Leader In Innovative Golf Promotions

The first tournament was the annual CSC Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments held at Ridgeview Country Club in Chadron, NE. It was held on Saturday, May 26, Memorial Day Weekend. The Chadron course is a nine hole golf course. There was a morning session of 8 teams of 8 and an afternoon session also consisting of 8 teams of 8.  With the course just being a nine hole course the teams passed Target Golf twice. The day was chilly, foggy and misted rain the entire day. It was a miserable day for golfing. Out of 128 total golfers, 86 played Target Golf. There were several that played more than once at $5 and some purchased mulligans at $3.00 each.  Of the groups of eight, they varied between all eight playing and one group of eight had zero that played. At the end of the day a check was written to CSC Athletics for $626.00.
The Players Tournament was held Saturday, June 2 at the SkyView Golf Course in Alliance. It proved to be quite an afternoon at the golf course. It was a beautiful summer day with a slight breeze. The tournament was host to 110 golfers. Target Golf was set up on hole number 3 next to the Clubhouse, which was a perfect spot. The tournament was held as a customer appreciation event for the local hot spot, The Player’s Sports Bar.  We were asked to set up to raise funds for the youth golf program held at SkyView Country Club. Brian Jerred, PGA golf pro at SkyView was incredible to work with. Brian was very helpful and encouraged golfers as they came around to test their short iron skills on the target golf game. Throughout the day Target Golf had 143 plays at $5.00 from the 110 golfers. At the end of the tournament, there was a shoot out for the top spots. After numerous attempts to find the first place winner, it was decided the next tournament would be handled differently, live and learn. $655.00 was made for the youth golf league and a check was presented to Brian at the conclusion of the day.  Checks were written also for 1st place at $100, 2nd $50 and 3rd place $25. Additional prizes of $20 were given out for anyone making it in the yellow and $50 for making in the red. There were 0 in the Red, 3 in the yellow and no one made 3 of 3. There was a 7 way shoot out at 33 for the top spots. The day ended at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Monday, June 4 was the setting of another beautiful day for playing golf. Target Golf traveled to the Scotts Bluff County Club in Scottsbluff, NE, a private members only golf club for the annual United Way Tournament. The tournament was set to begin at noon. After visiting with the grounds superintendent, it was decided that the net was placed in a safe distance from the water lines on the course. Whew!!  The net was set up on the fairway of hole one. Our table and leader board were set under a beautiful shade tree and a fantastic view of the golf course. Scottsbluff presented a different group than at Alliance. The United Way players seemed a bit more serious, but were determined to be on the top spot of the leader board. The tournament was full with ­­­ 144 players with 122 playing target golf. About 10 golfers played more than once and mulligans were not available to purchase at this event.  Lady golfers were given the choice to shoot from 60 yards or 100 yards. The winner of Target Golf was a lady golfer who shot from the 60 yard mark, scoring a red and a yellow for a 30 on her three shots. Something to think about for future tournaments. I will not allow women to shoot from a closer distance or if I do maybe 85 versus 60.  One of the differences in this tournament compared to the previous one in Alliance, there didn’t seem to be the excitement to play again after the tournament had concluded, although we believe the biggest reason for that was that United Way was hosting a dinner immediately following the tournament and it was a work night (Monday).  A check was written to United Way for $660.00. Checks were also written for 1st place of $100, 2nd $50 and 3rd of $25.  There were three $50 winners of gift cards to the Pro Shop for hitting the red target. We did not offer a yellow prize, that’s good, lots of yellows. Also one individual hit 3 of 3, a yellow and 2 blue for a 31. One other lady had a 31, with 2 yellows. We awarded the 3 of 3 golfer with a 31, 2nd and the lady third.

The day was perfect. South Dakota State Director, Kory Allen, was set up right on the course down the middle of a Par 4 fairway at 100 yards. This was for a fundraising event for the local youth wrestling club. The numbers were as follows: 20 teams of 4. There were 66 one time attempts resulting in $330 earned. Twenty-one mulligans purchased at $63. Sixteen multi attempts earned $80. The grand total for the day was $473.00. Kory gave a $179 canopy that was donated by a sponsor away to the best individual score. Perkins gave FREE adult meals for anyone who played. Free drink tickets to a reputable establishment in Watertown for anyone who played were also donated. National Guard Lanyards for anyone who played. SEARS mini pocket tape measures with a level. He also gave $50 cash to anyone who hit the red, not one red on the day. It came down to a 7 way tie with a score of 33. (2 women and 5 guys, 2 of these individuals were employed at the golf course. Talk about advertisement). He did a single ball tie breaker. This took 8 rounds to determine 3rd place. Third place won a gift certificate to one of the best restaurant in Watertown. The finals came down to the 2 ladies in the mix. They went 5 rounds before determining the winner. Second place also won a gift certificate to the restaurant. By the time the winner was crowned, there was around 30 people standing around watching the shoot out. Kory had no out of pocket expenses. He had obtained his own sponsors for everything. He also booked another tournament to be at in August, and his fee was traded for a team of four to allow him and 3 others to play in the tournament for free (a $300 value). In summation he can only put it in the words of one of the finalists that said "This was way more fun than the entire golf tournament". Also the gal that won the canopy was quite adamant to trade her canopy to him for the net. In Kory's words as a whole, Target Golf Association was more than a hit, but it was still a learning exercise for Target Golf.

