2027 Golf Trips Across the Pond – What You Need to Know

Welcome to golf in the good life. Your guide to golf travel across the pond. I'm DJ Jones. He is Connor Evers. And today we are talking about 2027 golf trips across the pond. Yes, it is already that time. But before we get there, Connor, great to see you, man. We are kind of fresh off the holiday break, if you will. What's the latest and greatest on your side of the screen? DJ, appreciate it. It is time for 2027 and what a great time for this episode to come out and talk about all the good things across the pond in 27 from booking and some different closures and just some items that chat about. But all good here, very busy. We're starting to look at groups that are going to travel here in April, which isn't that far away. And just like I said, looking at some of these top marquee courses we'll talk about today, but the port rush is the county downs, a mere field, the old course that'll open up here in a few months for for groups. So it's a busy time for groups that want to have that kind of perfect itinerary to get ahead of the curve. But all good and looking for the PGA show as well in a few weeks too. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's crazy. It all kind of stacks up. I mean, here we are, as we're recording this, we're right in the midst of the holiday festivities, if you will. And then it was just the calendar turns and bang, it's time to go between the planning and the PGA show. No rest for the weary as they say, but that's a very good problem to have. And we certainly won't complain about it. But shift into today's episode, like we said, we are talking about 2027 golf trips across the pond. Yes, we're days into 2026. And as we've talked about many times in previous episodes, the reason we're talking about this so early is because of the calendar shift that has essentially happened over the last several years in particular for planning. There was a time when the open championship would take place and everyone would say, okay, wow, let's go to Scotland. That looks great. And that's when planning for trips in the year ahead would really ramp up. Well, we come out of the COVID shutdown. And that calendar kind of eaked up to April or May for the next year. And the demand was such and has remained such that a lot of clubs started saying, okay, well, let's let's open our t-sheet and march in April and then February and March. And now for planning in 2027, quite frankly, there are some clubs that in some cases for select tour operators have already started taking provisional bookings for 2027. All of which is to say, if 27 is on your radar, especially if you're talking about wanting to play some of the marquee golf courses, the time is already here. That's why we're talking about this now. It's not a sales push. It's not trying to drum up some business. This is just simply the reality of where we are as far as golf travel across the pond. Connor, you're the boots on the ground, if you will, as far as working with our members and prospective travelers. What's the lay of the land as you see it for the year ahead? Here definitely right, DJ, and each year it seems like the courses and what have you, they move up week or week and a half to two weeks. And you multiply that value over the years, especially since COVID. And practically, we're going to be starting booking trips two years in advance. I see that probably being in the future as well. But we've been talking about that kind of 18 to 24 month in advance, depending on what month you travel in. But that's still true for 2027. And you know, do you have to be flexible, but you do have to get on these things as early as possible because a lot of these clubs are going to be opening up and kind of the February standpoint. And you can look at it and make, oh my goodness, February so far away. But for example, from your field, I mean, do you have a group of eight, you have to know all eight golfers, their handicaps in their home club. So you not only have to be working on this early, but you have to figure out who's going and you got to figure out your group and etc. So you know, planning and what have you have to get it on as soon as possible to make sure you can get these marquee courses. There are some changes, some minor, some a little bit more major for 2027. We'll get into kind of the more specific throughout the episode. But like I said, timing is now and essential to kind of get your T times for 27. Yeah. And you have to kind of almost take a somewhat bigger picture view of this. So for example, you know, think about Royal Port Rush, the open was just there in 2025. All of those golfers that watched on television and said, okay, let's go to Port Rush, they very quickly learned that Royal Port Rush was fully booked before the open even started for 26. Yeah. So two things happened. They either went somewhere else for 26 or they shifted their thinking ahead to 2027, meaning if you haven't already gotten going, you're kind of behind the curve as far as those folks who already have I see our inquiries every single day and the number of inquiries at this stage for 27 far exceeds the number of inquiries we'd had for 26 at this time last year. And totally candid, I don't think that that's necessarily because there's this big huge increase in business. I think it's because we have smarter travelers. We have members and travelers out there who they get it. They understand that this is what it takes these days that the days of scoring a Mirfield T time in July of the year prior are absolutely out the window. So let's let's talk a little about the big four because they drive a lot of this. Of course, the big four, we're talking the old course Mirfield, Royal