Golf tour operators are rebounding after two years ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Australian golfers are dreaming of fairways abroad in what can only be described as…

Featured image: Getty images: Patrick Smith

Planning a bucket-list golf adventure? E-mail and the internet have allowed people to plan holidays without the need for a travel agent. Yet, increasingly, golf tour operators appear to be in great demand because of their intimate knowledge of ‘what golfers want’.

From arranging tee-times and on-ground transfers to obtaining tickets for the Masters and The Open, experienced golf tour operators are thriving in spite of the digital age. Australian Golf Digest interviewed three tour operators about how they’re each growing their business.

Glenn Hedley has used his vast experience in the travel industry, dating back to 1978 when he worked for Singapore Airlines in reservations and ticketing. While working as sales and marketing manager for Swiss Air in New Zealand, Hedley observed the success of the All Blacks and realised an opportunity. In 1993 he established Events Worldwide with a major focus on tours to major sporting events – rugby union, cricket, tennis, motor sports and golf – both domestic and international. For example, a Rugby World Cup in France with a golf component built into the itinerary.

Now known as Events Travel, the family-run business (which includes Hedley’s wife Gayle and their two sons among nine staff) has blossomed into an intercontinental enterprise. Events Travel is unique in that it’s the only tour operator outside the UK and America that is an ‘Authorised Provider’ of tickets for the Open Championship.

After assisting 330 people to attend the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush, Events Travel has almost 700 people attending The Open at St Andrews this July. It’s sold extremely well because of the pent-up demand for the 150th Open Championship.

Australians comprise 30 to 40 percent of Events Travel customers for The Open. The majority are international golfers who purchase a ticket to an event in Scotland from a company based on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Getty images: David Cannon

Significantly, the R&A introduced a ballot of tickets for this year’s Open, ending the long-time tradition of ‘gate sales’. It received more than two million ballot applications – with between 50,000 and 60,000 tickets allocated per day. Hence, the chances of acquiring a ticket via ballot are very low.

Hedley concedes it puts Events Travel (events.com.au) in the box seat.

“We have those rights and the spin-off from that is tremendous because you’ve got ongoing business but you’ve also got global sales. So we can sell these anywhere. The majority of sales are out of the US, purely by scale. I think we’ll probably, in the future, get more Aussies – if they get onto the fact that they need to buy in advance.”

By comparison, the high cost of ticketing and accommodation can be a deterrent for people wishing to attend the Masters Tournament at Augusta where tickets are currently more than $US2,000 a day. Hedley insists it’s not the case for The Open (where a ticket has traditionally sold for about 100).

“For that reason, we get way more people attending The Open because they (the R&A) have a structure where we can access a considerable number of event tickets and hospitality at sensible rates. The Masters – for most fans – will remain a dream whereas The Open can easily be a reality.”

For the 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool, Hedley is able to offer two different products: one for people to attend the event that don’t play golf (Events Travel); and another for customers who wish to combine watching golf with playing a lot of golf in the area surrounding the Open venue (Voyages.golf).

Historically, Events Travel occasionally operated some escorted golf tours. But as they were not event-related, it was hard to put them into its framework of events. So in 2017 it decided to establish a new leisure golf division. The company took 18 months developing Voyages.golf (based upon the French word ‘voyages’ for travel). The website has a directory with more than 400 golf destinations. 

Voyages.golf lends itself to golf cruises where ships may be chartered to take large groups on river or ocean cruises to golf destinations. For instance, an 85-person charter cruise around New Zealand playing Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers and visiting Queenstown on the South Island. And while specialising in tours for larger groups, the company now has the flexibility to facilitate trips for individuals, such as a two-week, self-drive golf tour of Ireland.

The accidental tour operator

Darren Cope is the quintessential golf tour operator who ‘fell into it’ by accident. While running a successful commercial landscape business employing up to 50 people, Cope has been hosting tours to Tasmania’s Barnbougle Dunes for the past 17 years.

Cope built upon his extensive network of contacts as a past captain of Moonah Links and president of Golf Peninsula Victoria. By word of mouth, he was able to branch out and began escorting trips overseas with Fore Play Golf Tours.

Voyages.golf cruises to places like Kauri Cliffs. Photo by Gary Lisbon

Now rebranded as D’Lux Golf Tours (dluxgolftours.com), Cope hosts fully escorted tours to the Masters, Ireland and Scotland on an annual basis. Once again, his network of curators and supers has proven invaluable in building a boutique business, specialising in tailor-made holidays – and recognised with the 2019 International Customer Service Award (ICSP).

A feature of D’Lux Golf Tours is that it’s a one-stop shop, not hand-balling duties to sub-contractors. For instance, Cope will accompany 28 people to this year’s Open where he has arranged four rounds (five nights) in Edinburgh and two rounds (three nights) in St Andrews. Seven of the party are non-golfers, so he took the initiative to arrange theatre visits on the Edinburgh leg.

You only live twice

Courtesy of his victory at the 2006 Japan Open, Paul Sheehan has parlayed a career as a touring professional into a successful business as a golf tour operator in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Sheehan spent 14 seasons playing professionally in Japan, winning five titles. His status sees him invited to the annual champions dinner for the Japan Open while it’s not uncommon for fans to ask for a photo or invite him out for a meal.

With his career winding down in 2015, a few Australians reached out to Sheehan with the desire to play some of the top courses in Japan. With a nice network of friendships, including golf course owners, Sheehan looked into it and offered to host the golf trip for them.

“So that’s how it all started. Took a few people on some trips, they come back and told their friends. And before I knew it, sort of overnight, we had a golf travel business.”

These days Sheehan spends 12 weeks a year in Japan, escorting some 400 people to a country with approximately 2,300 golf courses. Sheehan’s business, Elite Japan, facilitates the injection of $5-7 million into the Japanese economy annually. (Conversely, Sheehan hosts Japanese golfers on trips to Australia and the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.)

Paul Sheehan uses his knowledge of Japan from his playing days to assist travelling golfers.  Getty images: STR/AFP

Apart from the cultural novelty, Japan has the appeal of being able to play golf 10 months of the year in as many as 10 different regions. And due to his reputation, Sheehan can gain access to top-50 courses in Japan, many of which are exclusive private clubs.

That’s been a quantum leap from 30 years ago. Golf tourism in Japan was negligible prior to the bursting of the Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s. Whereas golf was ridiculously expensive then, Elite Japan can put together a seven-night package with five rounds of golf in 4-star accommodation for about $5,500 (twin share, with on-ground transfers not including airfares).

“Japan’s always been a place that I’ve loved,” Sheehan adds. “It’s been good to me with my career and so on. In some ways it was a great way to give back to a country that’s been so good to me.”