While an increasing number of attendees may prefer a visit to the spa when out of session, golf remains important as a relationship-builder and team-building tool for groups.
“When you get people in the fresh air for five hours it provides a great break from meetings, gets them reenergized and provides lots of other benefits,” says Robert Todd, director of golf services at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.
Some of the other attributes include socialization, networking, team building, friendly competition and providing a casual environment for client marketing.
“Golf is one of the best ways for business people to interact face-to-face and forge lasting beneficial relationships,” says Georgie Fenton, tournament director of the 36th annual Killebrew-Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament at Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, one of the nation’s longest-running charity/corporate sponsored tournaments.
In addition to 18-hole tournaments, golf event experiences encompass instruction clinics, skills competitions, celebrity appearances, golf-themed cocktail parties and night golf, to name a few.
Format Matters
An appealing aspect of golf is the varied game formats that encourage participation by a wide variety of players with different skill levels.
“Selecting the correct tournament format is important because it makes golf enjoyable for all types of players and it can help with time issues,” says Scott Richardson, head golf professional at LaPlaya Beach and Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.
Like most golf directors, Richardson says the “Scramble” format is the most desired when a group has a collection of novices and highly skilled players.
The Scramble format allows a team of up to four players to select the best shot in a series of individual hits.
“If advanced players dominate a group,” Richardson says, “popular choices include the ‘Shamble’, ‘Best Ball’ and ‘Modified Stableford’, which afford golfers the opportunity to hit their own ball.”
The Shamble allows for selection of the best tee shot on the team, and then everyone plays their own ball till they hole out. Best Ball permits a team member to play his/her own ball throughout the round and record a score on each hole. Modified Stableford is a high reward/high risk format with a scoring system that awards higher points for eagles and birdies and no points or minus points for pars, bogeys and double bogeys.
Groups pressed for time have options like the “Step Aside Scramble,” also called the “Florida Scramble” or “Dropout Scramble.”
“I like the Step Aside because it’s challenging, fun and increases playing speed,” Richardson says.
In a Step Aside Scramble all four players tee off on each hole and then one player has to sit out for each succeeding shot. For example, if players A, B, C and D tee off and player A’s drive is selected as the best drive, then he/she “steps aside” for the next shot.
“One of my favorite formats to speed up play is the ‘Modified Pinehurst’,” says Dave Harner, director of golf at French Lick Resort in French Lick, Ind.
A Modified Pinehurst format has two-person teams. Once the best drive is selected, team members play alternate shots into the hole. PageBreak
Get Creative
To add sizzle to a tournament, incorporating exciting food, beverage and entertainment components engages golfers regardless of their skill level.
“We’ll use a margarita bar somewhere on the golf course with a mariachi band performing at the clubhouse to lighten things up and create a festive atmosphere to a tournament,” Harner says.
At the Little Creek Casino Resort/Salish Cliffs Golf Club in Shelton, Wash., David Black, the resort’s sales manager, says a six-hole night golf tournament is a successful event.
“We illuminate the fairways with lights and candles and set up food tents with items like pasta and burgers and shakes on different holes,” Black says. “Everyone always enjoys the experience, even serious golfers.”
For groups with large numbers of novice, weekend golfers or even apathetic non-golfers, trick shot entertainers like Dennis Walters, Divot the Clown, Peter Johncke and Chuck Hiter provide dynamic shows with lots of humor, golf tips, inspirational stories and amazing golf shots.
Other suggestions include a putting contest with cash prizes under $100, a mini-shotgun tournament with 40 or fewer golfers and a skills contest with traditional events for skilled golfers such as longest drive, straightest drive and longest putt, and gag events for novices like shortest drive, most swings and misses and golf jargon trivia.
Team-Building Time
Some event planners are finding that fewer of their attendees are purists of the sport. While they may like golf, they often don’t want to spend five or six hours on the golf course playing in a tournament.
How do you design a great golf experience when an 18-hole tournament is not in the equation?
“The primary goals in team building are to create a sense of camaraderie, enhance communication between the participants and, most of all, have fun,” Black says. “You can accomplish all of these things without a tournament format.
“With some creative thought and good communication between the planner and golf director, logistics issues can be kept to a minimum,” he continues.
Some popular team-building activities, Black says, are night golf, putting contests, golf simulator competitions, contests on the range, instruction outings and three-, six- and nine-hole tournaments.
“One of the easiest team-building events to plan is a skills contest at the range, which would typically last no longer than 90 minutes,” Richardson says. “Teams are comprised of advanced and skill players with the emphasis on fun and working together.” PageBreak
Saving Time
A growing number of commitments and a sluggish economy have forced planners to trim programs and deal with increasing budget and time constraints.
While ancillary golf events like clinics and scaled-down tournaments are becoming more acceptable, the 18-hole tournament, in a variety of formats, is still the most popular outing for golf-loving groups.
“Everyone dreads the six-hour round of golf,” Turning Stone Resort Casino’s Todd says. “It messes up the itinerary for the planners, players end up being rushed for evening activities and eventually a level of frustration sets in that can have an effect on overall enjoyment.
“Speed of play is an important part of any tournament golf experience and should not be overlooked,” he adds.
Todd suggests these simple, easy-to-implement ways to increase the pace of play in a tournament:
- Select a timesaving tournament format.
- Meet with the course superintendent and make sure pin placements are not too difficult and not in time-consuming areas of the green.
- Organize player assistants and/or staff members to monitor play and politely encourage a faster pace of play.
- Place volunteers as spotters on difficult holes with lots of hazards so balls can be found more quickly.
- Provide good, easy-to-follow on-course signage.
- Furnish a list to novices of ways to save time and speed up play on the golf course.
- Pay close attention to pairings, making sure you don’t have an overload of novices playing in front of skilled, experienced golfers.
Venue Trends
In recent years, golf resorts have added a lengthy list of off-the-course diversions like spas, casinos and infinity pools, which add to their appeal.
Selecting the right venue for a golf-loving group can have a direct effect on attendance and morale.
“Golfers get excited to play high-profile courses they can’t play at home,” says Sam Baker, founder and CEO of Haversham & Baker Golfing Expeditions, a highly-respected, Cincinnati-based, 21-year-old golf travel company that has planned travel services for more than 1,200 golf clubs.
Baker says meeting-oriented resorts with three or more courses such as Pinehurst Resort (North Carolina), Kiawah Island Resort (South Carolina) and American Club (Wisconsin) are the types of properties skilled golfers love to play.
While traditional golf destinations like San Diego, Phoenix/Scottsdale and Orlando attract throngs of groups who want to meet and play golf, new options are arriving on the scene.
Winter sports resort areas like Sun Valley, Idaho; Vail, Colo.; and Northern Michigan have opened golf courses in recent years, offering groups a unique alternative with a golf season that runs from May to November.
For budget-challenged groups, emerging destinations with competitive greens fees and impressive course inventories include Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., Gulf Shores, Ala., Seattle and Mesquite, Nev.
Internationally, Baker predicts, Gleneagles Resort in Scotland, site of the 2014 Ryder Cup matches, is sure to be a coveted resort golf experience in the coming months.
Edward Schmidt Jr. is a freelance writer who loves to roam fairways to escape his keyboard.
