Tom Haraldsen
The City Journals
Every year, hundreds of Utah companies, organizations and even churches put on golf tournaments. They are generally four-person scramble events, designed to promote camaraderie and help even the most novice or inexperienced golfers have some fun with friends or co-workers.
They also serve another purpose in many cases — raising money for charitable causes. Businesses sponsor holes and usually have representatives at the tee boxes to hand out swag with company logos. Many businesses donate door prizes for raffles held during lunches hosted by the tournament sponsor. For those who are just starting out to play the game, it’s a great way to “break in.”
So how do you start to organize a golf scramble? Here are some tips:
Choose the date and site. Many courses book early for these types of events. Usually a four-person scramble can involve as many as 144 golfers — meaning two four-person teams can start on the same hole, one team behind the other. So be sure your course can handle that many golfers (most can) and set your time schedules accordingly. If you plan to have a “shotgun” start at 9 a.m., plan on then hosting your lunch and/or awards event about 1:30 p.m. And choose a course that’s appropriate for the skill level of your golfers — something relatively flat and easy to walk, even though golfers are usually in carts.
Set your budget. You probably hope to make some money on this event, so figure the greens and cart rental fees, plus costs for food or beverage, into your budget. The average cost for a scramble in Utah in 2024 was $70 per player minimum. Some were higher, depending on the course and the sponsor of the title event. Be sure to cover your hard costs.
Recruit players. This shouldn’t be too difficult if you, as the title sponsor, have a network of friends and fellow business owners who like golf. Most golf courses will allow you a little flexibility in reserving times, so if you get into this and find you can only fill 120 spots (30 teams), set up a cut-off time so you can finalize your course reservations. It’s important to get a good number of players so that the scramble is fun and competitive.
Create a registration form. This is something you obviously need to do. If you are figuring handicaps into team scoring, that’s information you’ll need. This also helps create a mailing list for contacting golfers in the future.
Food and drinks. A very important part of any scramble are munchies. The amount of food and drinks you need will depend, of course, on the number of players. It is important to order food and drinks that are appropriate for the event.
Sponsors and prizes. Many companies will sponsor a hole for a set fee. This can include them offering swag (golf balls, tees, ball marks, hats, etc.) to players as they come to a tee box. They may also want to offer prizes for your raffle (tickets sold to players is another great way to raise some money for a cause). You’ll also want prizes for your top teams — trophies or gift cards or even golf equipment. Some courses will offer gift certificates from their pro shops.
Choose a format for the scramble. Most four-person events allow each player to tee off on a hole, with the best shot played. This continues to the green, where all four players have a chance to make the final put. Some tournaments add twists just for fun, like allowing “one throw” from a sand trap per round. And most have prizes for the longest drive and closest to the hole, both for men and women. Your ability to obtain prizes will determine what contests within the actual round you want to offer. In some cases, you can also buy an inexpensive insurance policy for a grand prize — like a new car or truck for the first golfer getting a hole-in-one on a designated par three. Make sure that par three is a difficult one!
Volunteers. This is a very important element for any entity putting on a tournament. You’ll need helpers for registration, scoring, food and beverage and to monitor a hole if you do the large hole-in-one giveaway. You’ll need someone to marshal the start, sending teams and carts to their respective starting tees for a “shotgun” start.
Teeing off. Again, each group of four will tee off at the same time, but on different holes. This is usually called a shotgun start — everyone hears a horn or even a shotgun blast signaling them to begin. If you have 36 teams, they will go off with one following the other. Do not have all eight golfers playing in one group. Most courses will make that rule mandatory before you begin your tournament.
Finishing it off. You should have at least one if not two volunteers at the clubhouse, ready to collect the team scorecards as they come in. Your scoring rules may depend on whether you want to include golfers’ handicaps (usually a problem if many of the players don’t have registered handicaps) and you may wish to divide your teams into “flights.” For example, you could take the top 18 teams and place them in A Flight, and the bottom 18 teams into B Flight. That allows for more teams to get first-, second- or third-place prizes, and it also helps even the playing field a bit for just occasional golfers. This doesn’t usually cause much concern, since almost all scramble tournaments are conducted in the spirit of fun.
Post-tournament. Once the tourney ends, keep a few things in mind. Send thank-you notes or emails to the players, volunteers and the staff at the golf course. Publish the results on social media or, if the event was used as a fundraiser for a local cause, see if local newspapers or media outlets will run the results. And evaluate the scramble — what worked well, what didn’t work at all, what could be improved?. Was the cost and effort worth it, and would you do it again? If you think you might want to make this an annual event, then let participants know you’ll be back in touch next season.
Have fun, make new friends, and hit the links for a day of memories, mulligans and more!