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Help me plan my 40th birthday trip


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if you've got license to take a special trip for your 40th, you sure as hell shouldn't come to alabama ... if you can't take more than 5 days, then pinehurst is probably the only place ... streamsong is great, but you get an iconic course at PH, plus a very, very good one in #4, plus a couple others that are top notch, compared to 3 courses at ss that, while fabulous courses, do not approach the status of #2 PH or PH in general ... plus you have more time there ... could probably get in 3 courses in ireland/scotland, but they'd have to be near each other and an airport ... probably ballybunion, lahinch and a 3rd near shannon ... an extra day would really help you out there ...

 

Easy for him to play 4 days of golf in Scotland on his schedule around Edinburgh or Glasgow. So many great options for courses. All the St Andrews area courses, Muirfield, N Berwick, Gullane, Carnoustie, Crail, Leven, Carnoustie, Troon, Prestwick, Turnberry and more all within 2h of Edinburgh Airport.

 

it's doable, but just a bit tight on 4 days ... having to return to work on tuesday hampers it a bit, but that flight out of stewart makes it doable ... if he's planning on driving to PH, then i'd def do scotland ... bit of a drive down to charlotte from NJ ... would def have to pick a group from above ... troon/toc/muirfield are all out as they are booked through the year and probably not available ... turnberry/prestwick/gailes in ayr ... gullane/berwick/gullane in lothian ... etc ... for pinehurst, he can fly out of philly to charlotte and be there late th or early fri, play all day fri/sat/sun/mon, and easily fly back late monday or even tues morning ...

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

 

you shouldn't be disappointed ... you can easily (relatively) get a tee time in spring or late fall and fly over from nj, play quickly and get back if you so desired ... any links course in scotland is going to be vastly different from anything you've ever played and will give you a real treat, but if you're going in sept, you'll have a hard time getting on ... not impossible ...

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

 

Only you can really answer that question.

 

We went over a couple of years ago and built the trip around the Old Course, that was my reason for going. But I'm older than you so my chances for getting back are lower. But you can absolutely golf your brains out with St Andrew's as a base and not play the Old Course.

 

Carnoustie is about a 45 minute drive. If you want to play that you can driver there, play the Championship course in the AM (where they hold the Open), grab lunch at the club (they are very friendly) and then play Buddon or Burnside in the PM.

 

The New Course and Jubilee are both very nice if you can't get on the Old. Then there are the local options like Crail and Elie to name a couple.

 

On the modern side there is the Castle course and Kingsbarns.

 

So, there's no shortage of golf and you'll definitely get the experience if you go for a short trip. It will really come down to confirming availability on the courses you want to play. Most (all ?) offer advance booking except for the Old Course so you can plan it out now and see if it's worth it.

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

I agree with jvincent above. The experience of the town of St Andrews is brilliant, and there's a ton of good golf within a short drive. If you want a championship test, you could probably schedule Carnoustie, and make a 36 hole day there with one of the two other courses on site. The Old Course is closed to play on Sunday, so you can at least take a walk around and see all the famous holes. It'll just make you want to return and play the Old. I've been lucky enough to have been there twice, and I'd go back tomorrow if I could.

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I just became more thankful that I don’t have to ask my wife to do stuff. If you don’t expect to be able to do this often, I’d say go all out and go to Scotland. You’d need more time than you’re allowing for it though. You either need to find a way to make it a week, and if you can’t, go to Bandon or Cabot.

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BANDON...

 

3 days of golf is good there. One thing you said is you want an immersive golf experience, I don’t imagine there is much more of that than Bandon. Bandon is a golf resort in the middle of nowhere. No families, no frills just what you need for the ultimate golf experience.

 

Depending on time of year, you can catch a flight out of the east coast and fly into Portland, Eugene or Coos Bay. If you fly out between 3 & 5 on the East Coast Thurs. you can get in in time for an afternoon round on Fri. 36 on Sat & 36 Sun. Play the Preserve early Monday and boom your off for a long day of travel. Use Ship Sticks so there is no chance your clubs don’t make it.

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Hey so here’s a little out of the box trip that mimics something I’m taking in two weeks that wasn’t on your radar but perhaps doable, if you want the full whirlwind trip. Sandwich England. All times local.

 

Thursday:

22:10- Depart New York/Jersey (Norwegian air JFK-Gatwick)

 

Friday:

10:10-Plane touches down in London

11:20- Drive/bus/train Airport to Sandwich 90-120 min by car

13:30- arrive Sandwich: rest or play a course of your choosing. (North Foreland, Princes, etc)

Sleep

 

Saturday: Play Princes or Royal Cinque Ports (Both British Open Courses in the 30’s)

 

Sunday: Play the other of the two (36 holes are possible, Princes has 27 holes on property, RCP has an all you can play day rate)

 

Monday: Play Royal St. Georges 2020 British Open host.

Post-round: return to airport

17:00- Depart England, Norwegian Air Gatwick-JFK

20:05- Arrive JFK

 

Tuesday: Go to work with an amazing story

 

Costs: Hypothetical Norwegian Flights $319+$439+$120 for clubs

Princes: £105/18 holes

Royal Cinque Ports: £185/18–£205/day

Royal St Georges: £225/18

 

Princes has an on-site lodge and offers packages for stay-and-play with the other courses included. Hypothetical itinerary was priced as weekend of 8/8-8/12 and assumed peak rack rate at all courses.

 

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I'm not averse to plane travel, but it needs to not be a crazy kind of travel time. I think that Bandon, Cabot and Scotland would end up taking a full day out of my schedule and/or would be better served by having more time at the destination.

