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Offers, Opportunities & Deadlines
Fans of the television show, Seinfeld, may recall that Jerry’s parents dined early near their Florida retirement home to take advantage of the early bird specials offered by the local restaurants. Well, you don’t have to eat dinner at 4:30 PM to save money with the Major. But you do have to book before October 1st in order to purchase your 2006 packages at 2005 prices. Click here for details and other attractive offers from our Major Partners.
As Adam Smith—Scottish economist, author Wealth of Nations, keen golfer and fine putter—would have observed, the price for playing the St. Andrews Old Course is determined by supply and demand. The longer you wait to request a time, the greater the demand and the higher the price. Most of our sources for St. Andrews tee times begin accepting requests next week for 2006. Act now! Click here if you would like to request a 2006 St. Andrews tee time for you, your friends and associates.
Golfing With the Locals
The reason we travel to play golf is quite simple, actually—to experience that which we cannot experience at home. One of the most appealing aspects of those experiences is meeting others from different cultures who share our love of the game. The retired British Telecom technician who caddies for our group at his club in Portstewart, Northern Ireland; a member of the R&A and Royal Liverpool who regales us with stories in the bar of his club at Hoylake, England; a delightful Scottish couple who share our tee time at San Lorenzo during their golfing holiday to Portugal. Alas, the flood of visitors at most of the more popular clubs has militated against these exchanges. Meeting the local members is difficult when there are separate facilities for visitors; golfing with them is almost impossible.
Getting to know the local golfers is the ultimate appeal of an invitation from Wales to spend five days before Ryder Cup 2006 golfing with the members of their local clubs then sharing a pint and a meal after the competition each day. The Wales Invitational is in every respect the very essence of an international exchange through the common bond of golf. It is an opportunity to forge golfing friendships that can be rekindled four years hence when the Ryder Cup comes to Wales. It is an opportunity to invite Welsh golfers to your club in conjunction with Ryder Cup 2008 at Valhalla. The fact that the Invitational will be contested over a course that Golf Digest ranks as #15 in the world and the course built expressly to host Ryder Cup 2010 (rather like the Kiawah Ocean Course of Wales, shall we say) are just added benefits.
This unique invitation from Ryder Cup Wales and the Wales Tourist Board is available exclusively through Haversham & Baker Golfing Expeditions, and is strictly limited to only 100 participants. Click here for details or call us at 800 U TEE OFF (883-3633) to enroll.
Muirfield, East Lothian
There is ample reason for a student of golfing history to visit East Lothian, the area of Scotland along the southern coast of the Firth of Forth east of Edinburgh. Golf’s ancient roots run very deep there. The world’s oldest golf club, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, moved its home course to Muirfield more than a century ago. The Company’s former home, the nine-hole links at Musselburgh, remains virtually unchanged since they were one of the original venues for the Open Championship in the 19th century and still afford visitors the opportunity to play the game with hickory shafts and gutta percha balls. The gnarly West Links of North Berwick, home to the famous Redan par three, play over the second or third oldest golfing ground in the world, depending upon who is telling the story.
Recent changes in East Lothian offer ample reason for the previous visitor to return. The Archerfield estate situated on 500 acres of splendid golf ground near Muirfield is opening two new courses and a posh refurbished manor house that promise a worthy east Scotland rival to the west’s Loch Lomond. Although Archerfield will be entirely private, look for an opportunity to play and stay there available exclusively through H&B. At newly opened Fenton Tower, a traveling party of 8 to 10 can spend a few nights in a luxurious, meticulously restored Scottish castle attended by a chef, a butler, maids and all manner of servants. Macdonald hotels are spending millions in a total makeover of the ideally located Marine Hotel overlooking the West Links in North Berwick. Greywalls has installed internet access and abandoned the jacket requirement for dinner yet retains its civilized and elegant atmosphere. And even venerable Muirfield has changed. A driving range, women lunching in the clubhouse, payment by credit card, what could be next? A drinks cart driven about the course by a young woman in a halter top?
Just a Closer Walk With Jack
My wife, Liz, and I were thrilled to be among the members of the H&B Expeditionary Forces who personally witnessed Jack’s last competitive walk up the 18th fairway at St. Andrews. Watching replays of the event later compels me to correct two false impressions from the telecast. First, despite the fact that the crowd was huge and people were literally hanging from the balconies of adjacent buildings, the reception was not raucous. No “you da man”; no ear-splitting cheers. Just a ground swell of incredibly warm, dignified, emotional applause. Second, Jack’s fellow golf professionals didn’t just come out and stand behind the 18th green to watch him putt out. Many, including some ranked amongst the best in the world, walked in the last several holes with him but stayed well back of the cameras so as to not steal his spotlight. Little wonder that Jack had trouble hitting his second shot because his eyes were filled with tears. So were mine.
Next year the Open returns to historic Hoylake for the first time in nearly 40 years. We’ll be there and we hope you’ll be joining us. Our Hoylake Open package will be announced next month.
So many great golf destinations to be experienced, so little time.
Cheers,
Sam Baker
Founder & CEO
sam@haversham.com
800-883-U TEE OFF (883-3633) ext. 106
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