Work Golf Tournaments

[sgm1]

Anyone win anything?

Just looking forward to my work golf tournament in a few weeks....We do the typical KP, long drive, long putt, etc. Last year I won KP on the 150 yard par 3 #9 (within 5 feet)...that was a good feeling getting up infront of everyone to get my golf shirt, new balls and beer mug ;) Alot of guys just go out to drink and hack around, but I try and shoot a decent score, and atleast get some decent prizes, lol

Anyone else looking forward to their golf tournaments?? Any interesting stories?

[villa]

I moved to a new company within my same industry at the start of the year and although they don't have their own golf tournament (I'm working on that) I regularly attend those of some of our clients.

 

There are some huge organisations. Mainly construction (AMEC, McAlpine, Balfour Beatty etc) but also the likes of HSBC, Barclays and Virgin. Needless to say, there are some fantastic prizes to be had. There was a brand new set of Callaway X-20's with FT-i driver, X Fairway Wood, X Hybrid, X-Tour Wedges and an Odyssey 2-Ball all nicely packaged in a Callaway Staff bag for the winner at the last event I attended.

 

I must've attended 7 already this year which is fantastic but unfortunately I have absolutely zero chance of winning. I play off +2 and seeing as 90% of the tournaments are stableford, there is no way I can shoot low enough on a course I've never played before to get anywhere near the 40+ points that some of the guys are coming in with.

 

I did win a £50 book voucher (I can barely read) a couple of years ago in a similar thing for nearest the pin but that's it.

 

Having said that, it's free, it gets me out the office, they feed me and I'm there to chat up clients into giving us more business, not to win. Boooo!

[ckguy914]

I work for PING and we have family & friends tournaments like 3 times a year and have spring and fall golf leagues that lasts 12 weeks each.

 

The last tournament I was at they basically have ALOT of stuffs in front. Rapture drivers, G5 drivers, Tour wedges, hybrids, carry bags, cart bags. My team won the net division and we had the first shot at picking one item from the bunch and we each also got $30 certificate to the pro shop. We had a team handicap of 20 and we shot five under, so our winning score was 47 in a modified best ball format.

 

I am currently in the spring golf league and I have won 3 weeks so far. The first week I won a Hoofer Vantage bag and the 2nd time I won a Rapture hybrid, and 3rd time a $20 certificate to the pro shop. Prizes during other weeks have consisted of Rapture drivers, G5 drivers, Redwood putters, hybrids and wedges.

 

We're having another tournament coming up in 2 weeks. Our team decided to have a team shirt and we're all gonna wear a pink shirt with black slacks at the tournament. We expect to receive another high team handicap (this will actually be the first round of golf ever for one of the guys) and we're looking to defend our title.

[BILL12x]

I used to win an umbrella every time I played a scramble. I had a garage full of them! I also won a putter once, too.

 

The best was winning a closest to the pin at a new, very upscale club's member/guest tournament. A new set of Callaway woods including fitting. FT-5 and X-Hot and X 5wood. It was supposed to be Ping G10's, but the club lost it's Ping fitting accredidation (sp?) before I could collect. I can see why after being fitted, but it was still fun.

[Bogeyman82]

I once one 4 free greens fees at a far away golf course in the middle of nowhere that I would never play. That wasn't too exciting.

 

My company has very strict rules about accepting prizes for work outings anyways. One guy won a car and had to give it to the company.

[Tmiller72]

I once one 4 free greens fees at a far away golf course in the middle of nowhere that I would never play. That wasn't too exciting.

 

My company has very strict rules about accepting prizes for work outings anyways. One guy won a car and had to give it to the company.

 

Sounds like you work for a great company!

[Bogeyman82]

I think I do. It's a leading consumer products company that has been around for 150 years.

 

I know of very few companies that let you accept things like that. Procter and Gamble won't. Unilever won't. Kraft foods won't. Kellogg's wont. Kimberly Clark won't. Target won't. Wal-Mart won't. Those are just some of the ones I know for a fact.

