If you’re a part of the massive and growing pent up demand for golf travel across the pond, there’s something you should know.
2022 may not be your year to play The Old Course at St. Andrews.
In fact, at this stage in the game, the same is true for many of the great golf courses across the pond. For that reason, most golf travelers have turned their focus to golf trips to Scotland and Ireland in 2023.
If you’re still hoping to visit The Home of Golf in 2022, you’ll want to start by reading our complete guide for Old Course at St. Andrews tee times.
While this guide provides some helpful insight in a normal year, 2022 is set to be anything but normal.
The impact of COVID-19 and the postponement of thousands of Scotland golf vacations has caused an enormous backup on the first tee of The Old Course. But those planning to jump back into travel with a golf trip to St. Andrews in 2022 have an additional matter to contend with:
The Open Championship.
The Old Course is set to host the 150th Open Championship in July of 2022. The event will mark the 30th time the Claret Jug has been awarded in The Home of Golf. The ripple effect on golf travel will be felt not just in St. Andrews, but all across Scotland and Ireland. For example…
Demand will far exceed supply.
St. Andrews tee times can be a tough score even in a typical year. But when The Open Championship is in town, those odds go down considerably. Even outside of the present circumstances. That’s because The Old Course closes for an entire month when hosting The Open. As a result, roughly 20% of the travel season is unavailable to golfers hoping to land a spot on the tee sheet. This is on top of the traditional closings in the fall for R&A meetings and the Dunhill Links event.
When the closure for The Open is combined with the backlog of postponed St. Andrews golf trips, the supply and demand curve for Old Course tee times in 2022 will go wildly askew.
Other regions will also be busy.
The previously mentioned ripple effect of The Open at The Old Course usually causes other regions around Scotland and Ireland to see an uptick in demand. Just like St. Andrews, however, these areas are also faced with a growing list of postponed trips. This means that many of the marquee courses, such as Muirfield, Royal County Down, and Royal Portrush, are already fully booked or have very limited availability for 2022.
Simply put… If you’re planning to take a golf trip to Scotland or Ireland in 2022, the window to plan your trip has likely already closed.
Guaranteed Old Course tee times may not be available.
Although there are several ways to land a tee time on The Old Course, many find that booking a guaranteed slot from an authorized golf travel company is worth the additional investment. The challenge for 2022 is that those tee times will likely be needed to clear the growing number of postponed trips. This will cause yet another reduction in supply of tee times normally available to traveling golfers.
Translation: If you’re hoping to play The Old Course with a guaranteed tee time…
2023 is probably your year.
If the long travel pause of the last year has you ready for a golf trip to St. Andrews at the first opportunity, rest assured there are thousands more just like you. This burgeoning demand, paired with a significant reduction in available tee times, will likely mean that an untold number of golfers will return home from St. Andrews a little disappointed.
If you’d like to avoid such disappointment, our suggestion is to set your sights on 2023.
But plan early… You won’t be the only one adopting this strategy. To help get you started, here is our guide to the best 2023 golf trips across the pond.
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