13 Tournament Terrible Tales and How To Avoid Them
As a Halloween treat, here are 13 spooky tales of tournament woe (and how to avoid them at your tournament), contributed by our Tournament Directors.
Terrible Tale #1 – Not Enough Players to Spook
As a Regional Tournament Director of the Southern California, I see many disasters that result in sub-par experiences for guests, or even complete event failure. These disasters are typically generated from a lack of planning or inexperience regarding the process that goes into putting together a successful tournament. The most common disaster I have seen is when a tournament sets unrealistic goals for their first event.
Take, for instance, this worst-case scenario. A non-profit recently contacted me and explained that they were hosting their first fundraising tournament, but only 16 players had signed up. The tournament was in a week, and they had reserved a course for 120. They were trying to decide whether to cancel and forfeit their deposit or play with the 16 registered golfers.
Our Expert Advice
This nightmare scenario happens all the time. Typically a non-profit or corporation will book a tournament with the expectations that ‘if we book it, they will come.’ However, when planning a tournament, whether it’s your first time or the fiftieth, your mindset has to be instead, ‘if we build it, they will come.’
What's the difference? All your efforts should be put into building awareness around your upcoming tournament, which in turn builds attendance and attracts sponsors. Call donors, network, send out announcements, create concentrated marketing campaigns—and most importantly of all—use your connections. The most common attendee at any tournament is someone who has a connection to the event host or organization. Think of your committee members, board members, coordinators, volunteers, and regular donors as connections to the community, and utilize their networks to build attendance levels.
Finally, set realistic goals, especially if it's your first annual tournament. Tournaments are a great way to raise money, but it may take a few years before a tournament can reach its max potential. But it's important that, no matter how many players attend, you still host that tournament! Even with only 16 players, once you establish your tournament, you create a foundation of attendees to build upon the next year. With new players and new marketing efforts, your tournament can grow to a full field in just a few short years.
Terrible Tale #2 – The Case of the Wrong Date
We had a tournament director once who booked a course for a date in the spring. The contract was signed (with the correct date), the tournament was secured, and we began the process of marketing the event and signing up players. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until 10 days prior to the event date. The golf course called the tournament director for final arrangements and discovered that the date on all the marketing materials was incorrect.
The course and the players had different dates for the tournament! It was not only embarrassing, but a costly mistake, as the tournament ended up losing almost half of its players due to the marketing error.
Our Expert Advice
To avoid such mistakes in the future, the tournament director, my office, and the course decided to combine our future marketing efforts. Such collaboration provides another pair of eyes to glance over material and confirm the correct details are being delivered to the right people at the right time.
Terrible Tale #3 – Hole Sponsor Mayhem
It began perfectly. I thought that this was it – that finally the tournament would be a success. The field was full at 144 registered players, we had a title sponsor to underwrite the cost, and 18 hole sponsors lined up to be on-course to deliver the ultimate personal experience to the golfers. But then, thirty minutes before tee-off, all the hole sponsors arrived... all at once. Chaos ensued. In the end, the golfers were upset that the tournament tee'd off 20 minutes late, and the sponsors were angry about the total lack of organization. The chances were high that many of them would not be sponsoring the tournament again.
Our Expert Advice
The best course of action when hosting on-course sponsors is to instruct them to contact the course prior to arrival, to work through their needs and arrange set-up. Then develop and provide each sponsor with a detailed and staggered arrival process, and set up a separate area for sponsor check-in.
Terrible Tale #4 – A Drunken Fiasco
The hits kept coming to the tournament who thought they had everything handled. The day of the event, two hole sponsors were told that their plan for hole sponsorship was not allowed. One sponsor arrived with bottles of tequila for margarita mixing, and the other brought three coolers stocked with assorted beer. Both of these not only violated course policy, but were violations of state liquor laws. Only course employees with valid liquor licenses can serve alcohol on the property, and any alcohol at an event must be controlled by a legal, liquor-licensed establishment, unless a corkage fee is applied. This is to keep control of donated or outside alcohol. When non-licensed vendors serve alcohol, they might not be aware of the repercussions and legal liability of over-serving. Tournaments have had to pay for these mistakes after guests who have been over-served alcohol have caused damage to the course, golf carts, or property.
Our Expert Advice
Sponsors and the course should be in contact prior to the event to confirm policies and make arrangements for their hole needs. If this had occurred, this situation could have been avoided. There are many options for alcohol service at a tournament, and you can still provide a fun experience for your guests, while maintaining a safe and legal environment.
Terrible Tale #5 – There Just Aren't Enough Carts!
