The Old Course, Pebble Beach, Royal Melbourne and Casa de Campo, and a week at The Open: how the ballots, resort stays and handicap rules work at each, and how to build the trip around them.
Most Great Courses Are Bookable, on Their Own Terms
Plan the trip around each course's booking rules, then build the days around the tee times. As of October 2026, the Old Course gives many tee times through a daily ballot drawn two days before play, with a handicap limit of 36. Pebble Beach lets resort guests book up to 18 months ahead; everyone else books one day out.
Playing a famous course and watching a championship on one are two different trips. Playing is a question of access: a ballot, a resort stay, a handicap certificate, a home-club verification. Watching is a question of tickets and dates. This page is about playing, with a week at The Open as the one exception. For every other sport and event, start with sports and event travel.
The order of the rounds matters as much as the list. On links courses the wind decides how hard a day is, so the round that matters most goes early in the week, with a spare day behind it. Most travellers play better with a rest day after every two or three rounds. A partner who does not play needs a plan of their own, not a seat in the cart.
Coastal Golf
Before You Commit
Who a Golf Trip Suits, and Who It Does Not
You do not need to be an expert. You do need a handicap, and the stamina to walk.
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Right for: the club golfer
The Old Course asks for a handicap of 36 or lower, on a certificate or record from a recognised golf association, per the St Andrews Links Trust. That is a limit most regular club golfers already meet.
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Right for: members of a club
Private clubs that take visitors check membership. Royal Melbourne asks international visitors' home clubs to verify them as active members before a tee time, per its visitor page.
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Not right for: anyone who will not walk
Links golf is played on foot, often in wind and rain, and many golfers take a caddie rather than a cart. Several rounds in a week is a physical trip, not a resort holiday with golf on the side.
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Not right for: a non-golfer, unplanned
A partner who does not play will spend five hours alone each round day. It works only when their days are planned as carefully as the tee times.
Choose Your Courses
Where Golf Trips Go
Five places to play, each with its own route to a tee time, and one tournament to watch.
The Old Course is public, and there are two routes onto it. The first is an advance tee time, sold through application windows the year before the season. For 2027, one window, for eligible American Express Platinum and Centurion members, ran from to , per the Links Trust's application page.
The second is the daily ballot, a draw for tee times with results posted two days before play. A traveller who arrives without an advance time enters the ballot each eligible day and builds the week so a successful draw can be played. The Old Course is closed for play on Sundays, and for further periods through the year for course commitments, per the Old Course page. Every player must show a handicap of 36 or lower on documentation from a recognised golf association or union.
The Old Course is one of seven courses at St Andrews Links, which describes itself as the largest public golf complex in Europe; the New, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum, Balgove and Castle courses fill the rest of the week, per the Links Trust. Licensed caddies can be requested at any time before a tee time, and more notice improves the chance of one, per the Old Course booking page. For where to stay and what else to see, start with the UK and Ireland.
The Open · July 2027
Watching The Open, and Playing the Same Week
The 155th Open is at St Andrews from to , per The R&A, checked .
The Open moves between links venues in Scotland and England, and The R&A names each venue years ahead. In 2027 it returns to St Andrews. The week has two halves. Monday to Wednesday are practice days: the Last-Chance Qualifier on Monday 12 July, the Heroes Classic on Tuesday 13 July, and the players' final preparations on Wednesday 14 July. The Championship itself runs Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 July.
Practice days are the easier days to watch: fewer people, players close at hand, and time to walk the course. Championship days are the reason most people come. The public ticket ballot for 2027 has closed; The R&A's tickets and hospitality page lists the routes still open, including Ticket Plus and hospitality packages.
To play in the same week, plan the rounds on other courses: the Old Course is the Championship venue that week. The usual shape is rounds on nearby links on the days either side of the days spent watching, with the Links Trust's other courses or the coast beyond Fife filling the gaps.
Augusta · April
The Masters
Augusta National is a private club, so the Masters is a trip to watch, not to play. Augusta National allocates practice-round tickets and a limited number of daily tournament tickets through one online application a year, and the deadline for 2027 was , per its ticket FAQ. Everything else is in the Masters patron badges and practice-round access report.
Trip Shapes
Three Golf Weeks That Work
Each starts from one course's booking rules and builds outward.
July 2027 · St Andrews, Fife
Open Week Plus Two Rounds
Practice days and Championship days at St Andrews from 11 to 18 July 2027, with rounds on other links on the days you are not watching. Edinburgh is the usual arrival city.
