Do you have a golf trip planned? Let's hear all about it!

[Johann Oosthuizen]

This year we once again had our annual family and friends golf day (Magalies27) at Magalies Golf Estate in South Africa on June 29.

The format of the day was as follows:

• 2 Teams,  "Eagle Hunters" and "Dirty Birdies" playing in pairs, match play
• Morning session = 9 Holes off the back nine, playing alternate shots, 1pt per hole and winners get an additional point for the win of the 9 holes
• Afternoon session = 18 holes, better ball, 1 pt per hole and winners for each 9 get an additional point for the win, and winners of the 18 get an additional point for the win of the match.
• Trophies for winning team, highest individual points, longest drive, nearest the pin, lowest gross, "Thanks for coming"

Results:

• Team points: DRAW
• Champion golfer: Cathalene 30pts (my wife and the only lady in the field)
• Best gross: Wihann 85
• Longest drive: Divan
• Nearest the pin: Corné
• TFC: Zander 16
• Team winners due to most trophies: Dirty Birdies

Here is a SD video of the day.  Language in Afrikaans.

 

Magalies27-2024 players

 

The winners: Dirty Birdies

[Johann Oosthuizen]

Desert Golf Safari – 2024

My wife and I are planning to participate in the “THE SAGES GOLFERS SOCIETY OF NAMIBIA” tournament in Swakopmund in November 2024.

Since we live in Rustenburg, South Africa we have decided that we should travel by road and visit play at all the “desert” golf courses on the route.  So, with much research I have developed the itinerary as follows:

Equipment: 
1.    4x4 pickup – Toyota Hilux DC with canopy and solar panel to power the freezer
2.    Tuffcat offroad caravan 
3.    Golf clubs

The total distance to travel is estimated as 4264 km’s (2665miles) and planned as follows:
1.    Day 1: Travel from Rustenburg to Red Sands Country Lodge near Kuruman (https://www.redsands.co.za/) and camp there for 2 nights. Distance travelled 480km (300mi)
2.    Day 2: Golfing at Sishen Golf Club in Kathu, rated No 9 in South Africa (https://kalaharicc.co.za/sishen-golf-club)
3.    Day 3: Travel from Red Sands Country Lodge through the RSA/Namibia border to Garas Park Camp near Keetmanshoop, Namibia. One night camping. (www.facebook.com/GarasparkRestcamp). Distance travelled 637km (398mi)
4.    Day4: Travel to “Out of Nature Country Lodge” 30 km’s south of Windhhoek, Namibia. Camp for 2 nights. (www.outofnature.biz). Distance travelled 442km (276mi).
5.    Day 5: Golfing at Omeya Golf Club (www.omeyagolfclub.com)
6.    Day 6: Travel to Alte Brükke Resort in Swakopmund, Namibia, camp for 5 nights. (https://altebrucke.com/). Distance travelled 402km (251mi).
7.    Day 7 & 8: SAGES Golf Tournament at Rossmund Golf Resort & Lodge (https://www.rossmund.com/)
8.    Day 9: Tourist day in Swakopmund, Namibia
9.    Day 10 & 11: SAGES Golf Tournament at Rossmund Golf Resort & Lodge (https://www.rossmund.com/)
10.    Day 12: Travel to Sossus Oasis for 2 nights camping. (sossus-oasis.com).  Distance travelled 347km (216mi) gravel road.
11.    Day 13: Explore Sossusvlei (sossusvlei.org)
12.    Day 14: Travel Garas Park Camp near Keetmanshoop, Namibia. One night camping. Distance travelled 483km (301mi).
13.    Day 15: Travel through Namibia/RSA border to Kalahari Monate Lodge near Upington, South Africa, camp for 2 nights (upingtonmonatelodge.co.za). Distance travelled 469km (246mi). 
14.    Day 16: Golfing at Upington Golf Club (desertpalace.co.za)
15.    Day 17: Return to home in Rustenburg. Distance travelled 735km (460mi).

I am just waiting for the tournament confirmation from SAGES Namibia.

 

[Chas c]

About to leave Colombia, stayed at a resort overlooking TPC Karibana. Its currently offseason so the course is getting some work done but it still looks great from the balcony and appears quite challenging to play with all the water on the back 9 and the undulating fairways. Really kicking myself for not playing in the rain the other day!

[Norman May]

We are headed to Ireland in May of next year. We had it planned when Covid hit and we lost it all. So we planning it again. And plan on golfing one day for sure and we might try and make it to Scotland we will be there for 10 days. Haven’t picked our golf course yet doing research on it. 

