We all miss the Open Championship — or the British Open as the bulk of Googlers call it here in the United States.
Watching the world’s best tee it up in the overnight hours at rota courses such as St. