Night Golf Cancel The title field is required!

1. David Brandenburg

   

   3 posts
   
   3/25/2012 7:03 PM

   We have had a request for a night golf tournament at our golf course. It sounds like fun but we are a little worried about the investment in equipment, the safety of the players with deep bunkers and ponds and the sheer size of our golf course and players not sure where they should go.
   
   This would be a fundraiser so we could expect players who have never seen our course in the daytime much less at night.
   
   Has anyone hosted one and is there any chance at all of making money at it for the club and the charity?

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   3/26/2012 5:03 AM

   We held a night golf glo ball tournament one time. We had the same concerns as you. We had dinner about 7:00 and teed off about 8:30. We didn't let any carts on the course, except for the beverage cart that had headlights. We made it a 3 club tournament and I borrowed a large landscaping trailer from a friend and made a hayride to drag the people out to there starting holes. Since it was such a late event and they were walking, we only played 9 holes but had a great time doing so. The members ranted and raved about the event for several weeks and quickly planned another one before the summer's end.
   
   My assistant played in a similar event a few years back that also allowed carts on the course. On the way out, the first thing they hit was the driving range net and put a big hole in it. This was a course they were unfamiliar with and therefor had no clue where they were going or the obstacles present.

   
   
   
   
3. Thomas Brown

   

   0 posts
   
   3/26/2012 5:03 AM

   We've hosted multiple night golf tournaments around the full moon cycle and I'm not a fan. Yes, you can make money but the potential liability to people and equipment makes it not worth the risk (especially if alcohol is involved).
   
   You must make it cart path only, post rangers, and plan on an early morning clean up crew to pick up trash, replace divots, fix ball marks, etc.
   
   Tom

   
   
   
   
4. Kenneth Ingram

   

   18 posts
   
   3/26/2012 7:03 AM

   I used to have one every year. Everyone wants to play these events in mid-summer but it doesn't get really dark until 9:30 or so making it an incredibly late night. These things would be better in October when the days are shorter. I cringe thinking about the liabilities. We put enormous effort into enforcing rules and ettiquite and then throw it out the window with events like this. Make sure you irrigate. Kenneth Ingram, UMD.

   
   
   
   
5. Dustin Riley

   

   8 posts
   
   3/26/2012 8:03 AM

   Dave,
   We did one last year. Members had an absolute blast. Albeit most had their buzz on. Glow sticks marked the flagsticks, bunkers, etc. That's the good news.
   
   Bad news. One member ran over her husband with a cart. Several members remarked that they were almost killed/or killed someone by a golf ball. It was very difficult to see golfers.
   
   For us, the staff feel it's extremely dangerous and do not recommend the event. However, members couldn't stop talking about it. Not sure if we'll be doing it this year. If we do, I'd expect an increased number of glow sticks on carts/people/everything.
   
   Dustin

   
   
   
   
6. Lockhart Jeremiah S

   
   3/26/2012 6:03 PM

   We used to do night golf. But long story short; beer + darkness = bad idea.
   
   Jeremiah Lockhart, GCS

   
   
   
   
7. Canedo Alberto J

   
   3/27/2012 12:03 PM

   I am at a 9 hole golf course that host a few night golf outings a year. Mostly in October/November. We end up with 2 par 4's and the rest are short par 3's. Private carts are only permitted if they have lights on them, otherwise everyone walks. I have played in them and no one has been close to get hurt. It depends on how the course is set up.

   
   
   
   
8. Jason Knuutila

   

   0 posts
   
   3/30/2012 3:03 PM

   Night golf every year and it's the 1 club event I play in. We typically do it last week in August. Members must have a light on the front and the back of the golf cart. The golf course is shortened to 7 holes and any dangerous holes are eliminated and not accessible. All water holes are eliminated as well because the balls are expensive. Divot repair & trash in the morning is ridiculous and removing glow sticks from pins and tee markers takes some time.
   
   It is alot of fun and we have a contest for the best decorated carts. Last year the winner had Tiki torches and a Hawaiin theme it was awesome. The year previous the winner had the cart decorated with Christmas lights and you could see it from a mile away. One recomendation do not have your greens stimping over an 11' it is impossible to see the slope and adds an hour to the rounds. Next suggestion irrigation shut it down although it is pretty funny to hear the screams (I never thought it would be after midnight and still playing the round, every one in my group got a heads up from me).

   
   
   
   
9. Wallace Jeffrey V

   
   3/30/2012 5:03 PM

   If you do it, buy the golf balls with a hole through the center that accepts a glow stick. We used to have night tournaments on the course in Nevada, but always waited for a moonless night. WAY too much fun watching that spinning globe fly through the air, when you couldn't see anything around you. And nothing more than another glow stick taped about 3 feet up the flagstick. Yeah....NO carts! And only members/guests that knew the course. Strangely, I always hit the ball better. Must have been the ability to concentrate only on the ball, since I couldn't see much else. They're lighter, but I usually hit a pure, straight shot....about 50 yards. Definitely worth trying at least once.

   
   
   
   
10. Wahlin Scott B

    
    3/31/2012 11:03 AM

    We did it twice and had the group buy their own liability insurance. We did it with carts and marked hazardous areas with different colored glow sticks. The group loved it and we considered ourselves lucky to do it two years in a row without an incident when we decided not to do it again. We cleaned up all of the light sticks the night of the tournament. The dumpster really looked cool when we came in the next morning!