Screen Door Open: 2007 Pro-AM

It is official…  Screen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc is proud to announce The New! Screen Door Open® Charity Pro-AM Invitational will be held on Friday, October 26, 2007 at the Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, TX.  Check out the SDOGOLF.com web-site for details.  To receive an invitation to this great PGA sanctioned event, sent an email to info @ sdogolf(dot)com

Screen Door Open: New Direction

Hello to all of you junior golf fans. The Screen Door Open will be back in 2007 with a new direction and a new look…sign-up for the SDO Hinges Newsletter at Screen Door Open website.

Charity Golf Tournament Etiquette: Why it is Rude to Arrive Late and Leave Early!

I know for some people it is hard to manage time.  But there are occasions where time should be placed in a vacuum or on the level of some mathematical formula Carl Sagan used to determine the relevance of the time it took to create the universe.  One of those occasions where limiting your time or not having enough time to spend, is the time you spend participating in a charity function.  In this case a Charity Golf Tournament.

For good charity golf tournaments it takes a minimum of one year to organize the event.  The better ones take nearly five years to get the event where it is smoothly run.  That is a lot of time and effort taken by a large number of people for just a 6 to 8 hour annual event. 

There is the golf to prepare for; there is the food to prepare for and then the prizes and games to organize and then signage and decorations. Not to mention the untold hours of meetings, conversations, phone calls and emails to people all year long to gain support for the event. 

All of this is done for the participants of the golf tournament.   The entire focus is to make the entire event enjoyable for the participants.  The event managers and volunteers spent far more time organizing the event than the length of time the event lasted.

The best thank you a participant can provide the organizer of the event is to arrive early and stay to the end of the event.  There is no extra charge for participants to stay and show respect for those who have worked so hard for the participants.

So, think about this when signing up for a charity golf tournament and mark that day completely off the calendar.  Take this precious time to relax and enjoy what has been prepared just for you.  There is no extra charge for this and you will get more out of it than walking out before you can be thanked for participating. 

You may not think there is anyone who is going to notice you leaving early or you may be one of the many who have the arrogant attitude ‘they will get over it’.  Well the organizers notice people leaving and their reaction is that they failed to please and no those who volunteer their time to help organize a charity event never get over the disrespect they get from people with this unfortunate ‘they will get over it’ attitude.  Matter of fact, they usually remember for years who they were and what they do for business, which definitely can’t help in the long run. 

Supporting charity can be a two-way street and Respect; there is no charge for giving it, but the balance sheet on handing out disrespect will bankrupt you quickly…

Support your local charities by getting involved or participate in their fundraisers. It helps all of use to help others. 

Screen Door Open: What a great Year

Yes, the end of the 8^th Annual Screen Door Open® Charity Pro-AM came in with a bang and left with even a bigger bang.  The new venue, Las Colinas Country Club, was outstanding and the course was in excellent shape…  The golfers all had fun, the PGA professionals all had fun and the Junior Golfers played more golf and hit more shots during this event than they would if they were in a Junior Clinic.

 

And that brings me to closing subject for the year. And that is the kids.  The boys and girls of the Junior Golf Programs, no matter their economic situation, need the game of golf.    It will remain the SDO’s mission to do whatever it can to raise the funds needed to keep programs going that teach kids the full spectrum of the positive values that are part of the teaching of golf.  The SDO hopes it can depend on its supporters to continue to help the SDO meet this mission and pass the word on to their friends and business associates of the SDO’s cause and purpose.  Together, the SDO grows and with that growth we can help more programs help more kids learn this game they can play for a lifetime.

 

Thanks to this year’s volunteers, sponsors and players for making the 8^th Annual SDO Pro-AM another successful year.

Screen Door Open: Another great year

If you have not signed up for this year’s Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament, you are just about out of luck.  

 

Lots of work goes into putting this golf tournament on.   And the mission is to raise funds for Junior Golf Programs across
North Texas.  A lot of kids are depending on these funds to help keep the costs down so they can enter more clinics and golf schools to learn this game of a lifetime.

 

If you missed this year, well hopefully you can get involved and help out next year…

Charity Golf Sponsors: Learn How To Run A Tournament Before Asking For Money

There are a couple of people going around the country talking up how to find sponsors and volunteers for charity golf tournaments.  Most of what they have to say is pretty much common scene organized for people who don’t want to take the time to think.

