Planning Starts Earlier, With Flexibility Required
PGA of America Golf Professionals and travel experts agree that the biggest change in travel during the current golf boom is the lead time needed to plan trips, followed closely by the intricate nature of setting an itinerary when many top destinations are sold out so far in advance.
Through 2020, a familiar cadence for planning a high-end domestic or international trip might have started with a meeting at the PGA Show in January with a travel provider. Once the particulars were set, a PGA of America Golf Professional could go back to their facility and sell the trip to members by April, then travel that summer.
While some short-notice opportunities do pop up during the season, most golf trips now need to be in the planning process by Thanksgiving of the prior year – or two years prior for the most sought-after destinations.
“Talking in January about a trip for that summer? You can’t do that anymore,” says Julie Welage, the North America Sales Director for tour operator Travelling the Fairways. “There’s no way to do that and get any premier courses on your list.”
With 20 years of experience in the golf travel business, Welage says the strong demand and ever-changing booking window for golf trip even catches experts off-guard sometimes.
“You can never plan early enough now, and some of it takes us by surprise,” Welage says. “One high-profile Scottish club moved its opening date for bookings up by a month with a week’s notice, which set off a scramble for tee times. It can be an intimidating landscape if you’re not very familiar with the different regions and travel in general.
“But if you’re thinking right now about a trip to play the Old Course or Royal Portrush next year, guess what? You’re into 2026 territory now.”
Premier Golf’s Mabry agrees, and says early booking is the only way to get onto the Old Course in today’s market.
“It used to be that you could book a trip to St. Andrews without a guaranteed tee time on the Old Course and get onto the course using the daily ballot, and that had a pretty high rate of success,” Mabry says. “Now it’s more like a 50/50 shot or worse because of the sheer number of golfers entering the ballot every day. If you want to know you’re playing the Old Course, you need to book two years out and pay a premium.”
Beyond the long lead times for many destinations, there’s also the issue of too few tee times to satisfy demand. When a tour operator receives a request that can’t be satisfied, it’s up to them to turn the problem into an opportunity.
For example, a group at your club may want to book a trip to play five bucket list courses in Scotland or Ireland – but only one or two are available in the desired timeframe. That’s where an area expert can come to the rescue with options that can make the PGA of America Golf Professional in charge of the trip look like a hero.
In fact, Welage says this moment of high de mand is actually an opportunity to set up a long-term travel plan at your club.
“Most every trip planning discussion I have with a PGA of America Golf Professional starts with, ‘We have to do the Old Course,’ then maybe they have a couple of other courses in mind,” Welage says. “I tell them to look at a long-term plan: Let’s carve out what we can access right now, then start planning the next trip – far enough in the future that we can get those guaranteed times on the Old Course or Old Head – for two years out.
“It’s our job to explain that not everyone gets the Old Course and Muirfield, or Old Head and Royal Portrush on the same trip right now. There’s just too much demand. So, let’s do a long-term plan where you’ll hit one of those this time, and the other two in later years. Let’s mix some lesser-known courses in with some heavy hitters, and you know that your members will love it because all the courses we’ll suggest are great – and your members will think it’s great that you’ve found them a surprise they weren’t expecting.”
Welage also says the planning stage is a chance to learn about lesser-known regions that might fit better with a given club’s schedule or interests.
“I look at travel like custom clubfitting: A member might come in and want Brand X, but you find them a better fit in Brand Y. That makes you the expert, and that builds trust,” Welage says. “With travel, it’s my job to say, ‘Yes, the Old Course and Royal Portrush and Bandon Dunes and Kohler are all great, but they might not be available. I have some other options that I think you’re going to really like,’ and then help you educate your travelers on some really fun opportunities.”
Welage cites the Scottish Highlands, which has tremendous golf courses and breathtaking natural beauty, as a much more affordable and accessible destination she might suggest to someone seeking a St. Andrews trip. An itinerary to the Highlands could include rounds at Royal Dornoch, Cruden Bay, Cabot Highlands and Carnoustie while costing as much as 2,000 pounds less than a week in St. Andrews.
Another popular option, thanks to what Welage calls “The Ted Lasso Effect,” is England’s Golf Coast. Groups can play a number of outstanding courses while attending a soccer match or two and enjoying nights in local pubs, and a number of PGA of America Golf Professionals have such trips scheduled over the next year.
Mabry says that Premier Golf is educating PGA of America Golf Professionals on areas in Spain and Portugal as an alternative to the big-name stops in the British Isles. The weather is warmer and more reliable, the golf and accommodations are strong, and there’s much better availability.
“People get stuck on the big-ticket courses, and the Old Course and Pebble Beach are wonderful – but there’s so much more to this game,” Mabry says. “We try to help PGA of America Golf Professionals be proactive with travel instead of reactive. Instead of telling a member why they can’t book a trip to the Old Course next summer, we can help you put together a survey for your members that can help you learn what they want out of a trip, then find something that will delight them. Then we can help you with marketing, maybe plan an informational event at the club, and make sure you have all the tools you need to have an outstanding experience.”
Those experiences can lead to many benefits for PGA of America Golf Professionals. In the case of Premier Golf, trips can earn money through Golf Retirement Plus. Most professionals are able to have their trips paid for as hosts and can even roll an additional amount into the cost for members to compensate them for their time.
“Travel leads to excitement and a lot of buzz around the club, and you can use that to drive business,” says Welage, who is married to Mark Welage, the PGA of America Head Professional at Western Hills Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio. “If you’re doing a trip to the British Isles, you can host lessons to help golfers learn to hit knockdown shots, or suggest what rain gear they should buy. You could even bring in your suitcase and explain how you pack for a trip so everyone knows what to bring.
“Golfers appreciate this because this is their PGA of America Golf Professional being the expert for them – they don’t know how to book trips like this on their own. It’s job security, and it helps deepen relationships in a different way when you travel.”