As someone who has travelled for 35 years and counting I am consistently amazed by the sheer lack of service and consideration provided by the airlines. This Conde Nast blog posting is an excellent review of the significance of the new rules and how they affect you. Foreign airlines are exempted BUT not the code share component, so buying a ticket on Air France under the guise of a Delta ticket may have some benefit.
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him onGoogle+
One of the wonderful side benefits of having a career in golf travel are the many related activities which are of similar enjoyment, generally all of these activities relate to golf! Golf related publishing is one of them and the aptly named “18 greatest Scottish Golf Holes” http://18greatestgolf.com/ is the latest addition to review. This book has just been released and is available for sale exclusively through a small collection of some of the premier private clubs in the USA and Scotland. The book itself charts 18 great holes of Scottish golf; from the Old Course at St. Andrews (17th Hole) to far less well known Hopeman Golf Club (12th Hole) in the Highlands, on the non links side it includes Loch Lomond (7th Hole) to the Kings Course at Gleneagles (13th Hole).
One of the most remarkable aspects of the book is the quality and variety of the photography. At every turn the author has striven to capture the essence of the Scottish golf experience with marvelous vistas and “personality” shots which capture the ambiance of the country and those who play golf. Craig Morrison and Andrew Ross who authored this book have a vision to create a series of similar books from other golfing destinations. If they maintain this same quality and creativeness, they shall surely do extremely well. If you are a collector of great golf books then I would respectfully suggest it needs to be added to your portfolio.
If a picture speaks 1,000 words it is difficult to properly capture the depth of this book, my best explanation is that if you enjoy Scotland and Scottish golf, then this book is a must have for your collection as it will doubtless bring back fond memories of golf in the “Home of Golf”.
If you are interested, please drop me an email (gordon.dalgleish@perrygolf.com) and I will gladly help direct you to an outlet for the the book.
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him onGoogle+
I received the following image and text from a friend. This is great stuff, that you simply cannot make up.
Which way to driving range, please?
“This Asian man who spoke only broken English actually thought that his “practice round badge” actually allowed him to “play a practice round” at Augusta National. One of the grounds maintenance guys (others in the background) actually stopped and took the picture. You can see that I am struggling to restrain from laughing totally out loud. My partner, is not in the picture because he is actually just out of the left side of the frame rolling from laughter in the pine straw, from laughter.”
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him onGoogle+
Golfers will forever enjoy the sensation of discovering that “new golf destination”. A recent trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic provided that experience for me. Situated on the eastern tip of the D.R., Punta Cana Resort & Club is entirely master planned. In recent years it has become popular as a destination of choice for many of the “all inclusive” resorts. These resorts, for the most part are situated to the north of the Punta Cana airport and offer various levels of service and price points.
For golfers however, the Punta Cana Resort & Club is the jewel to be discovered. When you scratch below the surface there are a multitude of fascinating storylines that emerge; the purchase of 30 square miles of jungle in 1969 with no road access, the commitment of the owners to improve their country through tourism, the sustainable tourism plans they have adopted, the rerouting of an international airport runway to enhance a golf experience, an airport arrival and departure process which is far from the ordinary, and a hotel experience at the very highest level.
The airport is owned by the same company who own the new Tom Fazio course, Corales and the Tortuga Bay hotel. They seamlessly blend together their businesses to ultimately deliver a memorable and unique product. The Punta Cana airport is the third busiest in the Caribbean and enjoys scheduled service from most major East Coast U.S. cities plus London, Frankfurt, Moscow, etc. As a guest of Tortuga Bay, as you deplane you are met by a hotel representative and whisked thru the arrival formalities via VIP lanes. Luggage is delivered and you are quickly sitting in a hotel vehicle for the 5 minute ride to the hotel. Tortuga Bay has only 30 suites in 13 villas alongside the beach. It is charming and comfortable with a superb staff.
The original golf course is La Cana, built by P.B. Dye in 2000. It has three holes played directly alongside the beach and is a very enjoyable course. Officially opened this month, the Corales course by Tom Fazio is a solid Fazio design. It can be safely discussed in the same conversation with Eagle Point, Calusa Pines or Caves Valley. Tom has delivered a fine course to the owners. From a conditioning standpoint, it is equal to his U.S. projects and given the commitment of the ownership, I believe that shall remain true over time. P.B. Dye is in the process of building the Hacienda course across the street from La Cana and it is scheduled to open either late 2010 or more likely 2011. I drove 9 holes with P.B. this past weekend and it certainly appears that it will be a fine test of golf. The current plan calls for the original La Cana course to be refurbished once Hacienda is open. Therefore, some time in 2012 they should have 3 very strong courses within 5 mins of a world class hotel and 5 minutes from a superior airport. A golfers dream!
Away from golf, they have a Six Senses Spa (the first in North America) with staff from Thailand. My wife, as a bit of a spa junkie and connoisseur was thoroughly impressed with the experience.
The departure experience at the airport was equally special, with VIP lines, lounges and for icing on the cake, a golf cart to the steps of your scheduled aircraft. It did not go unnoticed that they are re-routing the airport runway by what looked like 30 degrees to avoid overflight of the new Fazio Course and adjacent homesites…that is impressive!
If you are seeking a warm weather destination that is luxurious yet unpretentious, with excellent golf, spa and dining opportunities, I think you will not be disappointed in Tortuga Bay. I know I shall be returning and hope to see you there!
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him onGoogle+
I have previously commented on the challenges facing the golf travel industry and our business in particular. Whereas, 15 months ago, our typical client; the car dealer, builder, stockbroker, etc were embroiled in their own challenges of saving their businesses and navigating very dangerous waters, we are seeing a very different landscape in 2010. Let me be clear, the world has not returned to the old normal, but the view is very different today than the first half of 2009. That was a period when very few people were interested in thinking about travel opportunities, let alone committing to them. As a result, various suppliers, including hotels, golf courses, airlines and tour operators like ourselves were offering a wide variety of value pricing and value added incentives to try to lure potential travelers into making a firm decision.
As the economy has stabilized, we have certainly witnessed much of what the New York Times article discussed. Our core clientele has returned in some numbers to the golf travel marketplace. Their average spend may have decreased and some of the luxuries they took for granted before may have been curtailed but importantly there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that after a year long hiatus, many of our clients are getting back into travel.
One effect of this uptick in demand is a tightening of availability and price pressures. We have seen comments from travellers who declined to travel in 2009 and could not understand the increase in cost for 2010…this increase while modest would have been a function of suppliers raising rates, eliminating value added programs such as a free 4th night and other discounts. It also serves as a small window into their business as various suppliers begin to feel better about how their advance bookings look and are willing to take a risk by increasing yield….never an option in 2009!
One simple barometer of the travel climate is availability of frequent flyer tickets to Europe in the summer. Last summer you could have travelled with little effort during the peak summer months, using free tickets at generally the lowest mileage cost. I recall noticing Business Class seats were available departing Glasgow the day after the British Open at Turnberry for the lowest mileage option. Most definitely not the case this summer.
In summary, the golf travel industry is looking up, demand is improving but the deals that were available previously have mostly disappeared. Pricing however remains very good as compared to 2 – 3 years ago due to the relative strength of the US Dollar and a general resetting of prices at the destination.
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him onGoogle+
