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The Unforgettable Beauty of a Golf Course Wedding

October 12, 2017 Marketing
4 Comments
Blog

Think about all the great modern conveniences that help make life easier. From being able to do your banking without ever having to stand in line at a bank, to starting your car without a key, new technologies seem to come along daily to help us do things faster and/or easier.

So when will someone make it easier to plan a wedding?

Anyone who’s been involved with wedding planning knows. That with the sheer number of options available today for every aspect of the wedding. The job of choosing the best ones for you seems more difficult today than it ever was.

Before, when you were ready to go ahead with your wedding, you had an engagement party and sent out invitations. Today, you need a website, Facebook page, Save-the-Date announcements, #hashtags – and still send the invitations and plan a party. And then the real work starts.

Finding the Right Setting

One of the major tasks of any wedding planning is choosing the setting for the nuptials and reception. If you’re planning a more religious ceremony, you’ll likely exchange vows in a house of worship. But many couples are choosing options like garden weddings, or ‘destination’ weddings in exotic locales, where the ceremony and reception happen in the same place.

The combination of the natural setting and reception facilities on-site is an attractive option that transforms the ceremony and reception into a single, continuous celebration.

The beauty of a golf course in the spring

The Beauty of a Golf Course Wedding

The first thing most couples need to know about planning their ceremony and/or reception at a golf course is that it doesn’t have to have anything to do with golfing. A beautifully groomed golf course (like the one we have here at Royal Ashburn!) gives you a stunning, natural setting for your ceremony all year round.

In addition to the beautiful surroundings, there are many more advantages to choosing a golf-course wedding. And some of them are exclusive to Royal Ashburn!

1. Bridal Gardens

If you prefer a garden wedding ceremony, Royal Ashburn gives you the option of two gardens designed and built specifically for wedding ceremonies and receptions.

The Cedar Garden features a custom-built pavilion nestled in a grove of trees. Entrance to the Woodland Garden starts under a unique. Covered entryway to a winding path that all make ideal backdrops for wedding photographs.

2. The Right Rooms

Larger golf clubs will offer a variety of options for room sizes to accommodate every weeding, from the most intimate to the grandest.

3. Complete Meals and Refreshments Packages

Golf clubs have top-notch chefs and servers already in place to serve their club members. That means you get a choice of meals, bar services and extras to make your wedding reception everything you want it to be.

4. Wedding Planning

If you prefer, on-site personnel can help you with everything for the perfect wedding, from finding an officiant to booking the band, and everything in between.

5. Lots of Space

Unlike having your ceremony in a crowded hotel, golf clubs offer the space that helps your ceremony feel more relaxed and enjoyable. And there’s lots of on-site parking for all your guests.

The Royal Ashburn Golf Club has served as the beautiful setting for unforgettable weddings for over three generations. We are one of the few golf clubs in the area with dedicated, custom-built bridal gardens, all meticulously designed and maintained to be the perfect backdrop for your ceremony and reception. Get in touch with us today and get your wedding planning off to a great start and learn more about Royal Ashburn Golf Course weddings.

6 Reasons Why Fall is a Great Time for Golf

September 25, 2017 Marketing
2 Comments
Blog, Tips

It’s a familiar lament for golfers in the Greater Toronto Area: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could golf all year round like they do in Myrtle Beach?!”

There’s no denying that the golf season in Southern Ontario is shorter than places south. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have times of the year when you can enjoy a round of golf here that would be the envy of golfers around the world.

If you’ve ever suffered through a sweltering round of golf in the middle of July in places like Myrtle Beach, you’ll know what we mean. Which golfer wouldn’t appreciate playing on a course surrounded by the rich colours of a crisp and clear autumn day?

Of course, it would be nice to play right here at home in the middle of January, but the reality is that we can’t. Instead, we encourage all local golfers to embrace and celebrate those times when we can enjoy a round, and fall is as good a time as any.

In case the beautiful settings aren’t enough to get you on the course this fall,

Here are just a few more reasons why fall is a great time for golf.

1. It’s Less Crowded & More Relaxed

While there are fall days that can be nearly as warm and bright as a summer day, you won’t have to contend with as many packed foursomes ahead of and behind you. That means a little more time to enjoy your round at your pace and less chance of an anxious group behind you watching your every shot.

2. You’re Hot

If you’ve golfed regularly throughout the summer, your game is probably the best it’s been all year. By playing in the fall when you’re in top form, you can take your game to heights it hasn’t been to and have less downtime before you get on course again in the spring.

3. Reduced Rates

Many courses will reduce their rates after September 30th to encourage more people to play. You get great golf and keep more cash in your pocket.

4. Challenge Yourself

There’s no doubt that some fall conditions can present unique challenges to your game. In addition to cooler temperatures, winds can be stronger, and course conditions can be more damp, especially in the mornings. Instead of sitting at home watching the Golf Channel, get on the course and take up the challenge. You’ve brought your game to its best for the season by golfing through summer’s more ideal conditions. Imagine how much it will improve if you put it to the test in the fall.

5. Set-Up for Your Winter Golf

If you and your golf partners regularly take a golf vacation to keep your game in shape during the winter, golfing in the fall will bridge the gap. That way, you’ll be the one getting the free dinner and drinks when you win the round down south.

5. Courses are in Great Shape

Summer’s heat can stress even the best irrigation and course maintenance systems. But grass actually enjoys a rich growth spurt in the fall. In addition to the bright colours, now’s the time to enjoy a lush course that’s benefitted from a full season of grooming.

6. Great Time for a Lesson to Tune-Up Your Game

No matter how well you’re golfing, it’s always good to get regular lessons to make sure you keep your swing in shape. But that can be tough in the middle of summer. During the fall, golf pros are more likely to have the time for lessons, and maybe even devote a little more personalized time to help you improve your game.

We don’t like to boast, but the course here at Royal Ashburn is as beautiful as any in the autumn. If you’d like to extend your golf season in our beautiful surroundings this fall, just give us a call.

5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Golf Lessons

August 24, 2017 Marketing
2 Comments
Blog, Golf Lessons

Have you ever wondered why the top professionals in golf. Those competing for millions of dollars each week in tournaments around the world, have coaches? If nothing else, that fact is proof that everyone, regardless of how well they golf, or if they’ve ever golfed before, or how old they are, need golf lessons. This is why you should invest in golf lessons.

But the unfortunate truth is that too many golfers feel the only answer to learn how to play golf. Or to make their game better is to buy expensive clubs, or play more often, or analyze the pro swings on the Golf Channel hoping to spot something that will magically turn their game around.

But there’s one simple reason why better clubs, playing three times a week and/or trying to learn more about what goes into a good swing, are not the answer to making your game the best it can be.

Golf is an individual sport. And not ‘individual’ in the sense that singles tennis is an individual sport either.

Golf is just about the only sport where your main competition is yourself. That means the path to better play is unique to every golfer. That’s the basic reason why every golfer should invest in golf lessons. Without lessons, it’s very difficult to learn how to play properly and to perfect your game.

Here are just a few other reasons why you should invest in golf lessons

1. It’s the best way for beginners to learn golf

If you’re just taking up the sport, it’s more important to learn how to play golf properly versus other sports. From learning how to approach the game to understand the importance of club selection and the details of your grip, there are many minute details about the game. Not learning from the start how to do any one of them properly can mean you will never be able to play your best golf.

2. You can’t See what you’re doing right & wrong

With yourself as competition, golf is often cited as being a mental game as much or more than it is a physical game. It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible for a golfer to know exactly what was the difference in the swings that produced a perfect shot and a slice.

But professional golf instructors understand the mechanics of a swing, the importance of body positioning and every other aspect of a good swing. They will very quickly spot a problem in your swing that can make the difference between a flub and a great shot.

3. You’ll stop doing the wrong thing

This is why new clubs, or videos, or frequent play won’t help as much as you hope they will. Let’s say there’s a problem with your grip. Yes, getting a set of better clubs will help improve your game, but they’re not going to correct your grip. Yes, you’ll play better if you practice more often, but it won’t correct your grip. Yes, reading golf books, magazines and websites will give you more insights that could improve your game, but they won’t correct your grip problem.

What will correct your grip problem? Lessons from a golf pro who understands your particular problem.

4. It’s an Investment in Yourself

First, whether you’re a beginner or have played for years, it doesn’t make sense to invest in new clubs, a golf club membership or anything else golf-related if you’re not going to invest in learning to play the game better.

But you decided to give golf a try and fell in love with it for a reason. You enjoy challenging yourself. You look forward to playing a game in the great outdoors. You can’t think of anything else that feels quite like making clean contact with the ball and watching it rise through the air exactly as it should. You need the exercise.

