How to Plan a Golf Scramble
- 1). Contact golf courses in your area to locate one who can accommodate your tournament. See if you can negotiate a lower fee with the municipal course manager or general manager of the country club if you are running the scramble on behalf of a charity. Set up a date for the tournament. Plan for a rain date, if possible.
- 2). Contact a printer to set up and create advertising and tournament-related materials for the tournament, such as flyers, banners and placards. See if you can negotiate a lower price if the tournament is for a good cause. Include pertinent information such as tournament name, course location, date start name and contact information (phone number and email address). List other activities around the event, such as contests (like closest to pin and longest drive), awards ceremony or catered luncheon.
- 3). Create a list of rules that entrants need to follow as far as the tournament and the course is concerned. Include this information in any welcome packets you create to give to entrants. Advertise your tournament by placing flyers at area sporting goods and golf pro shops and leave blank sign-up sheets in these locations that can be mailed or faxed in. The sign-up sheet should include entrants' names, ages (if under 18 or older than 65) and handicap, if known; knowing the entrants' handicaps allows you to add handicaps to the team totals for teams of lesser ability, making the tournament more fair.
- 4). Place ads in local free publications and on websites. Contact local radio and television stations and newspapers to get the tournament listed on their event calendars. Obtain air time from the stations, if possible, to discuss the tournament and where the proceeds will go if the tournament benefits charitable organizations.
- 5). Arrange for a webmaster to create a website (or make one yourself using online software tools) for the tournament. Include pictures of the golf course and potential prizes. Create a link to the charity that is benefiting from the tournament or, better yet, have them create the site for the tournament as a page on their site.
- 6). Contact local businesses to discuss sponsorship opportunities and prize donations; many companies have budgets that allow them to donate items that can offered be as tournament prizes or raffled off as part of an auction. Consider trading spots in the tournament for corporate donations. Arrange for any sponsors' names to have banners or signage in strategic locations or have their logos added to advertising materials.
- 7). Contact local sports teams to see if you can get any of their past or present players to take part in the tournament. Contact local radio and television stations to see if any of their on-air talent would be interested in playing, even if at a reduced fee. Contact local talent agencies to see if any movie, television or music industry stars -- past or present -- live in the area and would lend their name to or participate in the event.
- 8). Arrange for a caterer (or with the club's kitchen) for food and drinks to be made available during the tournament and for any post-tournament meals and ceremonies. Consider having a couple of extra golf carts made available to drive around the course offering drinks to the players.
- 9). Hire assistants or get volunteers to help on the day of the tournament, such as set-up, greeting guests and post-tournament clean-up.
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