Our golf league asked me to create a mystery event. As a mystery novelist, I jumped on the idea of merging the golf game with the CLUE board game. 
We held the event this past Tuesday and the players raved about it . . . “The best event we’ve ever had.”
Partners in Crime
Golfers got in the act by dressing as CLUE characters: Miss Scarlett, Mrs. White and Mrs. Peacock. Their mug shots in front of the line-up board were fun to do and will be posted in the 
club’s newsletter. The two golf pros dressed as Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum. Eight husbands donned police uniforms and badges to help out on the course.
“Knock ‘em dead,” I called out to the 112 players as they drove out to the course for the simple shotgun scramble. To each pin on the course, I tied an envelope containing one CLUE card. If the team shot a par or better, they opened the envelope. In their “detective’s notebook” they recorded the clue. Back at HQ they announced / guessed the solution to the crime.
Who dunnit? Miss Scarlett, with a rope, on the putting green.
Decorating the Crime Scene
Sadly, the young assistant pro got the role of victim. His chalk-outline was around the hole on the two par-three holes. That was the funniest surprise for the players. Another body-outline was in the dining room surrounded by fake blood splotches, evidence markers, and crime-scene tape.
We had “Death by Chocolate” table favors, black and red napkins, bloody handprint balloons, a trail of 
footprints, etc. My favorite decorations were the centerpieces. One of the committee members got the idea on Pinterest to photograph a CLUE board and have it printed actual size. We positioned a printed CLUE board on each table, with a set of balloons held by a black weight, and surrounded it with bookmarks I’d gotten from my mystery-writing friends.
Though I didn’t intend to market my mystery novels, the league president announced I was an author. She asked what my books were about, so I gave my spiel. I also gift wrapped my books for door prizes.
You can base any party on the CLUE game and have a great time. The Clue part and decorations were inexpensive to do. More ideas are on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/jeannemeeks on my Mystery Party board. If you want to do a golf/ CLUE event, e-mail me at http://www.charthousepress.com, and I will send you details on all the above and a list of how to incorporate CLUE into a golf event. Enjoy!
Jeanne Meeks ~ Fiction Author 
Oops. I neglected to include my email for those who want more suggestions for hosting a Clue party….. Jeanne2Meeks@aol.com
A copy goes out to Sue (madaboutdietcoke)
Hi Jeanne,
I am also interested in getting details of how you structured the clues and the solving of the mystery. I like how you tied in getting clues with scores on the hole. We will be a group of around 30 at most. Your decoration ideas and mugshot photos are great! And seem fairly easy–that’s important to me. Our tournament is in late September.
Jane
Hi Jane, I’ve send you a private e-mail with notes from our event. But in short….every golfer (or team) will have a list of suspects, weapons, and murder sites. Everytime they get a NET par or bogie (your choice), they get to look at the Clue card in an evelope on the flag pole. They’ll then know to check off that item on their list as NOT being the murderer. The murder weapon, murderer, and site cards that are the correct answers will be in a secret envelope back at headquarters.
Review the actual Clue game and this will make sense.
Good luck.
Jeanne
Do you get gators on your golf courses in Florida? What ,with exploding nine holes, gators grabbing golfers off the greens, and the odd murderer running around trying to organise an ‘entertainment’ for club members, it sounds like you have another Jeanne Meekes blockbuster almost written!
When can we read it? 🙂
Funny. Yes, we do get gators on our golf course and are warned not to reach into the water to retrieve a ball.
As a matter of fact, my third novel is ….. Gator Bait – A Tennis Team Mystery. Thanks for asking.
I’ve read it and it’s a great book. Definitely one of the best Meeks Mysteries. Did you know there’s another book out there with the same title? It’s nowhere near as good as yours and doesn’t even scratch the surface for plot and intrigue.
Our ladies golf group would love to do a murder mystery Member Guest Tournament this year. We have reviewed the info that you have on your web site but still confused as to how to put this together. Could you please help with the details.
Thanks,
Judy
Sure, Judy. It’s been 1 ½ years since I looked at this, but I’ll try to recall. My binder for the event is in Florida and I won’t be there until October. It would be easier if you’d ask a specific question. What part of the event are you confused about?
You can start with finding at least one old Clue game at thrift stores, etc.You’ll use some of those cards and the rest make for good decorations. Organizing the event for a small group (12-20) is different than for 100 participants.
I’ll send the first meeting’s notes to your e-mail address. This will get you started and get the thought process percolating. When you get my notes, send me a note with your quesitions, and I’ll send more notes.
Relax and have fun with it.
Jeanne
Did you put a banger down each hole, so that when a golfer holed the ball it blew up? That could have been fun and led to all sorts of speculation about just who was being targeted by a malignant green keeper. Or perhaps the green keeper himself was the target, and a resentful hopeful who’d been denied membership of the club laid a trail of destruction for him? Oh yes, this is fruitful ground for one of your gripping mysteries!
It sounds a great day. I bet it was fun.
What a cool idea! I need to talk to my local disc golf course about trying something like this! Thanks for sharing Jeanne
You are always so creative…I love it 🙂
Did the event inspire a new book? I hope so. 🙂
No new inspiration, but I mentioned to the crowd that the next book would be (surprisingly) set in a golf community in Florida. That got a good laugh….and maybe will generate a few stories for me to include.
That sounds awesome, gonna see you soon. “67”
I love this sort of stuff where I can merge interesting things and make it fun. Maybe I’ll find new characters on my next boat ride in Bradenton??