Golf Holidays · March 2026
A golf holiday is not just a holiday with some golf in it. When it is planned well, it is an experience where the golf and the destination are genuinely inseparable. The right course in the right place at the right time of year, staying somewhere that understands what golfers need, travelling with people who share the same passion. That is what a properly planned golf trip feels like.
I help plan golf holidays for all sorts of clients, from groups of friends doing their annual trip to couples who want to combine world-class golf with genuinely luxurious accommodation. Here is what I have learned about what makes a golf holiday brilliant, and what makes it merely fine.
The difference between a good golf holiday and a great one usually comes down to the details. Getting those details right is exactly what I do.
The good news is that the world is full of extraordinary golf destinations, and the right one depends entirely on what you want from your trip. Here are some of the ones I love planning for clients:
Consistently sunny, superb value and home to some of Europe's finest courses. Vilamoura, Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago are world-class, and you can combine them with excellent restaurants and beautiful beaches. Fly time from the UK is under three hours.
St Andrews, Carnoustie, Royal Troon. There is something genuinely moving about playing the courses where the game was invented. Best visited May to September for the weather, though a links course in a bit of wind is part of the experience.
Ballybunion, Royal County Down, Lahinch. Irish links golf is among the finest and most dramatic in the world. The people are wonderful, the scenery is extraordinary and the craic in the clubhouse afterwards is hard to beat anywhere on earth.
Valderrama, Sotogrande and the courses around Marbella offer year-round golf with reliable sunshine. Combine with excellent food and the option to extend into cities like Seville or Granada for non-golfers in the group.
Where you stay on a golf holiday matters more than most people think. There is an enormous difference between a hotel that tolerates golfers and one that is built around them. Proper buggy storage, early breakfast before a morning tee time, somewhere to clean and dry your clubs, transport to and from the course. These are the things that make a golf trip run smoothly, and they are the things that can unravel a holiday if they are not sorted properly.
For groups, a private villa or a catered house near the courses can be the perfect solution. Everyone eats together, there is space to talk through the day's round, and there is no rushing through a hotel lobby with a bag of clubs at six in the morning. For couples or those who want hotel luxury, there are some extraordinary golf resort hotels in Portugal and Spain where everything is taken care of from the moment you arrive.
At the top courses, tee times can be difficult to secure, especially in peak season. Ballybunion and Royal County Down in Ireland are notoriously hard to book independently. Some of the best Algarve courses require advance booking months ahead. This is one area where having a travel agent genuinely pays off, because good relationships with the courses make a real difference to what you can access and when.
The courses you dream of playing are often the hardest to book independently. I can help with that.
Most golf holidays involve at least some element of group travel, and group travel has its own particular challenges. Mixed handicaps, non-golfers in the party, people who want to play every day and people who want one round and two days on the beach. Part of planning a good golf trip is understanding the dynamics of the group and building an itinerary that works for everyone without anyone feeling like they have compromised.
I have planned golf trips for groups ranging from four close friends to twenty people across multiple generations. Getting it right is enormously satisfying, and the feedback I get from clients after a well-run golf trip is some of the best I receive.
At its best, a golf holiday feels effortless. You arrive somewhere beautiful, your tee times are set, your accommodation is exactly right and all you have to think about is your game and where to have dinner. No stress about transfers, no worrying about whether the equipment hire will be any good, no uncertainty about what to do on the one day of the week it rains.
That is what I aim to deliver for every golf client. If you have a trip in mind, whether it is a specific destination you have always wanted to visit or just a feeling that this year should involve a proper golf holiday, get in touch and let us start planning.
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Golf trips are perfect group holidays when planned well. Here is how to get everyone organised.