“At our most recent event at Big Met, several players expressed concerns about the reduced gift certificate payouts and how this change was unexpected.
We understand and agree that merchandise prize payouts need to be sufficient enough to attract good-size fields and make it worthwhile to the top finishers.
On our end, we need to charge an entry fee that covers the typical cost of a greens fee and cart (when provided) on a weekend. So we must balance a reasonable entry fee cost, a good prize payout and the necessary revenues.
In the past for the Big Met 2-Player Scramble/Better Ball, the cart fee was separate from the entry fee. This year, we included the cart fee without increasing the entry fee, which reduced the merchandise payout. For next year, the Big Met event entry fee will be adjusted accordingly.
Looking forward, we feel our events are structured to fulfill all three financial factors.
Our next upcoming event is the Sleepy Hollow Jr./Sr. Better Ball on June 1st. Based on 20 teams entered, the payout would be per team:
1st – $520
2nd – $300
3rd – $180
4th – $160
Our first three events of the year saw a nearly 30% increase in entries. We thank all of the players who have played in our events this year! We will continue to do our best to run events that every player finds fun, competitive and worthwhile.”
— Cleveland Metroparks Golf Staff
Why do you “have” to charge the full green fee and cart fee? It seems to me you have complete control of the costs to the players, and to encourage players a discount in these fees would be in order.