Halloween Golf Tournament Ideas
The air is getting cooler, the leaves are turning brown, and the kids have all gone back to school. It’s fall – and Halloween is approaching. Halloween is a great time to host a tournament because people will be on the lookout for something to do! Costumes are a great people-magnet because it can be so fun to come up with a great outfit that you want to show off in photographs or to friends. Hosting a tournament near Halloween is a perfect way to capitalize on the festive and spooky feelings surrounding the month of October.
Here are some wonderful and whimsical Halloween tournament ideas for your October tournament:
The Classic Costume Contest
Have a costume party! Your participants should arrive in costume and be ready to play the entire tournament as a zombie or princess or anything else they can come up with.
You can give prizes to the best costume(s) and to the winners of the tournament. Golfing in costumes is a great twist that will make guests interested – and might even get them to tell their friends.
The Themed Tournament
If you have a great Halloween theme idea, you can host a tournament with a theme. Invite your guests to wear costumes that go along with the theme! It could be something from pop culture, a classic staple like “pirates” or “ghosts,” or even something in line with the charity you are fundraising for. Imagine dressing up like animals and donating to an animal shelter or having a food and beverage theme and donating to a food bank! These are great ways to have participants really interact with your theme and make them feel involved in a cause.
Make sure your décor also reflects the theme of your tournament! Halloween staples like jack-o’-lanterns can be painted or carved to fit in with your big-picture idea. Keep with the theme and with the Halloween holiday!
The Classy Halloween Dinner
If you’re looking for something more sophisticated or your venue isn’t keen on the idea of having costumed folks on the course, forego the costumes and stick with a classic Halloween theme! While it might be a crazy holiday for kids, you can easily elevate the Halloween staples to fit a more sophisticated (yet still spooky) atmosphere.
The colors typically used in Halloween decorations are black, orange, and white. Imagine a rustic wood table with clean white place settings, black and white linen features, and hints of orange in flowers or place cards. Serve upscale, yet “spooky” items such as pigs in a blanket, seven-layer dip, and best of all, lady fingers. Give each item a quirky name if you do a buffet so that the joke isn’t missed by your guests. Alternatively, have a plated meal and let the subtle humor find its own way.
Activities for Kids
If you want to make this an event for the family, you’ll need some events for the younger kids. You can have little pumpkins ready and have the kids paint them and decorate them (hint: adults love doing this craft too!). You can also pre-paint golf balls orange and have the kids make jack-o’-lantern faces on them.
Don’t forget that a good spooky movie is always a hit! Pick something that is child-appropriate, but still has a Halloween theme.
For kid-friendly food, opt for spaghetti or hot dogs and have mud pie ready for dessert – the gummy worms in the cookie “dirt” are a real hit. Don't forget the CANDY!
Other Things to Keep in Mind
Run your event idea by your venue to see if they have rules about costumes and courses. Your golfers may still have to wear golf shoes with their costumes, and you should communicate that to them effectively. You may also want to set some ground rules about costumes and ban things like glitter and feather boas – let your guests know that their costumes shouldn’t leave a trace on the course!
On the day of the event, don’t forget to take a big group picture! Whether you are all dressed to the same theme or have a huge group of different costumes, it will be a great photograph that would be perfect to mail out in a thank you note.