Awards Ceremony

As your event day comes to a close, the dinner/awards ceremony will be your last chance to leave your guests with a lasting and positive impression of the event.  This is a perfect opportunity to emphasize the integral role your golf event plays in supporting your organization.  This is also the right time to thank your golfers, sponsors and all those involved in the event.  In order to keep your guest’s attention, and ensure they leave your event looking forward to next year, make the awards ceremony unique, entertaining and fun for everyone.

Here are several tips to get them looking forward to next year’s event:

1. Have a master of ceremonies – Choose a master of ceremonies that is recognizable to everyone - perhaps a celebrity or CEO of a local company.  Get someone who can keep the ceremony upbeat and moving forward.
2. Give your sponsors an opportunity to speak – Use the awards ceremony as an opportunity to give your top sponsors more exposure and direct access to you participants.  Have them say a few words about their involvement with your organization.  This will add more value to the sponsorship and solidify their future involvement.
3. Acknowledge your volunteers – Introduce your tournament committee and the volunteers that helped make the golf event possible.  It will show that you appreciate them, and also give them incentive to support the event in the future.
4. Invite additional guests – Invite the spouses of your guests to join the event for the dinner/awards ceremony and the silent auction. 
5. Make everyone a winner – Try to send every participant home with something.  Give out as many prizes as your budget will allow.

Sample Schedule

5:30 p.m.    Silent Auction Opens
6:00 p.m.    Welcome/Dinner
6:30 p.m.    Introductions/Dessert
6:45 p.m.    Sponsor Recognition
7:00 p.m.    Organization Message
7:15 p.m.    Awards (Contests and Winners)
7:30 p.m.    Raffle Drawing
7:45 p.m.    Closing Remarks
8:00 p.m.    Silent Auction Closes

Download a sample awards ceremony script from an existing event.

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