When Tom and Gabe Lammers first came to Event Caddy, they were far from first-time planners. As the organizers of the Annual Zachary Lammers Memorial Golf Outing, they had already built a thriving event with seven years of sold-out tournaments behind them. Even so, they found that growing administrative demands and the limitations of their existing tournament website were pulling their focus away from what mattered most.
Now three years in, Event Caddy is proud to have helped streamline their operations and free them up to focus on the true heart of their event: honouring Zack’s memory and making a lasting difference in their community.
The Inspiration
The Zachary Lammers Memorial Scholarship Foundation, NFP, was established in honour of Zachary Lammers, a Lockport Township High School (LTHS) Class of 2005 alumnus whose life, though tragically cut short after an accidental fall in 2014, left a lasting mark on everyone around him. In his memory, his father (Tom), mother (Yumi), sister (Ally) and brother (Gabe), founded the Zachary Lammers Memorial Scholarship Foundation, NFP, to ensure that Zack’s spirit, values, and love for his community would continue to be felt by and inspire future generations.
Since 2016, the Annual Zachary Lammers Memorial Golf Outing has served as the foundation’s signature fundraising event, bringing together friends, family, and community supporters each year in a celebration of Zack’s life and legacy. The funds raised go directly toward scholarships awarded to student-athletes at LTHS who embody the same qualities Zack exemplified: dedication, perseverance, and a commitment to showing up fully in everything they do. Now in its 10th anniversary year, the golf outing has helped support over 30 student-athletes on their journey through life after graduation.
The Pain Points of Tournament Planning
A successful tournament can still come with its hurdles.
Through their experience with tournament planning, there were two key pain points that Tom and Gabe were running into each year:
- A website with limited editing access and even more limited functionality
- Reliance on spreadsheets for tracking and keeping things organized, where simple errors could quickly create confusion
In 2016, they started with a flat tournament website built by a friend using WordPress. It got the job done, giving them a place to share Zack’s story and rally a community around their cause, but, logistically, it meant they had to rely on one person to make changes to the website as needed. Backend issues and limited access meant they felt held captive by the site’s limited functionality and their inability to make changes.
Though the success of their tournament each year was everything they hoped to achieve for the foundation, it was also a double-edged sword. On top of the frustrations with access, a flat website also meant they relied on spreadsheets for everything from registration to donations to keep everything organized throughout the planning process. With separate sheets for registrations and payments, donations, player assignments, overall finances, and more, they found themselves spending hours manually keeping everything up to date.
Fed up with inefficiencies and aware of the potential for human error, they began their search for something to make the whole process easier.
The Event Caddy Difference
“We went from spreadsheet hell to finding an application that really helped us communicate and run the event.”
Tom Lammers
Event Caddy made sure that their “problems of the past had gone away.” Our toolkit ensured they were equipped to overcome their frustrations and expand on the positive impact they were having with their tournament.
The Keys to Solving Their Problems
- Website Builder: The simple-to-use website builder meant they could build it themselves, without the need for support from a website developer.
- Online registration: A full tournament of golfers, registered and managed all from the website.
- Finance dashboard: A full dashboard dedicated to all expenses and donations that updates in real time.
- Multi-admin access: Access for the whole team, from website content to the finance dashboard. No more depending on one person to make changes.
- Full integration: Each feature is connected to the next, so information works together seamlessly and eliminates any chance for mismatched information or human error.
When they found Event Caddy, they had a big jump in overall functionality, with everything accessible to golfers and their team, right from the tournament website. The admin dashboard allowed everyone to access and customize the website to their needs, as well as access all of the registration, donation, and online store information. The automatic updating of information with each registration took a lot of that human error out of the equation, so they could focus more on improving the tournament experience and less on chasing down the details.
The Lammers were conscious of the improved experience for their golfers as well.
They have been supported by a great community since they started, which helped sell out the event each year, but that also means a lot of golfers for them to handle. With the help of Event Caddy, they were able to do it faster than they had ever done it before.
“The usability for end users signing up for the tournament made it simple for everyone to register. With a wide range of ages for our golfers, it was a goal of ours to make it easy to sign up and donate. We had people telling us how fast it was to get registered the first year we started with Event Caddy.”
Gabe Lammers
Set Up for Success
Tom and Gabe have been well-connected with the Event Caddy team since they started with the software in 2023. Support worked closely with them to make sure the platform was giving them what they needed, and if there was any confusion on how to make something work, we were there to smooth things over.
“Almost every time I’ve reached out, I’ve gotten a response within 15 minutes or even less than that.”
Gabe Lammers
After three years of using Event Caddy to run the Annual Zachary Lammers Memorial Golf Outing, they now feel they can easily take full advantage of everything the software offers.
When asked what their favourite tool in Event Caddy was, both Tom and Gabe agreed that it was hands down the registration management. The amount of time it’s saved, and the ease of use for everyone, put it at the top of their list.
“It’s a straightforward process and very easy for a user to get registered within just a few minutes as a single or a group. It’s geared very well towards golfers.”
Tom Lammers
Now, a 501 (c)(3) accredited organization as of 2026, we are so excited to see the Zachary Lammers Memorial Scholarship Foundation, NFP, continue to grow. Event Caddy is proud to be a small piece in everything they’ve accomplished.
Start with Event Caddy for Free
To anyone thinking of planning their own golf tournament, “look into Event Caddy. The support they offer, all of their features, it has just made things so much easier and streamlined.”
Gabe Lammers
Whether you’re also looking for a change to your tournament planning experience or learning what it takes to plan one for the first time, Event Caddy is here to make the process simple.
Get started for free in minutes by signing up today.
