Noah Tapley is the PGA Head Professional at Castine (Maine) Golf Club.
Noah Tapley on the importance of raising money through unique tournaments:
Being a small nine-hole facility in a remote area of Maine, we’ve had to get creative when looking to acquire the funds to make capital improvements, enhance offerings in our shop or on the course, or to do some good with. So when our (at the time) new Superintendent, Jeff Wiley, and myself started talking about a fun tournament for the membership, we came up something different we wanted to use it as a way to raise money for the Golf/Greens Department. When it was announced last year that Jeff and his wife were expecting twins (with one daughter already), the club decided to give the proceeds to his newly enlarged family. It was a gigantic success and we continued it this year, this time raising money to be able to make on-course improvements. Our tournament idea: make our golf course into an obstacle course, literally.
Noah Tapley on the business impact of raising money through unique tournaments:
These obstacles made the course play HARD. Thus it’ll be to no surprise that the event was called “Superintendent’s Revenge.” Played in a scramble format, we had obstacles ranging from putting into a pineapple juice can instead of a hole, playing the 7th hole to the 8th green and vice versa, playing one hole with only a putter, playing another hole with just a 7-iron and having to putt through a maze, having to putt around our greens mower on another hole, and more. The event had a $35 entry fee and a robust participation rate. We raised $1,760, $400 of which went towards shop credits for the winners, leaving us just under $1,400 to purchase new flagsticks and yardage markers. The great thing about this event is that we never jeopardized players health. We removed any idea that involved touchpoints (i.e. a Frisbee toss and opposite hand tee shot that were in last year’s event), and all of the obstacles either involved a player’s own equipment, placement of tees or pin locations, or items like mazes or cans that couldn’t be displaced from where they were laid down. That element added to everyone’s enjoyment – it was just a round of golf, after all – and helped contribute to a great sense of community that, in a unique way, helped us raise much needed capital income for our small facility with a limited budget.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email noahtapley@hotmail.com