Now these guys and gals are conducting online teleconferencing mini-seminar exposé symposium workshops on how to find sponsors for a charity golf tournament.  Again, they are close, but no way close enough to win the cigar…

First of all, there are way too many people out there who think that a golf tournament is the best way to raise money for their charity.  It is NOT!  Just because you love to play golf, or your business is full of golfers, doesn’t make organizing a golf tournament a no brain-er.  And don’t think that the PGA Professionals of the golf course (or in some cases, the golf course management companies non-PGA professional) to organize it for you.  They will set up play for the course, but that is just a flash in the pan on the amount of time it takes to organize a FAIR golf tournament, not to mention the extra time it takes to put on a Good golf tournament, and the full time effort it takes to put on a very good golf tournament.  Not ask how much time it takes to put on an Excellent Charity Golf Tournament.  Lets just say that if you have time to read this article you don‘t have the time needed to organize an Excellent Charity Golf Tournament.

Most of these seminars provide some simplified process that outlines that all you have to do is send a letter and make a phone call to a few large companies to be sponsors and the event’s bank account fills up.  It Ain’t Gonna Happen!

Since I sat in the chair at one of the largest corporations in the world and saw the number of people contacting us for charity golf tournament sponsor support I can truly tell you that it is going to take offering an outstanding charity golf tournament before these companies are going to even look at what you offer.  No matter what you put in the packages.  Believe me, I know…

All large companies are getting hit by charity groups who want to ride the wave of popularity of golf.  And only a few know how to make it work.

Now, you are saying, Duke, you are in the business to show people how to play business golf and you have one of the best charity Pro-AMs going in the Dallas area, why are you saying this?  Well it is simple, there are some very badly run charity golf outings… No, wait; there our thousands of badly run charity golf tournaments out there that are making it rough for the good charity golf tournaments.   How, the bad charity golf outings are turning the charity golfers to playing in any of them since their impression is that ALL charity golf events are like the bad one.   What makes them bad is the organizers have no idea how to organize a charity golf tournament.  Some of the organizing groups do not even know how to play golf. 

The expectations for a charity golf tournament are MUCH higher than just organizing a golf tournament.  These groups who are not experienced need to reconsider what they are doing until they know what they are doing.

Businesses today are being hit up for donations from everyone. And I am not the first to say that these companies do not have bottomless pockets of money.  

So, my message here is, if you are thinking of organizing a charity golf tournament for your cause, or you have a charity golf tournament  that has to be rebuilt each year because the golfers will not come back, then I recommend that you look to some other activity or event to organize to raise the funds for your cause.  Tough love is talking here, but man; do some of these groups need some tough love talk.

Now, I am out to provide solutions.  Thus my business name, Innovative Business Golf Solutions.  And here is what I have to offer.  (Which I talk about in much more detail in my soon to be released book How to Organize a REAL Good Charity Golf Tournament (working title))

1. First of all, do not fall for other people suggesting that you put on a charity golf tournament to raise money because they saw where another one raised $1million.  If you do not have a clue on what goes into organizing a charity golf tournament then do not try it until you do. 
2. Don’t think because you have played in hundreds of charity golf tournaments you can organize one.  Believe me, that is the way I started and it was not until I was mentored by the PGA and placed on the planning committee for a Senior PGA event did I start to see part of the picture. There is much more that goes on behind the scenes and before you got to the golf tournament than you will EVER imagine.  And those things done before the tournament, if not done correctly, will cause the event to suck air.
3. Consider finding another golf tournament to combine your cause with theirs.  More than likely sometime during the year there is another golf tournament that has been organized that is for the same cause.  Find it and bring your effort together.  Believe me, the tournament director will love you if your can bring your few teams into their event to fill it.  Ask if you can be on the planning committee.  Remember, you will not know if this is going to be a good tournament or not, so take this as part of your training if the tournament sucks
4. Getting plenty of golf savvy volunteers is the key.  Again, these seminars mention this, but do not put enough emphasis on the importance of having plenty of volunteers who know golf.  You can get plenty of volunteers to help, but if they don’t have a clue of what goes on in a golf tournament then you are in trouble before you start.  What do you do if you cannot get golf savvy volunteers; I suggest you spent three hours the day before the golf tournament and had have a training class for all volunteers.  IF they don’t show for training then you are in trouble again.  So offer them a reason to come.  I will leave that for you to figure out.  I have to leave something for my book.
5. And finally, don’t go asking for sponsor support until you have a very good to excellent golf tournament to offer.  Saying that you are going to have 140 players does not cut it with businesses now days. Especially, if all 140 players hate the tournament because it is poorly organized.  That will not reflect very good on the sponsors.  Businesses today are pretty savvy when it comes to sponsoring charity golf tournaments.  Obviously they have a few to choose from and most of them don’t just look at the cause or the exposure, they look at the quality.  And if your event is sucking air, they are not going to want to be involved.