No matter why you’re interested in or in love with the game of golf, with all of that riding on it, why wouldn’t you want to play better?

5. The Limited Golf Season in Ontario

Most local golfers will only get to play for six to eight months of the year. When the season finally arrives, you just want to get out there and play. You don’t want to spend too much time learning how to play or correcting problems with your game. Professional golf instruction is the fastest ways to learn or improve your game, so it’s even more important to get golf lessons in Ontario.

If you’re looking for one of the best places for golf lessons in Ontario, look no further than the Royal Ashburn Golf Club. Led by Director of Golf Instruction, Dave Castellan, every golf instructor at the Royal Ashburn Golf Academy are PGA of Canada golf professionals and trained and certified instructors.

11 Tips for Planning a Successful Corporate Golf Tournament

August 8, 2017 Marketing
2 Comments
Blog, Golf Tournaments, Tips

Following our last post about the benefits of golf for business networking, we thought we’d highlight one of the best ways for your company to network and promote itself on the course, which is by hosting your own golf tournament.

While that might sound like a huge undertaking, especially if your company has never hosted a golfing event before, with the right planning and help, you can have a successful tournament and a great new way to promote your business.

How to Plan and Execute a Successful Corporate Golf Tournament

1. Set up a Committee

Planning and running a golf tournament can be a full-time job for even experienced tournament planners. It’s best to make someone the tournament director, and put together a team to help make it all happen. While the members and responsibilities of the planning committee will be up to your particular resources and requirements, think about putting someone in charge of some of the particular points below

2. Pick a Date

This is the date all of your other planning revolves around. Make sure it’s far enough in the future – at least six months – so those you invite have time to make arrangements to be there. It will also help if you pick and arrange for a rain date.

3. Find a Course

It’s important to find and contract a course as early as possible in your planning process. The best golf clubs for corporate tournaments will also be one of your best resources for help with many other parts of your planning. In addition to the course and other golf-related amenities, the club will usually also help with food and beverage services before, during and after the tournament; registrations, and organizing post-tournament awards ceremonies.

4. Choose a Theme

Having a theme helps set your tournament apart from all the others. You can choose a theme on a format, celebrity guest or corporate event, like a product launch. Think about supporting a favorite charity or local community organization and making that the theme for the tournament.

5. Set a Budget

Like everything else you do in business, setting and adhering to a budget will help guide your planning. In addition to any promotional budget you have, you may also have any fees you decide to charge for playing in the tournament, and any sponsorship funds. Costs can include everything from the basics, like greens fees and cart rentals, to whether you want to invest in the insurance to include high-profile, big-jackpot hole-in-one competitions. Most tournaments include a post-round meal in the clubhouse that includes drinks and food.

6. Get Some Sponsorship Help

The more companies and organizations you find to help sponsor the tournament, whether through donating services or products you need, or by supplying prizes, or by hosting side-competitions, the more appealing the tournament will be and the less costly it might be for your company.

7. Choose a Format

The golfing format you choose for the tournament will go a long way to determining how much your invitees will enjoy the outing. If you’ll have lots of experienced golfers, then a shotgun tournament, where your participants each start from a different hole on the course and play their rounds simultaneously, will ensure you have a maximum number of golfers playing in the shortest amount of time. If you’ll have participants of varying degrees of golfing ability, a popular choice is the Scramble, or Best Ball format, where all golfers tee off and take their subsequent shots from the point where the best previous shot landed.

8. Decide on Contests &/or Events

There are a number of contests and events, both on the course and off, that can make your tournament more fun and engaging for everyone. From ‘closest-to-the-hole’ competitions to selling mulligans and silent auctions to raise money for charities, there are lots of great ways to make things more interesting.

9. Set an Invitation List

The numbers of people you can include in your tournament might depend on the tournament format. A shotgun tournament where there is only one tee-off time means you can invite 72 golfers (one foursome on each of 18 holes).

10. Have a Marketing/Communications Plan

In addition to sending out invitations, you may want to keep in touch with attendees through email or regular mail. You can pump-up interest in the tournament by announcing new prizes, sponsorships, events, etc., as they happen.

11. Plan the Logistics for the Day

From registrations in the mornings to planning prize tables, featured speakers and awards ceremonies, later on, you will most likely need to make at least one person responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly on tournament day.

