Legendary Golf Trips

[John Handley]

Since this group is well traveled and knowledgable about golf, I just wanted to put this out there.  After 20+ years of planning my own trips and some for others, I have officially launched my golf travel planning business, www.legendarygolftrips.com.


What I am looking for in this post, is simply some advice from those of you who have great knowledge about golf travel, golf courses around the world, or any tips for a guy doing this on the side.  Right now, my goal is to be small and continue to learn the business, and then in a few years, turn this into a full time gig and get out of the corporate world.


Thanks.


John

[Jason Topp]

John


Best of luck with the business.  I try to avoid using travel planners for the following reasons:  1.  I enjoy figuring out a trip myself (and with the internet it is pretty easy to do so); 2. I always feel like I am paying premium rates plus whatever fees are paid to the travel planner; and 3.  Travel packages seem to generally result in roaming around from course to course.  I like to let a location breathe a bit but if I am staying in one place it becomes much easier to schedule the golf independently.   


It seems to me that is critical that you decide what you are offering that is an improvement on what others offer.  It could be value.  It could be luxury.  It could be great service.  It could be a more straightforward and transparent pricing structure.  It could be a connection with local members that yields a more authentic experience than one gets following a hoarde of Americans from Open venue to Open venue. 


Not sure I am your typical customer prospect, but those are my thoughts. 


Best of luck!

[Steve Lang]

Concur with Jason,...


May want to talk with Ben Cowan-Dewar, he used to have such a business and some nice bright ties to match his smile...

[John Handley]

Thanks Jason for your input. Yeah I know most of the guys on here are not going to fall into the category of my client base. People here know too much about golf to put it into the hands of someone else.


I think the interesting thing is to me, is finding guys who have played the Open courses and are now looking to find interesting trips beyond the usual suspects. I don't have access to Old Course tee times so those guys are going elsewhere which is fine.  The guys I've always traveled with just love the fact that I've done all the research and put "legendary" trips together and all they have to do is show up.


I'm kind of obsessed with golf in England right now. So that's probably a different group of golfers too.  I've loved reading all of Sean Arble's reviews on the courses.  There are so many good ones and I can't wait to experience them for myself.

[Garland Bayley]

...
I'm kind of obsessed with golf in England right now. So that's probably a different group of golfers too.  I've loved reading all of Sean Arble's reviews on the courses.  There are so many good ones and I can't wait to experience them for myself.

Have you touched base with Sean? He has or has had such a venture.

[Ben Sims]

John,


I was happy, but not surprised, over the number of locals we met on my trip last summer that said something to the affect of “yeah golf in Scotland, we get it, but what are you doing *here*? I think the way to have that experience is to get away from golf circles in your day-to-day while traveling. It makes a significant difference in my opinion. Whatever you can do as a travel planner to encourage the random and chance experiences, that’s where it’s at.

[Craig Disher]

Jason's guidance is spot on. I think the golf tour business that puts players on the Open rota courses is saturated and subscribed to by golfers for whom it's essential to see those courses and don't mind spending a lot of time in transit. There must be a market for those who have done the Open tour and would appreciate a more relaxed exposure to golf - including less time in a van. If you look at any list of top 100-200 courses in the UK, note where they are clustered and think about aiming a trip to those areas. Around Leeds, e.g., Alwoodley, Moortown, and Ganton a short distance away would give three great golf days with little travel time. A quick drive to the Wirral or Cheshire after visiting Leeds would offer the same. Green fees - if that is an issue - would be significantly less and the opportunity of interacting with the local members can be one of the best parts of the trip.

[jeffwarne]

Jason's guidance is spot on. I think the golf tour business that puts players on the Open rota courses is saturated and subscribed to by golfers for whom it's essential to see those courses and don't mind spending a lot of time in transit. There must be a market for those who have done the Open tour and would appreciate a more relaxed exposure to golf - including less time in a van. If you look at any list of top 100-200 courses in the UK, note where they are clustered and think about aiming a trip to those areas. Around Leeds, e.g., Alwoodley, Moortown, and Ganton a short distance away would give three great golf days with little travel time. A quick drive to the Wirral or Cheshire after visiting Leeds would offer the same. Green fees - if that is an issue - would be significantly less and the opportunity of interacting with the local members can be one of the best parts of the trip.

Those golfers do exist, but they are not the easy marks, which yieid far hugher margins.
I see the prices of some trips put together and the price is comparable to what I can take 4 people on a far more unique and extraordinary adventure.
The one disappoinment of my last trip was running into so many Americans at one particular well known GCA darling.
As Daniel Boone used to say, I need more elbow room....
The experience is just so much more authentic and enjoyable even slightly off the beaten path, and incredible value when actually OFF the beaten path.

[Niall C]

Craig


That all makes perfect business sense (for John) but selfishly I'm hoping John and others in his business don't go down that route or we'll have even more UK clubs with sky-high greenfees, visitor goody bags, official starters on the 1st tee followed by clubhouse refurbs/extensions.


Niall

[Niall C]

Jeff's post crossed with mine. Re beaten paths, the more people walk it the wider it will get. Just a fact of life.


Niall

[MKrohn]

Presuming your client base will be almost exclusively American and I'm sure you have done your research and maybe found a niche.


If it was me, rather than entering the worlds most saturated golf travel market it seems like there are possibilities not too far away. One of my favourite trips was playing around Paris, there are terrific courses in The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal as well as some one off options to places like Norway, Bulgaria and Turkey


Reasonably easy to navigate around the UK given no language barriers but somewhat more difficult to do on the continent where people may need the assistance of LGT.

[John Handley]

Thanks for all of the responses and the interesting takes. There seems to be a few different segments of this market and I know which ones a few of you fall into by your comments:


1) People who have always wanted to go over to Scotland/Ireland and think this may be the only time they go, so they want bucket list/trophy courses.  I can't say I blame them.  Most of those will not be my clients as I don't have access to Old Course tee times.


2) People who have been to Scotland/Ireland a few times and are looking for other experiences.  Could be different areas in S/I or exploring England, rest of Europe, etc.  I fall into this category as many of my friends do too.  This will probably be my sweet spot.


3) Wealthy people who want everything set up for them, great courses, great service, not too concerned about ticking boxes, just want a great experience.


4) People who will never use a travel planner, travel agent, etc. because they think they are paying too much for the service or they enjoy doing the research on their own. Sometimes the research and planning is part of the fun.


I'm sure there are others but I'll find that out along the way.  I'm certainly not charging the fees that the big Tour Operators do because I don't have the overhead they do.  I am do this in addition to my daytime job in the hopes to build a nice side hustle and potentially turn it into a full time job down the road. If nothing else it gives me a bit of a hall pass to explore golf courses around the world.  Now that sounds pretty good to me.


Cheers,
John