 

This is true. But there are lots of other September destinations that are easier to get to.

 

- Wisconsin (Erin Hills, four Kohler courses, The Bull, etc)

- Michigan (lots of good courses around Traverse City)

- RT Jones trail in Alabama (lots of good courses. you could stay in Birmingham and play Ross Bridge and others)

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

 

There is no way I would try to play Scotland or Ireland on your short schedule. You are only 40, so you have many years to take a proper trip to Scotland or Ireland. Those need at least a week, preferably 10 - 14 days.

 

Also, to get a guaranteed spot on TOC will cost $500 or more.

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

 

There is no way I would try to play Scotland or Ireland on your short schedule. You are only 40, so you have many years to take a proper trip to Scotland or Ireland. Those need at least a week, preferably 10 - 14 days.

 

Also, to get a guaranteed spot on TOC will cost $500 or more.

And even those available through the Old Course Experience and other packagers will probably be booked already. If someone wants to go to St Andrews, lan a year in advance, try the yearly Advance Reservation System to get on TOC at the normal rate.

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How much of a disgrace would it be to go and stay at St. Andrews and NOT play the old course? I know it is the home of golf, and I would absolutely love to play it, but if I left without having gotten to play, but played my balls off at all the other courses in/around St. Andrews how disappointed would I be?

 

There is no way I would try to play Scotland or Ireland on your short schedule. You are only 40, so you have many years to take a proper trip to Scotland or Ireland. Those need at least a week, preferably 10 - 14 days.

 

Also, to get a guaranteed spot on TOC will cost $500 or more.

And even those available through the Old Course Experience and other packagers will probably be booked already. If someone wants to go to St Andrews, lan a year in advance, try the yearly Advance Reservation System to get on TOC at the normal rate.

 

Yes your only chance at the old course is the morning draw and showing up super early.

 

Also I would assume this wouldn't be the only trip you would ever take to Scotland. If you only plan on one trip ever over there then 4 days of golf is not enough but the travel times work great and you will get as much or more golf in over there than any of your other potential destinations. And your 40th birthday is special. You don't want to goto Alabama and play average RTJ courses for example for a big birthday like that. I turn 40 in a week and just getting done w a quick trip to Ireland which has made me feel better about the impending milestone.

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Guys, Thanks for all the help. There is lots to pour over. One thing I left out over sort of due to embarrasment is the trip isn't until september of 2020 :) I was talking to my wife over dinner and mentioned how there were a few sort of "epic" golf destinations that I wanted to eventually get to, and she was like, "then go for your 40th" I figured I'd post on here to get an idea, but didn't want people to know how excited I was for a trip 18 months away. I know I'll have other opportunities to go on trips, I'm only 40, and all that, but I've got two little kids who will get more and more busy schedules as the years go on, and the opportunities for me to take a "Me" trip is not all that great, especially a longer one for a while.

 

After so much input and a little bit of searching on my part I am heavily leaning towards St. Andrews. I can get direct flights from Newark which work really nicely. It was finding the "3 day unlimited" golf pass that really made me lean towards this. Pinehurst would have been averaging 200-250/round where the 3 day pass is ~330 for all the golf I could want. If I can get out on the old course one of those days (time to get in on the lottery) I'd still be way less than golf in Pinehurst would cost me if I plan on playing 36 a day (which I do). I had planned on doing September because my birthday is the 30th, but I might look into doing mid summer since I don't have to worry about as many other things going on at St. Andrews and days would be even longer. Lots is up in the air and will depend on who comes with me.

 

I have floated the idea to a few friends and my brother and I've gotten some interest, so we might have a foursome, there is also the possibility of me going all by my lonesome. I'm actually cool with that as I'm a loaner. If I end up going by myself, I'll have the most flexibility with the schedule and can just shop around for cheap airfare and also would have the best chance of getting on the old course by myself as a walk up in the morning.

 

thanks for all the help everyone, and I'm sure to keep looking at this thread as I get closer and closer to the trip actually happening.

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The Old Course has a singles lottery in the fall for the following season. It's worth a shot if you believe you might be going solo.

 

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No need to apologize about early planning, especially if you end up going to Scotland.

 

Planning these trips is part of the fun.

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I did Scotland for my 40th. Would be a huge disgrace to not play the Old IMO

 

Full write up

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1535254-opbs-east-lothian-and-st-andrews-adventures-pic-heavy/

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Ok, so I’m gonna do Scotland. I might have a hard time talking my brother and buddy into joining even though it’s probably cheaper than Pinehurst because of greens fees. I’m coming around to the idea of traveling by myself won’t be terrible and I’ll be able to play as much as I want. I also might move the trip to the summer instead of September. That will allow me to probably have 4 full days of golf which if I play 36 a day will let me hit a lot of the great courses around St. Andrews.

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Great thread. Aiming for Ireland or Scotland for my 50th in 4 years. Been to Bandon numerous times and it is golf heaven but a little tougher to get to from the East Coast. We just wrapped up our 5th annual guys trip and went to Monterey Area for 4 nights which allowed 7 rounds and was unbelievable. Of the 5 trips the best one is still Kohler/Erin Hills. Have fun planning, trips like this are so memorable.

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I have been to all of these except streamsong and I would say hands down Bandon should be the choice. They run a direct flight from Denver to OTH during the summer so you can leave your house in the morning and be on the tee by three. I thought Bandon was hands down the best golf experience of my life and heads and shoulders above the others. Have fun and good luck

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