County down and Royal Port Rush. Take on three of those, Port Rush County down and Mirfield, give us the lay the land on those as well. Yeah. So Port Rush and County down will open up kind of in the roundly February early March timeframe give or take around then. So again, timing is now to kind of get started on that. We find it each year, usually when the same process happens there, you know, you can still book, you know, T times after they open, but it's not so much, you know, you can pick a random date and there you go, a lot of times, they're completely full or you have to kind of look at those shoulder months. And again, that's even into kind of that kind of middle of spring time frame. So there's one, one side of it. And then, really County down is kind of the same timing right around there. So obviously you want to pair County down and Port Rush into one trip. And Port Rush is having a kind of a large closure also mentioned. It's in June, so it's the night to the 20th of June of 2027. We're unsure what the event was. The club did not notify us of what exactly it is, but I would say that it's probably the amateur championship. Don't quote me on that just looking at some dates on the RNA website, but that's what I think it might be could be completely wrong. I'll say that too, but that's come more of speculative right now from from that standpoint. But the dates usually do match up with the closure. So we'll see on that. And the other thing with Port Rush, probably the biggest change out of anything across the pond, England, Scotland and Ireland collectively for 27 is Port Rush is now holding a more premium t times than done loose links. So if you do want to play the done loose links before 1 p.m. You do have to play there a secondary course, which is the value links. I said it in the last podcast or last couple podcasts about my kind of, you know, findings across upon us past October. It was my second time playing the valley. And it's a fantastic, you know, links experience. And it's right there at Port Rush to get those premium t times. You do have to play the valley. If you don't want to do that and just want to play the done loose links, which is fine. You will have an afternoon t time one p.m. onwards. I can't remember their last t time of the day. I think it's somewhere between 4 30 or so and kind of those peak summer months where you're able to play for the rest of the evening. But that is a big change. And just one that we have to kind of notify our groups. And if you do want to play that kind of earlier t time, we do have to incorporate the valley links onto your attendurary. So that's kind of the big things with the northern Ireland golf courses and shifting over to East Lothian with Mirfield. Very much the same process. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays each week for visitor play. They're still on an application. The application for tour operators will open up before the public application does. And I can't remember the exact percentage, but I'm going to say somewhere between 70 to 80% of the t times are allocated for two operators. So it's more advantageous to try and book your field via a tour operator such as us h and b. But it's the same process. It is an application. Some groups are successful, some are not. And they will open up and believe it's something like my calendar real quick while we're here to get everyone's specific date. It's the 23rd of February. We want to open up for tour operators. So again, all, you know, Port Rush County down and Mirfield are all essentially within kind of the same timing. You ever take a week and a half to two weeks, which in the past, it's been a little bit more spread out. All three of those are very much condensed into about a week and a half to two weeks. So the busy time, if you're looking at playing up potentially doing both countries into one, I tend to agree from that standpoint. So that's kind of what's up with those three courses, but what's new with the old course, D journey, any follow-ups on that? Well, I mean, a couple. I mean, first on the Port Rush thing, that's really interesting insight. And I think it's important to note that the need to play the valley links. No one should view that as a downgrade on a day. If the valley links was anywhere else, it would be so much more regarded. And so, up and in the valley links to your itinerary, if you, if you want to have that advantageous T time, it's not a downgrade. Do it because that's definitely the right move. And with Mirfield, you know, it's funny you say that about the application literally just yesterday, I received an email from a gent that is wanting to do Mirfield and the old course. And it was basically saying, is it possible? Can I get both? And what I'm more or less candidly told them back was you can, but it is increasingly rare these days because you have two things that you're trying to navigate. Number one is the Mirfield application, where quite frankly, every year we have groups that strike out, even with H&B. You know, we like to think that puts you at the head of the line, but at the same time, they do still strike out. And so, it just goes to show you that you can't really bank on it. Granite, there are so many success stories and most do get to play it. However, you then take it and you're pairing it with the old course, where to answer your question, Connor, there are some changes for 27. Number one is that, you know, typically for the last several years, when it comes to authorized providers like H&B, we would receive our T time allocation in April of the year prior. We more or less get told, okay, you get 10 T times in June to 12 in July, five in August, whatever the breakdown is. Well, the St