Playing a round of golf naturally builds rapport and camaraderie. With its leisurely pace, scenic outdoor settings and frequent pauses for conversation and refreshment, it’s an activity with the team building built right in. No wonder so many planners take advantage of the networking and friendship-enhancing opportunities inherent in the game. Indeed, building golf into the agenda is often a must, both for the delegates who look forward to that after-lunch tee time as well as the incentive groups that consider a golf getaway the ultimate reward.
Fortunately for both groups, golf never takes a break in balmy Florida. Even in the northern third of the state, which experiences a seasonal change in winter, daytime highs rarely dip below the 50s—a temperature that might make Floridians shiver but everyone else in North America snicker.
Notes Cathy Harbin, general manager of The Slammer & Squire and The King & Bear, two championship golf courses at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, “When a temperature is freezing to us, someone from the Northeast is thinking about whether or not they want to wear shorts.”
Golf shorts, of course, no higher than just above the knee, please.
Find Your Fairway
For some groups, golf is definitely the star of the after-meeting show. You know the type—those who figure every moment away from the golf course is a moment wasted. For them, all you have to do is book the tee time and turn them loose.
But the majority of your golf planning will probably involve attendees who just want to relax, network and sink a few putts when the meeting’s over. There may be some who will be picking up a club for the first time, in which case the degree of difficulty and the course’s conditions definitely come into play. A general rule of thumb to follow is that private clubs tend to be more difficult—because their members play more often—while resort courses tend to be more “golfer-friendly,” although many of Florida’s top golf resorts offer a mix of layouts or have the ability to make a tough course easier for less-skilled players.
The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club north of Tampa, for example, has four championship golf courses, including Copperhead, which hosts the PGA tour, and two Highlands courses that are “a little bit more forgiving, so they’re not necessarily quite as challenging, but still give guests the variety they’re looking for,” says Doug Schmidt, Innisbrook’s director of golf public relations.
At Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Northwest Florida, the Baytowne Golf Club, one of four courses, was revamped a few years ago specifically to accommodate group needs, with “junior tees” installed to shorten the distances to the holes. Other courses make similar accommodations, allowing high-handicappers and beginners to tee off from more “forward” positions, ahead of the water hazards, roughs and extra-long stretches that better players contend with from the “back” tees.
“It’s something you can do with people who don’t play a whole lot of golf because the junior tees are so much closer,” says Craig Falanga, Sandestin’s director of resort activities, marketing and membership sales. “You don’t have to be a great player to play from that set of tees, so it’s more a fun team-building experience.”
Getting Into the Swing
If your name is Tiger Woods, your golf game is called “stroke play”—that is, you’re on your own, way ahead of the pack. But if you’re part of a convention or incentive group, your game is probably “scramble,” wherein a four-person team—usually composed of players of varying abilities—plays the same ball, choosing the best shot of four at each hole and teeing off from there.
“It’s a format that gives everyone a chance to play and participate, but without the pressure to perform,” Harbin says. “Even for the competitive players, there is an opportunity to shine because they get to show off for the rest of the group.”
If everyone on the team is a competitive player, though, they might play a version of scramble called “shamble,” with everyone playing their own ball from the tee, or for the more serious golfers, “best ball,” which is similar to stroke play except that the team scores as a whole.
But these traditional styles of play aren’t the only ways to include golf in the itinerary.
Fun and Games
Most clubs and resort courses have driving ranges for those who want to practice their swing and on-site pros to coach novices, while more experienced players hit the links.
If your aim is to keep the group together, PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens has an interesting approach.
“Course play can be offered along with several group clinic options ranging from beginning golf to specialty clinics focused on different phases of the game,” says Chris Berry, director of golf. “The activities can take place simultaneously, with all groups ending at the 19th hole and a slide show to recap the day’s fun.”
When dealing with less experienced players who might be part of a scramble team, PGA National also keeps morale boosted with special prizes, including awards for “longest drive,” “shortest drive,” “best swing” and—for those who really don’t get the game at all—“most creative swing” and “most lost balls.”
Many resorts also have special golf activities that don’t rely on skill level at all. Sandestin, for example, offers team-building games such as the Relay Race, wherein team members are staggered from the tee along the fairway to the hole and must get the ball to the next person by driving, putting or even throwing it if they have to.
If meetings last all day, your group can still hit the links at night with some version or another of “glow in the dark” play, featuring illuminated balls and glow sticks to line the fairway and mark tees.
