Follow Your Captain

Advice for When You're Along for the Ride

Connor Evers, PGA

June 10, 2026

6 Minute Read

After years of helping groups plan their Expeditions, I've noticed something. Almost everything we publish about group golf travel, and most of what gets written about it in general, is aimed at the Captain. There's plenty of advice for how to lead, keep the group moving, and navigate the dozens of decisions that come with organizing a golf trip across the pond. See: Our Captain's Guide.

But for everyone else, far less has been covered.

D.J. and I recently sat down for an episode of Golf and the Good Life to fix that. We talked about what it means to be a great golf traveler when you're not the one leading the group. The unwritten rules, and the small things that can make the Captain's work easier, the trip smoother, and the experience better for everyone on the coach.

You can listen below or carry on with the guide that follows.

The Work You Don't See

The Captain's job starts long before anyone else thinks about the trip. Conversations with the group. Decisions about courses and dates. Questions about who's traveling and who isn't. By the time the rest of you are pricing flights, the Captain has already been at it for months.

Even when a group is working with H&B and we're handling the key details, the Captain still carries a workload. They're the one fielding questions from every direction. They're the one fronting deposits while waiting on the last two travelers to commit. They're the one explaining why this trip matters and why it costs what it costs.

They're not getting paid for any of it. They volunteered, and their price is the same as yours.

Group Captain Sean Sullivan and Friends on a glorious day at Old Head Golf Links.

Respect What's Been Decided

Once a trip is set, it's set.

That sounds obvious, but it isn't always. Group members will commit to dates and then ask to shift them three months later because something came up. Others will see the itinerary and start campaigning for a different course or hotel.

All of it lands on the Captain's plate.

Moving a trip after deposits are placed is expensive, in both money and in goodwill. Relitigating courses after the planning is done puts the Captain in the impossible position of either changing the established trip or saying no to a friend.

Then there's going rogue on logistics. Flying into Glasgow when the group is landing in Edinburgh, or staying at a different hotel for the points. These are all moments of friction that can derail the best laid plans.

The point is simple. If you wanted a say in where you were playing and where you were staying, the time to raise your hand was before the planning started. The Captain's chair could have been yours.

“Enjoy it. Don’t sweat the small stuff you cannot control. The Captain cannot possibly please everyone and cannot make all the decisions. Communicate early and often with your group and H&B.”

Group Captain Craig Nelson – Neuse Country Club

Lighten the Load

The Captain's work doesn't end when the plane lands. There are still dozens of small things that need to happen across the week, and many of them get added to the Captain's plate by default. They don't have to be.

Volunteer for a role. Be the banker who fronts the dinner check and settles up at the end (we built a group tab feature into our mobile app for exactly this reason). Be the games captain who tracks the skins and the wagers. Be the one who makes sure the group has photos to look back on. Be the one who handles the dinner reservations or sightseeing options.

Another nuisance often cited by Captains is being stuck in the middle of you and the golf travel company over minor details. Flight information, dietary preferences, handicaps, addresses. These usually come from each traveler directly, not from the Captain.

When the replies or payments don't come in, we have to turn to the Captain to chase you down. So when your golf tour operator reaches out for details, send the reply. Two minutes on your end becomes hours of work for your Captain when compounded over the months of planning.

But perhaps the easiest way to lighten the load for your Captain is to simply be informed. Read your materials when they arrive. The answers to most of the questions you'd otherwise ask the Captain are usually right there. And when a question does come up, try Google first.

“Get on top of the details earlier than you think! Also, divvy up the tasks across the group so the Captain isn't on the hook for all the aspects of making the trip fun.”

Group Captain Tom Arata

Bring Your Energy

The last piece is harder to define, but it shapes the whole week.

Every group has a rhythm. The best ones move together. Tee times, dinners, late drinks, early mornings. The traveler who matches that rhythm becomes part of what makes the trip work. The traveler who doesn't, the one who's grumpy after a bad round, the one who disappears every evening, the one who picks fights at the breakfast table, changes the temperature for everyone.

Be kind to the people taking care of you. Your caddie. Your server. Your Driver-Host. Learn their names. These are relationships, not transactions, and the Captain's last name is the one on every reservation. How you behave on the trip reflects on them.

And when the week ends, find a way to say thank you. Something beyond just buying them a beer. Plan a special dinner to cap the trip. Grab pin flag from one of the marquee courses and get it embroidered. The gesture matters more than you probably think.

The Members of Evanston Golf Club, led by Garrett Goodrich, PGA, at Portstewart.

One Last Thought

The best groups we send across the pond have one thing in common. By the time they hit the ground, the Captain barely has to captain anymore. Not because they stopped caring. Because everyone else stepped up and allowed them to enjoy the experience just like everyone else.

And remember: the next time around, it might be you in their shoes.