Chris Rowe, a two-time Southern Texas PGA Harvey Penick Award winner and the 2013 Section Merchandiser of the Year for Private Facilities, is the PGA head professional at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.

Each year here at Whispering Pines we host the Robertson Cup Invitational, which attracts 15 Top-100 clubs in the nation.  We host the tournament every April prior to the Masters as each club travels with their head professional and three members.  On Sunday we kick off the tournament on our par-3 course, followed by 36-holes on Monday and 18-holes on Tuesday.  Starting the tournament on Sunday and running it through Tuesday makes it convenient for professionals to travel, as Sundays are typically light and Monday’s are off.  When golf is not being played the emphasis is fun, as we enjoy each other’s presence and share and laugh or two.

As mentioned the tournament runs Sunday-Tuesday as we host a head professional and three members for a total of 15 head pros and 45 amateurs.  The format is better ball as I allow full-handicapping up to 18.  This allows a pro to travel with a club president to a club champion.  I charge nothing for the professionals, but $1,500 per amateur for a total of $4,500 per team which generates roughly $70,000 per invitational. The professionals have no payout, but on all par-3s I will have a $500 closest to the pin challenge which creates quite a shootout amongst the professionals in the field.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email cliddle@meabrk.org

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.