Now, I talked about all of the things you need to think about or do before considering starting your own charity golf tournament.  These guys who are traveling around telling you how to get sponsors for a charity golf tournament have the cart before the horse.  You better know how to organize a GOOD (and I mean a very good tournament) before thinking about asking for sponsor’s money.

Over 80% of the charity golf tournaments that are played this year will have these common problems that will cause them to collapse, if not end up owing more money that they made:

1. TOO Many players for the golf course.  The number one Charity Golf Killer… Not only does this one mistake kill the charity event it puts a real bad taste in charity golfers to want to play in another charity golf tournament because NOW their impression is that ALL charity golf tournaments are bad.  The reason these bad charity golf tournaments put so many players on the course is that they reduced their margins for profit to negative to get their entry fees below other charity golf tournament’s entry fees.  Golfers who play in charity golf tournaments do not fall for the price being cheap tactic. To get to a breakeven or to make a profit for the charity they have to put two to three (and some I have been to have put four) teams starting on each hole of the course.  Then, it the weather is bad the course makes the carts stay on the paths will make this event a 7 hour ordeal when it should only take 4 and half hours.   The ‘Meat Market’ charity golf tournament will cause you to fold up shop quickly.
2. Rubber Chicken for Prime Rib price.  The number two charity golf killer…Bad Food!  Face it, every golf tournament has people who play for the prizes and the glory of the win so make sure you got some cool stuff to provide the winners.  So the majority of the players who play are not going to win so you better have something for them.  And Good FOOD is the best prize for them.  If you throw a hamburger buffet or Bar-B-Q at them after they played in a 7 hour event. You might be getting people asking for their money back.  I would be…

So, the Bottomline here is, before you go out and pay money to find out how to find sponsors for your charity golf tournament, learn how to put on a real good charity golf tournament before you ask for sponsors money.  It will save you from having egg on your face and will keep all charity golf tournaments a great place to raise funds for charity.

 

Charity Golf Tournaments & Business Networking: Sign-up for Only Good Ones.

I spend a lot of time talking to people, who are in business or in general, on the benefits of golf as a business tool. Seems others are talking lot about it, but are not clearly explaining HOW to use Golf as a Business Networking Tool.It is simple, you can either just make a tee time at your favor golf course and take a shot at getting hooked up with another golfer who is in business, or…Find a Charity Golf Tournament to get involved with… Most of the time the Charity Golf Tournament route is more productive. But, you still need to know how to play Business Golf. This does not mean you have to play golf, just know how to play Business Golf. There is a difference.Golf is the best way to network what you do. And where else do business golfers go to play business golf, to Charity Golf Tournaments. There is no other event where you are going to get an audience with someone for four hours or longer? But before you get the newspaper out or crank-up the search engine to find a Charity Golf Tournament you need to keep in mind that you want to get involved with a GOOD charity golf tournament. There is nothing worst than volunteering to help a charity golf tournament, invite all of your business associates to come and play and the event sucks. 7 hour rounds of golf, bad food and no sign of the charity the funds are raised for are all killers to people who play business golf. Even if you are out for the social aspects of the golf event, if it sucks, the negative impression will run off on you.So, find a good charity golf tournament.How can you tell if it is good? Ask the tournament director how many players or teams they are going to put on the course. If they say 36 or more teams (or 144 players) in the morning and another 30 teams in the evening, high tail it as fast as you can. These events are the coffin nails for businesses and for volunteers.Why? Most courses cannot not take that many players safely and since there are at least two teams on each hole, which means each team is going to have to wait for the group in front of them after every shot… the killer of golf tournaments.Pick one that has 28 teams (112 golfers) or less. They are easier to manage, the players are much, much happier since they get to enjoy the day.Also ask what they are going to serve for food. If they are getting the food donated from Joe’s B-B-Que, get away quick. Most golfers who take time away from the office and spend an inflated entry fee expect more than mid to lower levels of food. If the event is serving a buffet inside the clubhouse where everyone gets to sit at a nice decorated table with silverware, the mood is happier and the reflection on you inviting them to the event is positive. Make that sales call a little easier when you call them after the event.Ask if the charity the funds are raised for is going to be at the event. Usually, business people like to schmooze with the charity people to show their community involvement. If the charity is not going to be there other than to get the check, expect the awards program to suck. Again, another bad reflection on you by the people you invited to play.If the Charity Golf Tournament has a silent auction, here is where you want to be. Usually the Silent Auction is the staging area for the golfers to have drinks and cool down after the round. The BUSINESS NETWORKING is heavy here. IF the golf tournament has a silent auction, get involved with that group.So, yes, Golf is a great way to network your business, even if you are not a golfer..Here is one of the best charity golf tournaments in the
Dallas-
Fort Worth area.Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf TournamentJune 5, 2006Las Colinas Country Club
Irving, TexasAn officially PGA sanctioned Pro-AM. Raises funds for junior golf programs.For more information go to http://www.screendooropen.org/ Scot DukeChairman of the Board of DirectorsScreen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc.A 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit organization

