Guides
How to price hole sponsorships
Price the hole from what the sponsor actually gets on the ground: a sign they can photograph, optional staff at the tee, and a listing on the event page. Then set the number so a local shop can say yes without a board meeting, and so 18 holes still move the budget. Do not copy last year’s rate if you never sold out.
This is a pricing method for a small committee. It is not a national rate card. Public packages vary by market, and we will not invent a typical dollar figure.
What ranking pages skip
Sponsor-tier blogs list round numbers. Real outing PDFs show a wide spread for the same word hole sponsor. The work is matching deliverable to price, then assigning a human to sell 18 of them.
Name the deliverable first
A hole sponsorship is not logo somewhere. Write the line in the packet:
- One sign at a numbered tee (or tee and green). Size, who prints it, who plants it.
- Listing on the event page.
- Optional: a person at the hole with a game, a cooler, or cards. That is a different product. Price it higher or sell it as a second SKU.
If you promise a foursome inside the hole price, you just discounted a registration. Show that math on the packet so you are not giving golf away inside a cheap sign.
Work the inventory
You have 18 holes. You can sell more than 18 signs if the shop lets you mark both tee and green, or if you sell a beverage-cart sign as a separate inventory item.
Count:
- Signs you can plant (course rules, not your Canva file).
- Holes you can staff (volunteers, not wishful thinking).
- Foursomes already promised inside higher tiers, so you do not double-sell the same breakfast.
If you cannot plant 18 signs, do not print 18 packages.
Set the number from your budget, not a blog
Start from costs the outing must cover: course, food, insurance, printing. Hole inventory is often the first yes a local dentist can give. Title and cart sponsors are fewer conversations.
A method that does not require a made-up market rate:
- Add the print cost of one sign (vendor quote, this year).
- Add the staff time to sell and fulfill it (one board ask, one PDF, one photo after).
- Add the leftover you need from 18 holes toward the fundraising goal.
- Check that the hole price sits clearly below the next tier that includes a foursome.
If the hole price is close to a two-player registration, sponsors will buy golf instead of the sign. Separate them.
Who sells, and when
The sponsorship lead owns the 18. The chair does not see if the board can help in May.
Board asks go out when the event page can take payment. A PDF plus a check in the mail is how last year’s unpaid signs happen.
Puttfor event pages take sponsor and guest payments to the host’s connected Stripe account. Charity outings have no setup fee. Puttfor keeps 4% + $0.40 on store purchases and team gifts. The course is not the merchant of record.
If you are still comparing tools, price the software line before you discount holes to make up a $299 per-event scoring fee. GolfStatus lists Live Scoring Only at $299 per event when you are not processing funds through their event website. Event Caddy’s public Pro tier is $299 per tournament and live scoring is not on Free. Perfect Golf Event lists live scoring on Ace at $1,297. (Public pricing pages retrieved 2026-09-10.)
Fulfillment is the product
Sponsors renew when the sign looks sharp and they receive a photo the same day. They do not renew because the packet said digital exposure.
Day-of: a volunteer with a hole map, zip ties or frames the shop allows, and a phone. After: one email per sponsor with the photo and a thank-you.
What not to put in the packet
Do not tell a sponsor their payment is tax-deductible. Do not describe raffle or contest legality. Finance lead or counsel owns that language.
Next step
Build the 18 into the same page golfers use to register. See how to plan a charity golf tournament for the rest of the timeline, or charity golf tournament software to compare event SKUs. If the ask sheet still mixes title, hole, and cart into one blurry package, sort the structure first with hole sponsor levels for a charity golf outing. Pricing is one email; fulfillment is the other — send the deliverable list from what do hole sponsors get? with the signed package. To stand the page up, go to How it works.