Golf and Hospitality

Meeting planners and suppliers gather annually for golf, hospitality and a good time.

Event: M&C Annual Golf Invitational
The 2006 event was held at The Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa in Litchfield Park, Ariz. This year’s event will be held Sept. 16-19 at Hershey Resorts, Hershey, Pa.

Meetings and Conventions magazine’s annual golf invitational began in 1992 as a relationship marketing event bringing advertisers (travel industry suppliers) and readers (meeting planning professionals) together to network, golf and have fun. Magazine staff from the special events, sales and marketing departments work each event.

The M&C Annual Invitational is the company’s largest and longest-running event. In addition, two niche market outings are also produced—the Pharmaceutical Meetings Invitational and the Financial Insurance Invitational.

Player recruitment:
Advertisers qualify for a team invitation through advertising participation in the magazine’s golf supplement. Each advertiser completes their foursome by inviting their three best clients. “We qualify all attendees to make sure they have meeting planning job responsibility,” Bernard W. Schraer, group publisher, Meetings and Conventions, says. “We also recruit and qualify additional meeting planner attendees through the magazine. Total attendance is about 125. Attendance has grown since its inception and we now maintain this group size to ensure a quality event.”

Recruitment challenges:
Some advertisers have difficulty completing a foursome, Schraer says, so qualified players are recruited from the magazine readership to help round-out foursomes.

Making it stand out:
The location, always at a top golf resort, changes each year, alternating between East and West venues.

Offer your players the opportunity to leave their golf clubs at home. International Golf Rental & Sales, Inc delivers premium golf club rental sets nationwide. They specialize in supplying large corporate and not-for-ptofit outings with rental golf equipment.

Course selection:
RFPs are sent to golf resorts that the magazine staff becomes aware of throughout the course of business. “Once proposals are submitted to us, the magazine selects the final location based on the resort reputation, number of golf courses, quality of golf courses, ease of transportation (air and ground) and other criteria to ensure a quality experience for our attendees,” Schraer adds.

Advice on working with course staff:
Schraer suggests planners always conduct a site inspection of the course and facilities, preferably during the same time of year as you plan to hold the event. “Ask for a food tasting to sample your menu. Make sure to position your objectives to the course so they can help you meet them,” he says.

Weather delays:
The annual event has experienced few interruptions from Mother Nature and it has never been cancelled. “We had one rain delay of about two hours during the first day of a tournament in South Carolina,” Schraer says. “Golfers were instructed to go to the clubhouse or halfway house where beverages and snacks were served until play resumed. We allow enough time in the schedule so that the delay did not affect other activities.”

Food and beverage:
“We always ask the representative of the host resort to attend the tournament the year prior to their event. This is an exceptional way to maintain a high-quality event and superior food and beverage,” notes Schraer. “Many resorts try to ‘top’ the food and beverage from the prior year. About three months before the event, the resort submits suggested banquet event orders (BEO) with menu selections. Our staff reviews and makes changes and a final BEO is selected.”

Format:
A modified scramble format has been used for the last several years. Players all hit from the tee and select the best drive, then play their own ball from there. The two best net scores for each hole determines the team score. “This seems to be a good compromise for both novice and competitive golfers,” adds Schraer. “We mix foursomes over the two-day tournament. Teams play together the first day, then are mixed randomly the second day. The players continue to compete for their original team but the mixed format promotes better business networking.”

Awards/gifts:
Team prizes are given for first, second and third place teams with a humorous prize for the team coming in last. Individual skill prizes are also given. Golf trips and golf equipment are typically awarded.

Incorporating technology:
If the venue has GPS-enabled golf carts, then that technology is utilized. The organization also uses a “very high-tech video/camera company that takes stills and video throughout the tournament and creates a video that we play at the beginning of the final awards banquet,” Schraer says. Team and individual photos of winners from the awards presentation are also incorporated into the video.

Cost-savers:
“Always use a travel professional to ensure airfare costs are the least expensive as possible. Shop around for equipment and premium vendors to make sure you are getting the best price on these items,” says Schraer. “Negotiate all contracts to save money.”

Post-event:
Attendees are asked to complete a post-event survey evaluating each aspect of the event; and are asked to make suggestions. Staff meets about one month after the outing to incorporate any productive suggestions into the following year’s event.


Reference:
Golf Event Magazine