Marc Bayram, the 2012 Connecticut Section PGA Merchandiser of the Year for Public Facilities, is the PGA head professional at Timberlin Golf Club in Berlin, Connecticut.
Each season at Timberlin we host a series of night golf events open to the public. In 2014, we held two events in the summer and the in the fall. Since we started having night golf events in 2011, we have averaged 80 players per event. The process in hosting night golf starts by strategically picking dates for the events. We normally choose a Friday night where we know we are going to have a full moon. From there, we will send out a blast email to our customer database and start taking pre-paid sign ups. The event itself is a four-person scramble. We choose a scramble format for the event because it is designed to be enjoyable and for players of any skill level. The event is walking only for safety reasons. Our restaurant will offer a dinner buffet before play and drink specials before and after the event. We hand out five glow balls to each group, giving one extra ball in case the team loses one. If we have 15 teams or less we will shotgun the event on 9 holes; however, almost every night golf event we have hosted has had more than 15 teams, so we will utilize all 18 holes. We light up the course with reusable battery operated glow sticks, placing them as tee markers and attaching them to the 150 pole, and on the flagstick. We also put a glow necklace in the hole so it is easier to see when putting. Night golf is a great time for any demographic and players of any skill level.
We will cap our night golf events at 30 teams for safety reasons. We have only filled it to capacity once, and normally average 20 teams. We charge $160 per team, which includes green fees, golf balls, glow necklaces and prizes. The cost also covers the equipment it takes to light up the course; and by using battery operated glow sticks, we can reuse them with a simple battery change as needed. Our restaurant will charge $10 per person for the dinner buffet as well as drink specials all night. We will also run a 50/50 raffle where half of the funds go toward the Timberlin junior program and half toward a golf shop gift card. We will generate $1,500-$2,000 in green fees for each one of these events, and with four throughout the season, it creeps up on $7,000 in total revenue. Hosting a night golf event is a great way to bring players of all demographics and skill levels to your facility and generate revenue for the golf course, golf shop and restaurant during a time you would normally be closed.
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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.