Andrews links trust, the organization that kind of manages the old course for the town, they have a well publicized review that they're doing of the authorized provider program. The fact of the matter is, we don't really know what's going to come out of it. There could be no changes. There could be a lot of changes. But what we do know is that the open championship is coming to the old course in 2027. So regardless of what happens with that program, and we expect the results anytime. By the time this episode comes out, this could actually be old news because it's going to be anytime now. But the open is coming in 27. And regardless of what happens with the authorized provider program, there's going to be roughly a month period where the old course is closed in preparation for the open. And so you have two things that are happening at the same time and opposing one another. You have an increase in demand because everybody wants to go play the old course around the open and you have a potential decrease in supply because the course is closed for a full month. So all of which is to say, if you haven't got started, I know you're probably tired of hearing to say it, but it is time. The time actually probably has already passed to get started. But that's kind of how it's shaking out in St. Andrews and flexibility. It, like you said, is absolutely key. Yeah. You're right. And honestly, I just thought of this. I think I want to add in just we were talking about your field and the old course and how difficult it is. I think we should kind of talk about kind of pairing it up. So you look at a map and you're like, oh my goodness, you know, they're really close. I find Ed and Brow and essentially the airport kind of cuts St. Andrews and Eselton and it's not really, but kind of you're looking at the map. It's like, oh my gosh, you know, open road of course. I'll just go here and play and I can add in North Barric and a few others. And yeah, I get it. You look at a map and it's right there. When we're talking about the planning standpoint, you know, your field opens up first and we apply you, etc. And say if you are successful with that t time, say, you know, May 15th and just throw on a date out there, or even if it's Tuesday Thursday, but May 15th, you get it. Great. Well, you're holding on the t time with paid deposits on it and and then we don't get our allocation for another few weeks until after that t time. And especially with what DJ just mentioned about the old course, it's a little speculative. I mean, we have a really good idea of how many times will more than likely receive if nothing does change with this process or banking off this of the 2022 allocation since the last time the open was there when Kim spith one. So we're kind of formulating our groups into that. Now it could be where, hey, you know, oh my gosh, we got less times than maybe we got more in April. Well, it's going to be hard to move that t time to a different month at Mirfield to allocate those t times. So with all that being said, it's a challenge. A lot of times it does work out. I will mention that, but it is a lot more stressful to do. And a lot of times, you know, I'm talking with groups on this and I'm having a phone conversation with them and we're planning for plan B, meaning, hey, we can get you that St Andrews time, but maybe let's look at the Highlands or the west coast of Scotland or even something different if Mirfield doesn't work out or you do get Mirfield and it's a different date. Well, maybe you've played St Andrews before and you haven't played Mirfield. Well, let's go to Highlands or Aberdeen or something. So it's just being flexible when it comes to that. Again, a lot of times it does work out, but with this application, it creates this kind of situation where we're kind of putting in more plan Bs and that's going to be, you know, going forward, you know, in the years to come as well, even without this whole situation. So I thought I just mentioned that as well. It's a great ad and, you know, the way I capped my email back to the gent that asked about playing them both was if I was you, I would pick which one is most important and run with that. And if you get the other, it is simply a bonus. Yes. Treat getting both as you've hit the absolute lottery, treat getting one as you hit five numbers and you're still getting a pretty hefty check. Like Connor said, it's just becoming increasingly rare. It is possible, but it's something that you got to go into it with that right mindset of flexibility. And if it doesn't happen, we got a plan B and we got a really good plan B, if it doesn't come to pass. Exactly. I mean, before this application, Mirfield, I mean, if a group wanted to do Royal County down, Royal Port Rush, then fly over to Scotland and do true and turnberry Mirfield the old course before the application, you know, it could work, you know, it still can, but it's a lot more stressful to put together from all the puzzle pieces. So I just thought I'd add that too. But I'm kind of moving on here. So some big events for 2027, one of which obviously DJ mentioned is the open championship. The course will close. Don't have the exact dates, but give or take around the middle part of June, and it'll be closed all the way until the Tuesday after the open Monday. I believe there's like a media event that's on the, on the old course, but it does open up the Tuesday after. So there will be some t times and kind of the third to fourth week give or take of July and then kind of the beginning to second or so week of June. Again, dates are kind of up in the air, but just kind of giving out of what it's been like in the past and in 2015 and 2022. So that's kind of what that does would be. And