It’s May 5, and for many people—golfers included—the Mexican holiday marks another day to get out of the office and enjoy a little fun. Course operators would do well to understand this fact and capitalize on it.
“Cinco de Mayo isn’t a paid holiday from work, but that can be an advantage on the local level,” says Larry Battaglia, president of Long Island-based Golf Event Planning. “You don’t have families packing up and traveling. And for most men it’s an easy ‘hall pass.’”
The laid-back nature of the day can also help attract the all-important “lapsed” or “latent-interest” golfer. Intimidation, which tends to hold these folks back, goes down when there are mariachi bands, margaritas and chimichangas for distraction. A case in point would be the annual “Tournament of Fools,” a Cinco de Mayo food industry outing at Minisceongo Golf Club in Pomona, New York. First-tee jitters aren’t a big factor in that one.
In California, particularly its agricultural regions, there are Cinco de Mayo golf tournaments that are decades old, many of which have a serious intent to go with the fun factor. A longstanding Cinco de Mayo Classic at Silverado Resort in Napa raises funds for the Farmworker Housing Centers that combat homelessness among itinerant field workers. In Fresno, a local First Tee chapter is the beneficiary of a charity event that calls itself the 52nd Annual Cinco De Mayo Golf Tournament, which is played at the upscale Copper River Country Club.
Take note that the latter event is scheduled for Friday, May 1. In fact, many golf outings named for the holiday that means “May 5” in Spanish happen several days before or after. Cinco de Mayo is a moveable feast, on your golf calendar, anyway.
Using this semi-holiday to promote to Hispanic and aspiring golfers is certainly an option—and probably good business, given the size and projected growth of the Latino-American population. Of course, based on that population’s rabid interest in soccer, golf courses now have two ways to market to this group. In fact, an upcoming event called “Footgolf de Mayo” is on the schedule at the nine-hole Foothill Golf Center in Sacramento, California. Without doubt, the day will be barrels—you might even say kegs—of fun.