Today the golf media is throwing around the term The Big Three again for Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McElroy. While many of us would know these superb golfers by only one name they certainly have not reached the status or influence that the original Big Three reached. Today's trio is by any measure on the right track with wins and money earnings...however, are they changing the game? Will they influence an entire generation of new golfers for decades to come? Are they guaranteed Hall of Fame inductees? As of today we can't say for sure we can only speculate.
There has been discussion in the golf world recently that The Big Three exist again. Back in the 60s it was Jack, Gary and Arnie...since anyone who knows anything about golf recognizes those golfers simply by one name. These Hall of Fame golfers changed the way the game was viewed, played and thought of around the world. They were truly the foundation that made golf what it is today. Thus the title of The Big Three.
Today the golf media is throwing around the term The Big Three again for Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McElroy. While many of us would know these superb golfers by only one name they certainly have not reached the status or influence that the original Big Three reached. Today's trio is by any measure on the right track with wins and money earnings...however, are they changing the game? Will they influence an entire generation of new golfers for decades to come? Are they guaranteed Hall of Fame inductees? As of today we can't say for sure we can only speculate.
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Wow! Rickie Fowler wins the 2015 Players Championship in style. He finished regulation play 6 under par and that last 6 holes and finished 12 under par after 72 holes...amazing. Then Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner completed the event at 12 under par nearly and hour behind Fowler. The golfers then had to contend for the championship in an aggregate score playoff of three holes...16, 17 and 18. After the three holes Fowler and Kisner were 1 under par and Sergio was eliminated. The two remaining golfers walked to the epic 17th hole for sudden death playoff. Kisner hits his shot just outside of 12 feet. Rickie then hit his shot and sticking it to inside of 5 feet. Kisner missed his birdie putt and Fowler made his putt with a firm and confident stroke. On the final day Fowler birdied the infamous 17th hole 3 times...once on regulation and twice in the playoff. Again amazing.
So are we shocked that Rickie Fowler won a tournament? Are you wondering why he hasn't more often? Well evidently many of his peers on tour think so. A survey of Tour players earlier in the week asked who the most overrated golfers were on tour...25% said Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter. WOW...really? OK, sure he had only won 1 time in his short career, but he is a money making machine on tour. He has made Ryder Cups and President Cup teams. He is only 1 of 3 golfers in history...that's all of modern golf's history...that have finished in the top 5 of all four majors in a single season. The other two are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods...HMMM. That means NONE of the golfers who rated Rickie as overrated have even come close to that feat. What does being overrated mean? Does that mean that a lot of people say you are good but you aren't really that good? What's the standard that is being applied to determine if someone is overrated? If Fowler had won 3 times or won a major would he all of a sudden not be overrated? Is Rickie overrated because he has a great marketing team that has put him at the forefront of American golf? He is a golfer and business man...so I say good for him that his brand is so marketable and well known. If someone could clue us all in as to what really makes someone overrated at the age of 26. I guess a lot of his peers thought his true ability hadn't matched up to the hype that his phenomenal team has presented or that his millions of fans all want to see. One last comment. Whoever conducts surveys that ask ridiculous and impossible questions that can never be truly measured are simply just trying to find controversy. I think Rickie said it best after the event when he was asked if the survey results had bothered or inspired him? He said; "I think the trophy right here answers anything you need to know." This last weekend in Augusta, Georgia at Augusta National Golf Club, Jordan Spieth wins The Masters. One of if not the most prestigious golf event in the world. As one of the four majors in the professional golf world, The Masters is the event that virtually every golfer has dreamed of playing in and winning. Jordan Spieth had dreamt of winning the event since his childhood. His dream came true last Sunday and the golf world's dream came true too with the arrival of our next true American superstar.