[G-Ram]

On it right now! Flew to Nova Scotia on Friday, arrived to find no golf bag waiting for me. Not ideal!

Luckily it showed up this am before we left Halifax. 
Just having a single malt to close out the evening, before turning in, and heading to Cabot for a couple nights stay/play at the Links and Cliffs!

Fun doesn't end there, as depart Cabot for Fox Harbr, and a fitting for the new GT lineup, and a pair of rounds with Titleist Canada

Juuuuust need some help from another Nature on the "please no rain" front to pull it all together haha

[WaffleHouseTour]

Trip #1  - North Dakota!  
Yes, you read that right.  Leaving today for HawkTree, Links of ND and Bully Pulpit. SheWhoMustBeObeyed has her fishing gear packed, and the rooftop tent is ready to go. Why ND? It will be my 49th state.  Really should have been here earlier….

Trip #2 - Rhode Island
This fall I’m signed up for the BTS golf outing at Wannamoisett. State #50 to celebrate my 58th journey around the sun. SHMBO will no doubt find some colonial history to explore. DeltaSkyMiles for this one.

[cksurfdude]

14 hours ago, G-Ram said:

On it right now! Flew to Nova Scotia on Friday, arrived to find no golf bag waiting for me. Not ideal!

Luckily it showed up this am before we left Halifax. 
Just having a single malt to close out the evening, before turning in, and heading to Cabot for a couple nights stay/play at the Links and Cliffs!

Fun doesn't end there, as depart Cabot for Fox Harbr, and a fitting for the new GT lineup, and a pair of rounds with Titleist Canada

Juuuuust need some help from another Nature on the "please no rain" front to pull it all together haha

Nice!! Plz post a follow-up afterwards .. wife was looking up golf destinations and she happened across Fox Harb'r .. plus I've read about Cabot Cliffs before .. both look really nice!

We're in NY and already started looking at flights to Halifax

...

Other plans...

NE in a few weeks. Small Spy outing.

VA Beach, potentially, next month. Meet up with wife's brother and sister in law.

Upstate NY in early Fall. Wedding of a close friend of wife's daughter.

[KevinReitmeyer]

Got a group of 8 headed to Pinehurst in 9 days for a buddy's 50th birthday golf trip. I've never been there before, can't wait.

We are playing off property at Carolina Trace CC, (Lake Course) on Wednesday, then headed to the Pinehurst resort for an evening playing the Cradle.

Thursday we play #7 in the AM & #8 after lunch.

Friday we play #2. It still hasn't been opened to the public yet from the US Open (I believe it opens this week).

We close Saturday by playing #4 before making the drive home.

[DBThomas]

I’m going to Bandon Dunes July 24th - July 28th with three friends I used to work (Texas Instruments)with in my mid-20’s in 1993.  Fast forward to 30 years later and one of the guys who is my daughter’s god father sent me a post of them playing a round on the west coast (I’m in Texas).  All three of these guys now live on the west coast (California and Oregon).  My daughter’s god father mentioned to the other gentleman that I was a golfer as well.  After numerous text messages we decided to do a ‘Golf only’ guys only vacay at Bandon Dunes Golf resort.

We are going to play……

Old MacDonald - July 24th

Sheep Ranch - July 25th

Pacific Dunes - July 26th

Bandon Trails - July 26th on replay

Bandon Dunes - July 27th

 

We are not staying at the resort due to the fact there weren’t any rooms available even though we booked almost a year ago.  However, my research tells me July - September is their peak season.  The cost is pretty insane during their peak season so kind of hard to believe no resort lodging was available .

I will post a review with photos of our trip.  Here’s to playing all five rounds in four days .  I have been working on my stamina!

 

 

[ILMgolfnut]

8 hours ago, KevinReitmeyer said:

We are playing off property at Carolina Trace CC, (Lake Course) on Wednesday, then headed to the Pinehurst resort for an evening playing the Cradle.

I've driven by Carolina Trace many times on Highway 87 but have never played it. That portion of the lake near the highway looks rather intimidating, honestly. The Cradle is awesome, about the most fun you can have outdoors.

[Johann Oosthuizen]

On 7/6/2024 at 5:14 PM, Norman May said:

We are headed to Ireland in May of next year. We had it planned when Covid hit and we lost it all. So we planning it again. And plan on golfing one day for sure and we might try and make it to Scotland we will be there for 10 days. Haven’t picked our golf course yet doing research on it. 

