Sean Racki, a four-time Gulf States PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year for Resort Facilities, is the PGA head professional at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Choctaw, Mississippi.

We hosted a two-day tournament where it was imperative for us to surpass the expectations of all the tournament participants as well as the tournament committee. The primary tee gift was a golf shirt, which the participants selected from a variety of colors and styles upon registration. The shirts were then drop-shipped to the contestants with a personalized thank-you note approximately 10 days after the tournament. We provided the apparel vendor with the contact information of the golfers along with our thank-you note prepared on elegant stationary. The shirts were shipped from their distributor. Because it was part of a tournament program, the shipping costs were much less than expected and the costs came to $110 for 82 shirts. This was part of an extremely generous line of tee gifts, including custom golf balls with custom packaging, well-dressed wine glass sets, and a nice piece of luggage. All of the gifts featured the tournament logo as well as our club logo.

Sean Racki on the business impact of surpassing the expectations of participants and organizers with tee gifts:
The response was exceptionally positive from the participants as well as the tournament committee. All the contestants had a wonderful time playing our two courses, and the drop-shipped shirts reinforced all the positive experiences. An abundant amount of goodwill was generated for all parties involved, and I feel confident the tournament committee recognized we strived for excellence. This is particularly important as they are stakeholders in the golf club. We strengthened our tournament program and in the process we put our facility in position to attract and retain many future tournaments.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email sracki@pga.com

Editor’s note: The above comments reflect the opinion and experiences of the submitting PGA Professional and are not endorsed by PGA Magazine or the PGA of America.