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The charity golf tournament season is well under way in San Diego. Over the last few years, dozens of new tournaments have joined the fray. From April through October, there are at least two charity events every Monday and Friday, somewhere in the county. Each year, more than 125 charity tournaments are played, raising between $10,000 and $200,000 per event.
Vince Tully knows the territory well, and he sees some dark clouds gathering. Tully is a partner in San Diego Golf Events, a company which primarily plans and runs corporate outings for out-of-town businesses. But Tully also donates his time and expertise to many charity golf events in town. And wearing his other hat as manager of services for American Airlines, he is intimately involved in the sponsorship side of numerous charitable events. Tully sees a glut beginning to form.
"The industry is doing great, but it’s getting very competitive," says Tully. "If you were to call Lomas Santa Fe, a private club which allows tournaments on Mondays, you can’t book one for a year. Aviara used to be a big player, but it is turning away tournament business with the opening of the (Four Seasons) hotel."
Another problem is that every charity wants to play at an exclusive, high-end course like La Jolla Country Club, Rancho Santa Fe or Del Mar Country Club. However, memberships at these clubs only allow a handful of tournaments per year, forcing organizers to look elsewhere. Courses like Eastlake, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Steel Canyon and Carmel Highlands have benefited, but the charity cannot charge as much per player at these venues. Demand by charities is shrinking the availability of high-end courses.
The biggest problem Tully sees is that the rapid growth of tournaments has put a severe strain on local sponsors that have a track record of generosity.
"The sponsors are all getting hit too much," says Tully. "American Airlines gets 10 to 15 charity requests, of all kinds, every week. It’s starting to be tough for companies to come to the plate because they are overwhelmed. And when they do step up, they are coming with a little bit less, year over year, rather than more. I can’t imagine how many requests Qualcomm is getting.
"Next year we will probably cut back some at American," he says. "If everyone sees American Airlines tickets at every event, it lessens their value. It’s the auctions that make the money in charity tournaments. Entry fees usually just cover costs, plus a small buffer. The auctions are all profit."
Entry fees run from $85 to $150 on the low end, to $500-$650 on the high end. Fees are based on the course, the charity involved and the history and stature of the tournament itself.
The older, established tournaments have a base of corporate leaders or club members supporting it year after year. The middle range, $200 to $500 tournament without a long history may be in trouble. "They are having a harder time finding great places to play, and fighting a little harder for players," said Tully.
The core group of players, which Tully estimates at around 4,000, is hardly expanding. "It’s usually the same group of men and women, mostly the corporate people in town."
Pricing the tournament itself can be a delicate balancing act. Tully helps out with the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) tournament each year, which charges around $185. "We'd like to take it higher, but many of our players are CHP officers, and upping the price would move it out of their range. You have to set the price carefully."
So what is a tournament committee to do these days to attract entrants? "The key is creativity," Tully says. "I’m racking my brain for creative, new things to do. We recently played a tournament with an eight-some format, instead of A and B foursomes on each hole. It actually worked well and added more camaraderie."
The problem with creativity is that it must stay within the budget and the time parameters. If you get too creative, it takes too long to play. Tully estimates that if you can run the tournament in five hours, and the awards ceremony in 90 minutes, you've done a fantastic job. But these days a lot of players are skipping the awards ceremonies and auctions, so Tully isn’t posting the scores until the ceremony. It keeps players around. "Like I said, you have to be creative," he says, grinning.
Tully doesn’t see much room for growth down the line. "I think we’ve reached a plateau. The established tournaments will do fine, but if someone came to me with a charity proposal, I would suggest something other than a golf tournament at this point."
Tony Allison has been writing about the business of sports for three years. Golf remains both a passion and an eternal mystery.
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