Sir Isaac Newton supposedly started work on the laws of gravity after seeing an apple fall from a tree in the 1660s. It’s fair to wonder if Newton’s idea that “what goes up must come down” would be different if he were observing the demand for golf travel in the 2020s.
Just as golf continues to ride an overall wave of demand and participation, the travel segment of the business keeps soaring – even as prices continue to rise and availability at coveted destinations gets even more scarce.
The U.S. Travel Association reports that prices are stabilizing somewhat, at least for domestic travel. The group’s Travel Price Index, a measure of what it costs for travelers to be away from home, is up just 0.6 percent over last year – though the same index is up 18.7 percent when compared to the last pre-COVID travel year of 2019.
Looking abroad, golf travel costs and complications are growing even more quickly, yet conditions are not deterring travelers. Green fees, accommodations, food & beverage and transportation are all more expensive across international destinations like Scotland, Ireland and the Caribbean, and strong demand means the game’s biggest names are booked years in advance – a set of factors that is also seen across some regions of the U.S.
“Golf travel domestically and internationally is very healthy,” says Ann Mabry, Managing Director of Premier Golf. “Frankly, it is far beyond what we’ve ever experienced or expected. It’s something where I don’t know how the business is going to keep up as demand keeps far outweighing supply.”
Mabry points to perennial hot spots like Oregon’s Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, which has a waitlist of more than 3,000 golfers and travel providers for accommodations and tee times – and is starting to book 2026 trips already. Trips to Scotland and Ireland now require 18–24 months of lead time, especially if travelers are set on sites like the Old Course in St. Andrews or Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
“If you go back to what people were paying for these trips in 2016 or 2017, the price has literally doubled – and the fact that people are continuing to pay this type of money to travel and play golf means that rates are going to keep going up,” Mabry says. “There has to be a happy medium at some point, but it isn’t happening this year or next.”
This leads to adjustments throughout the golf travel world. For example, Mabry reports that Premier Golf has added 10 reservation experts to its staff and beefed up its experts on the ground in Scotland and Ireland as well, while working with PGA of America Golf Professionals to start the booking process much earlier for all destinations and event-related travel, like the 2025 Ryder Cup set for next September at New York’s Bethpage Black.
For PGA of America Golf Professionals who travel with club members, there’s a similar adjustment to planning and booking trips earlier than ever, and toward being flexible with what courses are on the itinerary. The demand for travel from members can also provide the opportunity for more members of the golf staff to lead trips, which spreads the benefits of golf travel – the chance to deepen relationships with members by spending time away from the course, while being seen as a golf expert and getting a chance to tee it up away from your home course – to more golf professionals.
“Travel lets PGA of America Golf Professionals get out there and enjoy the game, and remember what we love about this business,” says Travis Wilson, PGA of America Head Professional at Balsam Mountain Preserve in Sylva, North Carolina. “There are so many benefits to your club and members, but it’s also a great experience for us to ignite our love for the game.”
Wilson took a group of 16 Balsam Mountain Preserve members on a trip to southwest Ireland earlier this year, the first international trip he’s led in his nine years at the club. He started planning the trip with a tour provider in March 2023 after talking with some club members to gauge interest, and all 16 spots sold out in less than three weeks for the May 2024 journey. By planning more than a year in advance, Wilson was able to secure tee times at all the courses on his club’s wish list in Ireland: Old Head, Duke’s, Waterville, Ballybunion and Tralee, as well as accommodations in Killarney that kept the group from needing to do any long drives between courses.
“It certainly exceeded expectations in terms of what I thought an Irish golf experience would do for the club,” says Wilson, who has 190 members. “I can see us doing a big international trip every other year at least going forward, and this has opened the door to taking smaller groups on shorter trips domestically to places in Florida and Pennsylvania. It’s deepened relationships between members, and between myself and our membership.”