A certain number of attendees probably look forward to tee times as much as (or more than) the meeting program.
But you can have the whole group eager to hit the links, including those who have never played a stroke. It all depends on the creativity of the golf course, which in Northeast Florida, is stratospheric.
Take World Golf Village in St. Augustine, for example, boasting the World Golf Hall of Fame and two championship courses—Slammer & Squire and King & Bear. Golf is serious business here, yet check out some of the games they put together for groups: nine-inch-cup tournaments featuring generously wide holes; tournaments with wine stations at certain holes; the new footgolf, which involves a soccer ball kicked around the golf course; and that popular standby, glow golf.
“All of these things are a blast; they really bring out the kid in everyone,” says William McBroom, director of sales and marketing at the on-site Renaissance World Golf Village Resort, which features 101,000 square feet of event space. “People think of us for golf, but we really specialize in groups.”
In Ponte Vedra Beach, TPC Sawgrass includes the Players Stadium Course, home of the Players Championship, and Dye’s Valley Course, host of the Web.com Tour Championship.
Both are available for group events, with the adjacent Sawgrass Marriott offering more than 61,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Depending on the skill levels of the team members, groups here can stay on the putting green or go out on the course for a game of scramble, in which the best shot in a group of four gets counted.
Even rainy days are not a reason to forgo the golf course. During a recent rainout, a group of executives was asked to build their own signature hole—a la TPC’s signature 17th hole—and soon everyone was immersed in the task, using PVC pipe, cardboard and other materials. They then had to name the hole and pick a spokesperson to pitch the idea to a panel that judged its level of creativity.
“It was great to see all these executives down on their hands and knees and having fun,” says Kim Jones, TPC’s golf group and leisure sales manager.
Whether due to rain or time constraints, groups also can practice their swings with a simulator that can be brought into the clubhouse or hotel ballroom.