It's the tournament's third year, and the event date is a week away. The tournament chairperson calls to confirm final details with us. In years past, the tournament averaged 120 players and typically requested only a few extra carts for volunteers to drive the course during play, to interact with the golfers. However, this year, there's a new tournament coordinator with day-of changes. First, he decides he wants 8 volunteers on the course, selling extra mulligans and raffle tickets. Then, he informs the course that the player count has increased to 180, to accommodate the celebrities he has playing with every group. These changes were not communicated to the course earlier – and in fact, the course was told that all event details were the same as the previous years. The tournament coordinator figured he wasn't changing the food, the start time, or the format, so why did he need to share all the details?
Enter the problem. The course only has 80 golf carts. The players alone would need 90, not counting the carts needed for the volunteers. The course doesn't have enough carts to accommodate the players, and no rental cart options are available for the event date. The solution? Not good. The tournament chair must make calls to players to inform them that he is cancelling certain groups.
Our Expert Advice
You cannot over-communicate with the course or with your Tournament Director. If the course doesn't know the details of your plan, they cannot help guide you through the process of tournament planning, or predict (or prevent) any approaching obstacles. If this particular tournament coordinator had alerted the course to his plans earlier, the course could have made all of the rental cart arrangements for his extra players. This is why at American Golf, each tournament director provides a checklist of questions to the tournament planner, and shares the details and answers of this checklist to the course, in order to plan and host a successful tournament, without any horror stories.
Terrible Tale #6 – Off the Mark
A helicopter golf ball drop was going to be the perfect addition to this year's tournament. It was the event's tenth year and we needed some fresh ideas. The tournament chair made all the arrangements and the balls were sold out – totaling $10,000 in revenue for the non-profit. The day of the event, a whirring of helicopter blades was heard overhead. The onlookers expectantly looked toward the skies and watched as the helicopter veered off-course, in the wrong direction, and dropped all 1,000 balls on the wrong marker. Oops. The course had not put cones around the correct marker to distinguish it because they had never executed a helicopter ball drop before.
Our Expert Advice
Almost every single one of the American Golf courses has executed a helicopter ball drop before, and many are veterans at it. We know how to guarantee that this highly anticipated tournament extra occurs without issue. The key is good communication with the course, good communication with the helicopter pilot, and a solid plan of action.
Terrible Tale #7 – The Auction Item Takeover
Picture this: the entire building was full of auction tables – 12 to be exact. Tables lined the walls with items everywhere. It was a silent auction mess. This scenario plays out at more events than I care to mention. A procurement committee did a good job getting as much "stuff" as they could. There were $20 Ruby Tuesday gift cards, a planter pot with glovers, a Brighton bracelet, 2 movie tickets—the list goes on. The crowd of 150 guests patiently walks the line of items, occasionally stopping to put down a bid of $1 more than the last bidder. Finally, the attendees finish the line and mingle at the bar. Few return to bid a second or third time – who wants to deal with that long line again? At the end of the day, there were only a few high-bidded items, and the silent auction yields a low return. The complaint was, why did my auction do poorly? I did the work. I got the stuff. What went wrong?
Our Expert Advice
Let's be clear: stuff is not valuable! When organizing a silent auction, it's more about curating a buying experience, not overwhelming guests with options. Bundle appropriate items together to create higher value options with good aesthetic value. It's all about perceived value: a nice gift basket full of goodies has a much higher perceived value than a gift card lying flat on a table. The ratio of items to people must be low enough to keep the attention of the guests and get them to return to the tables to increase their bids.
Terrible Tale #8 – The Six and a Half Hour Tournament Round
The tournament tee'd off at 1:00 p.m. and the clock on the wall now reads 7:30 p.m. The tournament chair is pacing and looking at a scoreboard with three empty areas, where the last team scores should be written. The weary looks on the players' faces is obvious, and the room is restless. A six-hour pace of play is difficult, but turning it into six and a half hours could definitely effect participation next year.
Our Expert Advice
When organizing a tournament, recognize that your contact at the course is your friend, and the course wants to help your tournament be the best it can be. The staff at American Golf courses is trained to help guide planners toward options that are in their best interest, and in the best interest of the participating golfers. The team can set up the course, encourage rules, and monitor add-ons – all to speed up the pace of play. Pace of play is not always considered when organizing a tournament, but can often be the top reason why a golfer will not return to an event. Be sure you're using strategies to speed up pace of play for a large tournament, and communicate with the course when you need ideas or help.
