April 2017

Golf tournaments are fun, competitive events where awards are given to the tournament winners. Usually the first, second and third place finishers or teams receive trophies, but sometimes special awards are given as well. No matter what size budget you have, you can find a perfect award for your tournament winners. The most important thing is to recognize a well-played round, with the hardware to prove it!

What Kinds of Awards are Appropriate for Golf?

The first step is to define what skills and categories you'd like to award at your tournament.

Jeff with his mentor, Gary Ausman, winners at the Evan's Scholarship Golf Tournament.

Tournament Winners:  Almost every tournament awards a winner or winning foursome. Popular awards include Cameo cups and crystal golf awards for larger budgets; resin golf awards for smaller budgets. Gift cards to the pro shop make great prizes too.

Joke Awards: We see many joke golf trophies come through our production facility.  The most popular by far is the the Golden Throne Golf Toilet, generating lots of laughs at your banquet.

Participation Prizes:  These include personalized golf balls, bag tags, golf towels, divot replacers and other small personalized tools to remember the event.

Golf Award Categories:  Many golf tournaments recognize different golfing skills. Below is a list of common categories given as awards, including:

- XXX Place Individual - Low Gross

- XXX Place Individual - Low Net

- XXX Place Team – Low Gross

- XXX Place Team - Low Net

- Winning Team

- Team Champions

- Individual Champion

- Closest to the Pin

- Longest Drive

- Most Time in the Sand Trap

- Most Lost Balls

- Highest Score

- Worst Team

- Last Place Team

- Should be XXX (fishing, sailing, etc.)

It's up to the organizer to decide which of these they'd like to include at their event.

Presenting Golf Trophies at the Banquet

Our most popular golf award, the Cameo Golf Cup receives 4.8 stars out of 5 from customer reviews.

Most tournaments host a dinner or social gathering shortly after the tournament ends.  This is the perfect opportunity to have the attention of the participants for the awards presentation.

Below are some tips of presenting your awards at the banquet.

1. Timing: The awards presentation should occur as soon as possible after the totals have been tallied and shortly after most people have eaten. This is important because people will leave if they have other commitments or are not eligible for an award.

2. Pass out the awards in reverse order. Start with the third place winner (Net Score first, followed by Gross Score), and proceed to the second place winners (Net Score first, followed by Gross Score).

3. Next recognize special awards, such as the ‘Closest to the Pin’ and the ‘Longest Drive’ winners.

4. Last place:  Add laughter by awarding the worst place team with a joke trophy.  The suspense of who won should be high at this point!

5. Finally, award the tournament winners (Net Champion, followed by Gross Champion).

6. For raffle or door prizes, stagger them throughout the awards presentation. Give a couple of larger prizes after the winners have been announced; participants often view the last raffle prize as their cue to leave.

I hope that these general guidelines help you create outstanding awards for your next golf tournament. No matter how many times they’ve won, all golfers appreciate recognition for a well-played round!

Cheers!
Jessica

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on April 29th, 2014.  It has been updated for content.

Celebrate Service!

Do you have special volunteers that you'd like to thank? Now is the time to prepare, as National Volunteer Week is April 23-29, 2017. Without volunteerism, many organizations wouldn't be able to survive. Citizen volunteers are one of the work forces that make a huge positive impact in our communities, but a crucial part of keeping  volunteers engaged is to make sure they feel appreciated.

How do YOU keep your volunteers happy and motivated? Here are 7 ideas to make sure your volunteers feel appreciated and acknowledged for their service.

7 Creative Ideas for Recognizing Volunteers

1. Share the results of their efforts. This sounds basic, but it's crucial.  Volunteers want to know that their effort makes a difference.  Open communication about the positive impact of their work motivates continued service.

2.  Throw your volunteers an exclusive party. Use all that payroll you're saving to host a volunteer-only bash. Include food, drinks, and entertainment. Make sure the head of the organization is there to socialize and personally thank each volunteer. DON't make it a pot-luck, as that cheapens the entire event.

3.  Host an educational speaking event or workshop. Many volunteers would prefer a chance to learn something new over getting another trinket to put in their home. Invite a chef, professor, newscaster or some other popular knowledge leader to speak at your event. I guarantee attendance will be high and your volunteers will love it!

4.  Give a gift.  If going this route, make the gift related to the volunteer work they do. For example, for a Master Gardener volunteer, give a seed packet, gardening gloves, or a bouquet of flowers. For a festival volunteer, give free concert tickets, credit towards food vendors, or some unique art from the festival. For a school volunteer, have each student draw a picture and write a thank you for the person, and then bind it into a book.

5.  Make recognition public. If you have an office, be sure to display the names of your volunteers in a prominent place. Or publish them in your newsletter, on your website, or in the paper. Volunteers want to be seen as an important part of the organization, so be sure to tell them so!

6. Choose a Volunteer of the Year. Create a little competition among your volunteers to be the best! The winner should get a prize, such as a gift certificate, along with an award, such as an engraved plaque or crystal award. They definitely deserve hardware for this accomplishment!

7:   Nominate one of your superstar volunteers for a national award. Their service should be celebrated! Check out Points of Light for available awards, along with the nomination process.

Give some thought about what feels right for your organization. Just like any employee appreciation program, volunteers should be celebrated for a job well done!

Cheers,
Jessica

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on April 9th, 2013.  It has been updated for content.