Teeth of the Dog on a calm morning, the other courses on separate days, rest days between. The full plan is on the page for golf at Casa de Campo, sequenced.
Which application windows to enter, which nights to stay where, and how to leave room in the week for a ballot that comes up.
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Caddies
Requested in advance through each course, since more notice improves the chance of one.
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Transfers with Clubs
Vehicles sized for golf bags, and drive times between courses worked out before the rounds are booked.
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Rest Days and a Partner Plan
Days off between rounds, and days out for anyone travelling who does not play.
When to Go
When to Play Where
Scotland & Ireland
May – September
The long-daylight months for links golf, matching the late spring and summer season on the UK and Ireland page.
Links Season
The Open · St Andrews
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Practice days Monday to Wednesday, Championship Thursday to Sunday. Source: The R&A.
Melbourne & the Sandbelt
December – February
The southern summer, when Melbourne is at its peak, as the Australia page sets out.
The Caribbean
December – April
The dry season on the Dominican Republic page, ahead of its August to November hurricane peak.
Course rules and dates checked against each club's or governing body's site in . Confirm before booking flights.
Ready When You Are
Name the Course. I'll Build the Week.
Tell me which course you want to play, when, and who is coming, and I'll tell you which route to a tee time is realistic and plan the rest of the trip around it.
No booking fees · Response within one business day · Fully bespoke
What It Costs
What a Golf Trip Actually Costs
Priced by the round and the stay, not by the night
A golf week is green fees, caddies and the nights a course requires, and each course sets those on its own terms. A ballot round at a public links and a resort-stay round on the Pacific do not sit on one nightly scale.
What actually sets the number
Green fees: Pebble Beach Golf Links charges $695 a round from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
Required stays: advance Pebble Beach tee times need a minimum two-night stay at the resort
Tee times, ballots, handicaps, caddies, seasons and playing the week of The Open.
Through an advance application the year before, or the daily ballot, whose results are posted two days before play. Advance windows for a season open and close the previous year; for 2027, one ran from 26 August to 9 September 2026. The daily ballot suits a traveller already in St Andrews with a flexible week. The course is closed on Sundays, so plan the other courses around it. Rules checked October 2026.
For the Old Course, 36 or lower, shown on documentation from a recognised golf association or union. That is the St Andrews Links Trust's rule as of October 2026, per its ballot page. Other championship links set their own limits, so check each course before booking. Bring a certificate or an official online handicap record from your home club.
Only to book ahead: resort guests can reserve up to 18 months out, while non-guests can book one day in advance. Resort tee times need a minimum two-night stay, and some dates need three, per the Pebble Beach Resorts booking guidelines, checked October 2026. For a trip built around a specific round, the stay is the reliable route.
Not the Championship course itself, but other links nearby, yes. The 155th Open is at St Andrews from 11 to 18 July 2027, per The R&A. A common shape is watching one or two practice days and one Championship day, with rounds elsewhere on the days between. Book the rounds early, because the whole region is busy that week.
Most travellers play best with a rest day after every two or three rounds. Links golf is walked, often in wind, and a fifth consecutive round is rarely the best one. Put the round that matters most early in the week, so weather or a ballot result can move it. The rest days are also when a non-golfing partner's plans get the whole party.
Yes, if the partner's days are planned as carefully as the tee times. Choose bases with something to do nearby: Edinburgh and the Highlands from St Andrews, covered on the UK and Ireland page, or a beach and spa at Casa de Campo, covered on the Dominican Republic page. Share the rest days and the evenings.
May to September, when the days are longest. That window matches the late spring and summer season on the UK and Ireland page. July is also Open month, so courses near the venue are busiest then. October still plays, with shorter days and more weather.
At Royal Melbourne, yes: international visitors can request tee times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, subject to availability. Their home club must first verify them as active members, a step that replaced the old letter of introduction, per the club's visitor page, checked October 2026. Public holidays are excluded. Other Sandbelt clubs set their own rules.
A caddie is optional at most courses, and on a course you have never seen it is usually worth it. St Andrews Links offers licensed caddies on request before any tee time. Pebble Beach lists its caddie and cart fees on its 2026–27 rate table. Cart rules differ by course, so check each one.
Augusta National allocates them itself, through one online application a year with a June deadline. How that works, and what to expect on practice and tournament days, is in the Masters guide.
