To give golf-event attendees a memorable experience, many planners hire male or female players from the pro golf tours to participate in their events. These outstanding golfers, who earn their wage (smaller than Tiger's) by playing in tournaments week after week, often make themselves available for business events. Once there, they'll lead an instructional clinic, pose for photos with attendees, play one hole with each foursome as the group moves around the course, and then mingle at the reception.
But in these days of tight budgets, how is it that planners can come to financial terms with a touring pro? Well, the number of pros is larger than you might realize, because pro golf has four major tours: the PGA (men under 50 years old), Senior PGA (men over 50), LPGA (ladies), and the Nationwide (up-and-coming men). The range in price is from $100,000 per day for an upper-tier PGA player, to $25,000 for a mid-range PGA player, to $20,000 for an upper-tier Ladies PGA or Senior PGA player, to just $2,500 to $7,500 for a Nationwide player.
Remember that a player's personality should factor in your decision on whom to approach, so visit www.pgatour.com and click on "players" to find biographies for players on all four tours. The Web site also provides a schedule of events for all four tours, so if your event is not on a Monday or Tuesday (most pros have those days free), you can still try to land a player whose tour does not have a competition in the week of your event. Once you've narrowed your player search, call PGA Tour headquarters at (904) 285-3700 and ask for the contact list for players' agents.
But what if you're looking to draw a crowd that's more diverse than just hard-core golfers? In that case, consider hiring a TV or film celebrity to play with your group. And before you balk about price, listen to what Marc Goldman, founder of celebrity placement firm Damon Brooks Associates in Hollywood, says about landing a star at a reasonable rate.
First, he says, keep in mind that playing golf is not celebrities' primary trade. So unlike pro golfers, they are not as insistent on a fee just to play golf for the day. On the other hand, if you ask them to emcee the awards dinner, "They'll probably look for an honorarium," he adds. "And if you want a full-blown act from them, then expect to pay their full appearance fee."
Interestingly, if you're doing the event in conjunction with a charitable cause, "You improve the chances of getting someone for a reduced fee, or no fee," Goldman says. Most speakers bureaus have databases that track celebrities' interests and pet causes, and can match your group with a celebrity who'd be eager to attend. Finally, Goldman stresses that "even the slightest celebrities get golf invites, and many happily accept."
Golf Planners' New Pal
While the pro-shop staffers at the course where you'll hold your golf outing will always be your best friends, technology is improving so that even golf carts have become a planner's ally in many tasks. For instance, the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort and Golf Club in Puerto Rico is one of a growing number of properties to have a fleet of state-of-the-art carts equipped with the ParView GPS Course Management System -- basically, a satellite tracking and communications program -- that allows not only monitoring of where every group is on the course, but also two-way communications for food and beverage orders and player assistance. Brian Shaver, head pro at the Rio Mar, notes, "Many golfers are saying to us, 'We've never seen this before, and it's amazing.' "
Planners might well say the same thing: Most Global Positioning System features speed up the pace of play so that the group can finish its round in time for the post-play festivities. Here's how:
The GPS shows a map of each hole as a group comes to the tee box, so players don't have to walk onto the tee box and survey the fairway to see where they want to hit the ball and with which club.
Once each player tees off and drives to his or her ball, GPS shows the lay of the land from that spot and the distance to the putting green, so that players don't need to look around for sprinkler heads that display yardage markers.
Once each group reaches a predetermined point on the course, a food and beverage menu pops onto the screen so folks can order from the halfway house. Or, if a group orders food at a spot on the course that's too far from the halfway house to pick up the order, an attendant can bring the food out to a group as play continues.
At the end of each hole, players enter their scores into the system, eliminating math mistakes in your competition.
Pace of play is monitored for each group, since the pro shop can track where every cart is on the course. So if a group is moving too slowly and causing a backup, the pro shop can send a message to the group advising it to play more quickly or simply pick up its balls and move to the next hole. Even better, the message capability allows planners to give sponsors a promotional opportunity at any point during the round.
The system has an "immediate assistance" button to alert the pro shop about something as serious as a medical emergency, or something as simple as a golf club inadvertently left on a previous hole.