the other big event overseas is the writer cup. I'm going to be hosted at a dare manner. Course will be closed for the event, the 13th through the 19th of September of 2027. When I was just at a dare there in October, we were kind of talking about the closure dates for 2027. Then I really know what that'll look like. There was potential talk of the course being open for two weeks and being closed for two weeks and two on, you know, something like that. And that could be throughout the entire year. They don't really know yet going in the last few years, the dare man or golf course has been only open for the residents of the manner of the hotel. So United will play it as a non res. That will continue for 2027. They're limiting play at a dare manner before the writer cup. Just to make sure the course, you know, all looks good for a TV in that standpoint. So it was a kind of the two big events that will be in 2027. And the other one I wanted to mention too is the R&A have some of their kind of minor, if you will, and maybe not the right terminology, but minor events amateur championship, senior British, the women's and throughout GB and I. And I will say they're kind of timing and dates are usually a lot closer to the event rather than the open championship or the AIG women's that's planned years in advance. So if you're planning on certain dates or certain courses, it could change. But that's just something that, you know, a partner such as us and me, you know, look at the dates all the time and make sure we're planning your trip around those closures. But those are a little bit later in the calendar. Well, great stuff to point out. And you know, maybe we potentially should even drill down here a little bit on the writer cup because we quite frankly, we get a lot of folks that ask us, can you do the writer cup? Can we do a writer cup package? We're already seeing all kinds of folks who are, you know, sending us dates for Valley Bunyan and Trilly and Lahinch for September 20th or whatever the day after the writer cup ends. And I think we just have to say straight up, H and B, we do not do writer cup packages. There are several golf travel companies that do their pros at it. They probably do it every time. It's over there. One of their niche markets, if you will, is event hosted. Yes. You know, expeditions tied around the open or whatever it might be. We're not one of them, but there are several that do when it comes to Southwest Ireland for 27. It's going to take, you know, some crazy amount of flexibility. I can't even imagine trying to plan a trip in like August or October of of 27 for Southwest Ireland. But they will be doing it. And so that would be, I guess, the little bit of insight to add for the writer cup. You brought up a good point. And we just, it's not our, not our kind of business model for the writer cup. And even a lot of our hotel partners that I've even, I've even reached out to of groups wanting to, you know, hey, they're going to book the writer cup on their own. But then we're going to do a little Southwest Ireland trip, you know, prior to a lot of our hotel partners. They don't have any rooms left. Even this is September 20th, 27 or it's, you know, penthouses or sweets or the only things that are left. And it's, it's premium pricing because those hotels, you know, they're rather work with a company that, you know, has all those tickets already. And they just package them up. So just something I mentioned to a great additional point. And it kind of ties into the next topic. And that is, okay, what's your plan B? Yeah. So, you know, and maybe not even necessarily plan B. But like, where should the smart money go if, you know, we're wanting to plan, but we don't want to have to jump through all these hoops or whatever it might be. Top of that list has to be England's golf coast because the open is heading there this year, 26 at Royal Burkdale again. It was just at Royal Liverpool. So, you know, we've got two and pretty close succession there. And of course, you've got three hosts of the open to allude to a future episode. We have some pretty in depth coverage on the England's golf coast area coming in the next episode. But, you know, that's got to be, you know, top of the list, you know, playing it in the year after the open is, is always a thrill. And we're, we're certain to see a little bit of spike for them, just like always people watching on TV. They'd say, hey, let's go play there. The Highlands and Aberdeen, this is like the combo that is just why doesn't it get more golfers in Scotland? Because, you know, the Highlands speaks for itself. So many world class courses. You got rural Dornock. You've got the two at Cabot Highlands Nair and Borough. Great experience. You could spend a whole week there, even, but transitioning down to Aberdeen and Ty and including Bay and Royal Aberdeen and Trump International, there's no shortage of great golf. And it's usually a little easier to book, you know, you're not half into book 18 months or two years out, typically. And then Conor and I's favorite Northwest Ireland. Listen, we've gone on and on for numerous episodes about our love for this place, Carn and Innescrow and in Rosapena. You've got Rosapena now in the top 50 in the world with St. Patrick's links. So many great options up that way. I would toss in the London area and the Channel Coast combo that just is outstanding between I think there's four top 100 in London area and there's, there's an open championship member at Roland St. George's and the Channel Coast and two former open venues next door. So a lot of reasons to go there. But Conor, you hit something on the previous point and that is that when it comes to pointing these trips, it's not