As we said, the course you choose can make a big difference in all the planning that needs to happen for your tournament to run smoothly and be enjoyable for your guests. We’ve been hosting corporate and charity golf tournaments for over 50 years here at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club. Just give us a call and let our professional tournament staff show you just how we can help you make your tournament the best it can be.

How to Have the Perfect Wedding Rehearsal

October 14, 2016 Marketing
Off
Blog

So you have made it you have the perfect venue, menu, guest list, and much more, and it all comes together in just 24 hours. But first, you must complete the wedding rehearsal this includes rehearsing the ceremony and the rehearsal dinner. This can be a nerve-racking and daunting task for most wedding parties but it does not have to be.

We break down exactly what your wedding rehearsal should look like and give you the knowledge you need to ensure your wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner go smoothly and effectively so that you’re ready for the big day.

The Wedding Rehearsal

A wedding rehearsal is when the bride and groom get everyone together who are involved in the wedding.  This should include the Bride and Groom, all the Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Flower Girls, and Ring Bearers.  It is helpful to have the readers and parents there.  It’s usually not necessary to have the musicians or DJ there.

A Royal Ashburn Golf Club coordinator will be assisting your wedding party through a “walk-through” of what will happen during the ceremony.  If you have readers or musicians, they don’t need to take up everyone’s time by practicing at the rehearsal. The Bride and Groom should practice their vows on their own.

The Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal dinner is traditionally held the night before the wedding. Since the rehearsal dinner has become more of a celebration in its own right than just a formality, some couples are holding the event two nights prior to the wedding. This way, there’s more time to relax, recuperate, and get ready for the main event.

Why have a Rehearsal Dinner?

The dinner is a great opportunity for your two families to get to know each other before the wedding day (if they don’t already know each other well) in a not-too-hectic setting.

Take Advantage of the Relaxed Environment

Come wedding night, you’ll most likely be pulled in too many directions to put in any real quality time with anyone. The ultimate goal here is to relieve some prewedding tension and make everyone invited feel comfortable with the impending nuptials while not upstaging the big event.

Who to Invite

At the very least, the rehearsal dinner guest list includes immediate family (parents and siblings), wedding-party members and their spouses or significant others, and the parents of any child attendants (inviting the children themselves is optional). You should also invite the officiant and his or her spouse to the dinner (they may not come, but it’s the polite thing to do).

Once you have done this all that is left is to get married! Be sure to follow these guidelines to make sure your rehearsal goes smoothly and all that’s left to worry about is saying I do. If you have any more questions about your wedding rehearsal give us a call at Royal Ashburn we will be happy to help you with any questions you have.

10 Tips to Help you get the Most Out of Any Bridal Show

October 14, 2016 Marketing
1 Comment
Blog

Everyone loves a bridal show. They are the perfect venue to learn about the best services to help put together the perfect wedding. We put together some tips to help you navigate your way through the bridal show and ensure you get everything checked off your to-do list.

Here are 10 tips to help you get the most out of the bridal show:

1. Make a shopping list

Make a list of the products and services you’re looking to investigate and purchase at the show.

2. Register at the front door

Be sure to register as this can enter you in awesome giveaways and sign you up to receive more important info from vendors.

3. Bring a notebook

Do this to write answers to questions you ask, get quotes for services, write ideas, etc.

4. Bring your wedding timeline

Bring this so you can check off things that you were able to accomplish at the show.

5. Bring your cell phone

If your camera has a photo feature, you can snap a few shots of interesting ideas and be sure to write down the name in your notebook.

6. Focus on the products or services you need and stay on track

Just like any form of shopping, straying from your shopping list can take up precious shopping time. This can also take time from other brides who do need those services…

7. Bring self-addressed labels with your contact information and wedding date

Doing this will save you A LOT OF TIME at any show. They are handy and a brilliant way to breeze through the tedious task of writing the same information 100 times in a day! Your labels should include your name, address, email address, phone number, and wedding date.

8. Bring your cheque book

 In case you would like to secure services with a deposit on site.

9. Ask Questions!

Make sure you ask a lot of “what if” questions and questions regarding their experience to ensure you’re getting the best service possible.

10. Relax

This will be a great time for you to spend with your fiance, mom, and bridesmaids to have some fun!

Use these tips to help ensure your visit to the bridal show if fun easy and stress-free. Then when it comes down to deciding where to host your wedding visit us here at Royal Ashburn to see what our venue has to offer to help you enjoy your dream wedding.

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