Top Fun and Memorable Golf Tournament Themes

Golf tournaments are an excellent way to raise money for a good cause. People can play a sport they enjoy while supporting a worthy charity or cause. Consider adding a theme to the tournament to encourage and incentivize guests to attend and make your advertising efforts memorable. Themes are an exciting way to make events unforgettable for guests.

A theme can weave its way into all components of the golf event, from the marketing materials to the decorations, food, and giveaways. Here are some fun golf tournament themes you could use for your next event.

Raising Awareness Themes

If you’re hosting a golf event to raise awareness for a specific cause, planning the theme around the cause is an excellent way to highlight the fundraiser’s mission. Ways to incorporate the charity into your golf tournament’s decorations include:

• Using the cause’s colors as the basis for your tournament’s advertising, decor, and food ideas.
• Including the charity’s logo on any freebies, decorations, and food.
• Making T-shirts with the logo and charity’s color for the event staff and guests.
• Putting the nonprofit’s logo on golf balls. 

While the primary goal of the golf tournament is to raise donations for the cause, it also can lead to increased awareness even after the event ends.

Time Period Themes

You could also implement themes that take you back in time. Choose a theme for your tournament based on a time period or a memorable decade or two. The era you pay homage to can help you plan the decor, advertising, food, music, and costumes. Whether the chosen period is random or relates to the organization you’re supporting, you and your guests will have a blast.

Here are some time periods that could serve as inspiration for your next golf tournament:

• Wild West: Decorate with cowboy hats, boots, wagons, horseshoes, and other items reminiscent of the frontier period.
• The 1920s: Whether you focus on “The Great Gatsby” or the 1920s in general, you could play music from the decade and encourage guests to dress in costumes like flapper girls.
• The 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s: Combine three decades to give more options for decor, outfits, and music. Your guests and staff could dress up in tie-dye to represent the ’60s, don disco outfits for the ’70s, and sport big hair and exercise or rocker-style clothes for the ’80s.

Seasonal Themes

There are a lot of seasonal events and holidays you can find inspiration from. Seasonal themes can make the event more memorable by encouraging people to associate the event with a specific time of year. May to October is often the most popular time to host golf tournaments, and many holidays and seasonal changes happen during that time.

Some seasonal golf tournament themes include:

• Summer solstice: Celebrate the summer during your golf tournament with a fun summer theme. Your event can be for everyone, with players enjoying one or several rounds of golf and other attendees having fun elsewhere. Some seasonal foods include fruit, barbeque, and ice cream or popsicles. You could also add fun beach decor.
• Independence Day: Commemorate Independence Day during your golf tournament by having a red, white, and blue theme for your event. Your guests could wear the same colors while playing or enjoying the festivities.
• Halloween: Golf tournaments in October could have a Halloween theme. Decorate the area with pumpkins, hay bales, skeletons, and other Halloween decor. The food and drinks could also be on theme.
• Christmas in July: Who says you can only use a Christmas theme in December? Encourage guests to bring out their red and green during the summer months to get a boost of holiday joy. You can have a Christmas cookie bake sale and an ugly sweater contest if it’s not too hot!

More Fun Golf Themes for Tournaments

There are plenty more fun and specific golf themes for tournaments you could implement or use as inspiration for your next event.

Around the world in 18 holes

A unique theme for your tournament could be “Around the World.” Mark each flag with a country, and it will be like the players are traveling abroad as they play. You could also serve food and drinks from each country and provide information about them to help the guests learn about different cultures. 

Superheroes

Create an event the whole family will love by hosting a superhero-themed tournament. Decorate with the symbols and colors of popular Marvel and Detective Comics (DC) superheroes. The event representatives and guests could even dress up as their favorite heroes.

Luau

Bring a simplified version of a Hawaiian luau to your golf tournament. Decorate the place with tropical flowers and palm trees and encourage staff and guests to wear fun Hawaiian shirts and leis. You could also serve delicious drinks and food.

Tailgate

Combine the popular pre-football game activity with golf by hosting a tailgate-themed tournament. Guests can wear jerseys, participate in sports-themed contests, and play games like cornhole while waiting for their turn to tee. You could also have common finger foods and barbeque for the meals.

String for charity

Put a spin on regular golf rounds by including a “string for charity” feature. Players can buy string by the foot and use it to move their ball closer to the hole. For instance, a player could buy 30 feet of string and use 10 feet to move their ball closer to the hole at one course and save the remaining feet for other courses. The money collected from the string could act as donations toward your cause.

You could have tournament representatives at each hole to cut the string and help players when they want to use the tactic.

Mulligans for sale

Another fun twist on classic golf games is selling mulligans to raise money. Even the best golf players need a second chance sometimes. A mulligan is a second chance at taking a shot without a penalty. They are only used in nonofficial games, so you won’t see them in a professional or amateur competition. For your tournament, you could charge players for a set number of mulligans they could use throughout the 18-hole course.

Mini golf

Consider hosting your event at a miniature golf course for a more relaxed golf tournament. Mini golf is an easy way to let people of all ages participate in the game’s fun. You could rent a pavilion or hall nearby to host all the other festivities. The food served could also stay on brand with the miniature theme. You could serve mini versions of food, like small hot dogs, tea sandwiches, wraps, or skewers.

Play a Round with GiveSmart

Golf tournament themes are a spectacular way to attract more people to participate in your fundraising efforts. When you need help managing your fundraiser, you can count on GiveSmart to help. We offer solutions for managing your donations and events, whether in-person, online, or hybrid.

GiveSmart provides an industry-leading fundraising platform to help organizations stay organized while fundraising and managing events. Learn more about the platform by scheduling a demonstration today!