4.11.2019

Brighton Mini-Masters: "Fore" Fun and Team Bonding

For golf enthusiasts, April doesn’t just mark the beginning of spring and the return of warm sunshine and green grass — it’s a time to watch with bated breath as the best of the best take on Augusta’s lush but challenging course, vying for the chance to don a coveted green jacket. When it comes to the Masters Tournament, the stakes are high (with a record-setting $11.9 million purse in 2019), and the traditions are rich.

On the polar opposite end of the golfing spectrum lies another “masters” tournament, steeped in its own, slightly quirkier traditions. Set to align with the annual Masters Tournament, the Brighton Mini-Masters is a little — okay, a lot —more raucous than its prestigious namesake.

Each April, Brightonians break off into teams and transform the office into a 9-hole mini-golf course, then tee off to play the back nine (par 7) in grand Brighton Agency tradition. Slow claps and whispers are replaced by hollering and friendly trash-talking. We cap each hole at 7 strokes, and we’re more worried about potentially hitting a ball through the agency drywall than hitting a sand trap. Our tournament is much more about camaraderie than scores.

This year’s theme was “Things With Holes,” and the course was themed to a tee. One conference room was transformed into the “Manhole,” an underground sewer system complete with faux rats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. To get a hole in one, players had to hit the ball up a pipe and into a toilet. Another favorite was the “Donut Hole,” in which donut holes were substituted for golf balls and hit up a ramp, into a giant Brighton coffee-cup graphic, down a tube into the mouth of a daring (and hungry) teammate. There was the “Watering Hole,” a take on a western saloon; the Swimming Hole, which recreated a float trip experience; the “Black Hole” and more.

At stake? An orange jacket, a $10 gift card for each winning team member and bragging rights for a year. Awards were given for lowest score, best hole and most creative team name and costume.

This year, Augusta Wind achieved top score, beating out teams like the Puff Caddies, the Cup Holders, Putter Face and Oh Hole No. Winners were roasted and toasted at a celebratory happy hour.

Unlike Augusta, when it comes to the Brighton Mini-Masters, everyone won, as fun was had by all. After all, what better way to celebrate agency culture and start a weekend than by hitting the links, albeit in the office, with one’s teammates?

At Brighton, our creative process Is predicated on relationships and trust. We work hard, but regularly set aside a little time to get to know each other not just as coworkers, but also as friends. We believe these relationships are essential to “the business of creativity.”

Ad Age took note, covering the festivities in a recent issue. See their write-up “More fore!

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