This is a website about golf communities, but many who have moved to golf communities travel to play golf. I have travelled to Scotland every May for the last three years, once with my wife, who doesn’t play golf, and the other times with friends. I have made all my own arrangements. Although package golf tours are attractive, they are not attractively priced. I have chosen to do my own research and book my own lodging, rounds of golf and transportation. (I gave up driving on the wrong side of the road two years ago.)
I have no quibbles with the level of service the major golf package operators provide; I have spoken with many of their satisfied customers. But I always assumed I was saving money by making my own arrangements. Until now, I never realized just how much. But after my latest trip, I decided to total up my costs and compare them to what a packaged golf vacation in the St. Andrews area would cost. Since I stayed within walking distance of the two excellent golf courses at the Crail Golfing Society, just 10 miles from St. Andrews, I based my calculation on greens fees at Crail and in the St. Andrews area, lodging costs in Crail, and transportation costs based on a discussion with the owners of St. Andrews Taxi Company who have taken me wherever I wanted to go the last two years.
When I totaled up all the costs, I was gobsmacked – good UK word -- by just how much money I saved by spending a couple of hours online making my own arrangements. The upcoming article in my newsletter Home On The Course is the longest and most detailed I’ve written, and it provides a road map – figuratively and literally – for how to save thousands of dollars on your golf vacation in Scotland. If you treat making those arrangements like a job, and figure in how much you save, you will be “earning” $1,000 an hour or more. You can sign up for the newsletter – it’s free – right here. Expect it in your inbox next week.