Taking the opportunity of an interesting question asked by a reader and published by Golfando on November 18, 2021 (http://golfando.tgcom24.it/2021/11/18/la-premiazione-nel-golf-e-roba-per-pochi-intimi-purtroppo/), we propose to contribute to the issue of the poor attendance of players at awards ceremonies and the resulting disappointment of sponsors.
Given that:
- Government and federal regulations aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19 must be strictly observed;
- With the exception of “premium” tournaments, i.e., those with high-level sponsors and those on circuits that normally last an entire season with dedicated sponsors, we refer here to other club tournaments with sponsors, even if highly respectable, that are usually not part of the golf environment;
- It is undeniable that a player who finishes the tournament at 1:00 pm cannot always be expected to stay until 5:00 pm (or later) for the awards ceremony;
- We exclude, from this analysis, tournaments with a shotgun start, which would allow all participants to be present at the end of the tournament;
- There are strong doubts about the “regularity” of the tournaments and, therefore, the results obtained, as expressed by another reader;
- We do not agree with the proposal of the voucher, which would solve the issue at this point, but in the opposite direction,
The proposal to encourage a greater number of participants in the awards ceremony is as follows:
a) Grouping several sponsors in a single monthly tournament to obtain a more substantial budget. This would allow for:
- Recruiting an adequate number of people to provide tournament control (starter, referee, observers, etc.) and remunerating them decently to ensure the regularity of the result (unfortunately, relying solely on “integrity” does not seem sufficient);
- Organizing a dignified dinner with an invitation extended to non-golfer family and friends (with undoubted positive effects on socialization and promotion of the game of golf);
- Holding the awards ceremony before or during the dinner and awarding prizes of a certain value to the tournament winners (see below);
- Always awarding prizes by drawing, even of modest value, among the tournament participants;
- Offering sponsors a larger platform and, therefore, greater visibility;
- Combining an event, if something is left in the budget (e.g., a dance evening, conference, etc.);
b) The prizes for the tournament should consist of:
- A parchment or certificate, which costs virtually zero or a minimal amount if one wants to frame it, that absentees can collect at the club office at their convenience;
- An additional prize, of decent value (e.g., consisting of a product or service from the sponsor or a pro-shop voucher), for those who, in addition to winning, attend the awards ceremony; otherwise, it goes into the drawing for prizes.
c) On the other three Sundays of the month, conducting a so-called “pallinata,” even though valid for the purpose of handicap calculation, with prizes of modest value (e.g., balls, pro-shop vouchers, etc.), without an awards ceremony.
This system would avoid inflating awards ceremonies (as is currently happening) and make them and the tournaments a planned, valuable event, eagerly awaited by players and appetizing.
© Influgolfer