One of my bucket list items.

My son travelled to Spain and France last year to be at the Ryder Cup and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

He said that the best golfing experience that he ever had was being a spectator on the first day of the Ryder Cup.  He encouraged me to attend the 2025 Ryder Cup in the USA (Sept. 22-28, 2025 Bethpage Black Course, Farmingdale, NY). I did my financial calculations, and although I have been to the US before, I would just not be able to afford that expedition.

I have therefore decided that I would save up and try visiting the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland, and play a few rounds in Ireland and Scotland.  This would also give me some time to save for the trip.

So, The plan is as follows:
Fly to Dublin from Johannesburg
Play 2 courses (need to identify the courses that fit in my budget, see note below)
Attend the 1st day of the 2027 Ryder cup.
Travel to Scotland and visit the Clan MacPherson district in Newtonmore. My forefathers originated from there.
Play a round or 2 in the district of Badenoch (Newtonmore, Kingussie, Carrbridge).
Visit a few castles and distilleries as well.

All of this might happen if I am able to save enough and "God Willing" remain fit and healthy to do it.

Note:

• Green fees at my home club in Rustenburg is ZAR360 (USD20) for a visitor all year round, weather allows us to play 356 days per year.
• Unlimited golf membership for Seniors at Rustenburg (>60) is R11500/year (approx. USD580) for unlimited number of games throughout the year.
• Green fees at some of the top golf courses in South Africa average at R1200 per round for visitors (USD 65 - a bargain for foreign visitors)
• Green fees in Ireland for a round of golf appears to be season dependent and is typically Euro360 (ZAR7200) for a round. (darn expensive for South Africans)
• South Africa is actually a very cheap golfing destination for foreigners.

[jaz29]

My son plays high school hockey and one of the Dad's had stated that if coach ever asks you to go to Scotland, say yes! Not only is it a  bucket list item, but he is from the St. Andrews area, so he knows all of the local flare! I said yes of course!

Leaving Detroit on 7/19 connecting in Amerstam and landing in Glasgow on 7/20

On 7/20, We go straight to Royal Troon and watch the Sat round of the Open Championship.

We are staying in an AirBNB, which is a 6 min walk to St. Andrews. We plan on putting a little on the "Himalayas" at St. Andrews to prep for our week ahead. We had originally planned on dinner at the Dunvegan Bar (https://www.dunvegan-hotel.com/) until we got our Open tickets so that is pending how much time we have.

7/21 - We start our golf with 18 holes at the Strathtyrum course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/strathtyrum-course

We will have dinner at Tom Morris Bar & Grill (dinner is included with our price of a 2 course package) https://standrews.com/dining/tom-morris-bar-and-grill

7/22 - We are planning 9 holes at Kingarrock Hickory golf with teh old hickory clubs. We have decided as the group to plan original rules, so no marking your ball on the green, you just need to play them as they lie!

After the 9 hole warm up, we play St. Andrews' Old Course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/old-course We will of course take caddies for this round.

7/23 - Having lunch at the Rock and Spindle (Castle Course) and then playing the Castle course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/the-castle-course

7/24 - Touring the Kingsbarns Distillery (https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com/en-us), where we can get a little tuned up before our afternoon round at the Kittocks Course https://www.fairmont.com/st-andrews-scotland/golf/fairmont-standrews-golf/  at the Fairmont St. Andrews 

7/25 - We play the Kings Course at Glen Eagles https://gleneagles.com/golf/the-kings/

7/26 - We move to a new Airbnb and will tour Bannockburn (Stirling castle, Wallace monument, the Kelpies and the site of the Battle of Bannockburn)

7/27 - Return to Detroit

 

If you are looking for any additional details for your trip, let me know. I of course did not plan this trip, but can provide any details that you are seeking.

[Preeway]

23 hours ago, DBThomas said:

I’m going to Bandon Dunes July 24th - July 28th with three friends I used to work (Texas Instruments)with in my mid-20’s in 1993.  Fast forward to 30 years later and one of the guys who is my daughter’s god father sent me a post of them playing a round on the west coast (I’m in Texas).  All three of these guys now live on the west coast (California and Oregon).  My daughter’s god father mentioned to the other gentleman that I was a golfer as well.  After numerous text messages we decided to do a ‘Golf only’ guys only vacay at Bandon Dunes Golf resort.

