A simpler life…with golf

An article in Sunday’s New York Times was forwarded to me by several people given that at one stage it stated;

“Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor of public affairs, population, health and economics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, recently published research examining nine major categories of consumption. He discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles.”

As we all know, golf is a unique sport in that it also delivers an unusually high level of camaraderie for the participants. I am sure we are not the only ones in the travel industry who hope that the New York Times  is correct!

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+

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International Travel and iPhones – part 2

To follow is a continuation of Larry Olmsted’s experience with his iPhone and AT&T when travelling overseas, including a nice plug for PerryGolf;


Playing Golf Abroad? Do NOT Bring Your iPhone!

TAP imageEarlier this year I had the incredible pleasure of playing in the pro-am at the Mayakoba Classic, the only PGA Tour event in Mexico, on the Greg Norman designed El Camaleon course. I also played some other great courses in the Rivera Maya, stayed at posh hotels like the Fairmont Mayakoba, and drank lots of beers and margaritas. In short I had a wonderful time.

Until AT&T … Read more


 

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+

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A dream to come true

After 27 years in the golf travel business I have heard many variations on the same, understandable  theme, that to play the Old Course at St. Andrews is a life long goal. Many of the time it is fathers and sons who view a Scottish golf pilgrimage as the ultimate bonding experience.  Regardless of the reasons, many golfers throughout the world aspire to stand in front of the R & A Clubhouse and hear their name called by the starter as they tee off on the “Home of Golf”.

Later in August we are conducting a trip to St. Andrews for Mike Reeder, a double amputee Vietnam War Vetern. Mike carries a 12 handicap and has been playing golf for the last 20 years. Mike has long held the dream of playing the Old Course and we are very proud that PerryGolf can be part of that experience. He shall be accompanied on this trip by Deborah, his non golfing spouse.  His trip has been made possible by the generosity of the charity, Challenged Athletes, which helps people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle.

Recognizing the unique travel challenges that Mike faces, PerryGolf staff have worked behind the scenes to ensure his dream  trip is as good as it can possibly be. Due to availability, we paired Mike with a threesome (husband, wife & grandson) on the Old Course.

Recently ESPN picked up on Mike’s story due to an article in The Tennessean and have assigned a film crew from E.60 to record Mike’s Scottish experience.  As a courtesy to the threesome of golfers, we wrote to them to explain the situation as it related to why a camera crew would be following their group around the Old Course. The gentleman in the group replied;

We look forward to meeting Mike , our son Craig is also a double amputee  — he sponsors a golf tournament  ( Cancer for College— they provide tuition money for cancer and amputee’s I each year with his college fraternity brother Will Farrell  the actor, so we are well aware of the challenges etc — I am also a Vietnam veteran USMC !!”

It certainly gives you more than cause to pause and consider your life and the many blessings we have. By chance, we have two families playing the Old Course who have given so much for others.  As a result of this notoriety, Mike will appear on CNN this morning (August 4, between 9 – 10am CST) to speak of his upcoming trip to St. Andrews.

We shall certainly chronicle Mike’s visit to St. Andrews and do everything in our power to make the trip exceed his expectations.
 

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+

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International Travel and iPhones

This blog from our good friend Larry Olmsted caught my eye as it is a topic I have commented on previously


iPhone – Sometimes Less is Less

TAP imageI feel violated. Two weeks ago, Steve Jobs and company broke into my home, changed my computer settings, and stopped my iPhone from working.

Really.

This is what technology has come to. Instead of the grandiose promise of the future with flying cars, robot servants and computers and phones that both work and make life easier, I get to spend half a day trying to fix my … Read more


 

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+

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U.S. Open Champion connection

Fortunately I receive a steady stream of positive messages from returning clients to our destinations and this morning I received the following email from a multiple repeat client from Milwaukee;

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Gordon
I would assume that you enjoy hearing good stories about PerryGolf experiences, so I have one for you. Last Wednesday, the day before the start of the US Open, I was playing golf with my old friend Bob Wells. I hit a shot into the rough.  We both saw it, but we couldn’t find it.  I told Bob, “if I had your caddie, this wouldn’t be a problem”. Although we had not talked about it for years, he knew exactly what I was referring to.
On our first PerryGolf trip to Ireland, in 1999, Bob’s bag was carried by the finest caddie either of us has ever experienced.  He was a young, cocky college kid wearing Oakley sunglasses.  Everyone in our group hit a number of shots into the brutal rough at Portrush, and no matter how badly we hit it, he could walk right up and find it.  It was if he had a ball radar detector or an extra sleeve of balls for each player.  We had a great time with him.  He planned to come to the US to play golf in college and we wished him well.  Bob asked me if I remembered his name, but try as I might, I could not.  I told Bob that I was calling the third member of our group, Nate Miles, on Monday so I would ask him.
Over the weekend his name finally came to me.  When I called Nate on Monday, I asked him if he remembered that caddie and his name.  “How I can forget him!” Nate said. “We expected big things from him, and it is safe to say that Graeme McDowell has now fulfilled our high expectations”.
BW
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This email remind me of another client who befriended Richie Ramsay while on a PerryGolf trip. Their first meeting was at Royal Aberdeen where Richie served as his caddy. Subsequently Richie traveled to the US as a guest of this gentleman and won the U.S. Amateur in 2006. In 2009 Richie won the South African Open.

 

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+

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