From the outside, night golf events or tournaments are run similar to a regular daytime golf event.
However, once you have produced a couple of them it becomes very clear that there are some clear differences that are like night and day!
It is a completely new opportunity for charity fundraisers, event promoters, golf course, and players.
Here, our friends at Premier Glow discuss the new opportunities, in addition to the differences and restrictions that playing night golf can offer…
#FORE!
Given the fact that 90 per cent of people work, the best time for people to get out and participate in a golf event, night golf league, or golf fundraiser is in the evening.
Most people, whether they are rich or poor cannot take time off of work to participate in a daytime golf event or fundraiser.
There are many young golfers, non-golfers and recreational golfers searching for evening sports to participate in.
So you now have an even broader range of recreational athletes that can be reached through sports website registration engines like ezlinks.com, teemasters.com, golfnow.com, and active.com.
They will also enjoy the fun night golf supplies that make night golf so enjoyable.
Since it takes place in the evening you will discover that night golf can result in a significant increase in beverage and food sales, and that can really help to benefit the bottom line of a golf course or golf charity event.
When you combine course play along with a cosmetic skills competition or night ‘cosmic’ putting, you can bring in friends and family as well.
This can make a golf event be more than simply a pure pay to play player event.
Cosmic putting, in particular, will bring in families and kids.
During the evening many people just want to have a 2-3 hour experience that is fun and social.
One important thing to consider is that it takes about twice as much time to play night golf as it does day golf since players are walking around a lot and it simply takes more time.
This means it can be a good idea to limit on-course play to just 5-7 holes to limit player attention fatigue and overall time.
Another thing you can do is host a creative urban golf event, which we will be discussing below.
In the good old day – like last year – the only thing that we had were ‘glow sticks’, as well as ‘LED golf balls’ that would hit like rocks.
And they didn’t provide enough light to do more than simply braille your way around a golf course.
Yes, it is true that black lighting and mobile light make a big difference.
However, we still are really out in the dark.
That is what makes it difficult on the eyes more compared to playing in the day.
The solution to this is limiting your events to a maximum of 7 holes.
You will have a different crowd at night that are searching for plenty of razzle and dazzle in their night golf events.
So try to think of ways of lighting up their experiences during the event or as they are leaving.
Nighttime is more about enjoying a fun party than it is about playing high-precision golf.
It is more about fun. So view your golf course as a nightclub or event venture more than being just a golf course.
There is less time compared to during the day.
The majority of golf events begin at 7 pm and shouldn’t go any later than 11:30 pm.
We have discovered that getting everybody back to the night putting green or clubhouse by around 10:30 is optimal.
That is why implementing a cosmetic putting event as your tie breaker can be highly effective.
It can help to extend the evening, provide another competition as players are being social, and change the pace.
Also, it adds energy rather than simply having players out on the golf course.
People at night don’t like playing an entire 9 holes.
It is simply too much to play golf in the dark that long.
We have discovered that older players will tend to quit after playing about 6 holes, especially when you start after 8 pm.
People need to have their beauty sleep.
That is why we recommend that you limit your night golf events to just 6 or 7 holes.
To add more involvement and a more dynamic event you can incorporate cosmic night putting into your event with 6 to 9 holes.
They are easy to get set up and is an excellent way to bring in kids and families.
Players can now compete in about 2 hours over 6 holes, and then do a quick 9-hole putt off after enjoying a nice cool drink and socialising with their friends.
Think about having a modified putting or urban golf even using Glow Tour V2 or Glowgear limited distance night balls.
On-course urban golf events involve bringing just two to three clubs with you and playing each of the holes from 100 yards or closer.
We recommend that you place target lights on the fairway and a cosmic putting track ring.
So now each hole is 100 yards and scoring shots involves players just needing to chip into a circle in order to hole out.
This distance at night is plenty far enough and enables hot shots to truly dial into their game.
And at the same time allows beginners to avoid the long irons and drivers that they have a hard time hitting even during the day.
It also helps to save on lost balls since most players lose night golf balls while hitting them using long irons and drivers.
Golfers can now safely walk around the course and hit their shots without having to search around for lost balls.
Another advantage to playing this type of hit and chip target golf is it makes it possible for you to play more than 6 to 9 holes at night if you want to.
Best of all, the course is opened up to an entirely new level of shot-making where you are able to avoid water hazards that have a tendency to eat up night golf balls.
This also provides regular players with an entirely new series of hazards and holes to play against compared to a day course.
You can now have golfers hitting shots that they never dreamed of since you create shots they wouldn’t ever play in the daytime.
Night golf event photography- and action shots in particular – can really help to make your event memorable.
Using cosmic black lights and GlowGear night golf lighting can allow players to see one another in the tee box.
In addition, on the greens, it helps allow attendees to photograph one another using their mobile phones.
When these photos are combined with your event shots, you will have the photos that you need to post on social media accounts like Facebook to promote upcoming events.
Traditional glow stick night golf events are similar to wandering around in the dark.
This means it can be very hard to capture victorious putts along with all of the antics that can take place whenever you get a crowd of people gathered around a cosmetic putting green.
By Cormac Reynolds
