Mixology Wars

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

This idea came from the conversations among our team members as to "how do we get our membership to compete with each other outside of the sports we offer at our club?" This question made us think about the show Chopped and how we can incorporate that into the calendar. We were able to come up with a bartending type of challenge for our membership built into a larger golf event. We call it Mixology wars. Being this was a bartending challenge, this gave a lot of responsibility to our Beverage side of the operation to step up and take ownership of an event, where usually they are sometimes just an add in to many events where food and other things take precedence.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

We included the Mixology Wars into our couples Twi-Night golf event. The Mixology Wars was done during the cocktail hour of the event. Our team was able to create a full pantry table offering all the fixing needed to create a signature cocktail within the 30 minute time limit. We picked 6 members names out of a hat and split them into 3 separate teams that were captained by our Head Bartender and 2 of our F&B Supervisors. We had our teams create their best signature cocktail, with the winners getting their cocktail presented on the cocktail menu for the club for the following 2 weeks. We were even able to include a "Mystery Ingredient'' that Had to be incorporated into the cocktail. the mystery Ingredient added a great twist into the competition. This event went off without a hitch and created an awesome environment of fun and competition amongst the attendees. The reaction of the winners was so positive and we even had one of the members want the menu showcasing their cocktail, laminated so that they could bring it home and display it at their home bar.