just golf. You got to think about the hotels and so forth. There are only so many great hotels in some of these towns. And, Southwest Ireland, it sounds like is almost kind of already off the table for some of 27. If you are wanting that old course view room at the Roussex or the old course hotel, listen, there are only so many of those to go around. Point is it's not just the golf. You got to get ahead of it for both the golf and the good life side of things as well. Yeah, you're definitely right. And there is some situations where you have the group and we're able to get the golf, but maybe those premium rooms or what have you aren't available. And we will sometimes flip the trip around so those rooms are available. So yeah, we're talking golf, but it is also lodging. But I also say, you know, demand, you know, just has increased and we can we talk about it so much. But from that, you know, the visitor demand has gone up. And a lot of these clubs, these are all member driven clubs. They're all member private clubs where they do, you know, open up their club for visitor play on certain days or sometimes it's every day of the week. And each year there's a little bit of different changes. You know, one club for example in Scotland, they're eliminating their T times about 20 to 30 minutes. So that's, you know, two to three T times per day. That's only open a couple of days a week. So that's a big, you know, big change there. So it's just us kind of keeping in track of all those different things. And why you should have a trip planner such as H&B to kind of keep all those things organized to figure out what days it will work best. So that's another big thing. Again, the demand's big. But again, these are all member driven clubs and they want their clubs. They want to play their club when they're not working. So we totally understand that and have to obliged by kind of the rules of the club that sets out. But you know, Lahinch, they're hosting the Walker Cup in 26. But I'm around that same timing in 27. They're going to have their member event closures. They have a member guest. They have a few other things. So August is always a difficult time to get a Lahinch T time. Sometimes it works out, but a lot of times you're kind of working around that month of August. So just something to kind of keep and check there. And then World Dornick always has the Carnegie shield. It's kind of that always early to middle part of August of each year. Dates usually vary, but it's pretty consistent throughout those timing of things. And that's kind of about it. I mentioned the RNA closure. So something to keep track of. But I mean, really the big ones are like the big changes are that Port Rush situation with the Valley links as well as Dunluse, the open championship for 2027. And then the Ryder Cup, which will be fantastic to watch on TV. Can't look looking forward to that as well. But those are kind of the big ones, teach all all good stuff. I mean, to more or less reiterate what we're kind of always saying, you know, you got to get going early. As we said, I don't know how many times on this one episode alone, but flexibility is key. You know, none of this is to say that your trip can't happen. It's too late. Whatever it might be, it's simply to say that here's the parameters. Here's the reality of how this is working today. And if you're not working within that reality, okay, you just got to come into it with some serious flexibility in terms of where you're going. What course is your plan or what have you? And it's not really showing any sign of letting up. I mean, you keep thinking that okay, eventually the calendar is going to hit a wall. And they're not going to be able to shift it any earlier or eventually demand is just going to everybody has going to have traveled themselves out. And candidly, we're just kind of not seeing that on our end at least. And with the opening, the old course in 27, I've said this before, the last time the open was at the old course, we received like three months worth of inquiries for travel in the like a 10-day period. It was unbelievable. And then you've got, you know, the rider cup at Adair Manor, you've got great Britain and Ireland just on show in 27. I almost hate to say it, but 28 is not the worst thing to start thinking about. Maybe not today, but you know, you're getting pretty close to where the clock is going to start running for 28, which is a few months away from thinking that. Yeah, really, it's unbelievable. Yeah, it really kind of are. It's unbelievable. And I mean, but yet, and I mentioned earlier, you know, smarter travelers, we're seeing inquiries for 28, 29. I think we got one the other day for like 30 or 31, you know, long-term thinkers that are saying, okay, my 50th birthday or my 40th birthday or whatever it might be. And you know, can we book a trip for 20, 30? Absolutely not. However, we can we can definitely talk about how it might potentially work when the turn does come. So all good stuff. So, if you are on the radar for a trip in 2027, we're going to have some guides and so forth in our show notes. A lot of this episode was built off of our specific guide to 2027. Hit the link in the show notes. There's there's a little bit more there. If you don't subscribe to our email newsletter, consider doing that somewhere on the guide there as well. There is a link to do that and it'll help keep you at least in touch for when these things are open and what have you. Otherwise, listen, thank you as always for investing your time with us. You've been at it for 30 minutes. We appreciate that time as always. We will be back again soon with another episode. But until then, we wish you plenty of golf at its finest and life at its best.