Rick Downes is the PGA head professional at Stone Eagle Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif.

 

We run four or five one-day member-guest events during the year and use a unique format to help spark excitement and create a fun atmosphere for all involved. For these events, our members can bring up to three guests. The members are scored with each of their guests in a two-person, better ball format. If they bring the full allotment of guests, the member has three opportunities to win. Simultaneously, we also run a foursome event where the group is scored as an entire team; one better ball of the foursome. If they bring less than three guests we pair them with other members with guests, or draw for scoring and create teams that way. It’s a fun event, with the ability for low scores to be shot in a casual atmosphere that showcases our facility and our course in the best possible way. We also price the tournament at or below the normal member-guest rate, yet include lunch and prizes so members see good value in the entry fee for these events.

Rick Downes on the business impact of using unique tournament formats for your events:
We are a facility with 219 members. Approximately 24-36 players play in each event, so over the course of the year these events get roughly 150 members and guests out on the course. While a large percentage are repeat players, some members will bring out different guests to different events, allowing more people to be exposed to our course and amenities. It’s a nice sales day for us; generally 10 percent higher on event days than our average day, and also a day to hopefully impress prospective members. We have added one member this year and one the previous year. We also believe we’ve retained members because of this program. These events also generate lesson referrals that have directly resulted in a significant increase in lessons taught, due to the added exposure of our practice facility and teaching professionals. We welcome men and women members with their guests to compete against each other, and we vary the start times of the events so all members have an opportunity to attend. The fun atmosphere and convenient nature of these events has helped give our members another reason to spend the day at Stone Eagle.