Julie Welage of golf travel provider Travelling the Fairways is seeing the same trends and helping PGA of America Professionals plan accordingly. She says an overall higher interest in travel over the past five years is helping keep golf travel going strong.
“In 20 years of doing this, I’ve never seen demand so high, and I think part of it is urgency – after COVID, people don’t want to wait to get to their bucket list; they want to find a way to do it now,” says Welage, the North America Sales Director for Travelling the Fairways and the wife of a PGA Professional. “Also, the consumer is a lot more educated about how much demand there is at the big-name destinations, and that leads to them coming to their PGA of America Golf Professionals even earlier and asking about trips two years ahead instead of a few months out.
Welage advises her clients to make a travel master plan that can cover the upcoming two or three years. That provides time to lock in tee times and accommodations at their preferred destinations, and also gives a chance to pivot to other options early in the planning process if needed.
Willerton says two things are critical for PGA of America Golf Professionals who are hoping to launch a travel program at their club. First, identify influential members who can serve as champions. Second, start with a high-impact but manageable trip.
“Find that key member who people listen to, and say, ‘You know, we’re going to do three nights at Pebble Beach,” explains Willerton. “Ask ‘Who do you think would be interested?’ That’s an easy one with a big wow factor, and those members are going to come back and say how great it was. That opens the door to more and bigger trips.”
We talked with a number of PGA of America Members who travel often with golfers to learn more about trends and tips for building the best golf trips, and how those excursions create lasting memories and deeper relationships:
Building Bonds Away From Home
When Zach Tate arrived at Starkville (Mississippi) Country Club six years ago, he was looking for ways to energize member engagement. Advice from his mentor, Brent Krause, the 2007 PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year, steered Tate toward starting a golf travel program for Starkville members.
“Six months after I got here, I took a group to Streamsong in Florida and it was amazing,” Tate recalls. “The word kind of traveled around the club and our program took off from there.”
That first trip set the tone. Members raved not just about the golf, but about the camaraderie and the chance to experience something together outside the club. Soon, travel became a central part of the club’s culture.
Since then, Tate has led groups of 16 to 24 golfers to Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and Cabot Cape Breton. Each trip is carefully designed to balance golf and social time. “We’ll do a welcome dinner, make sure everyone’s paired with different players during the trip, and build in some down time,” he says. “It’s about more than golf – it’s about friendships.”
The impact has been tangible.
“It’s helped me build lifelong relationships with our members, and it’s also created and strengthened a lot of relationships between members at the club,” Tate says. “Travel not only helps with relationships, but it also helps the club’s overall business. You’re going to do more in golf club sales, apparel sales and selling things like travel bags, and all that’s beneficial to the club.”
Tate admits the learning curve was steep. “Planning early is key. Seems like most places you need to start at least 12 months out now,” he says. “You need to be out in front of it because it’s something you’re doing on top of your normal workload at the club. Early on, I would say using a travel provider is definitely the way to go because they make things easy.”
This year, Tate and his Starkville members are taking a short break from travel for a few reasons. Tate recently got married and is preparing to welcome his first child, while his members preferred to take a brief pause in their travel schedules after absorbing increased costs during 2024 trips. The club’s travel calendar, however, is already filling again. Trips to Michigan’s Arcadia Bluffs and Scotland are on the horizon.
“We’re already working hard on next year, and looking toward 2027 for Scotland with advance planning,” Tate says. “It looks like our next two years are getting wrapped up already, which is awesome.”
For Tate, travel has become more than a perk. It’s a defining part of his role. “The members look forward to these trips as a highlight of the year. And, honestly, so do I,” he explains.
