We will tell you about our event and how to put on a golf tournament and get sponsors. How to get the money directly to a family? We'll have to tell you about that a little later as we've never done it before (before this is over, you'll have that information too), but right now let's concentrate on the event.

First, when you get the Idea, act on it. Don't hesitate and don't worry so much about the out come. Once you lay out money to reserve the course, you'll get much more motivated. Figure a minimum of 100 players. The course will ask you for a deposit. Our course wanted $5.00 per player = a $500.00 deposit. Give yourself 60 days... It sounds quick and it is, but it will be done soon and it won't take over your life. We have less than that.

Most golf courses will book a tournament 1-year in advance. You might have to do that. But maybe not. We were lucky. Just call around and you can find one. In a year, you may not have the same enthusiasm or motivation like you have NOW. Try to find one where the green fees are not too high, like a city or county course. The green fees in those are, for example: in the LA area between $35.00 to $50.00 to play and ride a cart per person weekdays (Weekend and holidays are higher. Check on that). To have a nice dinner too, that may be another $15.00 to $20.00. Charge $120.00 to $150.00. Do the math and that leaves you over $50.00 per player. Don't go out with the assumption that because it's a good cause that you can put on a half --s event and you'll be OK. Golfers are serious about their golf. If they are going to pay their money, they want to get their money's worth and if the thing comes out right, they'll feel good about the reason for that particular round of golf. Don't cut corners to make a few more dollars.

The dinner is a banquet like any other. Most golf courses have a bar & banquet room. Make sure you pick one that does, so that immediately after their round, golfers can go have a drink or a beer, relax, and talk about the putt that didn't drop, while waiting for the rest of the golfers to finish. We suggest sending the people that are going to help with the scoring and the drinkers first (make sure they are not one and the same group!). The reason being that the starter will be sending each group out in approx. 8-minute intervals. That's how tee times are scheduled. That's about 8 to 10 groups an hour if you have 25 groups (of 4 = 100 players). That will take about 2 1/2 hours to send everybody out. Which means that from the time the first group comes in, there will be approx. 2 1/2 hours before the last group comes in. In that 2 1/2 hour period you could lose some of your people and your banquet won't be as full.

You want to have a nice turn out for the dinner, raffle and the trophies. I always like to send out the drunks first (I use this term affectionately!). Believe it or not, they're usually your better players and they can ... hang. The last thing you want is to have a field of 100+ golfers and 20 people at the banquet, especially if you have already paid for their dinner, you'll have wasted money. You can also fill the dinner with people that are not playing but are just dinner guests and you make money from that also. Decorate the room, add displays if you can and lay out the trophies in plain sight. Create a real ceremonial atmosphere that's also festive.

You also fill the room with prizes and keep them close to the trophies. There are always people that can help arrange the room, decorate, etc. If you put in good effort, the people will see your effort and stay. You'd be surprised how many tourneys at the end give you some chicken wings, a 2 inch trophy, and half your golfers have already gone home and a few of the trophies have been given to those of us in the crowd that know the person that won them. In other words, go at it like your daughter is getting married. That job is best left for enthusiastic non-golfers. A golfer, once he puts on his golf shoes, could be unreliable.

There is a thin line between a nice ceremony and a boring ... "I can't wait until they pass out the last trophy so I can get out of here" type dinner. Part of that nice room is all the trophies and plaques. Every sponsor should get a plague, and they should not have to pay for dinner. You want them there to get their plaque and be recognized for their financial contribution as well as their participation. And after the golf is done, comes the raffle, the prizes, the presentation of plaques, and then the trophies. About the prizes, have around $1500 to $2,000 worth of prizes. This will give you a lot of stuff; display this somewhere close to the trophies. The raffle can be done by either selling tickets or giving everybody a dinner ticket or both. If you give everybody a dinner ticket at check in, some people will lose it. You need to control the dinner. Also make sure that no one takes someone else's dinner. So a dinner ticket for each golfer is a good idea, especially if it's a buffet or even a sit down. You need to make sure that runs smoothly. If you choose to sell raffle tickets that will raise additional money too .... suggestion ... a young pretty, aggressive woman or a small grandmother do best. They are hard to turn down. The raffle can be done as soon as everybody sits down to dinner (you need to see how restless the crowd is and just get started).

There are always some people in the group that love this part of the event. This is the part that's fun, loud, and social. Still, you have to keep it moving. Find those to help you hand out prizes and while the dinner is going on, start drawing tickets. Once you clean up the prizes, the room starts to look a little empty and a little more serious. This is when the awards begin. It's a time to be proud of what you've accomplished and thankful to those who helped you. Start with the sponsors. You may wish to say something personally about them if you know them and you'll want to name their company (most sponsors are either there because they know the organizers or they just like the idea). Almost always they are business owners that want to promote themselves and their business. Give it to them. They deserve it. After the sponsors comes what everybody is waiting for, the trophies.

What kind of trophies you give depends on the format of the tournament you have. There are several kinds. Some common are "individual play" and "best ball scramble." They vary a little depending on which one you do. Either one will do or if you are considering putting on a golf tourney, and don't know what those terms are someone will help. Don't worry. Refer back to the part of this instruction that says, "Just do it". Someone will help you and score the tourney. Golfers have a lingo unto themselves. No golfer will stand by and allow, or play in, a tournament that is being sponsored by someone that doesn't know what a scramble is. We golfers have a heart. They'll run to help just because of the GUTS you demonstrate.

A scramble is basically where everyone hits one shot, and then they pick the best shot of the 4. They then hit from there. This is played as a team. It's the easiest kind of tourney to put on. Individual play is the most common. In this type, you play your own shots from start to finish and count every stroke (hopefully). You'll be given a handicap and a net score and that's that. This style, which is what we're doing, has 2 categories, "Gross" and "Net" and therefore you need 2 sets of trophies for first, second, and third.

Net is with a handicap. For example, a golfer shoots 95 with a 20 handicap. His net score is 75. Again, if you have no experience in golf or golf tourneys, don't worry. Get golfers to help you. You have the will and enthusiasm and the organizational skills and contacts etc. That's all you need, the motivation. The golfers around you will help with the rest. The Gross category shows the best golfers, who shot the lowest scores...period.

If you get a Gross trophy you can't get a Net also. That's why you give 2 sets of trophies. Then you have 2 other categories, the "longest drive" for who ever hits the farthest drive from the tee. Again any golfer will help with that. Also, "closes to the pin." That's on par 3s for who ever hits the closest shot to the pin. For these two, you need small signs on the spot so golfer can write their names down as they beat the previous drive or get it close to the hole.

And last, but not least, are the lighter moments when you pass out the last two trophies. We like to do this. You don't have to. Those are the "Best of the Worst" and "Take up Bowling" trophies. These we give to the two worst golfers. You can figure out who gets the Take up Bowling category.

Keep it fun. Not everything will work out perfectly. Things rarely do. But remember, at the end of the day, 100+ golfers had a nice day. Everybody had dinner. You gave away a bunch of prizes. Lots of friends mixed and mingled and you made lots of new friends. All this was done because an American Family was destroyed by Cowards that now have to hide in a cave and now know very well that their day is coming. We can play golf. We can have parties, a World Series, concerts etc., but we'll never forget Sept 11th.

And we were able to do SOMETHING to HELP in our own way.