Filed under: How To, How to plan a golf event, golf club rentals, rental golf clubs
From Rob Hard (at About.com),
The golf event is a favorite of nearly every corporation and organization. And why not? For corporations, a golf event allows hosts to have a captive audience with decision makers for as much time as an entire day. For non-profits and associations, it also serves as a key activity that creates opportunities to interact with their membership or even raise a significant amount of money for the cause.
For event planners, planning business meetings at a golf course is a nice professional challenge. The following provides some guidelines for a one day program.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Planning should begin about three to six months prior to event.
Here’s How:
Identify the maximum number of attendees. Golf events are popular, and players who have participated in past events always enjoy returning. However, there are some good guidelines to consider:
An 18 hole course can handle a maximum of 144 players, but that will create long delays in play and limits tournament formats.
72 players (18 foursomes) will create a nice pace of play.
Player count should include at least one corporate representative in each pairing, which will impact the total external guest count.
Account the non-golfing staff who will be present at the event, as this will impact overall costs.
Narrow a golf site location. For most golf meetings, an event planner will select a course in the community where the guests already live. Whether public or private, golf courses and amenities are differ, so keep the following in mind:
Consider guest travel times to/from the course.
Inspect the clubhouse locker rooms, banquet and meeting facilities.
Inspect the course and confirm that the club has sufficient equipment, golf rentals, and carts.
Confirm the club’s course maintenance schedule.
Get to know the club sales manager, catering manager and golf pro.
Develop an event agenda. It’s critical to make sure that the narrowed golf site has dates that work for you and your guests. Then, the event should create an agenda that works. Group tee times are usually held with an 8 a.m. or 1 p.m. start time; 1 p.m. is the most popular. A sample itinerary may include the following:
9:30 a.m. – Registration & Breakfast
10:30 a.m. – Welcome Remarks & Business Meeting
Noon – Putting Greens Open, Box Lunch
1 p.m. – Shotgun Start
4:30 p.m. – Cocktails & Hors D’oeuvres
5:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony
Select the food and beverage. Catering costs can quickly add up when you’re looking to provide enough food and beverage for an entire day of activities. The following tips will please the guests and keep costs in check:
Choose a continental breakfast buffet and upgrade with breakfast bars; order extra bottles of water charged on consumption.
Choose box lunches with multiple sandwich options.
Cover all beverage cart expenses and make sure carts are fully stocked, including liquor and snacks.
Plan reception food as a theme; for example, BBQ or Italian.
Cover reception “bar” expenses on consumption, up to three hours.
Make the business meeting a highlight. While it’s fun for everyone to have a golf outing, it’s vital that the meeting planner emphasize the importance of business content. Ironically, most invited guests expect to hear a relevant presentation, while some hosting executives try their best to avoid any formal meeting. The following ideas may help satisfy both:
Have the hosting executive deliver opening remarks for a maximum of 15 minutes.
Invite the company CEO or another C-level executive to deliver an update.
Hire an outside motivational speaker.
Recognize everyone in attendance.
Select the tournament format. The most popular golf format is the Scramble, which allows each player to tee off and then play is continued from the best tee shot. This continues until the ball is holed. Another popular format is Best Ball which allows all players to play their own ball, but only the best score in a foursome is recorded.
Add contests and prizes. Golfers really enjoy competing for prizes. Of course, upon arrival, all golfers should receive corporate gifts from the host company:
Popular merchandise includes sleeves of golf balls (place those on carts), golf shirts, and golf accessories.
Include special event contests, such as longest drive (par 5 hole), shortest drive (par 5 hole), closest to the pin (first par 3 hole in the back 9), and longest putt (use the putting green for this).
Purchase tournament prizes and gift certificates to the golf shop.
Identify a low score gag gift (e.g., tennis rackets).
Confirm your budget. It’s not unusual for a golf meeting with 100 or so attendees to cost anywhere from $15,000 – $30,000. Expense items will include the following:
Green fees per person.
Food and beverage.
Tournament gifts and prizes.
Hole-in-one contest insurance.
Signage and promotional materials.
Guest speaker honorarium and fees.
Gratuities.
Invite guests. Online event registration forms are becoming more popular for inviting and registering golfers for golf meetings. Important information on the invitation and RSVP includes the following:
Clearly state the date, time, and location.
Provide an event agenda.
Include RSVP contact name, phone, and e-mail.
Request for golf club rentals if needed, left or right-handed. If the golf course doesn’t have enough rentals, contact http://www.golfrentalandsales.com/. They rent golf clubs out nationwide. Their rental golf clubs are superb.
Request for handicap information, if available.
Determine the pairings. Luckily for the event planner, the inviting hosts are the ones who will put the final foursomes together. Still, a good event planner should understand the following considerations:
Pairings in a Scramble should consider player handicaps.
VIP guests should be placed at holes 1, 18, 2, and 17 (closest to the clubhouse at start).
