J. Ryder Group and Golf Digest are introducing the first comprehensive golf tournament planning Web site to assist tournament organizers of the 1.2 million non-competitive golf events played in the United States each year, it was announced Tuesday.

The free Golf Digest Tournament Planner, found at http://www.golfdigestplanner.com, is anchored by a six-minute planning "Wizard" designed to assist in planning every aspect of any golf event -- including locating a tournament host course, accepting registration and payment , and picking hole-in-one and million-dollar-shot contests.

GolfDigestPlanner.com uses all this information to set up an easily accessed tournament Web site with the tournament and registration information. Tournament participants can sign up and pay for the event online, a convenient feature which very few tournaments offer.

"The J. Ryder Group has developed a groundbreaking and user-friendly tool for tournament organizers," said Stephen D'Agostino, associate director, Business Development at Golf Digest. "The majority of recreational golfers play in one or more charity, corporate or club event during the year. Many players are technology-savvy and want the ability to register for events online, a capability less than five percent of the events in the United States can claim."

"We're excited to partner with such a respected name in the golf community," said Jamie Ryder, president of J. Ryder Group. "This partnership will be an essential tool in realizing our goal of completely streamlining tournament organization."

GolfDigestPlanner.com was created after exhaustive research into the tournament organization world. Ryder spent two years conducting focus groups with executive directors of non-profits, corporate planners, PGA of America members and association executives to help design the Wizard's areas of focus and capabilities. Essentially, this site is a free do-it-yourself version of hiring a collaboration of the world's most experienced tournament organizers. Events can take anywhere from 250-400 hours to plan. With this system, initial tournament setup can be done in minutes.

The Wizard, which takes approximately six minutes to complete, walks the user through the process, starting with event registration and host course information. The Wizard then provides a template for sponsorship packages and suggestions for sponsored contests and even the percentage of successful tournaments that use each type of contest. The same information is also provided for the "Set Up My Tournament Experience" section, which provides suggestions of whether to give player gifts, have a long-drive contest, mulligans, raffles and auctions, etc. The Golf Digest Tournament Planner then sets up a task list for tournament organizers to follow leading up to the tournament, even sending reminder e-mails as dictated by the organizer, so the organizer has online guidance every step of the way.

ABOUT J. RYDER GROUP
J. Ryder Group has been actively involved in the golf tournament business since 1998. The firm has managed or provided services to more than 10,000 golf tournaments. J. Ryder Group was the executive director for the Arnold Palmer Turning Point Invitational, which celebrated Arnold Palmer's 50th Anniversary of his U.S. Amateur Championship. The Arnold Palmer Turning Point Invitational raised $6.3 million. "This is the most incredible event I have ever been involved in more than 60 years of golf, and I have been involved in a lot of them over the years," Palmer said. J. Ryder Group developed a highly desirable and first of its kind online hole-in-one prize package ordering and fulfillment system. J. Ryder Group holds contractual relationships for the online hole-in-one prize package program with Ford, Chrysler, Lincoln, Jeep, Mercury, Dodge, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Mazda.

Source: J. Ryder Group