Finally, most carts also have a small cooler aboard, so that players can stock up on items just once or twice during the day, and thus spend less time hovering around the beverage cart during the round. There are also ball- and club-washers on each cart, which keeps play moving. And there's a full rain cover so guests don't have to take shelter during brief downpours -- though the pro shop should sound a horn whenever lightning is spotted, so that guests come off the course immediately.
A Fast-Growing Trend
Remember when beach resorts weren't suitable for your golf-happy meeting or incentive group because the courses at such destinations weren't in top condition? Well, places such as the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Punta Cana Golf Club in the Dominican Republic, Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, and Mahogany Run Golf Club in St. Thomas now have something that smashes that theory. Their scenic seaside golf courses are carpeted with a new "super grass," called seashore paspalum, that's improving the quality of golf at these properties and many other meeting and incentive locations that must work hard to keep lush, golf-friendly turf.
Not only can seashore paspalum tolerate the salt-water spray that regularly blows across oceanside courses, but it can be irrigated with treated wastewater, and even pure salt water, without harm. Further, this hardy turf needs only about half the fertilizer and pesticide as bermuda and other golf grasses, making it environmentally friendly.
Jeff Bellig, spokesperson for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, says that this newly created turf will make many resort destinations even more attractive to meeting and incentive groups because the quality of the golf will now match the quality of other resort amenities. "For the most part, people in areas such as the southwest coast of Florida, the Gulf Coast of Texas, the Caribbean, and even Hawaii are pleased with the quality of seashore paspalum on the courses," he says. "Any place you don't have an ample supply of high-quality fresh water to use for irrigation, paspalum is one of the best choices." So the next time you're looking to book an island or tropical destination for a group that enjoys golf, remember to talk turf with each resort's golf services staff.
A Public Affair
The golf courses that have hosted the U.S. Open are almost always within exclusive clubs that won't let meeting groups past the front gates. But in the New York metro area, Bethpage State Park claims the distinction of being the only municipal (publicly owned) facility ever to host an Open -- the United States Golf Association took the event to Bethpage in June, 2002. So not only can your group take over the course for exclusive use on Mondays during the playing season, but the newly refurbished meeting and banquet facility, Carlyle on the Green, can host meetings and receptions for as many as 700 people.
The facility, 30 miles east of New York City, has a 6,800-square-foot ballroom, six breakout rooms, and a two-tiered patio. Much of the space looks down upon the rolling, green-and-gold-flecked hills of the famed Black course, and the patio is just steps from the 1st and 18th holes. Groups using the facility for social events often hire a photographer to satisfy attendees who want to stand exactly where Tiger Woods did when he raised the trophy after winning the '02 Open. And to get both the golfers and non-golfers in attendance at your event to mingle and bond, the practice green adjacent to the patio can be set up for putting contests. For more info and photos, visit www.carlyleatbethpage or call (516) 501-9700.
Choose Your Schmooze
Corporate hospitality at pro golf events takes many forms these days. For instance, companies can rent their own air-conditioned tent, or even share one with another company, which overlooks the action at a men's, ladies', or senior PGA events. At most events, a 2,500-square-foot tent goes for about $40,000, though major events such as the U.S. Open charge as much as $200,000.
Another possibility is to purchase a single table within a large, shared hospitality pavilion that offers large-screen televisions, food, and beverages. At a typical tournament, 100 such tickets -- 20 per day over the five-day event -- cost between $7,000 and $10,000. Or if you want to entertain a single client for an afternoon, an individual grounds pass allowing you to roam the course costs between $15 and $30 at most pro events.
There's also a growing trend by companies to choose a hybrid approach to impress clients: renting a house that's off the golf course grounds and host property, but still within walking distance to the action. Brett Sklar, senior vice president for New York-based TSE Sports and Entertainment, says, "It's a more affordable way to do something upscale. We secure the house and set it up as the hospitality center for the week. We'll serve hot breakfasts and afternoon cocktails, and we set up a business center with computers, fax machines, and e-mail capability. We also secure event tickets, and people can walk back from the course at their leisure. It's a good way to do something classy if you don't have $150,000 for an on-site tent at a major event -- you can bring your top 10 or 15 clients, create an intimate feel, and the price won't even approach that."
For such options, visit www.corporate-golf.com, www.worldgolfevents.com, www.greatgolfevents.com, or www.tse sports.com. To find the pro events coming to your area, visit www.pgatour.com/ tournaments.