Terrible Tale #9 – Too Many Players, Not Enough Space
The tournament chair was busy and kept forgetting to follow up with the course and hand in his updated player count. He was excited about the turnout that year and expected 30 more golfers than the previous year. It was going to be a record-breaking number for the organization. The chair had several emails in his inbox and a voicemail still saved, all from his course contact, but he was entirely engaged in rounding up even a larger field. Fast forward to six days before the tournament. He finally contacts the course and discovers that, because he did not tell them that his count was now well over his contracted player estimate, they did not reserve enough space on the course to accommodate for all the extra players. Public play has filled in around his reservation. Another case of poor communication resulting in disaster for the tournament.
Our Expert Advice
If the tournament chair had called his contact at the course before public play reservations were available, the course would have been able to increase the block on his tournament reservation and allow for the increase in his player count. It is vitally important to read your contract before you sign it, and make sure you are hitting those check-in deadlines prior to the event to ensure all details are handled.
Terrible Tale #10 – Out of Pocket Expenses
This is the first year organizing a tournament for this planner and he believes he's done fairly well. He's registered 48 players and the annual event is a simple tee time morning tournament with an informal lunch in the clubhouse restaurant. He has paid for everyone and expects to be fully reimbursed at the lunch following the round. The only problem is, it begins to rain. Now he has no problem playing in the rain. He puts on his rain pants and hat in preparation. But after he tees off at 8:15 a.m., he learns that some of his players have no-showed. At the end of the round, the total of no-shows is 12, and so now he's out of luck on those 12 fees.
Our Expert Advice
Equally as important as collecting the final player count is collecting the fees from the players before the actual day of play. Be wary of paying out of pocket, because you never know what might happen, and you don't want to be stuck in the red.
Terrible Tale #11 – Deadly Denim
The committee voted to move their tournament to a private country club and a venue was selected. This was the first time the tournament would be hosted at a private club, and the regular golfers were excited to play at an exclusive course. The tournament day arrives, and as golfers check in, there's a noticeable problem. Many are wearing jeans. Clothing has never been a problem at the public course and so a dress code wasn’t even considered. Many players end up buying items in the Pro Shop to meet the code, but none were happy about the lack of communication.
Our Expert Advice
Be sure that all venue rules, policies, and expectations are discussed and communicated to the golfers and volunteers. Many private clubs clearly state dress codes on tournament materials, as well as any other policies or regulations.
Terrible Tale #12 – The Disfigured Sponsor Sign
Sponsor signs for a particular tournament were donated by the little print shop around the corner. Many of the letters were beginning to peel off the once stark white, now brown corrugated cardboard surface. Most of these sponsors had been sponsors for years, so why pay for new signs? This seemed like an unnecessary expense. However, the sponsors of that tournament who also played in it every year were embarrassed and angry when they saw the name of their company in such poor presentation. These sponsors definitely reconsidered their sponsorship for the next year.
Our Expert Advice
Tournament organizers must understand that the money a sponsor pays for a sponsorship is for advertising. If you are not offering quality marketing materials for their brand in the form of banners, hole signs, or tournament marketing materials, you are doing them a disservice. The quality of presentation is just as important as the number of participants in the event. As many marketing experts say, in some cases you need to spend money to make money. Our tournament experts can direct you to vendors who create quality materials and can provide more value for your sponsorship options.
Terrible Tale #13 – The Thin Golfer
Have you ever been to an event that was all about the organization, and not about the guests? It's the tournament that expects you to pay high entry fees, but provides little value during the event. Rarely, but in the worst scenarios, a charity tournament will host a tournament with no meal following play. As a participant, you can imagine spending hours engaged in an appetite-inducing activity, only to be greeted with a, "Thank you for coming and hope to see you next year" when you end your round.
Our Expert Advice
As a tournament director at a golf course, I have seen this more than I would care to admit. I strongly advise against it. After a day of commitment to a cause, guests are hungry and most expect a meal to follow play. At most American Golf properties, a tournament organizer can choose from a variety of menu options to include in their tournament package. These add-ons truly add value and appeal to your event.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading these spooky tales of tournament nightmares come true, and we hope you have also learned how to avoid these terrors in your own tournaments. If you are hosting a tournament and would like advice or help coordinating or choosing a venue, please contact us by visiting golftournamentmanagement.com.
Happy golfing and Happy Halloween!
The American Golf Tournament Team
Thank you for the story contributions to the following tournament experts:
Carmela Arstill, El Camino Country Club
Kimberly Senella, Brookside Golf Club
Jeff Phillips, The Vineyard at Escondido
John Bladholm, Golf Tournament in a Box
Tyson Johnson, Southern California Regional Tournament Sales Director
Jack Duty, Southern California Regional Tournament Sales Director
Michael Funaro, Regional Tournament Sales Director