Chadwick Bain, the 2011 Northern Ohio PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year for Private Facilities, is the PGA head professional at Findlay (Ohio) Country Club.

Here at Findlay Country Club, we host a handful of large charity events and member outings. In my experience, the best tee gift we can offer to the participants is the gift of having a choice. For example, we may use an item such as a Signature tumbler or a HydroFlask bottle with the event logo to incorporate the branding, while including a gift card. The gift card can be redeemed in a concept shop on site for an assortment of various items that are given point values instead of being displayed at their dollar value. The items are usually priced at or just above wholesale pricing, thus giving the event a greater value for their level of commitment. As a Callaway Master Staff Professional, we have received some great opportunities from Callaway to offer their products, so we are able to maintain margins from the tournament discounts offered by the company. We schedule to use their products for multiple events, so we just reorder the products we go through for future events and are able to gauge the items that are most popular. We also offer an online gift card option if the player does not have the time to select merchandise, or is unable to find anything in the golf shop that they want. Overall, this is a tremendous tool for increasing the success of our tournaments and making sure all participants walk away satisfied.

Because we are getting these items at a tournament discount and they are guaranteed to be bought via tournament dues, there is zero inventory risk for the tournament or for the golf shop. We are guaranteed to maintain a 20-25 percent margin from our tournaments, which is acceptable with the volumes considered. We also have the opportunity to keep remaining merchandise following the events and run either a special tent sale or roll product into inventory, adding to the sales volume. Most importantly, all event participants leave the event with something they wanted, making the gift and the event feel like more of a value to them personally.

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