Jul 28, 2026

Step-By-Step Guide to Planning Your Club's Guest Day, Invitational, or Charity Event with Kim Eaton

on the course podcast tournament golf

If you have ever chaired a golf invitational, you know the feeling. You are juggling the budget, the food, the tee gifts, the format, the volunteers, the raffle prizes someone donated from their wine cellar circa 2009 — and you are also trying to play in the tournament. It is a lot. And most of it nobody teaches you. You just figure it out as you go.

That is why we brought Kim Eaton back. Kim has chaired tournaments for years, helped shape the way we built the Desert Classic, and she has opinions — good ones. This week we go step by step through everything you need to know to plan a member guest, a guest day, or a club invitational from scratch.

Before you read on, grab the free planning spreadsheet

We put together a complete tournament planning spreadsheet that covers everything in this episode — budget line items, checklists, prize tracking, volunteer assignments, and more. Save it. Pass it on to whoever chairs it next year.

Download it here: Tournament Planning Spreadsheet

Kim is Back — and Playing Fun Golf

Kim has been saying for years she is going to slow down. Nobody believed her. But she is serious this time — scaling back on the bigger national tournaments, dealing with some distance loss from a back issue, and focusing on a few key Arizona events including the Senior Match Play qualifier. She also has jury duty. Which is apparently going around right now.

Start With the Basics: How Many Days?

One day, two days, or three and a half? Everything else — your budget, your entry fee, your food and beverage — flows from this decision. You cannot set a price until you know what things are going to cost, and you cannot know what things will cost until you know the scope of your event.

Pick Your Format

Best ball, scramble, shamble, stable, hit switch and bitch — we go through the options. We also get into a structure Kim has seen work really well at multi-day events: treating each day as its own separate tournament with its own payout. One bad round does not ruin your whole week. We played a three-day tournament in Montrose where they paid $300, $200, and $100 gross and net each day. You could technically win $900 for the week — or have a disaster on day one and come back swinging on day two.

This is Not a Money-Making Event

Kim says it plainly, and it is the right mindset to have going in.

So the goal is to maximize what comes in so you can spend as much as possible on your players. Entry fees are the starting point — but there is more. Hole sponsors (Kim ran them at $100 a hole at the Gold Rush, with guest passes as an incentive for sponsors). Mulligan and magic putt packages sold at registration. Raffle tickets, 50-50, skins games, day money. And if your budget allows, adding a charitable component — like the Marilyn Smith Scholarship we support at Desert Classic — gives donors a real reason to give and makes your event stand for something beyond the prizes.

Course Fees and Food

At a private club, member greens fees are often minimal or waived — but cart fees, practice balls, tips, and service charges (usually 18-20%, which adds up fast) are real costs. Get those numbers from your pro shop early so you are not guessing. For food, get in front of your catering manager right away and ask them what they can do within your budget. A tip from Desert Classic that changed our lunch: add a salad bar in bowl containers alongside the hot items. Simple, flexible, and people love having the option.

Entertainment and Extras

Most one-day guest days do not have the budget for real entertainment, and that is fine. A putting contest, a horse race, a shopping night with local vendors, a little gift on the table at the final awards — these things go a long way. If you want to get creative, look into hole-in-one contests. We got a golf cart donated from Action Golf Carts at Alta Mesa — they donated the cart, paid the insurance, and we just had to set it up on a par three over 150 yards.

On open bars: Kim and I both have feelings about this. If you are going to include alcohol, please also give people a non-alcoholic option for free. Having to pay for a Diet Coke at an event that includes a glass of wine is a special kind of frustrating.

Tee Gifts

Stressful. Necessary. Hard to get right. Kim almost never did clothing items during her four years running the Gold Rush because sizing is an absolute nightmare — and anyone who has handed out swag bags knows exactly what we are talking about. Her recommendation: a gift card from the pro shop up front so players can choose what they want, then a small surprise item on the table at the final awards lunch. Work with your pro shop buyer — they can usually get you items at or near cost.

Prizes

Kim paid three gross and three net in each of five flights at the Gold Rush — about half the field walking away with something. We talk about skins, day money, on-course competitions, and the one rule we both agree on:

That means enforcing the rules. Establish a rules committee before the event, make sure everyone knows who is handling violations, and do not let anyone tell you it is "just a fun event" when players have paid to compete fairly.

Your Pre-Tournament Checklist

Send a save-the-date at least 90 days out. Have separate member and guest versions of the invitation so guests do not see the pricing. Finalize your scorecards, rule sheets, and format with your pro shop. Confirm food and beverage timing. Ask about dietary needs on your registration form — it is just the reality now. Walk through everything with your committee before the event starts.

Volunteers

You need people for registration, raffle ticket sales, 50-50, decorating, and bag handling if your club does not have cart staff. Put specific people in charge of specific things, collect your raffle items early, and — this one is from experience — do not accept wine donations from people clearing out their cellars. Just say no.

It is Worth It

Even when it feels like a lot — and it is a lot — there is nothing quite like hearing this at the end of a well-run event:

So if you have been thinking about chairing something, or you just took over an event and do not know where to start — start with the spreadsheet. And then listen to this episode.

Desert Classic 2027 Registration Opens August 4th

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