We are going to play……

Old MacDonald - July 24th

Sheep Ranch - July 25th

Pacific Dunes - July 26th

Bandon Trails - July 26th on replay

Bandon Dunes - July 27th

 

We are not staying at the resort due to the fact there weren’t any rooms available even though we booked almost a year ago.  However, my research tells me July - September is their peak season.  The cost is pretty insane during their peak season so kind of hard to believe no resort lodging was available .

I will post a review with photos of our trip.  Here’s to playing all five rounds in four days .  I have been working on my stamina!

 

 

I was just there for a day back in June. You’re gonna love it. Get the pizza in town at Bandon Brewery. The beer is above average but the pizza was stellar. 

[GCB]

On 7/8/2024 at 9:05 AM, jaz29 said:

My son plays high school hockey and one of the Dad's had stated that if coach ever asks you to go to Scotland, say yes! Not only is it a  bucket list item, but he is from the St. Andrews area, so he knows all of the local flare! I said yes of course!

Leaving Detroit on 7/19 connecting in Amerstam and landing in Glasgow on 7/20

On 7/20, We go straight to Royal Troon and watch the Sat round of the Open Championship.

We are staying in an AirBNB, which is a 6 min walk to St. Andrews. We plan on putting a little on the "Himalayas" at St. Andrews to prep for our week ahead. We had originally planned on dinner at the Dunvegan Bar (https://www.dunvegan-hotel.com/) until we got our Open tickets so that is pending how much time we have.

7/21 - We start our golf with 18 holes at the Strathtyrum course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/strathtyrum-course

We will have dinner at Tom Morris Bar & Grill (dinner is included with our price of a 2 course package) https://standrews.com/dining/tom-morris-bar-and-grill

7/22 - We are planning 9 holes at Kingarrock Hickory golf with teh old hickory clubs. We have decided as the group to plan original rules, so no marking your ball on the green, you just need to play them as they lie!

After the 9 hole warm up, we play St. Andrews' Old Course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/old-course We will of course take caddies for this round.

7/23 - Having lunch at the Rock and Spindle (Castle Course) and then playing the Castle course https://standrews.com/golf/courses/the-castle-course

7/24 - Touring the Kingsbarns Distillery (https://www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com/en-us), where we can get a little tuned up before our afternoon round at the Kittocks Course https://www.fairmont.com/st-andrews-scotland/golf/fairmont-standrews-golf/  at the Fairmont St. Andrews 

7/25 - We play the Kings Course at Glen Eagles https://gleneagles.com/golf/the-kings/

7/26 - We move to a new Airbnb and will tour Bannockburn (Stirling castle, Wallace monument, the Kelpies and the site of the Battle of Bannockburn)

7/27 - Return to Detroit

 

If you are looking for any additional details for your trip, let me know. I of course did not plan this trip, but can provide any details that you are seeking.

This is awesome. Now that you are back Id be interested in hearing how your plan worked out? Anything that you would scratch from the plan or emphasize? We are planning to go in 2026 so Im gathering info. 

[jaz29]

On 8/12/2024 at 10:36 AM, GCB said:

This is awesome. Now that you are back Id be interested in hearing how your plan worked out? Anything that you would scratch from the plan or emphasize? We are planning to go in 2026 so Im gathering info. 

We were stuck in that global shutdown, wherre all flights were grounded so we missed our day at the open Championship. The 9 hole round with the old hickory clubs was better than expected and the history and experience there was fantastic.  I did not care, but the rest of the group wish that we had caddies at the Fairmont. I kind of like having carts (buggies over there) as the courses were a tough walk. A Fore caddie would have been extremely helpful there though. Trip and courses were amazing and love every minute of it.

 

[JAYER38]

Not as big of a trip as some of you all but headed to Myrtle Beach, SC for my buddies Bachelor party. Only about 6hrs from us and plan to be there 3 days. Booked Tee times are  9/21 12:50 @ TPC Myrtle Beach  & 9/22 9:24am @ Prestwick. We are all pretty excited as these are probably some of the nicer courses we will get to play compared to our usual. Plus enjoying the area festivities at night

[GCB]

On 2/14/2024 at 8:33 AM, billpierce said:

I have booked pinehurst in early June. Right before tournament time!  Should be in great shape and we have a house in the campus that should allow a bit of exploring to other courses in area.  We have Number 8 booked and will hit the cradle just for fun.

Any suggestions on courses around pinehurst?  Tobacco Road looks like it may be the one over in Sanford.

