David Cummings

5th Annual RSM Golf Scramble Reflection

Coastal Carolina University

21 April 2016

EVENT REFLECTION 2

Introduction

The Recreation and Sport Management (RSM) Golf Scramble was a huge success this

year, but this would not have been possible with the work of each committee coming together

from the start to finish. The event was held on April 15th, 2016 at the Hackler Course adjacent to

the Coastal Carolina University (CCU) campus. The majority of committee goals were met, but

the biggest one was registration reaching 100 participants this year. This was the largest event by

about 20 participants and had great community involvement. The sponsorship committee had the

majority of holes sponsored and many of them were exclusive hole sponsors. Silent auction had

more than 20 packages for participants to bid on. Lunch and dinner were both fully catered by

Eggs Up Grill Conway and Rotelli Pizza and Pasta, respectively. The event did have some

hiccups, but as a group the class was able to figure things out and smoothly proceed with the

event. The golf scramble was a good learning experience for the class and myself as we all

learned the processes of event management, which will be beneficial in the future. Leading a

group of individuals who are your peers is not easy, but became easier as the class looked to the

directors for guidance. Going through the early stages to the conclusion of the event it was an

ever-changing experience, which I will talk about through my observations and actions.

Early Stages

The semester started off slower than the directors wanted, but this was in part due to the two

directors not being able to find a common time to meet with the professor to go over the goals

and strategy for the event. As the committees were formed the event slowly started to take form.

However, there was back and forth debate about the price of the event, which took longer than

the directors expected. One of the big struggles at this point was justifying a price without having

any sponsors or benefits we chose to add value to the event. The class needed more direction

EVENT REFLECTION3

from the professor at this point. As one of the directors we were thrown into the fire to pick up

the learning curve and guide the class to strive to complete their individual committee goals. As

the price point was determined and the registration form was created the committees hit the

ground running starting to make the event happen.

Mid-point of Semester

At this point in time the event was definitely going to happen as we had a good

participant base moving forward. Sponsorship had signed a few exclusive holes and was working

really well as a group. Registration was sending out mass emails to campus-based participants

and out in the community talking face to face with potential participants. Silent auction started to

get a few items coming, but nothing too significant until Oakley came through big and donated

six or seven pairs of sunglasses to auction off. At this point the operations committee was

meeting with the golf course to figure out what our constraints would be if any. This is when we

found out the limitation was 100 participants unless we notified the course about a week in

advance. Better communication to the golf course would have been key in this situation. As

directors we should have taken the initiative to meet with the course sooner rather than relying

on the committee chair and committee to do so. As spring break came upon us we were sitting in

a good position, but definitely needed to remain active throughout the break. Silent auction and

sponsorship were the most active through this timeframe as they were continuously getting items

and sponsorships over the break.

Final Push Before Event

Two weeks out from the event the class really came together to make this years golf

scramble the best it has been. We went from 65-70 participants to the 100 mark in this two-week

period. The radio ad had been playing for almost a month now and getting great feedback from

EVENT REFLECTION4

the community. Sponsorship was putting the final touches on companies we were partnering with

and getting the hole signs finalized. Silent auction made a huge push and ended up having more

than 20 packages for participants to bid upon. Operations really came together with some extra

help from the other committees at this time. Eggs Up Grill was finalized as well as Rotelli’s to be

the lunch and dinner providers. These two were a group effort between sponsorship, marketing,

and the two executive directors to finalize these deals. The trophies were approved by our partner

and would be delivered on the day of the event and the schedule was being made for the day of

the golf scramble. With the celebration of inquiry the week of the event there was not much

updating going on between the committees. On the day before the event was when the

participants jumped from the 60s to the 90s and finally on the day of reaching 100 participants.

This being a good problem to have, but the directors and a member from the operations

committee met with Chuck Johns, the head golf pro at the Hackler Course, to communicate these

numbers. We apologized profusely as we were under the impression the operations committee

had told him what was going to be needed. Luckily they extremely understood and we were able

to get everything finalized during this meeting. The games were finalized and set up through the

assistant golf pro, Joey, at the Hackler Course and Chuck was taking care of the deck set up and

potential golf cart fiasco. Leaving this meeting we felt much more calm and collective about

heading into the tournament day the next day.

Day of the Event

Being the first to arrive to the course in the morning, I was able to communicate better

with Chuck and Joey what the plan of action for the day was. This is when they took charge on

the course end taking care of the hole set up and pin locations, especially on the mystery hole. As

the class started showing up and preparing for the event there was confusion and anger brought

EVENT REFLECTION5

into the set up. As on of the directors it was stressful as each committee started to set up their

stations without considering the overall flow for the participants. Getting everyone together at

the beginning to go over some final things and setting the tone for the event would have been key

for the mental state of many. Brunch was served as participants started arriving and the

committees were hard at work finishing the set up process. The schedule was passed out to the

committees and chaos briefly ensued when a communication mishap occurred. One of the games

was communicated to be on different holes, which caused the schedule to be incorrect based on

the course layout. However, the class as a whole did a tremendous job not to let the panic and

stress show upon our patrons out on the course. Some members of the class were asked to hit

celebrity shots by some of the teams although not all were worthy of use by the teams they all

had fun with it. After all, the main goal for the participants is to have fun out on the course and

see the RSM students in these hands on setting. While the event was going on there was down

time for some who were keeping and eye on the silent auction items. The biggest struggle we had

was sticking to the half an hour time slots for those out on the course. We had limited golf carts

to transport people from hole to hole. The radios were also not the most effective way of

communicating while out on the course. As the event started to wind down with the play on the

course, the marketing/hospitality committee was brought in off the course to help set up the

banquet. Rotelli’s was excellent on their timing, but due to some slow play in certain parts of the

course there were some groups who finished almost an hour earlier than others. The struggle here

was trying to keep those who had finished occupied and holding them off from eating, as they

would leave once they were done. As the last few groups were coming in we were preparing to

start the awards when the directors were notified they would be the emcees for the evening as

Aaron Marks had to leave early. Once again we had to be quick on our feet and had a script

EVENT REFLECTION6

already prepared. I took the lead in the banquet announcements and struggled through it with no

microphone and the wind making it hard to annunciate for the patrons on the deck. After the

conclusion of the awards we quickly ate and started to clean up and finish processing the silent

auction winners. The two records set on the day, as being the largest event in the five years and

also being the earliest to leave the course after cleaning up.

Conclusion

The 5th annual RSM Golf Scramble came to an end at an earlier hour than the previous

years, but was one of the most successful years. The class took huge steps into advancing this

event as a well-established event for the community. I feel each committee really came together

at the end where those who had not done as much prior to the event really stepped up and took

charge on the day of. In hindsight I think we all could have been calmer as the event went

extremely well and we stressed out over details that were really small in the end. There were

times when some people wanted to pull each others hairs out, but in the end we all went with the

flow of the event and were able to think quick on our feet and solve the problems we faced

during the semester and on the day of the event. At points in the semester it did not seem like the

event would happen, but it all fell into place and we put on what I hope to have been the most

successful RSM Golf Scramble in the history of the event.