A golf outing run of show is the schedule for the day, from the first table set up in the morning to the last sign packed in the car, with a name next to every job. For a shotgun start, it follows a simple shape: setup, registration and the range, a rules announcement, the shotgun, about four and a half to five hours of golf with contests and the beverage cart, then scoring, dinner, awards and the raffle.
A sample schedule is below. Copy it, change the times to match your course, and put a name next to every line.
Why the run of show matters more at a golf outing
Most events happen in one room. A golf outing happens across 18 holes, a clubhouse, a parking lot and a dining room, often a mile apart from each other. You can’t see everything, and you can’t be everywhere.
I’ve been running events for more than 25 years, and golf outings are one of my favorite kinds. They’re also the event where a missing detail gets expensive fast. A sponsor sign that never made it to the course, a foursome with no golfer names, a contest hole with nobody measuring. The run of show is how you catch those before the shotgun instead of after.
A sample run of show for a noon shotgun
This assumes a scramble with a noon shotgun start, lunch before golf and dinner with awards after. Your course will have its own timing, so confirm it with the course’s event coordinator.
| Time | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 am | Planner arrives, meets the course event coordinator, walks the plan | Planner |
| 9:00 am | Sponsor signs placed on holes, contest holes set up | Course staff, sign volunteers |
| 9:30 am | Registration table set: check-in list, name badges, gift bags, raffle tickets, mulligans | Registration team |
| 10:00 am | Volunteers arrive, get the staff packet and a quick briefing | Planner |
| 10:30 am | Registration opens, lunch and range open | Registration team |
| 11:30 am | Cart assignments posted, golfers head to carts | Course staff |
| 11:45 am | Welcome, rules, sponsor thank-yous, photos | MC |
| 12:00 pm | Shotgun start | Course staff |
| 12:30 pm | Beverage cart and contest holes in full swing | Cart staff, contest volunteers |
| 2:00 pm | Planner rides the course, checks pace and contest holes | Planner |
| 4:30 pm | Groups finish, scorecards collected | Scorer |
| 5:00 pm | Cocktail hour, raffle and silent auction open | Raffle team |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner served | Course |
| 6:15 pm | Awards: team winners and contest winners | MC, scorer |
| 6:45 pm | Raffle drawing, final thank-yous | MC |
| 7:15 pm | Event ends, teardown, signs collected | Planner, volunteers |
A few notes on the timing. Leave a full hour between registration opening and the rules announcement. People arrive late, want lunch and want to hit a bucket of balls, and you don’t want the shotgun waiting on them. And leave yourself a buffer between the last group finishing and the start of awards. The scorer needs time, and there’s always one group that’s slow.
Who does what
Every job on the run of show needs one name, not “the committee.” These are the roles I fill for every outing.
Planner. Owns the run of show. Stays reachable all day and isn’t stuck at a table.
Registration team. Two or three people. Checks in golfers, hands out name badges and gift bags, sells raffle tickets and mulligans, and keeps the list of who has and hasn’t arrived.
Contest hole volunteers. One per contest hole: longest drive, closest to the pin, hole in one. They measure, record names and keep track of the leader.
Scorer. Collects scorecards, checks the math, ranks the teams and hands the MC a clean list of winners.
MC. Runs the welcome, the rules and the awards. Has a script, the sponsor list and the correct pronunciation of every name they’ll say.
Sign team. Places sponsor signs before golf and collects them after. Signs vanish if nobody’s assigned to them.
Photographer. Takes group photos at the carts before the shotgun, sponsors at their holes, and the winners at awards. Those photos are next year’s promotion, so it’s worth a real assignment.
What goes in the staff packet
The staff packet is what every volunteer gets when they arrive. Keep it short enough that people actually read it.
- The run of show with times and names
- A course map with sponsor signs and contest holes marked
- The pairings and cart assignments
- The rules: format, mulligan rules, contest rules, what happens in a tie
- The sponsor list, in the order the MC will thank them
- Who to call for what, with the planner and course coordinator listed first
- The weather plan: what happens if there’s lightning, who makes the call
What usually goes wrong
Pace of play. One slow group backs up the whole course and pushes dinner late. Remind golfers at the rules announcement to keep moving, and have the course marshal help.
Missing golfer names. A sponsor buys a foursome and sends no names until the morning of. Now you can’t print badges or cart signs. Set a hard deadline about two weeks out, chase it a week out, and keep a few blank badges for the stragglers. Our article on golf tournament sponsorship levels covers collecting what sponsors owe you.
Sponsor signs. Logo files arrive late, the printer needs time, and a sign ends up with an old logo or on the wrong hole. Collect logos with the payment, proof every sign against the sponsor list, and walk the course to check placement before golfers head out.
The awards drag. People are tired and want to head home. Keep the awards moving, have the winner list ready before you start, and put the raffle at the end so people stay for it.
Weather. Know the course’s lightning policy and your own rain plan before the day. Decide in advance who makes the call to stop play.
Before the day
The run of show is the last step. Everything before it, from the sponsor menu to the course contract and the budget, is in our golf outing planning guide. For getting golfers and sponsors signed up in the first place, see how to promote a golf outing.
One more thing: send the run of show to the course’s event coordinator a week before. They’ll often catch timing problems you can’t see from the outside.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a shotgun-start golf outing take?
For a scramble, plan on about four and a half to five hours of golf after the shotgun. Add an hour or more before for registration and lunch, and about two hours after for dinner and awards. Ask your course how long their outings usually run.
What’s the difference between a shotgun start and a tee time start?
With a shotgun start, every group starts at the same time on a different hole and everyone finishes at about the same time. With tee times, groups start one after another from the first hole. Shotgun starts are standard for outings because everyone comes in together for dinner and awards.
How many volunteers do you need for a golf outing?
It depends on your field, but plan for at least two or three at registration, one per contest hole, a scorer, someone on signs, an MC and a photographer. Some people can cover two jobs at different times of day, as long as the run of show says who’s doing what.
Running a golf outing this year? We handle the whole day for associations and chambers, from sponsor packages and golfer names to the run of show and the awards. Request an introduction.