Even if you’re a golfer, organizing a tournament for a dozen foursomes—let alone a 144-player scramble—is a daunting task. Thankfully, Golf Town Tournaments is here to help you determine all you need to make your event a birdie with a chance for an eagle.

You’ve decided a golf tournament is the way to go. After all, during the last two years, the sport has seen a massive upsurged in popularity. Suddenly all your friends are playing golf—and running a tournament as a fundraiser for your organization—whether it is a charity, sports organization, or other enterprise—makes a lot of sense.

But if you’ve never launched a golf tournament, you’re probably shaking your head and hitting the Internet to find a YouTube video that explains the nuances of how to get one up and running.

Thankfully, Golf Town and our technology partner, Golf Town Tournaments, has you covered when it comes to all the things you need to know to make your event a success.

Timing

When should you start? The easy answer is it is never too early to consider launching your tournament, recruiting friends or colleagues to assist in key roles, and starting to get registration for your event. You’ll also want to determine a budget that helps you achieve your goals. That will also make it easier to pick the appropriate course for your tournament.

Gather your supporters

You’ll need a lot of help putting a golf tournament together, especially if it is a larger fundraiser with a significant number of players. It turns out there’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to developing a tournament. You’re going to want to recruit volunteers and provide them with tasks that will help your event progress smoothly.

Venue

Of course, you’re going to start with finding the appropriate course for your event, and that’s a task to consider early, especially given the popularity of golf in the past few years. You’re going to want to consider the details you need for your tournament. What is the price you’re charging for entry that allows you to generate money for your cause or charity? Do you need 18 holes or perhaps a facility with two courses? What kind of amenities do you need to host a dinner after the tournament? Or perhaps the course has an outdoor facility, or maybe even offers boxed lunches for those participating? There’s a lot that goes into determining the course that suits your tournament.

After you’ve picked your course, you’ll want to stay in touch with the staff to let them know how many players you’ll have participating, especially if that number is larger or smaller than you initially anticipated.

Create a tournament website

Golf Town Tournaments is a great place to start when it comes to building a website for your event that makes registration, collecting fees from participants and managing your tournament finances. The site allows you to easily manage most of the key administrative considerations for your tournament, makes collecting money from players (and refunding it if they can’t attend) simple—all through an intuitive online platform.

Sponsors

Finding sponsors for your tournament will go a long way to helping your event achieve success. Consider engaging your potential sponsors in your tournament in some fashion, providing them with a reason to be involved. These social situations often have a significant value, especially to community-based businesses who are involved in financially supporting your tournament. For example, a local insurance company may offer support, but want to be at the tournament to welcome guests and offer some insight into their services. The Golf Town Tournaments software provides you with an opportunity to showcase your sponsors, providing them with more visibility and a greater return on their investment in your event. Also consider engaging Golf Town’s Chips In program, a unique charity initiative that supports non-profit groups of all sizes across Canada.

What’s the game?

Finally, consider an appropriate game for your tournament. Most will use some sort of scramble format, allowing players who aren’t necessarily serious golfers to contribute without feeling pressured to play well throughout the day. But consider other fun options—closest to the pin and long drive contests, for sure, but also have long putt options and other engaging activities that aren’t always a pure test of skill.