10th Annual Northern Arizona University Native American Golf

On September 18, 2010 Peak Events had the pleasure of producing the 10th Annual Northern Arizona University Native American Golf Tournament. This is such a fun event and this year, the weather was spectacular, allowing golfers to enjoy Flagstaff at its best. Continental Country Club was the venue for this event and with nearly 100 golfers; the event raised $5,000 for NAU Native American Scholarships.



This was the second year Peak Events produced the golf tournament for the NAU and we enjoyed meeting all the new players as well as reconnecting with golfers from last year. This year’s tournament experienced the same challenges that many golf tournaments have experienced in the last few years. We found that while sponsorship dollars were down, the player’s enthusiasm was up and they were willing to purchase more raffle tickets in an attempt to support the NAU Scholarship Fund.


One of the things that I’ve found interesting is the number of organizations that want to hold a golf tournament because they’ve heard that tournaments make a lot of money. They have and they can, however, before deciding to put on a golf tournament there are a few things you might consider.


1. Has anyone on your committee ever put on a tournament?
Many people think that golf tournaments are a quick and easy means to raise money. First, they take a lot of planning and a lot of time. Second, you must have sponsorships. In order for a golf tournament to be profitable, you must have sponsorships covering the tee prizes, the winning prizes as well as shirts and preferably food. Without sponsorships for all of these, you will at best break even.


2. Does anyone on your committee golf?
 I’m a golfer, as well as my husband. If I had to guess at the number of golf tournaments we’re asked to participate in, I’d say we could easily spend around $20,000 just in entry fees for the two of us. Look at your golfer base. If there aren’t a lot of golfers in your organization – how do you plan to get golfers to play in your tournament verses all the other tournaments they are invited to play? Golf tournaments are usually cause based and although I haven’t seen bad causes, everyone has to pick and chose where they can afford and if they have the time. As much as I’d love to support them all – in this economy, everyone is pairing down. Many golf tournaments were canceled this year or scaled back considerably because there are too few golfers to support too many tournaments.


3. Are you charging too much for the course and the type of food served?
I’ve seen some tournaments charge a stupidly high amount of money for a public course you can play any day of the week. I’ve also seen tournaments charge very low for a private course in hopes of getting more golfers. Sometimes this works, sometimes it backfires. I’d rather charge a little low and over deliver, than to charge too high and have people walk away feeling like they didn’t get their money’s worth. Golfers are picky. They will applaud and become quite loyal to a tournament they feel is loyal to them. They will turn if they feel they are being nickel and dimed or if they feel as though they are being taken advantage of in the name of fundraising.


4. Are you planning on having raffles?
Everyone loves to win, the more raffle prizes, the more raffle tickets sold. I’m torn on the silent auctions. I’ve seen them successful and then I’ve seen people put out the same old thing year after year expecting to make what they did the first year. If you’re building a loyal golfer base – give them variety. People will bid on new and exciting things, but if it’s the same old products, people will pass that up first. Silent Auctions need their own committee in my opinion. You need to be getting unique items that everyone wants to bid on.


I love golf and I enjoy tournaments (more so when I win), however, I am always cautious when groups think this will bring in big bucks year after year. A golf tournament takes a lot of time and a lot of relationship building in order to be successful. If you do decide to put on a tournament, make sure you have a lot of dedicated people working with you and remember, a tournament is only as good as the golfers are treated.


Debbi