Want to surprise my Dad for his retirement this upcoming year for a trip to Ireland and Scotland. My mom passed away a few years ago and he needs a good trip like this. We would definitely be playing some golf on our trip. Ideally a round at the Old Course and maybe one or two others. Golf is not the primary focus. Would love to sight see and hit up some distilleries for some Scotch and Irish Whisky.

I seem to recall someone posting on this board about a company based out of Texas that sets all that up for you and will help plan the trip for you. If not, any recommendations on where to start? Should I just plan it myself?

I just did Ireland last week. We used Pioneer Golf. Was great.

Did a trip in 2014 to west Ireland with Carr golf that is out of Ireland. Did a trip 12 months ago to North and wear Scotland with Pioneer golf out of Austin. Both were good. Carr golf is a little higher end and prob did a slightly better job. We also booked that trip with 5* accommodations and on the pioneer trip did 4*, so maybe that was where the difference was, although I expect the planning part would have been the same and things with pioneer were fine.

If I had to pick I'd say Carr was used to catering to a higher end client and that's the way it felt. Pioneer was in our time zone so that made getting immediate answers to questions while we planned easy. Although that meant they weren't in our time zone when we were actually on our trip.

I think some golf and some distilleries would be great.

If you plan it early enough, you can get one of the first tee times off in the morning and leave yourself plenty of time to take local sights.

Some of the scenery on the golf courses are some of the best In country, so time there is well spent.

I personally enjoyed Ireland better, but you can't go wrong with either

Thanks for the responses. Is it cheaper to book through these companies or is it just easier for planning purposes, etc? Can they get us on the old course?

Check out the No Laying Up podcast. They just came out with a couple of episodes on their Ireland trip. Talked about all the courses they visited.

Perry golf has guaranteed St. Andrews old course.

I went with them a few years ago played old course, kingsbarn, carnoustie and new course. We stayed at the fairmont which also has a nice course.

They did a great job.

Ireland golf trip blog

The above link is an Ireland trip blog from Pioneer Golf, it may be worth looking at.

I played Dundonald links in Scotland, there was no one on it. It was as hard as any course I've ever played. Nice layout by the Irish Sea, take a train from Glasgow to Troon.

We did: Old course, new course (1884?), and carnoustie. Stay at the old course hotel (the one you hit over with your tee shot on the 17, the road hole). Carnoustie is close enough to play from their. We did Edinburgh after for tourism and flew home.

The Dunvegan is down the street. Cool pub/steak place and is Aggie/Houston owned. Not sure if still tho.

Doing Ireland golf next summer. Very excited. TBD on exact plans but getting to stay and play at Hoggs Head for a few days.

Thanks for the info! I am current talking with two Golf Package companies. Henry Golf and Hidden Links to help me plan the trip. The only reason I am going through these companies is they can guarantee you a tee time at The old Course in St. Andrews. Otherwise I don't mind planning the trip myself. Am I severely overpaying for this trip by going through one of these companies? Should I try to book a tee time myself for a guaranteed tee time at St. Andrews? Not sure how to do that.

There are other ways to get on The Old Course aside from a packaged trip, but there's no guarantee. The window to apply for a tee time during the prime golfing months is already closed. You can apply by ballot 48 hours in advance and have a chance at that. Or, especially if you're a single, you can show up early in the morning and hope to catch an opening. A lot of people get lucky that way. Here's a link for you.

https://www.standrews.com/Play/Courses/Old-Course/Booking-the-Old-Course

Duckhook said:

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There are other ways to get on The Old Course aside from a packaged trip, but there's no guarantee. The window to apply for a tee time during the prime golfing months is already closed. You can apply by ballot 48 hours in advance and have a chance at that. Or, especially if you're a single, you can show up early in the morning and hope to catch an opening. A lot of people get lucky that way. Here's a link for you.

https://www.standrews.com/Play/Courses/Old-Course/Booking-the-Old-Course

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If you are willing to get up early, it is an almost guaranteed way to get a tee time. I went this summer as a single and was the 15th person in-line and teed off with the 3 guys in-line behind me. I would've been closer to the front on a normal day but happened to go the same day as a women's golf team on their Scotland golf trip.

My foursome got on without a tee time. We had played Crail that morning, and then just took a shot at TOC. We just hung around the starter's shack starting about 2:00, and lo and behold they called our group and told us to get ready about 4:00. Talk about an excited bunch of guys! It was our last day in St. Andrew's before we drove up to Dornoch. Finished the round in the gloaming.

To those of you who played the Old Course, did you have to show a verifiable handicap? I read that online in multiple places that you do. Do they check? I have one but my dad doesn't.

SirDeofWood said:

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To those of you who played the Old Course, did you have to show a verifiable handicap? I read that online in multiple places that you do. Do they check? I have one but my dad doesn't.

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They asked for a card from everybody in my group.

Duckhook said:

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SirDeofWood said:

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To those of you who played the Old Course, did you have to show a verifiable handicap? I read that online in multiple places that you do. Do they check? I have one but my dad doesn't.

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They asked for a card from everybody in my group.

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E-card from an app (ex. The Grint or GHIN) suffice?

Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Duckhook said:

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SirDeofWood said:

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To those of you who played the Old Course, did you have to show a verifiable handicap? I read that online in multiple places that you do. Do they check? I have one but my dad doesn't.

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They asked for a card from everybody in my group.

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E-card from an app (ex. The Grint or GHIN) suffice?

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I used the GHIN app and had no problems