Top of the leaderboard

BOULDER – From scannable scorecards to projection screen multimedia, LeaderBoard Tournament Systems is changing the way charity golf tournaments are run.

“We help organizations host more successful fundraising events,´ said Mark Bronstein, a Boulder resident and owner of LTS LeaderBoard of Denver, a franchise of LTS LeaderBoard Corp. based in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Bronstein can help tournament organizers make the event more aesthetically pleasing to both the participants and the sponsors.

“We started with golf tournaments and have since been able to provide services to other events due to our technology,” he said. “Our scannable scorecard technology is what got us into the golf side of things. Then we added applications that allowed us to recognize sponsors on the screen alongside results and pairings during the day.”

The company preprints the scorecards prior to the tournament with the names and handicaps of the players. LTS then puts the logos of the sponsors on the scorecards.

After the players finish, they hand off the cards to an LTS associate to scan them, and the scores are immediately tabulated.

Although the scannable scorecards eradicate headaches that coincide with manually scoring a tournament, Bronstein mentioned that they are not the main selling point for LTS.

A number of tournaments won’t use the scannable scorecards because they play a “scramble” format – where only the best shot in each group is counted. Also, many golf courses will do the scoring for the charities themselves, he said.

LTS’ software is what turns heads and brings in the clientele.

“We have another software application we call the Leaderboard Entertainment System. Essentially it’s a multimedia application that allows us to put different types of media on the screen at the same time. We really customize them for every competition,” Bronstein said. Depending on the size of the crowd, Bronstein will project images on either 6-feet by 8-feet, 9-by-12 or 10-by-14 screens.

We can show sponsor logos right next to the score. We can scroll through a number of logos and give each one a designated amount of face time on the screen. We also can present advertisements using Power Point, which is embedded in our software.”

Most of these presentations are shown at the end of the tournament during the banquet in the clubhouse. Aside from sponsor recognition, LTS also shows candid pictures from the event and the final scores from the tournament.

Dave Cohen, who ran the For a Child’s Sake Auction and Golf Tournament from 1998 to 2006, used Bronstein’s system.

“I found (Bronstein) to be a very nice guy to work with. We used his system to show pictures of children that had either passed away or were struggling,” Cohen said. “I went to him and said it was a charity event and told him that if I didn’t raise much I couldn’t give him anything, but if I did he would be happy. Every year he was happy because we raised a million dollars over eight years.”

Due to variations of service, LTS’ cost differs with each tournament. Bronstein said his fees could range from $2,500 to $4,000 for a single-day event.

Bronstein also takes on a consulting role for his clients and typically likes to get involved with a tournament six to nine months beforehand. Since little golf is played during the winter in Colorado, he uses this time to meet with potential clients and start organizing.

“Typically charity golf tournaments are committee-driven, and there are a lot of logistics that need to be thought about early on. Most of the money comes from sponsorships, so they have to start early because companies have budgets,” Bronstein said. “I found that the work starts for them right after the first of the year. I have meetings all the time right now, and a lot of these folks are trying to find sponsors to underwrite their tournaments.”

Bronstein said LTS could be set up and ready to go with two weeks notice.

Bronstein opened the LTS Denver office that serves the Denver metro area in 2004 after paying a $36,000 franchise fee. LTS franchise fees vary depending on the size of the territory. Bronstein has more than 100 clients he works with during the course of the year.

LTS’ technology has enabled it to move into different charity events. Most recently the Denver LTS office has started offering its services for poker charity events, which play the popular Texas hold ’em card game. LTS can use its multimedia software to show the ebbs and flows of the tournament.

LTS LeaderBoard of Denver

203 Pine Brook Road
Boulder, CO 80304
303-545-5300
www.ltsevent.com/denver
Mark Bronstein, franchise owner
Primary service: Golf tournament and charity event organization
Founded: 2004

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