The Jordan Spieth era is in full swing and I predict it will last for many years. The young Texan has been a winner at every level in his short golf career. The way he prepares for events both mentally and physically is a true sign that he and his team are looking to build for the future. His parents taught him the tools he needs to be most importantly a successful man and that in turn allows him to focus on being a successful golfer. Spieth is driven to achieve but he also seems to understand that its just golf. The humility and genuine caring for the people around him shows that no matter what he decides to do in life he will succeed. In regards to his golf game...his swing is built to last for the long haul. His instructor and coach, Cameron McCormick, allows Jordan to have his own swing. He keeps him focused on the things he does well. The best part of his game is around and on the greens. Spieth is by far one of the best putters we have seen on tour in a long time. His uncanny ability to read the breaks and speed on every putt amazes even the seasoned veterans. During Masters week Jordan made a record number of birdies for the week besting Phil Mickelson's record. He also made key par putts time and again to maintain the momentum of each round on his way to a record tying 18 under par total (tying Tiger Woods 1997 Masters). Is a new era in golf starting...again? We said that when Rory McElroy won his US Open in record style. We said it again this last year when Rory won The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. So why is Jordan ushering in a new era? Charisma...Not since Tiger Woods have we seen someone who can rally the golf world around him like Jordan Spieth. There is something about this kid that is hard to explain but it draws you to him. We said the same thing when Tiger started winning. Jordan is probably the most polite well mannered young athlete we have seen in years and that is refreshing. Yet he has an edge to him and a winning spirit that his opponents and his followers both respect and love about him. Yes its a new era. I for one am excited to see where this goes. I won't predict that Jordan will break Jack's majors total, or that he will even win more than Tiger. I will go so far as to say that Jordan Spieth's career will rival Arnold Palmer's and Phil Mickelson's...and if he can melt the hearts of the golf world like those two men have then he will lead his own army into the future. Is your organization trying to raise more money, increase event awareness, expand your donor base, grow your corporate network, or simply increase event participation? Then selling sponsors is the most important task that your event committee should focus on. Sponsors are the profit, so if we want to maximize the income of your event, it must be through sponsorship sales. This article will help you sell more sponsors and bigger sponsors to help you reach your event goals.
WHAT ARE SPONSORS LOOKING FOR? We first must ask ourselves, “What do Sponsors want?” ALL companies want MORE BUSINESS. If they sponsor your event they want to know, “What is in it for our or my company?” All companies want a return on investment (ROI). If you give them a $1 they want $4 in return. As you plan for your event you must consider how can to bring new business to your sponsors. Get creative, think outside the box, and try new things. WHAT ARE THE KEY STEPS TO SELLING SPONSORS #1 - Know Your Demographics Who are you marketing your event to and who will be playing? If you can tell your sponsors that you are reaching a special group that they are interested in, you will get their attention. For example...if you are marketing your event to the medical community then you can approach medical supply, pharmaceutical, and other medical service companies. If you are advertising to the construction industry then target construction supply, general contractors, and related companies. Try out this key information for your demographic study. What do they do for a living? How much money do they make? What area of town do they live in? What do they buy? #2 - Create Sponsor Packages that Work Companies will get excited and be more likely to buy a sponsor package if you offer them items in these packages that work. Not just another hole sign. Remember that they are looking for a return on investment. Their investment in your event must reflect on what they will receive in return. For example...if you give them $10,000 in advertising they might pay you $2500. Create a promotional campaign with the sponsor that will drive business traffic to their storefront, website, and sales force. Here are some items that can be included in your sponsor packages: Advertising and Marketing, TV, Radio, Public Relations and Press Releases Display locations on site of the event Networking with Golfers, Blast emails, Website links, Direct Mail to participants, Logos on promotional merchandise Brochure distribution, Event signage #3 - Approach the Right Kind of Companies Many times committees call on companies that will not have any interest in sponsoring the event. The last thing that you want to do is waist time. You want to approach businesses that have the most interest and are easier to reach. We talked earlier about understanding your demographics. So obviously the first companies on your list should be companies who want to reach your demographics. Think about businesses that have a broad customer sales base: grocery store chains, car dealers, realtors, banks, and major retail stores. These types of businesses sell to all people from all walks of life and are always looking to expand brand awareness. These businesses also have multiple second level vendors that they deal with that also become potential sponsors. IT IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS Most importantly you need to approach companies that you have a relationship with. You must build a committee of well-connected and motivated people. Assemble your committee together and ask everyone to bring his or her contact list. A well thought out list of individuals and companies that they do or have done business with. The decision makers in those businesses are the people you want to contact first. Try these things and you will be successful. Good luck with your next event Contact the Authors: Mark Stephens Owner – KGMS Golf, LLC and GoBigGolf.com mark.stephens@gobiggolf.com Phil Immordino Founder - Golf Tournament Association of America (GTAA) pimmordino@gtaaweb.org www.gtaaweb.org Martin Kaymer, from Germany, has a chance to be the first continental European to win the 114th U.S. Open Golf Championship. It's amazing that the only continental European World Golf Hall of Fame members; Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, and Jose Maria Olazabal...never won the U.S. Open. What an achievement it will be if Kaymer is able to win today at Pinehurst #2 and take home the championship trophy. He starts the day with a 5 stroke lead. History is on Kaymer's side to pull out the victory since no one since 1919 has lost after holding a 5 or more stroke lead going into the last round. Nevertheless, keeping in mind that it is the U.S. Open and that means it will not be easy to maintain a lead. Just the pressure of winning a major championship could overwhelm Kaymer not to mention the extremely difficult Donald Ross designed greens; that are at times impossible to hold the golf ball on.
