About twenty million Americans play golf, and, due to the Tiger factor, no other professional sport in recent years has experienced as big an increase in the number of fans. It's no wonder that golf outings and tournaments are among the most popular additions to conferences and meetings. Besides for fun and camaraderie, organizations put on golf events with the goals of teambuilding, client entertainment, customer incentive and employee rewards. Whether you want to deepen relationships among co-workers or encourage business connections, a well-planned day on the golf course could be the key to success.

Although golf events do require considerable advance preparation, you can rest assured that some form of golf-related diversion can be adapted to every budget and time constraint. The good news for planners is twofold: although traditional tournaments are still the bottom line, a wide variety of enjoyable, affordable golf-related events can be put together for golfers of all abilities, and even for non-golfers. And good news again: as long as you start with plenty of lead time, golf resort and golf club staff will take care of all the details. "No worries," said Ro Davies, Sales Manager at Whistler Golf Club in Whistler, British Columbia. "Even if you have never hit a golf ball in your life, just let us know the size of your group, your budget and what you want to accomplish with your clients or your organization, and we'll handle everything, from tournaments to golf instruction to meeting breaks."

Look for a Savvy Staff
When shopping for the right venue to host events, planners know that the experience and professionalism of the group sales and event management staff are key, and this is particularly true for golf outings. The sport is competitive, steeped in tradition, and it is not an easy sport to learn--expectations, and even the intimidation factor, can be high. Therefore, the more varied group experience the golf club staff has had, the better they can brainstorm with you to custom-design a tournament or a package of golf-related activities suited to the abilities and size of your organization, and the easier it will be for you to plan, schedule and produce a rewarding event.

When interviewing host clubs and resorts, find out what types of events they have produced in the recent past and ask for references to planners with whom they have recently worked.

Quality and Difficulty of the Golf Course(s)
Do take into account the degree of difficulty and the playing conditions of the golf courses you are considering, according to how well your attendees may be expected to play. Ask around your group to get an idea of handicap levels, and then find out the slope of the courses. Each golf course has a slope rating indicating the degree of difficulty: the higher the slope, the more challenging the course. Even high-slope courses, however, may work for your group, as in recent years, tee boxes have been added to many courses, in particular resort courses, to make them playable for players at all skill levels--traditionally there were three tees; nowadays, you might find four, five or more tees on each hole throughout the course. (That means that high-handicappers and beginning players can tee off from the "forward" tees, well ahead of the water hazards, ungroomed natural areas and extra length that better players contend with from the "back" tees.)

According to the length of time available in your itinerary for a tournament or other golf activity, decide whether to schedule an 18-hole or a 9-hole tournament (about 5 hours vs. 2.5 hours) on a "championship" or an "executive" course. The Championship Course at Incline Village in Nevada, for instance, is 7,106 yards long, a par 72, while the Mountain Course, an executive layout, is a par 58 at 3,513 yards long.

Timing and Desirability
Keep in mind that, the larger your group and the more well-known the golf course or resort, the more advance time will be necessary to secure your booking. The desirability of a golf course from the avid golfer's point of view is related to a great extent to the fame of the architect. Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, Greg Norman and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., and Sr., and are among the top course designers. Even Donald Trump has done design work on what some call "the most expensive golf course in the world", Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, which is open to the public for individual play and tournaments. Popular clubs during high season may require a contract confirmed as much as a year ahead. A smaller group, lead-time and flexibility on the calendar will get you the best choices.

On- or Off-Site; Public, Resort or Private
Of course, the most convenient golf courses and clubhouses will be on the property where your conference or company retreat takes place. If not, many clubs and resorts will arrange transportation to and from your meeting site, and even from the airport.

"A bus from Sunriver Resort met us at the airport, and on the way gave each of us a bag containing our room keys, golf balls, water bottles and other goodies, dropped us off at the golf course and delivered our luggage to our rooms," said Tom Righellis, who puts together an annual golf trip to the state of Oregon for twelve members of the Canyon Gate Golf Club in Las Vegas. He said, "After our rounds on all four days, the resort had arranged for us to have dinner in a private dining room, with an extra table for our scoring logistics and a flat screen TV; and they even gave us the same server every night, who we really enjoyed. Even though our group did not need to have tournaments or prizes set up, we did have a contract covering transportation, meals and tee times. The organization was perfect. They even gave me a brass button to wear, to indicate to the staff that I was the group leader."

The facilities at the golf clubhouse itself may be an issue, particularly if it is off-site from your meeting and/or lodging venues. Can you have your awards lunch, dinner and/or ceremony on-site, indoors or outdoors, or is there only a small café or snack bar? Are there good-sized locker rooms with showers and towels available? Can the pro shop provide all the prizes you need? What is the cost of having a full staff of pros and/or assistants available, or, do you need them?

Tournament Formats
Most golfers are mid- to high-handicappers, with the average golfer scoring in the high nineties. As a planner, your goal is to make it fun and non-intimidating for everyone, while giving the low-handicappers--the better golfers--a good challenge. A variety of tournament and contest formats are designed to do just that.