Pairings are due to the golf course 24 hours prior to event; course should understand and anticipate the possibility of significant changes on morning of event.
A host player should be with every foursome.
Tips:
Invite 72 or 108 players. Depending on the course, 18-holes of golf will take more than 4 hours. The golf club sales executive will advise that their 18 hole course can handle 144 maximum players; however, it could take up to an additional hour of play and your guests will not enjoy the painfully slow pace of play, and they will be frustrated by beverage cart delays as well.
Avoid 27 hole courses. Typically, these courses allow for more players, but usually offer an 18-hole championship course with a 9 hole fun, yet challenging course. Depending on the course, 18-holes of golf will take about 5 hours. If you’re planning a larger event with more players, it’s best to find a 36-hole course that includes two championship courses.
Rely on a private club membership discount. Most executives already have a club membership, and their standing at the club will help with negotiating flexibility with fees, tee times and other services.
http://eventplanning.about.com/od/eventplanningbasics/ht/golfmeeting.htm/
http://www.golfrentalandsales.com/
Filed under: golf club rental, golf club rentals, golf event planning, rental golf clubs
New Club Rental Service Offers Suplemental Help to Golf Courses
ATLANTA , GA. – International Golf Rental & Sales Incorporated (IGRS, Inc) announced today that it is expanding to serve all of the United States. Low inventory is not longer a worry for golf courses around the country. This innovative service allows golf courses to reach out to their IGRS rental partner to help supplement their large corporate outing and tournament rental needs, without the hassle of committing to a major inventory investment.
The new service was formed in early 2006 after noticing the huge dilemma that golf courses and corporations faced when putting on large golf outings and tournaments. The company’s founder noticed that many golf courses normally only needed a limited amount of rental clubs and didn’t have to make a major investment in new clubs each year. Only when abnormally large outings came to their course was there a need for extra equipment.
“We don’t try to replace a golf course’s rental inventory, we only try to help supplement it when large outings put a strain on their supply,” says Trevor McCandless, President of IGRS, Inc. “With our extensive inventory, partnering golf courses never have to turn away large outings or scramble to find sets from miles around. With one call or email, we can serve all of their rental club needs.”
Golf courses from all around have taken the proactive approach of this service, allowing their clients to choose top of the line golf clubs for their outings. The TPC of Michigan recently rented over 50 sets for one of their larger outings. With IGRS, Inc, they were able to have the clubs shipped directly to their golf course the day before the outing. At the end of the day, the golf clubs were picked back up by IGRS and its carriers.
IGRS, Inc adds top of the line and innovative clubs to their collection everyday. Whether catering to a large golf resort in upstate New York or the local links in your neighborhood, IGRS provides a service that has long been missing in the golf industry.
For consumer information on rental and sales please go to http://www.golfrentalandsales.com/.
Fact Sheet
International Golf Rental & Sales, Inc. (IGRS) was formed in 2006 by Trevor McCandless.
The purpose of the company was to help supplement golf course rental inventories in times of supply strain.
Since its initially launch, IGRS has been able to serve hundreds of clients in the United States.
Each and every golf item that IGRS carries is 100% original. All equipment is either “new” or in “like new” condition. Each item goes through an elaborate process of quality control before it is even posted to be rented by one of IGRS’s members.
FAQ
How do we get the clubs?
Select any available set from our name brand selection. You can rent sets on either a daily or weekend basis. Sets are delivered to your golf course.
How long will it take to receive the clubs after you receive my request?
As soon as we receive your request, we check our inventory to confirm the availability of the item you requested. If available, you will receive your item on the date specified. If the item is not available, we will contact you. We encourage you to place orders 2 to 5 days before the rental date, but understand the nature of business travelers and accommodate last minute orders.
Who is charged for item rental?Item rental, shipping and insurance fees can be charged to either the golf course or the corporate client. Charges occur on the date an item is delivered.
Do I have to pay to have them picked up when I am finished?
For each item ordered, there is a round-trip shipping fee of $19.95.
What if the item we’re renting becomes dirty or breaks?We hope you care for our items as if you were borrowing them from a friend, and that you’ll return the item in much the same way you received it. We understand that there will be some everyday “wear and tear” and there is no additional fee assessed in these instances. However, if the item is abused, broken beyond everyday “wear and tear” or lost, your account will be charged a reasonable repair or replacement fee. Some items, however, are not easily replaceable and a fee, up to full retail value, may be charged.
What if we want to keep the clubs?
If you fall in love with a club you have rented and want to buy it, we may give you a chance to buy it. If you have a club you are interested in purchasing, email us at info@golfrentalandsales.com, and we will consider the sale. Several factors will be considered to determine a price for this item including age of the item, condition and/or limited availability in the marketplace. Not all items are available for purchase. If you agree to our price, it will be billed to your credit card on file for your convenience.
