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THE BUSINESS OF CHARITY GOLF
THE BUSINESS
OF CHARITY GOLF
By Eric Tracy (aka The Mulligan Man)
erictracy@earthlink.net
Published in LA/OC/SD GOLF Magazine - February 2003
Editor’s note: This month Eric Tracy (aka The Mulligan
Man) concludes his 3-part winter series on charity golf
tournaments. In the two previous installments, Tracy provided
information to help you chose a venue for your tournament
and we published a directory of public and private golf
courses we find the most experienced and popular for hosting
your charity event. Please visit our website at www.golfinla.com
to see detailed reports on the courses we featured in
our directory. This month Tracy examines the
business of charity golf, and in Southern California it
is BIG business. Tracy has been involved as an organizer,
Master of Ceremonies, player or consultant in more than
400 tournaments in a 20-year career. There’s not too much
this KFWB Sportscaster doesn’t know about charity golf
tournaments and how to make them profitable and successful.
 “5,000
charity golf tournaments a year!?” I remember my astonished
tone 5 years ago when I echoed back that number to the
person on the other end of the phone.
I had asked Susan Harrison, who then worked in tournament
sales for American Golf Corporation, for an estimate of
how many charity golf tournaments there were in Southern
California each year. At the time, AGC either owned or
managed about three dozen courses in the area, so I didn’t
question her number. In fact, I marveled at it.
Today I am here to report that number has changed a lot
in the last 5 years. My research in a telephone survey
of nearly 70 Southern California golf courses active in
hosting charity golf tournaments indicates the number
now is actually closer to 10,000 tournaments a year. Again,
I marvel.
Suffice it to say, charity golf is big business, raising
huge sums of money for charity, helping to keep golf courses
solvent in these lean times and pumping millions more
into our community by way of the myriad of goods and services
purchased by these tournaments to make them successful
events. Charity golf is also good business for the companies
that participate in and sponsor the tournaments.
Countrywide Home Loans is one of the top mortgage lenders
in the nation. They’re also very active in supporting
local causes by stepping up big and title-sponsoring a
half-dozen tournaments every year. Titles sponsors for
small tournaments might write a check for $2,500. For
big events, add a zero. And Countrywide is involved in
five times that many tournaments in a minor way buying
a foursome or two for $1,000 to $1,500 and using the occasion
to entertain clients or recognize employee effort.
You’ll see the Countrywide banner supporting the Simi
Valley Police Foundation, VNA Hospice Home Care or a local
chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. “When the organization
is aligned with our charitable objectives, it makes great
sense to support them,” said Patrick Benton Executive
Vice President of Administration.
Countrywide’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Angelo Mozilo, feels a strong responsibility
to participate in the communities his company serves and
recognizes the added marketing benefits of golf giving.
“Being represented at charity golf tournaments helps our
corporate branding by giving people the sense that we
are a company that participates in our community. That
image sticks with people.”
For Countrywide’s Mozilo, participation in charity golf
not only satisfies his passion for golf while serving
the community, it’s a uniquely revealing form of corporate
entertainment. “Golf’s mystical, demanding, frustrating
and the absolute best sport for getting to know about
people and their character,” his tone getting more reverent
as he talks about the sport he obviously loves. “If you
go skiing with someone you’re really mostly by yourself.
With tennis, your opponent is on the other side of the
court. Then there’s golf and no other sport lends itself
to the quality of communication you can have with others
than golf.” Exec VP Benton agrees with charity golf’s
unique benefits. “Charity golf tournaments are a great
place to meet new contacts or build existing relationships”
then added, “being able to get 4 or 5 hours with key clients
is pretty powerful stuff.
Participation in these all-day tournaments helps the
bottom line of the golf courses as well. The courses need
the revenue these group events bring, and many courses
have hired clever marketing people to get groups to come
play – an apparent necessity to survive the added competition
brought on by the dramatic increase in the number of Southern
California golf courses over the last decade.
