Playing St. Andrews

Watching the Open at St. Andrews reminds us that the place really is special.  The first tee hard against the R&A clubhouse, the Road Hole bunker, the beardies, massive greens, the auld grey toon…there truly is nothing else quite like it in all of golf. 

Pity, then, that some who are supposed to preserve this hallowed ground for the good of the game have created a tee time system even more confusing than Irish road signs…and a pricing scheme that permits absolute larceny!  Our conversations in recent years have revealed that this unfortunate situation is discouraging many of you from going to St. Andrews for the first time or returning for another pilgrimage.  My advice: don’t let the asinine decisions of some deter you from one of the great experiences in golf—playing the oldest course. 

Our knowledgeable staff can cut through all the confusion and clutter, and get you on the course at a reasonable price.  Through a myriad of sources, we have access to about as many St. Andrews tee times as any company around.  In fact, we still have a handful of times left in 2005.  And an opportunity to secure the least expensive 2006 times is rapidly approaching. 

Stop denying yourself, your friends and associates the pleasure of playing St. Andrews.  Resolve to do the deed in 2005 or 2006 and call us today or before the end of August at the very latest.  We’ll take it from there.   

2006 Packages at 2005 Prices

Even if St. Andrews is not in your plans, there is still ample reason to begin planning a 2006 expedition now.  The unfortunate fact is that business at most of the international destinations we offer has not returned to pre-9/11 levels.  In an effort to begin filling their tee sheets and beds for next year as early as possible, many of our suppliers are offering 2005 prices to those members of the Forces who book their 2006 expedition by October 1^st.  So whether you are considering Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Spain, Portugal or some other marvelous destination, contact us today to begin planning what will most certainly be much more than just a golf trip. 

New Website

If you haven’t dropped by lately, you may not have noticed that the Major has a new website at the same old address (www.haversham.com).  “Rather like a complete house refurbishment”, as the Major says.  While the site will always be a dynamic work in progress, it will steadily evolve towards two primary objectives. 

The first objective is to inform the website visitor about international golf travel.  The Featured Destinations, News, Travel Tips, and, eventually, the Major’s Journal, were all created to make you a more informed consumer of international golf travel services and, thereby, a happy camper when we take the time to tailor every aspect of your travel experience to your unique needs and expectations. 

The second objective is to provide values and opportunities that are available exclusively through Haversham & Baker as the result of our special relationships with our network of superb suppliers (our Major Partners).  This is the purpose of the Major Offers and Major Events sections as well as the occasional promotion represented currently by the Scotland Value Drive banner. The current Major Offers from Bovey Castle, Dromoland Castle and Gleneagles will run through the 2006 season.  (If only the G8 had booked Gleneagles through H&B, they might have secured a better deal.)  We plan to add other offers to this section on a regular basis.  Next month, for example, we will add Major Offers from famous Turnberry as well as Scotland’s elegant Fenton Tower.  Look for Major Events to be posting something soon on Ryder Cup 2006 and an invitation to play with the members of some of the top clubs in Wales. 

We welcome your visits to the website, but even more I welcome your comments and suggestions.       

Comcast Outcast

If Comcast is your internet service provider, you are as likely as anyone else to be receiving advertisements for male enhancements, phishing missives seeking your banking information, directives to unspeakable websites and the like.  You may be delighted to learn, however, that Comcast is resolute in its efforts to protect you from information about international golf travel.  For reasons known only to Comcast, the company has blacklisted Major Haversham and his minions, refuses to tell us why and will not deliver our email messages to you—even if we are responding to your email to us!  (The only reason Comcast customers are receiving this newsletter is that it is sent from a secret server hidden deep inside a mountain in the west rather than the Haversham server at GHQ in Cincinnati.)  So if you are a Comcaster, the next time you send us an email and do not receive a reply, please send a note to your Comcast representative thanking the company for screening your cyber mail as you didn’t really need another great golf travel experience anyway.  Or, in the alternative, tell them to fix the communications problem they created and, while they are at it, get rid of the real spam.  Well, I feel better now just getting that off my chest. 

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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