My husband came to me with the idea of creating a golf tournament a few weeks ago. He is an avid golfer and continues to get better every time he plays. I don’t golf (maybe one day) but I love planning, creating and organizing so we knew this event was something we could pull off. We then had the idea of turning the golf tournament into a fundraising event to help give back to the Black Lives Matter movement which we strongly support. This created Classic at The Nile.
The first step was choosing which organization to donate to. This was challenging because there are many amazing charities to choose from. We decided on American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) because of their core mission and values. “For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.” Some other organization I discovered specifically focusing on supporting Black youth and education are Black Girls Code, Pretty Brown Girl (PBG), The Conscious Kid.
The golf tournament consisted of 6 teams with a 4 man scramble (24 people total). This means that all players teed off, chose which shot was best, then all played their next shot from the best location.
The players were each given a golf goody bag upon their arrival. I used Canva to create this custom invitation to put inside each bags.
My best friend and I spent the afternoon following the players around the course, documenting the tournament by taking photos and videos. We left about half way through the tournament so we could get everything set up for the banquet. I used 1 hour photo at Walgreens to print pictures of the teams and gave them to each player as a souvenir to take home.
After the scramble, the golfers headed over to the outdoor banquet located nearby at our friends property (They graciously helped and let us host there. It couldn’t have worked out better). We spaced out tables and chairs in order to property social distance and provided individually wrapped Tubs Sub Sandwiches along with other ‘Covid friendly’ snacks and drinks (all food was prepackaged and individually wrapped – thanks Costco).
And what’s a golf tournament without awards and prizes? Here is what was awarded:
- Scramble Champion – $50 Amazon gift card for each player on the 1st place winning team
- Longest Drive – $100 Gift Card to Puetz Golf Superstore
- Closest to KP – $100 Gift Card to Puetz Golf Superstore
- MVP – Golf Chipping Net
- Best Teammate – Mariners Seat Fleet cutout
- Most Improved – Bluetooth Earbuds
- Amazing Hospitality – Portable Speaker and Husky Golf Head Cover given to the family who owns the banquet property
My husband handed out certificates with each award which I created on Google Slides. You can download an editable copy of them here.
We also had two options to receive prizes at the banquet. One was a challenging chipping game where the goal was to chip a golf ball into a large bucket. One golfer was able to do this and he received a $50 Amazon Gift Card. The other was How Many? where golfers guessed how many golf balls were in a jar. The prize was a golf cooler bag to hold beverages on the course.
Classic at The Nile was an incredible success. We raised $2,000 for ACLU while safely hosting a competitive and fun golf tournament! I am so very proud of my husband and all of his hard work on this. We had a blast organizing and creating this special day and feel empowered that we could make a small impact in giving back to the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m already looking forward to planning next years event!
Nicole Kanuch 