A putting contest is an excellent way to attract more people to your golf event, generate excitement, and even raise money. The thrill of having a crowd gathered around, watching a handful of lucky players attempt to make several thousand dollars in a single putt, is exactly the kind of hype your next event needs. While it may be tempting to allow everyone at your event a shot at a $5,000 putt, the best putting contests (for your players and for your wallet) are those where only a handful of golfers are shooting while the rest cheer them on.

Here are the best ways to choose those lucky players to participate in your upcoming putting contest:

1) Charge Entry

When golfers are signing up for the event, give them an option to sign up for the putting contest as well. This can be a straightforward way to not only cover your costs, but make a bit of extra margin on each putt made. It’s also an excellent way to get sponsors involved without raising the cost of your event too much. Limiting the number of open positions to putt can also increase demand and allow you to charge a bit more.

2) Closest to the Hole

Give a handful of players a try at a putt by being the closest to the hole on a specific hole already being played in the event. This creates excitement not only at the putting contest, but also the hole where a player determines whether or not he’s eligible. This also cuts down on additional time requirements, as the player would be playing the hole regardless if the putting contest were part of the event or not.

3) Reward for the End of a League

Is your league coming to an end? Have any players hit any hole-in-ones throughout your season? Has a specific foursome won the league? Have a handful of players shown massive improvement throughout the course of the league? Create send end-of-season excitement and give those players a shot at some money with a putting contest.

4) Putting Contest Qualifier

Set up a separate putting green from where the contest will be held, and let as many players as want to participate. The handful of players who make a specified putt, or are closest to the hole, are then eligible for the actual putting contest. This can be seen as a more fair way to have the contest, as everyone has an equal chance of participating. Simply build the qualifying putting green into the course as a 19th hole, to give everyone an equal chance at qualifying without using up too much time.

No matter which way you decide to choose your golfers, make sure you let them know exactly what the stakes are and how they can get involved. Nothing is worse than a player who anticipated he would be shooting in the putting contest and then finds out that he didn’t qualify.