Why Businesses Should Sponsor #Golf Tournaments and Events

I recently wrote an article for my LinkedIn connections about how businesses that help sponsor golf tournaments can bring cutting edge benefits and visibility to their business and brand.

This article has proven to be of interest so I decided it would be wise to spread this information to a wider audience, hence to my readers on Golf for Beginners.

I have the honor of assisting the yearly Legends Invitational Golf Tournament with their social, marketing and sponsorship efforts and, in doing so, I  am also part of so much more: the main beneficiary of the Event is The National Navy UDT SEAL Museum.

Charitable concerns are important in our framework of life - selecting the beneficiary which can do so much good for others is extremely important not only to the event but to those who support or are in attendance.

In the case of Legends Invitational, the tournament supports The Navy SEAL Museum through donations which benefit families of fallen heroes and the heroes themselves via Trident House and educates through initiatives at the Museum.

With Legends help (and through the generosity of grants and corporate gifts), the Navy SEAL Museum helps preserve, and shares the legacy of, the world’s premier Special Operations force. The Museum receives no federal funding and relies upon the good will of people and of corporate entities.

Why should your business help sponsor a golf event? Here are a few bullet points:

 - In the case of Legends Invitational, it is an opportunity to make connections with many of the top business builders in our Country. Legends has been known for the past twenty-four years as the Most Exclusive Invitational Golf Tournament in the World.

- Great for entertaining clients. Imagine bringing those associates you want to impress to a five-star setting to play Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay golf courses. Top name Football Hall of Famers are in attendance,and...

Stacy with V. Admiral Kernan

The SEAL's not only make an appearance, but boy, do they ever make an entrance! What a WOW factor. (In my foursome, our Team Leader was Vice Admiral Joe Kernan...it was an honor to play golf for three days with him!)

- Reward your best employees - Provide major incentive to a foursome of your brightest stars for a job well done - it will ignite a fire that will last for years.

- Patriotic event - Navy SEALs, for example, enhance the reputation, image and prestige of the sponsoring company through association.

- Generates media buzz both traditional and internet. Watch KSBW-TV headlining news story: Navy SEALs and NFL Legends Team Up for Good Cause 

Company representatives do not necessarily have to be in attendance to sponsor an event yet can still reap the benefits. Here is an example - Jack Daniels sponsored the opening cocktail hour at Spanish Bay as well as tents at the 7th hole at Pebble Beach (among other initiatives). Another thought? Why not sponsor a hole at the Event. A Harley Davidson dealer placed a motorcycle at the tee box of a par-3 ready to be won in exchange for a hole-in-one.

Jack Daniels Cocktail hour before the Event

Your company can sponsor an entertainment, activity or cocktail hour, marketing their name to those in attendance.

For example, Legends Invitational and The Navy SEAL Museum offer many ways to donate to the cause. If you don't play golf but love the SEALs, your company can support Museum efforts directly or customize an event at your place of business with SEALs parachuting into YOUR event, or perhaps, instruction of tactical demonstrations onsite. Talk about a memorable experience for your workers - this will have them whipping out their smartphones, socially sharing your brand with everyone of their contacts.

A company can also offer goods or services to improve the lives of the Event beneficiary. Donations come in many forms, from becoming a member of The Navy SEAL Museum to helping to furnish Trident House or donating auction items - the ideas are endless.

There are so many ways for businesses to benefit from sponsoring a golf event from reputation association to brand building - consider this new arena as a part of your marketing strategy.

Learn how you can help sponsor The National Navy UDT SEAL Museum either directly or through Legends Invitational - read the Legends Invitational Sponsorship Brochure.

Voice your opinions on this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Country Music and Golf Join Forces to Help Provide Joy to Children

Most golf fans hear about larger endowments such as PGA Tour Charities and First Tee programs but there are also smaller philanthropic concerns which may never get the same scope of visibility - in this case a local Myrtle Beach foundation called the Pardue Children in Need Fund.

During the week in which I played in the Mystical Golf Tournament in Myrtle Beach, I had the opportunity to speak on several occasions with Claude Pardue, CEO of DG Golf Management and very passionate spokesperson for a charity which "Provides Joy to Children with No Joy in Their Lives."

The game of golf gives back in many ways through charities; in the case of the Pardue Fund, Claude (in association with The Waccamaw Community Foundation) raises money through his pro-shops and has a golf tournament the Saturday before Christmas - this year on December 21 (chances are that the weather in Myrtle Beach will be great). Man O War and the Wizard golf courses close for the event and every dime that is taken in goes directly to the kids.

Which kids are going to be helped?

Children that suffer from emotional and behavioral issues such as depression, anger issues, suicidal tendencies and manic issues among others, mostly caused by abuse and neglect. "The state provides for the vast majority of their care such as housing, food, school, treatment, meds but nothing else," says Pardue.

These kids for the most part are assigned by the court system to homes such as the Lighthouse care facilities and the Seacoast Academies. "Problem is," Claude continued, "that with what they have been through, they feel as though they were placed in prison."

Every year, the Foundation has a Christmas party with tennis shoes and clothes given as gifts to the kids. Pardue's team has also started athletic teams at the Macon and Augusta, Georgia facilities and his staff gives golf lessons once a week to boys and girls in SC during the summer. Claude says there are eleven total facilities in South Carolina and Georgia. "Every year, I am very sad that we are only providing for four of them."

One of the most fun things on the agenda is the annual show at the Alabama Theater. This year, superstar Grammy-award-winning country music group Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers have agreed to perform - Monday night January 27, 2014.

How can you help these kids in need? You can buy tickets to the Gatlin show, contact MysticalGolf.com directly or you can email me and I will be happy to forward your notes directly to Claude Pardue.

"By law and because it is right," Pardue said, "we cannot publicize anything that goes on in these facilities.  This is to protect the kids because of the sensitive nature of what they are going through.  Because of this, we do not have a brochure of any kind.  We rely on word of mouth and really good people that have gotten involved with us in our cause." 


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Without Tiger Woods Golf Industry Explodes

Golf's billion-dollar economic impact is not dependent on Tiger Woods.

 

 

The World Golf Foundation released a report on the economic impact of the sport and found that the industry is significantly "bigger" than the motion picture and recording industry combined!

 

Charities have also benefitted from the game, to the tune of almost four billion dollars, more than any other sporting activity. Golfers are generous!

 

A press release in my email about the study, entitled "Golf 20/20", provided confirmation that golf has grown from sixty-two billion dollars in 2002 into a seventy-six billion dollar business, creating almost two million jobs in its development.

 

So, for all of the worriers (including Jack Nicklaus) who believe that the game of golf is dying, think again. Whether or not Tiger Woods ever plays again, or if cities like Tucson need to reassess the number of municipal golf courses it operates, the future is looking bright and game will go on.

 

Golf will have to change with the times, perhaps incorporating social media strategies and improving the value for the masses, but it is vibrant and more than just an enjoyable pastime, for many fans, players and businesses, it's a way of life!

 

Your thoughts?

 

Golf 20/20 Mission Statement: to galvanize the industry around strategic initiatives and grass roots activation to ensure the future vitality of the game of golf.

 

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Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous