Partner Spotlight - Tommy Bahama Restaurant

Thai Branton is the general manager of the Tommy Bahama Restaurant on St. Armand Circle and is responsible for organizing the staff volunteers who put on the annual Tommy Bahama Bungalow Classic Golf Tournament.  The event takes place each year in May on the Tuesday before Mother’s Day Weekend.

In a recent interview Thai Branton shares the secrets of a successful golf tournament.

Q. The Tommy Bahama Bungalow Classic is one of the most popular golf tournaments in this region and a major fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast.  What’s the secret of your success?

A.  I think the secret lies in knowing what golfers really want—and if anyone knows what golfers want its Tommy Bahama—from day one our company has been about creating  great looking  golf apparel.   Our attention to detail sets our event apart.  We have a distinctive style that’s consistent across all our endeavors—the restaurant, the store, this tournament—everything.   We make sure that everything falls into place exactly as planned but at the same time it has to look effortless.  The idea is that the customer’s experiences is completely relaxed and worry free—as if life were one long weekend.  That’s the image we want to project.

Q. So in other words—it takes a lot of effort to make things look effortless—is that right?

A.  You bet!  We are already working on next year’s event.  In order to get those golfers to return year after year you have to give them something really special and it has to combine the things they look forward to continuing as well as some new twists to keep things fresh.

Q. Can you talk about the kind of details that make your tournament so special?

A. One of the things that create lots of buzz is the golf shirt we give as a gift to each participant.  This is included in a gift bag full of goodies that each golfer receives.  For the past several years we had a special silk camp shirt designed with the tournament name and logo—each year the shirt had a distinctive design and featured the year of tournament on it.  Golfers loved to collect them.  In 2009 we experimented with letting each golfer select the shirt of his or her choice from the store at a pre-tournament cocktail party.  We’re debating which way to go this year.

Q. One of the comments we always hear from the participants every year is what a great value this tournament represents.  How do you manage that?

A.  This is our way of giving something back to our customers while giving back to the community at the same time.  The tournament participants are definitely getting the best of everything—we offer an outstanding golf experience naturally, but we also include lots of extras that are always a cut above.  Instead of an ordinary souvenir golf shirt our golfers receive a Tommy Bahama classic silk camp shirt, not an ordinary dinner but a lavish seafood raw bar, lobster, shrimp, and Grouper Oscar.  All their drinks are included.  We are able to offer some pretty fabulous tournament prizes as well.  Because our stores are located in some of the most beautiful places on earth and each of those stores runs a golf tournament, we can offer a foursome at a Tommy Bahama Golf Tournament in Naples or even in Maui as a tournament prize—we strive to exceed expectations in every way. 

Q. It’s no wonder the event is so popular—what is the biggest problem you encounter in putting on this event?

A.  It’s getting more difficult each year to accommodate everyone who wants to play.  As you know, Big Brothers Big Sisters sends a large number of foursomes and more and more customers hear of the event and want to participate.  We are constrained by how long it takes for everyone to get around the golf course and by how many we can accommodate at the restaurant.  Last year we were very nearly at capacity even with our newly enlarged restaurant facility—the event sells out earlier and earlier each year.

Q.  Where do you find all those incredibly efficient volunteers?  They’re all so beautifully dressed and seem to be everywhere at once at the event?

A.  Those are our staff members –decked out in “Tommy” wear—one of the many great perks that comes with working here.  They are a great group and they actually volunteer their time to serve at the event.  Our staff members have a soft spot for kids.  Most of us are parents ourselves and a cause like Big Brothers Big Sisters definitely touches our hearts. 

Q Can you share any of the “new twists” we can look forward to this year at the Bungalow Classic?

A.  We will be changing golf courses this year—I can’t announce the name of the course as yet but I can tell you that we are definitely moving up to an even  more challenging and more beautiful course—golfers will be excited at the opportunity to play this one.  We are definitely looking forward to outdoing ourselves this year and making a “Big” difference in the lives of children.

You may be thinking, what can only one person do to change our world when there seems to be so many problems surrounding us every day? Well, with Big Brothers Big Sisters you have the opportunity to give a part of yourself to invest in the lives of children in your area. You can give many things to these children, some of which are: