Stroke Solutions Inc., a small golf equipment company in Grafton, had a huge role in K.J. Choi's victory at the AT&T National on Sunday.
Choi installed an over-sized SuperStroke grip on his putter and went on to win the inaugural event at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
He finished second in the field in putts per green in regulation (1.685) and fifth in total putts (115).
Choi bought the SuperStroke after seeing it advertised in an infomercial.
"He just sat on it for a while," said Ron Creten, president of Stroke Solutions. "He said it was big and ugly and he didn't know if he wanted to put it in play.
"His agent called us Friday and said K.J. was like a kid in a candy store, he was so happy."
At about 1½ inches in diameter, SuperStroke is twice the size of a conventional putter grip. The mass helps reduce two of the biggest causes of missed putts: Too much grip pressure and too much wrist action. SuperStroke can be installed on any putter.
"When you watch infomercials, half the time you don't believe it, half the time you believe it and you don't know what's right," Choi said after his second victory of the year. "But I just kept on watching it and I was convinced that it might work for me. So I ordered one."
Creten said several PGA Tour players had practiced with the grip but none had used it in a tournament.
Since Choi's nationally televised victory, however, the company Web site ( www.superstrokegrip.com) has been deluged.
"Response has been off the charts," Creten said.
Callaway Golf ordered a dozen grips and plans to ship them to Scotland for its staff members who are playing in the British Open next week. Edwin Watts will begin selling the grips and Creten is negotiating with Golf Galaxy.
SuperStroke was invented by Harold Roelke of Elm Grove. He called the grip "Fatso" and it was named best new product at the PGA Merchandise Show. But he had problems marketing the grip, eventually ran out of money and sold his company to Creten, Keith Miller and majority owner Chris Doerr.
"We had a family reunion in Alaska and I didn't see any part of the tournament," said Roelke, a minority partner in Stroke Solutions. "As my wife said, even if nothing else happens from this point forward, I invented something that helped somebody win a PGA Tour event."
Grips with success
Golf Tournament
Looking for tips on planning a charity golf tournament? There are many factors to consider, so I'll stick to the four main ones for this article. The success of your charity golf event revolves around maximizing player turnout, increasing pledge sizes, obtaining sponsored prizes, and planning tips.
Player Turnout
Your success depends on how many players your golf event draws and how actively you have your players solicit sponsors for their own rounds.
To maximize turnout, you need to get major publicity for your event. That means putting out multiple press releases, getting local media coverage from newspapers and television stations, and placing ads in the sports section of the local paper.
For the best results, put your press releases out through PR Web. Appoint a spokesperson to handle all media contacts and follow-up. For more tips, read my article on fundraising publicity.
Charity Pledges
The key is getting each player to collect a certain amount of pledges. I recommend a minimum of $100 per player in pledges. I've also played in tournaments where that number was $250 per player.
Obviously, you want to motivate the participants to raise as much money as possible. Some groups offer incentives for the top pledge getters. Others seek corporate sponsorships for that firm's players.
Pledge amounts determine the success of your charity golf event, so get input from experienced golfers and golf pros in your area.
Top Golfer Prizes
Generally speaking, you'll draw more golfers if you have great prizes for longest drive, closest to the hole, hole in one, lowest team score, lowest actual score, and best adjusted score (handicap).
You solicit local merchants to sponsor those prizes. Work with an insurance-related prize company for things like the hole-in-one contest. That way you can offer a bigger prize for a much lower outlay.
Aim to get 100 golfers (25 foursomes) and your small group could easily raise $10,000 or more. Larger turnouts will net even more with some charity golf tournaments drawing 500 golfers competing for big prizes.
Plan Ahead
Obviously, bigger pledges, more golfers, corporate sponsorships combined with massive publicity will work wonders for the bottom line of your charity golf tournament. With the right combination of these factors and good advance planning, you can certainly raise $75,000 or more for a charitable cause.
Contact local courses for group rates. Be sure to mention that you are planning a charity event and ask for discounts on cart and greens fees. Once you decide on your preferred location, reserve the date and tee times well in advance.
Charity Golf Event - Final Tips
Plan ahead to maximize the success of your charity golf event. For best results, pick a weekday when courses and large blocks of tee times will be easier to reserve. You'll often get the best rates by going to the course in person and talking to the pro or pro shop manager.
Corporate sponsors are another good way to go. Get some celebrities to golf with corporate bigwigs and you can easily raise $100k-$150k. Of course, convincing celebrities to donate their time takes some doing, but it's well worth it.
If it's your first golf tournament, be open to suggestions from other golfers. Consider working with a fundraising consultant who specializes in organizing charity golf tournaments. They work for a percentage of the gross, but you usually end up raising more funds due to their experience and sponsor contacts.
Greg reynolds writes about planning a charity golf tournament and other non-profit fundraisers at FundraiserHelp.com. Browse the site today for hundreds of great fundraising tiips.
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