Ohio State Director, Jim Anderson, ran the numbers and the event average was 33.956 (50 participants). The low score was 32 with 5 state qualifiers. There was two shots in the red, however, only one was recorded during the competition. The temperature was pretty cool ranging from mid 50's to low 60's toward the end of the event. Mostly cloudy all day. The distance from the tee box to the center of the net was at 100 yards. Jim allowed as many practice shots as the participant desired or as time allowed. The players generally were better during practice than when actually competing. Limited practice shots will be allowed on a more heavily attended event. The set up time was about 45 minutes using 2' concrete form pins that worked very well. (Provided strings were also used to help with layout). Takedown took about 20 to 25 minutes. It may be helpful to develop a form to fill out with categories such as set up time/temperature conditions/estimated overall event attendance/number of participants/average score. This would possibly help collect data and cut down on administrative time for Directors. A 10 by 10 canopy with two 6 foot tables to display prizes and product literature was set up. Jim also set up the TGA banner and a "Take Your Best Shot" banner. Jeff's son Joe, a scratch golfer, helped out.  They tried to keep a spotter out near the net most of the time and during lulls in activity one of them circulated around with a clipboard containing business cards and event flyers.

The Miami Dolphins Foundation hosted its largest annual event featuring current players, alumni and cheerleaders at FinsWeekend. The three-day extravaganza featured an exciting weekend of golf, fishing and celebrities. In all, FinsWeekend raised more than $600,000 for the Miami Dolphins Foundation, whose mission is devoted to providing and supporting signature education, health, youth athletic programs and volunteer activities that inspire and engage communities throughout Florida.
Now in its 15th year, FinsWeekend has grown into the signature fundraising event for the Miami Dolphins Foundation. The festivities began with the "Celebrity Draw Party" in the Harry Soffer room at Fairmont Turnberry Isle. The party included cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and interactive games such as putting, chipping, pitch shot and sand shot for unique prizes. On June 10, Dolphins players and alumni hit the green at Fairmont Turnberry Isle's award-winning golf course in Aventura for the "FinsWeekend Golf Tournament". The winning golf team included Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, Tony Segreto, Jack Paltani and Mike Mominey, who represented Nova Southeastern and posted a tournament low score of 57. Later that evening, the popular Hook & Tackle Captain's Party took place at the Miami Beach Marina, which featured entertainment and a silent auction. At the dinner, Dolphins fullback Lousaka Polite was named the winner of the Nat Moore Community Service Award. The following morning, amateur and professional anglers gathered at the Miami Beach Marina for the Miami Dolphins Foundation Fishing Tournament, presented by eDiets.com. In the afternoon, all fishing participants got together for the "Hooters Weigh-in" where Contender 1, captained by Joe Neber, outweighed Mercury's O-Sea-D by 13.5 pounds to claim the top overall prize.

It was a perfect fall day in Woodstock Georgia for the annual Big Ten Alumni Golf Tournament at Eagle Watch Golf Club. This was the second time in three years that Target Golf was a part of the event. There were 72 golfers representing all, but two schools. Between the Target Golf and raffled items, $1,095.00 was raised, which goes back to the schools club.The Target Golf was set up on half of the driving range. Even though participation was less than I hoped for, it was by far the best exposure this far for Target Golf in Georgia.

As I was one of the golfers for Nebraska, I choose to leave the net up all day while we played golf.  After we were finished golfing I noticed a bunch of High School kids hitting at the net, it turned out to be the local high school team and their coach. I let them hit for about another hour, before taking the net down. While waiting I had 5 inquires on the Target Golf, including the high school coach, a guy from PGA of Georgia, a special events guy, a parent, and the head pro at Eagle Watch Golf Club. I gave all of them a business card with our web site.

It was a very long day as I had to get up by 4:30 to get over to the other side of town and set up, and didn't get home until 8:20 that night. Best time I have spent on Target Golf so far.