Weekly Raffle/Draw

[3offTheTee]

We have a new pro who is money orientated.

Each week he has devised a weekly raffle which has been amended to Weekly Draw as it appears more professional. There are no prozes announced before the raffle as it is determined by the number of 'dummies' that enter. He then takes 50% for himself and gives 'prizes' for stock he cannot sell.

What I would like to know is whether this is legal as he has not registered under any Lottery Charity Act and the experience of other members. A similar situation arises with the 2's whereby ALL the money that goes in the pot does not come out.

Realise that 'birdieman' is taking a break but on this occasion if he has time for a considered response it would be appreciated

 

[medwayjon]

Seems like a bit of a cheeky one to me, not the way I would go about things if I was a club pro.

A pro needs to have a good reputation amongst the clubs members. They will then support the pro-shop, which in turn will help towards his earnings.

Seems like a bit of a scam to me and I do question the legality of it if the pro is profiteering from it. I wonder if he is declaring this extra income on his end of year tax return???

Maybee I am just a cynical git.

 

[birdieman]

With your first point, the raffle, it doesn't sound wrong to me, if you don't like it don't buy a ticket, personally a £2 raffle ticket for a pair of footjoys or whatever seems like a reasonbale wager. A good way for him to sell old stock, no problem with that.
Regarding the two's I'm sure all that money should be coming back to the players as it's a sweep, the pro should not be dipping his greasy fingers into that pot! Tell the Club Captain, it's his job to sort this out.

 

[John_Findlay]

Hi 3offTheTee,

I agree with birdieman. The raffle seems perfectly legitimate. After all, most raffles work this way and as far as I'm aware (I'm an ex lawyer) you don't have to register to hold a raffle.

Again, the two's issue is probably perfectly legal but slightly sharp practice. As birdieman says, ask the Captain to change the rules so that all two's money is split between the winners without deduction. Then the Pro will have to abide by club rules.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I agree that this seems a dubious practice although probably not illegal. When I was assistant pro many years ago at Wimbledon Common and charged with the entries to the competitions we use to run a 2 sweep which we kept within the shop and those members recording a 2 in the comp were rewarded with a voucher to spend, the pot being divided equally (no roll over and no cut for the professional).

The entry fee for the competition (£2) then went into a giant pot and the winner (or divisional winners) and 2nd and 3rd then got that pot in vouchers.

In my current club the pro runs a ball sweep whereby you purchase a raffle ticket which is drawn for each competition and the winners (normally 5 per competition) unsurprisingly win a sleeve of balls.

However, and here is the rub, I entered one recently (don't know why I never usually bother) and my ticket was drawn. I went in and proudly asked for a sleeve of Pro V's and was told they weren't included in the draw as they were a premium ball and I'd have to pay an extra £1.50

Apparently the only balls on offer were Srixon AD333 and Titleist NXT and the new NXT extremes (which I picked but don't rate). That will teach me not to read the small print

Happy golfing

Homer

 

[Teetotal]

Birdieman - thank god you're back to offer us all your sound advice.
The raffle sounds like one of those car lotteries you see at the airport where it costs about £250 a ticket and one car gets pulled out of the hat every 7 years. I think there may be a big profit margin in there.