In order for Kaymer to have a chance he must continue to drive and putt the ball well. That sounds fairly obvious but at the U.S. Open those shots are of the utmost importance. If Kaymer drops a few shots early and falls back to the pack I do not think he will win. The players at 2 under par or better will all have chance to overtake him and then it will be a shootout to the finish. Overall it should be another exciting finish to a major championship. GoBigGolf.com predicts that if Martin Kaymer doesn't win then Dustin Johnson will be the one guy that takes advantage and wins his first major. Next week the USGA's 114th U.S. Open Golf Championship is being held at Pinehurst Resort on the #2 course. If you have paid attention to any golf media this year you know that Phil Mickelson has targeted this year's event as the one he feels he can win, the one he needs to win! Phil has six 2nd place finishes in the U.S. Open. YES...6 in the last 15 U.S. Opens since the infamous 1999 event at...where else...Pinehurst during the famous battle against Payne Stewart. In 23 appearances Phil has placed in the top 10 ten times. The question is...Is this Phil's last real chance at a U.S. Open victory and the career Grand Slam?
Well history is not in his favor. Phil will turn 44 on 16 June and there have has only been 19 Major championship winners over the age of 41. However, Phil did just win The Open Championship last year at age 43, so can he do it again? Is the pressure too great? Did he put too much pressure on himself? Time will tell. I for one am looking forward to the U.S. Open more than ever. The parity among players in the golf world has made every event more exciting. The USGA has made a solid effort over the last few years to ensure the course and conditions are fair and playable. Pinehurst #2 has undergone a total remodel back to its original stature thanks to Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. The lack of rough and focus on shot making will undoubtedly create a more competitive event for this year's participants. Can a 44 year old superstar that has been struggling all season pull one last rabbit out of his golf bag? All I can is that if Phil does do it...I hope its on the 72nd hole, 20 foot putt for birdie, and it barely drops in! We will all know then that Payne was watching and helped in some way! We all witnessed the future of the PGA Tour this week at the Masters Tournament. Jordan Spieth, the 20 year old, from Dallas, TX started the final round tied for the lead. After 6 holes he was 2 strokes ahead and seemed to be cruising to victory. However, as usual the Masters provided drama, excitement and disappointment. Jordan had a few loose shots and then Bubba Watson took control by the 9th hole. Lets be realistic though...Spieth is 20 years old. Winning a major at 20 is something unheard of especially in the first attempt. Jordan Spieth never gave up, he showed grit and he showed some emotion. The media is beating him up over that fact that he showed frustration and slammed a club into the ground, yelled at himself and basically did what most golfers are doing every week. Who cares? Sure, he is a professional. I like that he isn't a robot of non-emotion. I like that he actually cares about winning. Do we all really want to watch stoic expressionless golf (i.e. Jason Dufner)? Every other sport the athletes are yelling, talking trash, fighting, or worse. Why can't golfers show that they are human. Its not like he even cussed or threw a club. I am not saying that the PGA Tour stars should start swearing or do anything to disrupt other competitors but lets stop beating people down for being normal. Jordan Spieth is the future of the PGA Tour. He will have many many more chances to win Majors. His golf swing will stand up to the test of time and to the pressure. The number one part of his game that will make him a champion is his short game. Spieth's putting and all the shots around the green are already in top form. I honestly think that in the next few years he will be a multiple major champion and could get to number 1 in the world rankings by 2015. The future of the PGA Tour is Now!
