Beginning next year, the face of golf travel across the pond is changing in a very big way. As has been widely reported, the St. Andrews Links Trust has taken over the management and distribution of guaranteed tee times for the Old Course starting in 2018. The result is a significant drop in the price of guaranteed times as they are now allocated directly to authorized golf tour operators, such as H&B, instead of first passing through another intermediary company. And while this is generally great news for the golf traveler and those of us in the business, the change also amplifies a growing trend in our industry…
The need to book early.
A variety of factors, not the least of which is a Dollar to Pound exchange rate not seen in decades, have brought a marked increase in the number of golfers hauling their sticks across the pond. As one might expect, The Old Course is the leading destination, however most will only have two options to guarantee they have a tee time before they arrive in the Auld Grey Toon. The first is to purchase one of the times provided by the Links Trust to tour operators like H&B. The other is to enter the advance application process and hope to be one of the lucky golfers selected in the lottery.
However, there’s one important note regarding the lottery: The vast majority of the guaranteed tee times allocated to tour operators are already sold by the time the lottery results are released. Thus putting even further demand on those times by golfers seeking a guaranteed slot.
But it’s not just the Old Course where the need to book early is paramount. Limited availability, combined with high demand, at places like Royal Portrush, Royal County Down, Muirfield, and Royal Troon can make scoring a tee time inside of a year as rare as a deuce on the Postage Stamp.
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