Finding the right golf course is one of the biggest decisions a charity golf tournament director will make.
The course needs to be enjoyable for good golfers without making the day miserable for occasional players. It needs enough carts, space for registration and sponsors, good food options, and a staff that understands what goes into hosting a tournament.
For our latest Charity Golf Course Spotlight, Targeted Possibilities visited Cleveland Country Club in Shelby, North Carolina. I sat down with PGA Golf Professional Caleb Ridings to talk about what the club can offer charity and fundraising tournaments.
After our conversation, I also had the opportunity to play the course myself.
What I found was a historic club with a very playable golf course, excellent greens, plenty of space for tournament activities, and some important advantages for organizations planning a charity golf event.
A Historic Golf Course in Shelby, North Carolina
Cleveland Country Club has been part of the Shelby community since 1927.
The 18-hole, par-72 course was designed by John LaFoy and measures 6,443 yards from the blue tees. The club has also made significant improvements in recent years, including renovations to its bunkers and indoor and outdoor dining areas.
It isn’t an extremely long modern golf course, and for a charity tournament, that can actually be a good thing.
Charity tournaments usually bring together golfers with very different skill levels. You may have low-handicap players in one group and people who play only a few rounds each year in another.
A tournament course has to work for both.
Playability May Be One of Cleveland’s Biggest Strengths
After interviewing Caleb, I went onto the course to see it for myself.
One of the first things I noticed was its playability.
There are generous fairways in many areas, and the course doesn’t rely on extreme length to create its challenge. Instead, the layout uses the shape and design of the holes to keep things interesting.
That combination can work especially well for charity golf.
Less experienced players have room to hit the ball and enjoy themselves. Better golfers still have decisions to make and shots to execute.
That matters because the goal of most fundraising tournaments isn’t to identify the best golfer in the field. The goal is to give supporters, sponsors and guests a great experience so they want to come back next year.
A course doesn’t have to be 7,000 yards long to accomplish that.
The Greens Were a Highlight
The condition of the greens stood out during my round.
They were in excellent shape and rolled extremely well.
For tournament players, good greens can have a major impact on their impression of a course. Players may forgive a bad drive or even a few bad swings, but everyone eventually ends up on the putting surface.
Cleveland Country Club delivered a very good experience there during my visit.
Combine those greens with the course’s wide landing areas and interesting hole layouts, and you have a course that can be enjoyable without needing to overwhelm the average charity golfer.
What Size Golf Tournament Works Best?
This was one of the most useful parts of my conversation with Caleb because tournament directors need realistic information about capacity.
According to Caleb, around 100 players is a particularly good tournament size for Cleveland Country Club.
That works out to roughly 25 foursomes and provides a manageable field for the course and tournament staff.
The club can accommodate larger tournaments as well.
Caleb explained that Cleveland Country Club can handle up to approximately 144 players, or 36 foursomes. However, an event of that size needs to be planned well in advance.
One of the biggest considerations is golf carts.
For a large field, the club may need to arrange for additional carts to make sure there are enough available on tournament day. That isn’t unusual for golf facilities, but it is something a tournament director needs to discuss early rather than discovering it a few weeks before the event.
There is also real-world evidence of the club handling fields in that range. A 2026 Boys & Girls Club golf tournament at Cleveland Country Club listed an expected field of 121–144 players with a shotgun start.
Tournament Planning Tip
If you expect your event to approach 120 to 144 golfers, don’t wait until registration fills up before discussing capacity with the golf course.
Talk with the golf professional early about:
- Expected number of golfers
- Available carts
- Shotgun-start logistics
- Registration space
- Sponsor setup
- Food and beverage needs
- Post-round activities
Those conversations become even more important as your tournament grows.
Plenty of Space Beyond the Golf Course
A successful charity tournament isn’t just 18 holes of golf.
There may be registration in the morning, sponsor displays, lunch, an awards ceremony, raffles, silent auctions, dinner, presentations and other fundraising activities.
That makes the clubhouse almost as important as the golf course.
During our interview, Caleb discussed Cleveland Country Club’s banquet and event capabilities. The club has substantial space and can accommodate a wide range of tournament needs.
That is supported by the club’s own information. Cleveland Country Club promotes dining and banquet rooms for private functions ranging from smaller gatherings to large events.
For a charity, having the golf and post-tournament activities at the same property can simplify the day.
Players don’t have to leave the course and drive somewhere else for dinner or awards. Organizers can keep their audience together. Sponsors receive additional exposure. And the charity gets another opportunity to communicate its mission after the golf is finished.
That last part shouldn’t be overlooked.
The golf tournament may bring people to the event, but the gathering afterward can help remind everyone why they were there in the first place.
Think About the Entire Player Experience
When tournament committees select a course, price is obviously important.
But it shouldn’t be the only consideration.
Think about what a golfer experiences from the moment they arrive.
Is registration easy to find?
Is there enough room for sponsor displays?
Does the golf course work for different skill levels?
Will the field move at a reasonable pace?
Is there somewhere comfortable to gather afterward?
Can the facility handle food, awards and additional fundraising activities?
These details affect how players remember the event.
And that matters because successful charity tournaments depend heavily on repeat participation.
You don’t want to rebuild your field from zero every year. You want golfers and sponsors leaving the course already thinking about coming back.
Pace of Play Still Matters
This is something we talk about frequently at Targeted Possibilities.
Charity tournaments naturally add activities to a normal round of golf.
There may be closest-to-the-pin contests, sponsor tents, fundraising games, raffles and other stops throughout the course.
Each one may sound small, but they can add up.
Cleveland Country Club’s playable layout can help, but tournament directors still need to think carefully about how many activities they put on the course and how those activities operate.
A fundraiser should generate revenue without unnecessarily bringing the golf course to a stop.
That philosophy is one of the reasons we developed experiences such as the Targeted Possibilities Golf Ball Air Cannon and Drone Drive. They are designed to add something memorable to the tournament while keeping golfers moving.
The goal isn’t simply to add another fundraiser.
It’s to add an experience players will talk about while protecting the overall quality of the event.
Is Cleveland Country Club Worth Considering for a Charity Tournament?
For organizations considering a golf fundraiser in Shelby or the surrounding region, Cleveland Country Club has several characteristics worth looking at.
The course is historic but very playable. It isn’t excessively long. There is room for golfers to miss shots, but the hole layouts remain interesting. During my visit, the greens were in excellent condition and rolled exceptionally well.
The club also has the space needed to support activities beyond golf.
For tournaments around 100 players, the property appears particularly well suited based on my conversation with Caleb. Larger fields approaching 144 players are possible, but those events should begin working with the club early so issues such as additional golf carts can be handled in advance.
Most importantly, tournament directors shouldn’t select any golf course based solely on pictures or a scorecard.
Talk to the golf professional.
Explain your expected field size, fundraising plans, sponsors, food requirements and what you want your players to experience.
Then determine whether the property fits your event.
Watch Our Cleveland Country Club Course Spotlight
Want to see more of the course and hear directly from PGA Golf Professional Caleb Ridings?
Watch our complete Cleveland Country Club Charity Golf Course Spotlight, including our conversation with Caleb and footage from our round on the course.
Our Charity Golf Course Spotlight series is designed to help tournament directors get a better look at courses throughout the Carolinas and surrounding region before deciding where to host their next event.
Planning a Charity Golf Tournament?
Targeted Possibilities works with charity golf tournaments throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and the surrounding region.
Our goal is simple: help charities create memorable fundraising experiences without unnecessarily slowing down the golf tournament.
Our tournament experiences include:
Golf Ball Air Cannon – Give players the opportunity to launch a golf ball down the fairway while creating an additional fundraising opportunity.
Drone Drive – Add a unique drone experience to the tournament while giving players something they probably haven’t experienced during a normal round of golf.
Drone Drop – Turn a golf ball drop into a highly visible fundraising event that can involve supporters well beyond the golfers playing in the tournament.
But whether you use Targeted Possibilities or not, our Golf Course Spotlight series has another purpose:
Help charity tournament directors make better decisions.
The better the course, planning, fundraising activities and player experience work together, the stronger the event can become.
And when golfers have a great experience, you have a much better chance of seeing them again next year.
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