The "Scramble" is the most popular tournament format for groups because it takes the pressure off individual player scores by creating 2-, 3- or 4-person teams, with each team a combination of players of varying abilities (based on their actual or estimated handicaps). Each plays their own ball, and the team then plays from where the best ball lands, and so on throughout the round. Thus, every player has a chance to contribute, and the format also ensures faster play.

To get the most fun and teambuilding camaraderie from the experience, jazz up your tournaments by adding some surprises to the competition and giving every player a shot at prizes. Ask the golf club to set up mini-contests on the course, such as Closest Putt to the Hole, Hole in One, Longest Drive and other challenges. At some tournaments, particularly fundraisers, refreshments and a quirky golf game--even a pro who will make your putt for you--is waiting at every hole. While this is great fun, it does add several hours to the round.

Off-Course Golf Activities
No budget or time in the conference schedule for an 18-hole or even a 9-hole tournament? Are non-golfers a part of your group? Or, do you have a golf-crazy group that just wants to have as many golf-oriented activities as possible?

A group sales manager at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Troon North in Scottsdale, Molly Rodnig suggests, "A driving range demonstration and/or a clinic make nice additions, bringing everyone into the fun. This can be prior to a tournament, or during the tournament for the non-golfers, or even in place of a golf outing all together. Although golf is a great way to network, it can be intimidating for people who don't play much. A clinic gets everyone excited about the game and introduces them to fundamental skills."

If an executive golf course, a practice range and/or a putting green are available, give your attendees some fresh air and fun between meetings or at the end of a long day. At Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, three-hole "golf breaks" and putting breakfast meetings are offered as alternatives to traditional coffee breaks.

Some courses will put together a mini-golf obstacle course on their practice greens. At Sunriver Resort in Bend, Oregon, the beautifully landscaped nine-hole, bent grass putting course makes for a perfect hour or so of easy competition, especially as the sun sets over snow-capped Mt. Bachelor in the distance. Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Nancy Devine said, "You don't need to be a golfer for this fun contest. Each person puts on a caddy's jumpsuit and gets a bucket of beer, a putter and a ball, and the lowest score wins!"

Paul Frangos of the Tom Duffy Company recalls a target practice party on the driving range at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Chandler, Arizona, near Phoenix. "It was after dark and they had set up a lighted, electronic target and an open bar with appetizers. We split into two teams, had a cocktail or two, and took turns hitting balls to a twenty-foot-square target. Our scores were automatically posted on a big scoreboard."

Whistler Golf Club will arrange to have teaching pros on hand during meeting breaks--indoors or outdoors--to conduct brief video analyses, using a unique computer program that compares an individual's golf swing to that of a famous professional golfer. Ro Davies said, "We can do this in a meeting room, on the practice range, and we've even done it at cocktail parties with women in their high heels. It couldn't be easier, since we're right across the street from the big Telus Conference Centre."

Client Entertainment
When it comes to entertaining VIP clients and customers, Shawn Humphries, one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Golf Teachers in America for 2005-6, says, "The ultimate measure of the value of client entertainment is the return on your investment." Humphries owns On Par Productions, a Dallas-based company that produces executive golf programs and tournaments for Fortune 500 corporations (http://www.shawnhumphries.com). He said, "After finding out everything we can about a company's clients in advance, we work with top resorts and golf clubs around the country--Pebble Beach, Sunriver Resort, Kiawah Island and others--to set up golf schools and tournaments that focus on relationship building. We make it easy to create and enhance business through golf, with enjoyable lessons, great food and drink and lots of fellowship."

Based in the golf mecca of Scottsdale, Arizona, Pinnacle Golf Events is another company that works with meeting planners and corporate representatives to arrange custom incentive and client entertainment golf trips and events around the United States and abroad, to such locations as the Four Seasons Scottsdale Troon North, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, and Pebble Beach Golf Resorts in Monterey, California (http://www.pinnaclegolfevents.com).

Tips for Planners:
From your player list, choose team captains for each foursome according to their experience. Your better players will usually have participated in tournaments and will be able to shepherd their team members by keeping score, explaining rules and the like.

A lot of golfers means a lot of golf clubs. Have personalized bag tags secured to each golfer's bag as soon as the bags and/or the golfers arrive at the course or the resort.

A helpful list of contract elements adaptable to any host facility is the Whistler Golf Club Group Outings brochure, which includes sample pricing for tournaments, meals; group lessons and clinics; and a "to do" calendar (downloadable at http://www.whistlergolf.com).

Another detailed guide to golf event planning is offered by the Troon-managed Revere Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas. Laid out on the web site are tournament formats; pricing on group golf instruction, club rentals, meals, an event coordinator checklist, a planning calendar and event day staging guidelines (http://www.reveregolf.com).

Event organizers indicate that the most common glitch in a tightly-timed golf event is a participant showing up late. Having a list of attendees' cell phone numbers can help avoid this (as long as phones are turned off once play begins).

And, lastly if you are playing with your group, schedule yourself in the first foursome to tee off, so that you will be available at the end of the round to check on arrangements for the awards banquet or ceremony, to handle whatever last-minute concerns may crop up--and so you can relax in the clubhouse before your happy golfers head in from the fairways!