Open Competitions - Are Clubs too greedy?

[3offTheTee]

Looked at a couple of Opens recently. One had income approx. £1800 Prize fund £530 and another £3200 prize fund £900 both around 28% of takings. Realise there is work involved but there is additional revenue from food and beverages.

Not looking at the “Top 200” type club where there is greater demand nor Scottish Opens where the prize fund is extremely generous.
My question is : Are Clubs being greedy with the prize money?

How does your club compare?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I look at it from an entry cost point of view. Most in this part of the world cost £10 per person. The value of the prizes at that point don't bother me as I see it as a bargain green fee.

My own club pays out top 4 and probably pays out 1/4 of takings, that's a guess by the way. Opens can be key money makers for clubs or sections within clubs so I don't begrudge it.

In terms of catering, many places have a franchised set up so the money doesn't stay within the club, although the catering doing well is key to them staying and succeeding so again I don't begrudge that.

In answer to your question I suspect it depends on what I'd paid to enter but if it is around the £10 mark then the answer is no. If I'd paid £25 then maybe the answer would be different.

 

[Papas1982]

I’ve nit entered any yet. But for me the discount on the green fee would probably be my greatest factor in regards to vfm.
The club still wants a profit. How many normal green fees would they usually have to sell on any given day to make the same level of profit?

 

[Grant85]

I believe there are pretty modest guidelines on the value of prizes for 1st / 2nd / 3rd etc. in terms of amateur golfers not being supposed to earn much from playing golf.

Aagree with Tyron - ultimately it comes down to the entry fee and if people think that's worth it. I don't really think many people enter these events because there are good or high value prizes. Also not uncommon for a lot of members who don't bother much with medals / competitions to be a bit annoyed that it costs them £10 or £15 to play their own course.

 

[Britishshooting]

Sorry to deviate slightly but I saw Trump International Scotland had an upcoming open at £95 entry which seems a bargain to me.

Unfortunately it’s 8+ handicappers so rules me out or I’d have made a weekend of it as it’s on sunday 9th June.

None of the clubs I play really capitalise on making money. I’d say 70% goes into prizes and costs with 30% profit maximum some of which is allocated to charity.

Must admit unless the entry fee is appealing that I can treat it as a reduced green fee I don’t typically bother.

 

[CliveW]

Sorry to deviate slightly but I saw Trump International Scotland had an upcoming open at £95 entry which seems a bargain to me.

Unfortunately it’s 8+ handicappers so rules me out or I’d have made a weekend of it as it’s on sunday 9th June.

None of the clubs I play really capitalise on making money. I’d say 70% goes into prizes and costs with 30% profit maximum some of which is allocated to charity.

Must admit unless the entry fee is appealing that I can treat it as a reduced green fee I don’t typically bother.

I played the Seniors Open at Trump Aberdeen a fortnight ago. £85 if I remember correctly. Terrific value!

 

[fundy]

Those prize funds sound fine to me once you take into account green fee and food. Cant say Ive ever entered an open to try and win a prize, any that have come along are just a bonus imo. Rather judge the whole price against what I get for the day and see if worthwhile

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Prize fund seems fine

Any open i have played in has been excellent value - Burnham and Berrow for example was about £30 each and we ended up winning about £120 worth of vouchers for coming second . Every open has always been at a reduced green fee so for me that’s great value

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Cheap golf, food, usually full length course, well prepared for the event. Who cares if the club makes a tidy profit out of it?

 

[Imurg]

Cheap golf, food, usually full length course, well prepared for the event. Who cares if the club makes a tidy profit out of it?

Surely that's one of the reasons they do it...has to help bolster the coffers.

 

[duncan mackie]

There seem to be some unusual definitions of profit in some posts.
Most clubs make a loss by the most basic calculation - entry fees less (baseline visitor fee (normally society package equivalent) + prize fund).
Personally I have a problem with significant prize tables for amateur events; and an even bigger one with prize tables for non Q format competitions. Simply fuelling problems.

 

[MendieGK]

I don’t think it’s a profit making thing for opens. I think it’s a way of getting people to the course seeing it in its top condition. Ive booked plenty of society days based on an open visit

 

[HampshireHog]

Our place is 36 holes @£60 inc Lunch & Dinner. Seems pretty reasonable to pay a society price with an extra round thrown in, have the course prepared to its best condition.

 

[ManinBlack]

We enter a lot of these & I've never given it a thought. You get to play cheaply on the course of your choice. The remote possibility of winning a prize (Lord T!) is just a bonus. The income generated for the club is modest compared with green fees at the full rate & compensates members who are either excluded from their course for the day or have to pay to play there.

 

[louise_a]

We are havng an open at ours next month, it is used for fund raising for the ladies section, that said I believe we should pay a minimum of 50% of entry fees in prizes, although I doubt we will.
Our open is run by the ladies for the ladies, there is no payment to the club for the green fees.
we are charging £36 per 3 ball.

I have played in some ladies opens where they take in thousands but only pay out a small percentage in prizes, I suspect in these instances the club take out a green fee.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

An Open can be a good way to promote the course and raise cash for the club. We have seniors comp https://www.royalascotgolfclub.co.u...seniors-open-application-v-2-0-1547832616.pdf and the cost seems very reasonable for what is on offer, especially compared against a standard green fee. I don't think there is a problem with the prize fund in the OP. It boils down to whether you want to play the course at the price on offer and think it offers value for money

 

[jim8flog]

Most Opens I play in cost less than £20 to enter

Many make food a non optional additional part of the entry though.

 

[Norrin Radd]

when i look at golf empire i see that most opens in my neck of the woods are around £40 pp and upwards of that ,so you dont even get a cheap green fee .

 

[Tashyboy]

There seem to be some unusual definitions of profit in some posts.
Most clubs make a loss by the most basic calculation - entry fees less (baseline visitor fee (normally society package equivalent) + prize fund).
Personally I have a problem with significant prize tables for amateur events; and an even bigger one with prize tables for non Q format competitions. Simply fuelling problems.

Simply fuelling problems, 👍 Which unfortunately we have discussed in great detail on a number of occasions.

I don't know the answer, but why do some clubs put big prizes on the table. does it attract the wrong sort of golfers.

 

[duncan mackie]

I don't know the answer, but why do some clubs put big prizes on the table. does it attract the wrong sort of golfers.

Publication of larger prize tables is proven to increase the number of entrants in the handicap golf arena - as is a non qualifying format...
Wouldn't want to comment about what constitutes the right, or wrong, sort of golfer 🤔

If you are running an event to showcase your course you don't need a prize table - if you are running a giant swindle (no pun intended...) then people expect one, in return for a proportion of their entry fee. Full circle to the wider discussion. If you are simply looking to bring in visitors on an otherwise quiet day, or period, most run team events so that group's enter to play together as if a visiting 4 ball - success based on basic entry dynamics (cost/quality).