From Tee To Green: Choosing A Course For Your Golf Outing
You've been put in charge of planning your company or group's next golf outing, but you're not sure where to hold it. In past years, your tournament has always been held at the same municipal course, and it's starting to get a little stale. You've been asked to find a new golf course that will appeal to your co-workers, who have a wide range of golfing ability.
Pick a Date
The first thing you must do to aid you in your search is to pick a date, or a couple of possible dates. If you find the perfect course, but it's not available when you'd need it, you will have wasted your time.
Many companies like Friday afternoon tournaments, and many organizations holding charity tournaments try to pick a weekend. If you can branch out from a Friday or Saturday event, you will have more options.
Mondays might seem like a logical next choice, but it is often the day that golf courses do their heavy-duty maintenance, like sanding greens, and when much of the staff is off after working all weekend. You can tentatively consider a Monday event, but check with the director of golf or head professional at each course you're considering before setting the date in stone.
Assess Your Group
Even if you're not a golfer, you can ask some of these questions to help you select the best course for your event. Take the answers when you go to meet with the director of golf or tournament organizer at the courses you're considering.
- How large is your group? You need to make sure that the course can accommodate you. A local 9-hole course may not logistically work because it can't handle enough people.
- What are the playing skills of people in your group? For a group with mixed abilities, you may want to find a course that has several sets of tees to provide a challenge for everyone without overwhelming the newer or less-skilled members of the group.
- What format do you plan to play? You should have an idea from years past about what your group has done. You can share this with the tournament planners you meet with to help decide what needs you have.
- What kinds of amenities does your group want? Will a catered meal after the round be a necessity, or is it more your speed to throw some burgers on the grill and hang out on the patio?
Having an idea of what your group is looking for will help you nail down the best course.
Inspect the Courses
Don't be limited to public courses; many private clubs will host tournaments for non-members. The chance to play a course that is normally difficult to access will be appealing for the better golfers in your group.
Go out and check the two or three courses that are the best candidates for hosting your tournament. Look around at course conditions -- are the greens nice or are there large brown spots? Are the fairways wide? Are there practice facilities where your group members can warm up?
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