Golf is a traveling sport. Whether it’s a quick weekend away or a full two-week trip to Scotland, golfers love to pack up the clubs and play on courses out of town, hoping that this will be the trip where that slice finally disappears.
For many golfers, they aren’t going cheap on these excursions. According to the 2025 Buffalo Groupe Golf Travel Study, nearly half of all active golf travelers annually budget $5,000 or more to get away.
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Whether you’re one of those big spenders or just planning a few days away with a couple of friends, you want to make sure that money isn’t wasted. To do that, you need a plan that’s as solid as a flushed 7 iron, so here’s some advice.
Leave Group Logistics to One Person
A great trip can fall apart over a forgotten dinner reservation or a "who-owes-who" Venmo dispute on the third green. Avoid that drama by appointing a trip commissioner. This should be someone respected by the group and who actually enjoys creating and managing spreadsheets.
This person’s job is to handle all the essential details, such as booking travel, managing accommodations, arranging transportation, scheduling tee times, and making dinner reservations. This avoids any crossed wires or misunderstandings that could leave someone without a seat at the table or a spot on the tee box.
Another suggestion: Have this commissioner collect an upfront deposit a few months in advance. They can then use this fund for lodging, car rentals, and tee times. That way, you aren’t left doing math on the back of a napkin at the 19th hole to figure out who owes what.
OK, one more. Don’t spend all of your budget on $400 green fees. Pick one trophy course that everyone wants to play, and make that the centerpiece of the trip. Surround it with quality local courses to balance the budget.
Keep Your Clubs Safe
What would be worse than working out all the details on what is going to be the trip of the year and grabbing your driver on the first tee of your first round, only to find that the shaft is bent or broken?
Keeping your cubs safe during travel isn’t tough, but it does require a little planning. Start by dropping a GPS tracker, such as an Apple AirTag, into a pocket of your club bag. That will allow you to track their location, from the tarmac to your final destination.
Second, grab a support bar and insert it into your bag before you put that bag into a hard-sided travel case. Both will help your clubs withstand rough handling by baggage handlers as they are loaded onto or unloaded from the plane.
Finally, book transportation that’s big enough so you aren’t trying to cram golf bags and luggage into an undersized vehicle. If your party is four to six people, you'll need to book a large SUV or a minivan. If it’s bigger than that, you’re better off with a 12-passenger van.
Automate the Leaderboard
Ditch the paper scorecards and use a dedicated app when keeping score. Here are three to consider.
- The Grint: If you and your friends use the USGA’s GHIN handicaps, this app will automatically pull your data so everyone has a fair fight. It also supports games like Skins, Wolf, Nassau, and Vegas if your group likes to put a little something extra on each round.
- 18Birdies: An app that’s better suited to smaller, more casual groups. It’ll keep score for groups up to four and also supports different play styles, like Scramble and Best Ball.
- Squabbit: If your group is overly large or you want to do something more complicated, like tracking scoring across the entire trip and playing multiple formats over multiple days, this is the app for you.
You might also want to consider using scoring systems like Net Stableford or Quora to flatten out differences in ability among your players. Each of these systems rewards great shots but doesn’t blow up a player’s day for one hole gone wrong.
Managing the On-Course Experience
The biggest mistake travelers make is over-scheduling, cramming as much golf in as possible. At home, when everyone is working out the details, playing 36 holes a day sounds great. And it isn't until you hit the 27th hole of the day and you're tired, sore, and trying to keep your collar from further irritating a freshly sunburned neck.
The trip will be more enjoyable if you stick to one quality round per day. That way, everyone is fresh for the next day and not so worn out that they are unable to enjoy a good meal and drinks that evening.
Last tip: everyone should agree to approach the trip with a fresh-start mentality. Travel can be chaotic. Flights get canceled. Rental cars can suddenly be unavailable. And let’s not even talk about the weather and what it can do to planned rounds. But if everyone agrees that tomorrow is a new day, and we aren’t going to bring frustrations from yesterday into today, we can laugh off everything over a round of drinks and start over. You’ve invested too much into this trip to let a little logistical turbulence or a slice into the woods ruin your good time.