Text: Greg Johnson

The snow may have begun to fall, but avid golfers look to the summer months to schedule 2018 great golf outings.

The golf has season just ended, snow is falling, and the clubs have been put away.

However, if you are planning a golf outing for a group of any size—to celebrate a milestone or even impress your boss with entertaining the entire company—it’s time to start working on it, even in December.

For trips, the summer months and prime dates fill up fast at the golf clubs with great reputations for running outings. In fact many outings set their return dates upon completion of successful events, so some days are accounted for already.

Once the dates have been figured out, the golf courses are more than willing to help plan the outing whether it is by online or phone means.

Consider the courses with great reputations, such as: Apple Mountain Golf Club in Freeland, Scott Lake Golf Course in Comstock Park, Buck’s Run Golf Club in Mount Pleasant, The Golf Club at Thornapple Pointe in Grand Rapids, and The Lynx Golf Course in Otsego.

Jim Szilagyi, owner-operator of The Lynx said they will do all they can to help the outing planner get the most comfortable dates. They do around 35 outings a year, but there is room for more.

“Earlier planning makes a world of difference in how the event comes off,” Szilagyi said. “You get the facility you want and the time you want. We are first-come, first-serve, but we know the earlier we have your dates the better we will be in execution of the outing or event. We feel the hallmark of a good outing starts with how soon they contact you. We have the same goals as the customer—to have a great outing.”

Golf outings ebb and flow some with the business economy. Szilagyi believes they remain a great way to have comradery among company employees, vendors and customers.

“It is still a great way to meet somebody, get to know them, spend time with them, enjoy their company, and hopefully want to do it again,” Szilagyi said.

On the golf course facility side of things, Szilagyi said The Lynx will run your outing like it is a major tournament no matter the size.

“Whether it is a group of 12 or 120 [people], we are going to do the best we can to give everybody an equal and great experience. We put names on carts, make scorecards, do a scoreboard, give them a rules sheet, and really try to provide first-class treatment all the way,” Szilagyi said.

“Outings are a timing thing. We make sure people get around the golf course, then we feed people well, and we try to make every event at The Lynx the most important event of the year. We assume it is to that group, and we want them to feel that way when it is over,” Szilagyi added.

Apple Mountain, located to the northeast of Otsego-based The Lynx, provides a list of complimentary services online to help with early organization. These are the things one would not have to plan, such as: cart set-up, bag staff to greet the outing participants, the set-up of the room or pavilion for an event, tee assignments, personalized cart signs, scorecards, rangers to help with golf traffic, computer-generated scoring summaries and result sheets, tee signs, on-course signs, and more.

It might be December, but one can always start planning next year’s outing and have great help with it.

Check out Scott Lake to receive their free outing guide; note that Thornapple Pointe even lists some prices to help you think budget; and Buck’s Run offers testimonials and pictures from past outings on its step-by-step outings tab so one can see what the fun will look like on that special day.

For the best golf outing possible next year, it’s never too early to start planning.