Golf Trips

I was scheduled to play a round yesterday at a course west of Philadelphia and the rain/cold had other ideas for me.  It's still raining today which made me think this would be a great time to write about golf trips. 

How It All Began

In 2005 I had my first golf trip.  When I graduated college, my cousin gave me a card with two options, a suit or a golf trip.  Knowing I needed a suit to go on job interviews I promptly chose golf trip.  Later, it was my uncle who said he'd like to take me on a golf weekend for as a present.  The momentum was building right before my eyes... I put the two of them in touch and when it was all said and done, we were going to the Seaview Marriott in Galloway, NJ for our trip (This course is now a Dolce Resort).

(IN 2005 we stopped in NYC to pick up my cousin and head south to Galloway, NJ)

We created a cup, named after my grandfather who had passed away that year (I don't think he golfed once in his life but we needed a name) and decided whoever wins will get their name and the year.  I didn't know it at the time, but a tradition was born.  I wish I had more pictures from that first year but going forward I'm sure to document as much of the trip as possible.  I'll go into more detail as to why in a future post.

In 2006 we almost didn't have a trip but some last minute heroics had 5 of us packed in one AmeriSuites room in Mystic, CT.  We played 3 rounds at a course in Stonington, CT, I won and hopped a flight out of Hartford to Disney World (This is actually not a joke, I had to fly out right after for work). 

2007 we got our act together and went to Myrtle Beach... this would be the first golf trip I booked online.  I was nervous because it involved coordinating flights and times but it worked out for all 7 guys.

2008 was Ocean City, MD.  Again this time we booked online going to place we had never been before.  It was a great time and we had 8 guys.

2009 was our 5th Anniversary trip so we went to Atlantic City, NJ which was close enough to play at the Seaview Marriott again as a reunion of sorts.  We had 10 guys.

In 2010 I have 3 golf trips planned:

• Portsmouth, NH (May)
• Ocean City, MD (June)
• Annual Trip in September (I think Myrtle Beach but not confirmed yet)

I'll be documenting everything so I can give as much detail as possible for everyone. 

Golf Trip Posts: What Can I Expect?

I'll try to touch on as much detail as possible.  I'll let you know websites I use, cost saving tips, things to make it competitive, how to select courses, etc.  I'll give an inside look into what I have been doing for the past 5 years to make sure every guy has a good time when he pays for the trip.   In the end it's really about getting away and having a good time.

Stay tuned for golf trip posts!

Note: Congrats to Jason Bohn on his 2nd PGA Tour win at the Zurich (New Orleans, LA).  If you saw his post round interview, you would see this guy is genuinely excited to win!  Congrats!

Comments

[Wayne Gretzky]

I am planning a golf trip in Ocean City, MD for a bachelor party. Problem is that I have a bunch of deadbeats in the group and it is impossible getting money upfront from these guys. One guy in particular keeps telling me that he is good for it, but I play hockey with him and his brother, and they never pay. How would you handle this??

[WAM Golf]

You mean to tell me you have people in your group who say they're in and when the time comes to pay they don't? Wayne, I find this hard to believe! haha.

It's one of the biggest problems any time you book anything for a group and try to collect. Everyone is in until it's time to pay. You seem like a guy who knows how to collect money so my guess is you're going to get it. In the future, if you use a "booking site", you can usually set it up so everyone can pay for the trip directly to the site. You will have to put the deposit but then everyone pays the site directly. This allows guys to use credit cards instead of checks or cash which they might be short on at the time.

Ocean City, MD is a great place to have an event and I'm sure you'll have a good time.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Wayne Gretzky]

Yeah, I realized after the fact that the guys could have paid the agent directly. Oh well, lessoned learned. I will just have to beat the guys on the course to make some money back!!!