Organiser guide
How to organise a charity golf day
A charity golf day is really three jobs at once: filling the field, raising money around the round, and running the golf itself so the prize-giving starts on time. This guide walks through each stage in the order most organisers meet them, from picking a date to settling up with the club afterwards.
A printable one-page checklist with the stages, timeline and day-of list from this guide.
The six stages of a charity golf day
Step 1
Agree the format and the fundraising goal first
Decide what the day is meant to raise before you book anything, because the target shapes every later choice. Most charity days use a team format such as a four-person Texas scramble or a betterball Stableford, because it keeps slower players moving and lets mixed-ability teams enjoy the round. Set a per-team entry price, then list the extra income you expect from sponsorship, a raffle and on-course competitions so you can see whether the numbers work.
Step 2
Book the course, the date and the catering
Clubs release charity day dates well ahead, and midweek slots are usually cheaper and easier to get than weekends. Ask the club for a shotgun start if the field is large enough, since everyone finishing together makes the prize-giving far simpler. Confirm in writing what the per-head price includes — green fees, bacon rolls on arrival, a two-course meal afterwards, buggies, halfway house — and check the club's minimum numbers and cancellation deadline.
Step 3
Line up sponsors before you open entries
Sponsorship is where most charity days actually make their money, and it is easier to sell when you can still offer the headline package. Typical tiers are a day sponsor, hole sponsors for each tee, and prize or raffle donors who give goods rather than cash. Write a short one-page pack listing what each tier costs and what the sponsor gets, so a company can approve it without a meeting.
Step 4
Open entries and keep one live list
Publish one entry link and use it everywhere, rather than collecting names across email, WhatsApp and a paper sheet in the pro shop. Capture what you will actually need later: team name, each player's name, handicap, any dietary requirements, and a contact for the team captain. Once the field is full, keep a waitlist — charity days lose teams to work diaries more often than you would expect, and a waitlist fills the gaps without a scramble.
Step 5
Plan the day hour by hour
Write a running order and share it with the club, the sponsors and the team captains. A typical shape is registration and bacon rolls for an hour, a briefing, the shotgun start, then the meal about five hours later with the raffle and prize-giving after the plates are cleared. Confirm who is doing registration, who is selling raffle tickets and who is judging the nearest-the-pin, so nobody is looking for a volunteer at eight in the morning.
Step 6
Score the round and finish on time
The prize-giving is where a well-run day is won or lost, and it depends entirely on having the scores in. Collecting scores digitally as teams play removes the wait while someone adds up paper cards, and it lets you put a live leaderboard on a screen in the clubhouse, which quietly encourages the bar and raffle spend. Afterwards, send every team the final results and tell them what the day raised — that message is what sells next year's event.
A sensible countdown
A typical timeline for a first charity day. Clubs and charities vary, so treat it as a starting point rather than a rule.
Four to six months before
Agree the fundraising target and format, book the course and date, and confirm what the per-head price includes.
Three months before
Approach day and hole sponsors, line up raffle and prize donations, and prepare the entry page.
Six to eight weeks before
Open entries, promote through the charity's own channels and the club, and start the waitlist once the field fills.
The final fortnight
Confirm numbers and dietary requirements with the club, build the teams and tee sheet, print sponsor signage and brief your volunteers.
Day-of checklist
- Registration desk with the team list, spare pencils and a float for raffle tickets
- Sponsor signage placed on the correct tees before the first group goes out
- Scoring set up and tested, with a named person responsible for results
- Nearest-the-pin and longest-drive markers out, with a way to record the winners
- Raffle and auction prizes laid out, with a card reader or cash tin that works
- Final numbers, dietary requirements and meal timing reconfirmed with the club
Charity golf day questions
- What format works best for a charity golf day?
- A four-person team scramble is the usual choice. Every player hits from the best ball each time, so beginners are never holding the group up and rounds finish closer together. Betterball Stableford is the common alternative when most of the field holds a handicap and you want individual scores to matter.
- How much should teams pay to enter?
- Start from the club's per-head cost including catering, then add the margin your target needs. Working backwards from the fundraising goal is more reliable than picking a round number, and it lets you show sponsors exactly where their money goes.
- How far ahead should we book?
- Four to six months is comfortable for a first event. Popular clubs release charity day slots earlier than that, and the extra time matters most for sponsorship, which is slower to close than entries.
- How do we raise money beyond the entry fee?
- The common additions are hole sponsorship, a raffle or silent auction at the meal, on-course competitions such as nearest the pin and longest drive, and a beat-the-pro or hole-in-one challenge. Each one is small on its own, but together they often exceed the entry income.
- How do we keep scoring from delaying the prize-giving?
- Collect scores as the round happens rather than after it. If teams enter their scores on a phone as they play, results are ready when the last group walks in, and you can show a live leaderboard in the clubhouse while the meal is served.
Running the golf itself
RoundHQ handles the operational half of the day: online team entries with a waitlist, check-in, scoring from any phone with no app to install, and a live leaderboard for the clubhouse screen. There is a free plan for a single event.