[Feddyvon]

The very first "big" company tournament I ever played in, I ended up winning the long drive contest. After hearing glory stories of new drivers, iron sets, Odyssey putters, etc etc, I was really expecting a pretty cool prize. At the awards banquet, they award the Long Drive first, call out my name, and I go to the front to collect my super sweet prize...a $25 Best Buy Gift Certificate.

 

Needless to say, that was a huge letdown.

[Bogeyman82]

Bummer. Sometimes they do stuff like that to keep below the maximum amount for accepting gifts. Sometimes they just do it because they are cheap.

[sgm1]

wow, i can't believe taking a car away...i'd be sooo pissed

[Tmiller72]

Why would a company not allow you to accept prizes for a tournament that they are allowing you to play in? I thought it was a company tournament? Who else was playing in it? Why offer prizes if you can't keep them?

 

This is reason #1,200,876 why I'm glad I don't work for somebody else or a big company.

[Bogeyman82]

The reason is a follows:

 

Say that I am an account manager for a large company. I am playing in a customer's event, that is costing my company $10K+ to buy in to. I win a car. I really wouldn't be playing in that tournament if the company hadn't paid a bunch of money to get me in. They don't want me deciding what tournaments we should enter/sponser based on the quality of the prizes I can win.

 

Another example:

 

Say that I am playing at the Target World Challange in CA. Target wants us to sponser a hole. We agree. It costs upwards of $50K of the company's money to sponser the hole. I arrive in my hotel room and there is about $2500 worth of Clubs, Bags, Shoes, etc. in a gift package. I can't accept the gifts. I can keep one thing, under $125, but that's it. The reason being that my company doesn't want me deciding which tournaments they should sponser based on the free stuff that I get for playing in them. It creates a conflict of interest.

 

In the scheme of things, what's a car really? By the time you pay taxes on the thing, the cash value is maybe $10K-$15K. The advantages for me of working for a large corporation are: Many different avenues of advancement. Job security. Lucrative stock-options and profit sharing packages that many small companies don't offer, particularly privately held companies. Great 401(K). Free graduate school. Not to mention the fact that my company's name on my resume can get me a lot more money from smaller corporations looking to take advantage of my knowledge transfer and the skills that my company has taught me. Working for a big company isn't for everyone, but if you find a good one with a strong code of ethics it can be great.

[Bogeyman82]

Footnote:

 

It has occurred to me that people have some different definitions of 'company tournament'. I am speaking of when I am playing on my company's behalf in another comany's tournament.

 

My company doesn't really have 'company tournaments'. We have office outings, but there aren't really any prizes or anything.

[mcbush25]

I normally get to play in the tournament that my bank holds for all of our customers. I have a great time playing in it, but have yet to be on a winning team. I only missed out by a few shots two years ago. Our tournaments is coming up next Thursday and Friday so I am hoping a couple of customers drop out so I can get in.

[billsboy]

The company I work for is a member of a larger branding/buying group that holds an annual scramble for the head office people and us worker bees from the smaller companies, where everyone wins something. Our suppliers provide either merchandise from their lines or buy golf gear that is thrown into the mix, with some of the golf gear going to skill prizes (lowest team score, closet to pin, long drive, closest to center line, etc.), and random draw to divide the rest of the swag to the lesser golfers among us. They always make sure there are enough prizes so that everyone gets something. I've gone home with an MP3 player, golf pull carts two years in a row, gift certificates, and so on. It's nice that everyone, even the people who only ever golf at this tournament, get something.

 

Funny story from last year. We were on a semi-private course, and some of the members don't really like their course being tied up with tournaments. So, to keep from ruffling too many feathers by painting a line down the center of the fairway chosen for the closest to center line contest, the groundscrew decided to lay down a 1/2" nylon rope the length of the fairway. But they picked a fairway that slopes right to left, so if one landed a ball on the right, above the line, it would just roll down and stop against the rope. There most have been dozens of people tied for closest to center line, and that prize went on random draw too.

[Tmiller72]

I normally get to play in the tournament that my bank holds for all of our customers. I have a great time playing in it, but have yet to be on a winning team. I only missed out by a few shots two years ago. Our tournaments is coming up next Thursday and Friday so I am hoping a couple of customers drop out so I can get in.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impression, it was just a tournament for company employees only. Makes much more sense now! :russian_roulette: