin with so many moving parts. Start by selecting a date or season. Next, choose your venue. One major factor in selecting the venue is the golf professional and his or her ability to effectively guide you through the tournament planning process.

While free planning resources are often helpful, consider consulting a course golf professional or on-site tournament director before you finalize all the details of your outing. The course pro will be able to help you plan the intricacies of your event based on the amenities and restrictions of the particular venue. If a third party event planner is utilized, they can meet with the golf pro on your behalf.

PGA Professional, Jeff Turner of Rockledge Country Club prefers to meet one-on-one with tournament directors before they fine-tune the event.

"If I can work with them before they plan the event, I like to suggest they do things in this order.

1) Pick a venue and secure a cost

2) Find 1-2 solid sponsors

3) Decide on prizes for the players

4) Decide how much money will go to their charity or cause

5) LASTLY- using the above info, determine the entry fee per player

So many times, I’ve had a director come to me with the entry fee first and try to “squeeze” the event into it. They then must cut corners on food, prizes and golf fees to try and keep the donation to charity up.

If the director did research ahead of planning the entry fee, they would save major headaches!!

I also like to suggest they operate with a “committee” to delegate the duties. Having a person in charge of prizes, one in charge of collecting entry fees, etc. allows the tournament director the ability to maintain their sanity and get more accomplished.

Lastly, I’ve found that players remember two things when attending an event.

1)The condition of the golf course (pick a good one)

2) What they get in their goodie bag!

They forget the cost of the event if they have been treated to a great course and feel like they received value for their entry fee."

Save valuable time and resources by meeting with golf pros to determine their style of communication, expectations and services to be sure their venue is a good match for your organization.

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Rockledge Country Club is a private 18-hole golf course that offers a challenging game with a quick pace of play. New greens on every hole are accompanied by a lush, old Florida landscape of mature oaks and palm trees which line our fairways. This course is as undeniably beautiful as it is challenging. Rockledge is located in Brevard County, Florida and is part of the Palm Bay−Melbourne−Titusville Metropolitan area.

Learn more about hosting your tournament at Rockledge Country Club.