 Charity
golf tournaments act as a branding vehicle for the golf
courses as well. Many times a golfer’s first experience
with a golf course is his participation in a charity golf
event held there. What better way to see all that a course
has to offer than a tournament that starts with a continental
breakfast, serves an on-course BBQ lunch and ends after
an awards dinner banquet. The golfer gets to taste the
flavor of the golf course, its facilities and its food.
And if the event is at a private club, the golfer gets
to be a country club member for the day without having
to pony-up a 5-figure initiation fee.
Then there are the numerous vendors associated with putting
on a tournament -- vendors sensitive to and experienced
in the charity golf genre of event fundraising. Tournaments
need printed programs and tee-signs to promote their sponsors
and many purchase shirts, hats and “Goodie Bag” items
to thank their golfers for their participation. The rule-of-thumb
is to spend 20% of a golfer’s entry fee on golfer gifts,
so we’re talking multi-millions in premium item sales
in Southern California alone.
Doug Campbell has represented La Mode Golfwear for nearly
20 years. You’d think the biggest business for this former
golf pro would be selling golf apparel to pro shops. But
a full 65% of Doug’s business comes from supplying golf
shirts with charity and sponsor logos emblazoned on the
right-breast to more than 100 tournaments a year.
 Sponsors
and contributors often receive tee-signs which give prominence
to that company’s participation in the day’s events. Ace
Tee Signs in Los Angeles (www.aceteesigns.com) provided
tee signs for more than 30 tournaments last year. Ace’s
proprietor, Shirley Butler, a meeting planner who loves
playing golf, found herself organizing more and more corporate
golf events. It was a natural transition from the office
to the golf course. “It’s really nice to be involved with
people whose purpose is doing good for others.”
Finally, and most importantly, there are the charities,
the beneficiaries of all the monies raised and hard work
that goes into putting on one of these events. In their
names millions of dollars are pumped into our economy
through charity golf. These non-profits can be as small
and personal as the Augie Munoz Foundation started by
the surviving son of a pancreatic cancer victim. David
Munoz puts on a party--disguised as a golf tournament--that
sells out every year. And every year David turns over
more than $25,000 to pancreatic cancer research in his
father’s name. Or they can be behemoth institutions with
sophisticated development departments and a resourceful
network of auxiliary volunteers who dedicate their lives
to raising charitable dollars. They all have the same
goal -- raise dollars, raise awareness and build relationships
with people for the cause.
The City of Hope Cancer Hospital, with 13 chapters across
the United States, is the beneficiary of more than 50
golf tournaments annually. Rick Leonard, one of City of
Hope’s development specialists, understands the unique
nature of charity golf tournaments and the many benefits
the tournaments provide besides just dollars. “Golf is
the social lubricant that brings a lot of elements together
smoothly. Some people play for the golf, some for the
cause. But by the end of the day many more people know
about the mission of the institution.” Just as it is for
the golf courses, sometimes the first contact a person
has with a specific charity is a charity golf tournament.
“We know the focus is raising funds,” Leonard admitted,
“but it’s also trying to get people involved with us today
for what they might bring tomorrow. It’s relationship
building.”
Charity golf tournaments are feel-good do-good affairs
whose popularity is growing in our community and around
the country. In a November 2002 Charity Impact Report,
The National Golf Foundation indicated that there were
140,000 charitable outings with more than 15,000,000 participants
in the United States – and it was the small community
efforts that had the most impact. Last year professional
golf tournaments in the US generated between $75 and $100
million for the charities they support. On the other hand,
local charity golf tournaments and the non-pro golfers
that support them, generated $2.9 billion of total revenue.
Again, I marvel.
As an avid golfer, I hope our paths cross on the tee
this year. As a golfer with a heart for helping the community,
I hope it’s on the tee for charity.
Eric Tracy is a sportscaster on KFWB NEWS 980. To find
out more about The Mulligan Man visit www.TheMulliganMan.com
or send email to Eric@TheMulliganMan.com
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