On Sunday Bubba Watson won his second green jacket at the 2014 Masters Tournament. Bubba finished with an 8 under par score for the week for a three shot victory. You have to respect the way Bubba plays the game. He knows what he can do and he goes for it. The 360+ yard drive on the 13th hole was something out of this world. Driver then wedge to a par 5...WOW! Hmmmm...think back to 1997 when Tiger Woods took apart Augusta National at the par 5s in similar fashion. A few years later Augusta's leadership decided to "Tiger Proof" the course. Makes me wonder what they will do now with the way Bubba Watson can literally overwhelm the course with his length off the tee. Anyway...Bubba played great on Sunday and never wavered from his game plan. Congrats Bubba on the win and love the tweet later of you and your friends at Waffle House!
Tiger Woods announced this week that he had surgery to repair his back injury and consequently would not play in The Masters golf tournament. This will be the first time since turning pro that Tiger will miss the event. What's the impact of Tiger missing The Masters?
We all know that when Tiger Woods plays any golf tournament that the TV ratings go up, attendance at the event goes up, excitement about the event goes up, and overall his impact is huge every week in the golf world. It always amazes me that no matter what Tiger Woods does the golf media and for that matter every golfer in the world reacts. We either love him or hate him. No matter how you feel about him as a person we all love to see Tiger compete. Tiger Woods missing The Masters to some of us is huge. If you have followed golf at all the last 20 years you have seen Tiger dominate The Masters, you have seen him come close and lose, but you have never seen him quit. There is always a feeling that no matter where he is placed going into the last round that Tiger has a chance to win. You can't help but be disappointed with Tiger not competing at The Masters. Instead of watching every shot and planning our weekend around the event some people will just tune in once in awhile. We will check the scores and see who is leading and eventually on Sunday we will all sit down and watch the back 9 at The Masters. So...What's the impact of Tiger Woods missing The Masters? The Masters is an event that we all look forward to watching every year. We all dream of our own pilgrimage to Augusta National one day. In the long run the game of of golf and The Masters are bigger than one person...even Tiger Woods. There is so much history and so many great players that we can count on another great week at The Masters. Let us not worry too much about Tiger Woods. He is a phenomenal athlete and in my opinion has already proven he is the greatest golfer ever. Tiger Woods will recover from this latest physical set back and he will win more golf tournaments. Will he win more majors? Will he pass Jack Nicklaus' records of 18 Majors? Only God knows! So far we have loved watching the highs and lows of Tiger Woods. I for one hope that the best, most charismatic, and influential golfer in history comes back stronger than ever! Selling sponsors is the key to a profitable event. The sponsor dollars will be the tournament profit. Sponsors do not usually get a tremendous amount of exposure, so the real benefit to them is building relationships and participating in a worthy cause. The list below shows reasons why businesses sponsor events:
They Believe in Your Cause – Businesses must agree with what your organization is doing and support it. They are Part of Your Industry – If a company does business in your field, they will want to see the industry do well. To Entertain Clients – If they can use it as a tool to bring out clients and entertain. To Reach New Clients – If they believe that their potential clients are playing in your event. Specific Exposure – If they can reach people in their industry. Public Relations – If they believe that it will get their company name in the paper or the news. How to Sell Sponsors Develop a Sponsor Committee – Businesses will sponsor if asked by someone they know and or respect. Develop a committee with relationships. Develop Sponsor Package and Benefits – Provide as many benefits as possible. Create a List of Potential Sponsors – Get the committee together and brainstorm on businesses that will benefit by being involved. Send out a Letter with Benefits to Potential Prospects – Have the letter come from the person who has the contact at that business or use a well-known name, like the Honorary Chairman. Follow up with Phone Calls in a timely manner – Phones are the most important part of the process. They will not respond to mail only. Find his or her Hot Button – Every person has a hot button. Exposure, money, community. Find out what it is and use it. Mutual Relationship – It is hard to high-level decision-makers, if you do not have a common relationship, find one. Explain Benefits – Do not assume that they know the benefits, take the time to discuss the benefits. Sell larger sponsors face to face – Don’t try to sell a large package over the phone. Get a meeting and allow them to get to know you. In summary...Sponsors make the profit for every successful event. To sell more sponsorships you must build relationships and provide value to the sponsors. Value to sponsors means increasing their business and building relationships for |
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