14232 Marsh Lane #486

Addison, TX
75001scot.duke@screendooropen.org http://www.screendooropen.org/ Blog Site: http://screendooropenproam.blogspot.com/ 214 549-0306Proudly presenting the 8th Annual Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament on June 5, 2006 at the Los Colinas Country Club,
Irving, TX

Play In The Screen Door Open For Nothing

OK, you golfers in Dallas, or around the country, who want to play in an officially sanctioned PGA Charity Pro-AM here is your chance to play with a member of the PGA for Nothing. For each person who responds to this blog I will send the information on how to play in the Pro-AM for free and for doing so have a chance to be awarded, not signed up to win, but awarded a customer fitted set of Titleist irons. The new ones that are coming out this month.Come on, respond and I will send you the information. 

How To Make Busienss Connections On The Golf Course

If you are REALLY wanting to put yourself, and your business, ahead of your competition you need to network your business. One of the best ways to do this is to become a volunteer for a Charity Golf Tournament.

But, make sure it is a good one or you are just working for a cause. An officially sanctioned PGA event like the Screen Door Open Charity Golf Charity Pro-AM is a great way to get to meet other business people.

Sign-up as early in the process of planning of the tournament as possible to get the maximum effect. That way when the day of the event comes you can refresh your connections with the people you have been working with in the planning.

Performing well as a volunteer by doing an outstanding job of the assignment you have been given also places you and your business at the top of the list when it comes time for people to remember someone who is in your profession.

So, sign-up now for the Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament.

Screen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc., is actively recruiting men and women who are interested in volunteering to help organize the number 2 Pro-AM Golf Tournament in Dallas, the Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament. Now in its 8th year, the SDO has become one of the powerhouse charity golf tournaments in Dallas. Come join in the great Business Networking opportunities of being a SDO Volunteer. Contact Scot Duke 214 549-0306 or info@screendooropen.org for more information.

Screen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc.A 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit organization

14232 Marsh Lane #486

Addison, TX
75001info@screendooropen.org http://www.screendooropen.org/ Proudly presenting the 8th Annual Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament on June 5, 2006 at the Los Colinas Country Club,
Irving, TX

Press Release: Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM

Press Release:

Monday, June 5, 2006 – Las
Colinas, TX

8^th Annual Screen Door Open Charity Pro-AM Golf Tournament

Las Colinas Country Club in
Irving, Texas.

‘Not Just Another Charity Golf Tournament'™. 

Come Help Us Help Kids™ and play in this official PGA sanctioned Pro-AM event on one of the best golf courses in D/FW.

Proceeds from the Screen Door Open® go to the development of the Junior Golf Programs of the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation.  The Golf-In-Schools Program, supported by the funds from the annual SDO Pro-AM, provides for PGA Professional training and golf equipment to kids in Elementary, Middle and High Schools.  The GIS Program provides golf as an elective to every boy’s and girl’s physical education program.  Over the past 8 years the SDO has been a part of expanding this program from the three schools the program was piloted in 1999 to currently being in 114 schools, 29 of which are in theIrving
Independent
School District.   The NTPGA projects the GIA Program to be in 120 schools across the North Texas Area by 2007.  

Come out and help the Screen Door Open bring the positive values the game of golf offers to boys and girls across
North Texas.

To learn how to play in the Pro-Am for FREE contact Scot Duke at scot.duke@screendooropen.org or 214 549-0306

Information on Sponsorship Packages and player registration are available on the SDO Web-site www.screendooropen.org or by calling 214 549-0306.

Event is organized and produced by Screen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc. a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit organization.  Screen Door Open Charity Golf, Inc

14232 Marsh Lane #486

Addison, TX
75001-3857  Note:Details on the NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation Golf-In-Schools Program are attached.  For interviews and  more information on the Screen Door Open and the other junior golf programs supported from its fundraising efforts, contact Scot Duke at scot.duke@screendooropen.org or 214 549-0306.