Tobacco road was cool but its hard the 1st time you play it. Some hidden shots and what not. I recommend though. I also enjoyed #8 at Pinehurst

[GCB]

16 hours ago, jaz29 said:

We were stuck in that global shutdown, wherre all flights were grounded so we missed our day at the open Championship. The 9 hole round with the old hickory clubs was better than expected and the history and experience there was fantastic.  I did not care, but the rest of the group wish that we had caddies at the Fairmont. I kind of like having carts (buggies over there) as the courses were a tough walk. A Fore caddie would have been extremely helpful there though. Trip and courses were amazing and love every minute of it.

 

Great! I checked out the 9 hole course on the internet. Looks really unique. How did you get around the Fife area? Public transportation, ride shares, busses etc? Did you rent a car?

[jaz29]

10 minutes ago, GCB said:

Great! I checked out the 9 hole course on the internet. Looks really unique. How did you get around the Fife area? Public transportation, ride shares, busses etc? Did you rent a car?

We rented a van. Driving over there is fun (LOL). The drive from the Glasgow (airport) to St. Andrews was in tight spaces. Make sure your driver is used to right hand drive on left side of road.

[Norman May]

I’m going to Ireland in June of 25 and plan on playing at least one day maybe 2. Haven’t booked the course yet waiting on getting my itinerary done first. 

[oxfo]

I’m finalising a trip to Santo Domingo to visit family. My spouse’s cousin has a place within Casa de Campo and the last time we visited I was unable to play rounds with them at Teeth of The Dog. So, next month will be a lot of fun.  

[Johann Oosthuizen]

33 minutes ago, jaz29 said:

We rented a van. Driving over there is fun (LOL). The drive from the Glasgow (airport) to St. Andrews was in tight spaces. Make sure your driver is used to right hand drive on left side of road.

Yep, in the UK, South Africa and Australia, the right side of the road is on the left side of the road.  In 1998 I had the opportunity to do a few guest lectures at the University of Delaware, Maryland University and Virginia Tech. I rented a vehicle and immediately drove over the pavement when I turned right, and then turned on to the off ramp in stead of the on ramp of the 95 motorway in Newark (DE).  Was nearly arrested for driving into oncoming traffic on a motorway, but the friendly officer realized that I came from dark Africa and assisted me to get on to the correct route by stopping all traffic on the off ramp so that I could make a U-turn and then made me follow him onto the 95 motorway towards DC.

[jaz29]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:09 AM, Norman May said:

I’m going to Ireland in June of 25 and plan on playing at least one day maybe 2. Haven’t booked the course yet waiting on getting my itinerary done first. 

If playing a championship course, you may want to look at booking now. For Scotland, we needed to book a year in advance. I am sure yuo could play lesser courses without that much notice though

[Hosel_Rockets]

Heading to Gull Lake View Resort in August, Michigan next week with a group of 12 for year #2 of our annual golf trip. The resort offers 6 courses, and we are going to play 5 of them. It goes without saying, this has been the slowest, longest week of the year!

Me and one of the other guys in the group is heading up a day early to play The Medalist in Marshall, MI as well, so a full slate of golf ahead - can't wait!

Edited August 29 by Hosel_Rockets

[RoverRick]

On 1/9/2024 at 1:16 PM, Ben_Howell34 said:

I have always wanted to go to Sea Island, so I am interested to hear about your experience!

 

We have an annual golf trip and this is the 4th year we have done it. 12 guys. We do a cheaper trip every other year and a nicer trip the other years. This year is a little nicer. We are going to St. George, Utah and playing Sand Hollow, The Ledges of St. George, Coral Canyon, and finishing up in Mesquite and playing Wolf Creek with a night in Vegas after that. Going in late April so hopefully the weather is great. I’ve never played desert golf so I am pumped for the opportunity!

I just got back from St George on Sunday. We played Black Desert. Beautiful course. Upper management managed to practically ruin the whole experience for everyone. We had 3 courses planned to play but after Black Desert, we canceled the other 2. Although the early  Saturday am golf cancellation had Friday night in Vegas as a contributing factor. I posted a thread about this. But here are some pictures. 

This is a “work trip” and we go somewhere every year. Coeur D’Alene ID, Tampa Bay, Puerto Rico, Orlando….  This was going to be the best. This course was awesome, but the Tour money coming in and perhaps the newness of the course made for some management decisions that almost ruined it for me.