10 Great Tips for Successful Golf Events

In the last 12 months leading tournament software provider Golf Genius has managed over 445,000 golf events, involving more than 17 million golfers for 7,800 golf clubs in over 38 different countries.

In the last 12 months leading tournament software provider Golf Genius has managed over 445,000 golf events, involving more than 17 million golfers for 7,800 golf clubs in over 38 different countries. This incredible in-depth experience has allowed the company to truly understand what it takes to run a successful golf event.

A recent 59 Club research campaign of more than 100 International customers of Golf Genius scored them over 75% in terms of adding ‘More Fun’ to the golf events. More Fun is easy to overlook under the pressure of setting up a golf event – but the customer is king, and the product golfers want most from a golf club is the golf event. It is important not to let the business of creating a golf event take over from the business of great customer experience.

The perfect golf event needs to be both planned and personal – not always the easiest of combinations to deliver – and it needs to be professionally presented before, during and after. Many times, golf clubs forget about the post-event marketing – missing an opportunity to present the day and cement the memory in the minds of members, guests and clients; therein building loyalty and securing future revenue.

Golf Genius has utilised its experience of running events and working with Golf Clubs to create 10 Tips to Genius Golf Events – a simple guide to the needs and activities associated with a club hosting consistently great golf events. Not just once a year, but every time golf is played – golf needs to be enjoyable and compelling to grow participation and drive more revenue.
This Golf Event Guide is available FREE from Golf Genius, as is a FREE demo of any event for a golf club wishing to consider improving their golf events with Golf Genius.

Getting the balance between planned, professional and personal is not easy – and needs to involve some technology to cover the bases and to allow consistency of execution. Getting the balance right is important and Golf Genius looks to marry technology with tradition to deliver the right ‘brand’ experience for the club and its customers.

There are three distinct time phases for a golf event – [1] Pre-Event Set Up & Planning, [2] Day of Play Execution & [3] Post Event Communication / Marketing.

Technology / software needs to be used to get the workload planned and manageable, enabling events to be planned to a club’s requirement or brand.

Pre-Event Set Up

Step One – Planning / Event Branding – the key question is what do you want your golf day to be – it is the start of the process? Is it a traditional club event or a more modern, interactive experience that is more in keeping with your club and brand?

Step Two – The Event Template – how do you want to run your days? It is best to have a plan – a customer / guest journey from invitation to results and everything in between. It is important to not just ‘let it happen as it did last time’ – be proactive and map out your ‘perfect golf day’.

Step Three – Registration / Player Enrolment – ‘it will be alright on the day’ never works – the more you can get to know about your customers – GDPR compliant of course – the less you have to do on the day when you frankly do not have the time. Encourage players to confirm their details – the more you know in advance the less time it takes on the day.

Step Four – Sponsorship / Selling – why not make money from golf days or secure more golf days from clients by increasing their exposure at the event. Scorecards, scoring apps, leaderboards, print and signage are now very easily personalised for the extra touch for players and clients. Exposure which is valued means that is it also chargeable at a premium.

Step Five – Event Central / Communication – where do players get info on the upcoming event? Usually a call to the pro shop or office. Valuable time taken away from other things. Ease the burden on staff, free their time by being proactive in your communication to competitors – certainly emails and maybe even a portal as an event hub. Make them feel important and show them you are fantastically well organised for their arrival.

Day of Play

Step Six – Welcome / Registration – the first ‘pinch point’ of the day – everyone arrives at once. If you know who’s coming you can get prepared and point players in the right direction. Use materials to inform players of the day’s requirements and itineraries – let them read about the day over their ‘bacon butty’ rather than discuss it at the registration desk.

Step Seven – Personalisation – knowing who is coming is one thing but showing it is another. There is nothing better than great event materials personalised to the player. It makes them feel different and makes you different from the rest.

Step Eight – Play / Formats – share the wealth by making it more than one tournament within the event. Individual / Team / Skins / Birdies etc help increase the winners and everyone likes to win. Change up the format – there is much more than just Best Two from Four!

Step Nine – Fast Reliable Results / Leaderboards – the second ‘pinch point’ of the day is to get scores out quickly and reliably. There is lots of pressure to name the winner or winners, but no-one wants a fast result which is wrong. Usually discovered at the prize giving, this can be a nightmare as you’ve put in all the hard work for all the wrong reasons! Instead, live leaderboards can keep players and organisers up-to-date on scores and help to avoid any mishaps.

Post Event

Step 10 – Memories / Event Re-Marketing – it’s been a great day so use emails / social media with the results and photos to engage with the players. Let them see the results and find themselves online. Photos are the new currency for enjoyment – we cannot always win but there may be a great photo of your swing looking like a decent golfer!

Once an event template is built – and available to be delivered ‘in-house’ – all of the team will be able to concentrate more on the customer;

“We have been delighted with the positive impact Golf Genius has had on our business this
year. The administration of golf days has often been a slightly laborious process but the
Golf Genius software has changed that and allowed us to focus on adding to the experience
we offer. Our clients have been similarly impressed in the addition of Golf Genius to our
service. The branding options make the experience consistent and the scoring and results
process are much more efficient. We are excited about how the software will develop and
definitely give it a thumbs up!”
– Stuart Gillett, General Manager at Golf at Goodwood.

“We have been using Golf Genius for almost two years and I can confidently say that using the software is a must for clubs looking to save time managing a tournament,” said Rob McGuirk [Princes] “It’s simple, effective and affordable,”

Once the event calendar is built it is simply copied or ‘cloned’ for future use – month on month or year on year – the more events done should result in less work rather than more with Golf Genius. It ensures you are populated not just with your events but also your ‘brand’ and club values.

Events are the brand carriers for each and every golf club – golf is the product of the golf club.
Golf Genius is offering all clubs the opportunity to get their hands on a FREE Guide to Great Golf Events as well as a demo of their next club or Open event.

Simply contact Craig Higgs [e] [email protected] for Genius Golf Event Guide or request a FREE demo using this email address.