If you have been given the terrible job of organizing the boys or girls golf tour in Ireland or anywhere else for 2015/2016! You should read my next points, because I would like to share with you some of my thoughts that will help you plan a great golf trip for everyone to enjoy. I’m going to outline a couple of crucial aspects that will ensure that you don’t make a complete mess of the task at hand. In this article I will focus on helping you build a great Irish Golf Tour.
Create a checklist… If you don’t do anything else, just create a checklist. Retail; golf courses, transport, accommodation, great places to eat at each stop, great shopping, places to visit, researching Irish sporting events and anything else you think the group would like to do.
Do you need to get consensus from the groups on which golf courses they would like to play? But be realistic and trust me; The idea of playing Waterville and Royal Portrush on the same trip sounds great, but there are a lot of trips between those golf courses and you’ll waste too much time traveling when you could be playing golf.
Before deciding where you would like to play golf; We typically segment Ireland into four golf destinations, however the areas may overlap depending on which courses you’d like to play.
South West Golf Courses: Ballybunion GC, Doonbeg GC, Dooks GC, Lahinch GC, Old Head Golf Links, Tralee GC and Waterville Golf Links.
South West Parkland Golf Courses: Cork Golf Club, Adare Golf Club (at Manor House) and Killeen at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club.
Dublin golf courses (Baltray, European Club, The Island, Portmarnock GC, Portmarnock Links and Royal Dublin)
North & West Golf Links – Both courses at Ballyliffin, Carne, Donegal, Enniscrone, Narin and Portnoo, Northwest, Portsalon, both courses at Rossapenna, Rosses Point. (Keep in mind that there is a lot of traveling involved to get from one place to another in the West and North West of Ireland.)
Northern Ireland Golf Courses: Ardglass, both courses in Royal County Down, both courses in Royal Portrush, Castlerock and Port Stewart.
If you’d like a taste of a couple of Irish golf tour segments, I’d suggest trying a mix of the South West and Dublin and/or North West and North courses. But keep in mind; keep traveling from one place to another to the minimum. There is nothing worse than trying to fit in too much on a 4, 5 or 7 day Irish Golf Tour.
The trick here is to make sure you spend as little time traveling on a bus or rental car (don’t drive by the way, Irish roads can be challenging) and spend all your time playing golf. Or spend the time exploring the area you’re in. I’m sure you’ll meet more people socializing in the local pubs and maybe you might decide to pack up the clubs for the day and go fishing! I can assure you that you will find all the interesting places to enjoy nice dinners with good entertainment; maybe even enjoy a few pints with the caddies and listen to some great traditional Irish music.
Before you book anything, make sure you’re happy with the financial commitment of everyone in the group. For example, if you use your credit details to insure 12 golfers at Ballybunion, you’ll be charged the full bill up front and you don’t want to be left with an extra fee when brother Tom says “oh no, I forgot, it’s my sons birthday that week and I can’t go!”
Arrange for comfortable chauffeured transportation and I suggest that where possible you avoid driving cars or vans. I generally advise my clients to avoid the hassle with cheap rentals, because there can be a lack of good customer service and it’s only chaos if you’re unlucky enough that the car or truck breaks down somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I’ve seen plenty of disasters and I can always hear an echo of those famous last words “ooooh, I should have listened”.
If this is your first Irish Golf Tour; book guest houses and bed and breakfasts. This is the best way to get to know Ireland. You will meet and talk to people like never before in your life, spending time with people is fun! Give it a try and I promise you’ll thank me later. Or at least spend a night in a B&B.
If you think the workload is too much for you, give me a call and I’ll create a great golf trip for everyone to enjoy. There are lots of fun things to do in Ireland besides golf and I can take care of that plan for the ladies and gentlemen who don’t play golf. You can leave that job to your average golf tour operator, but I’ll suggest a wider range of things to do and places to see.
If you have any questions about golf trips to Ireland, please do not hesitate to contact me. I wish you the best of luck and enjoy Ireland!
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John Dooley PGA,
golf concierge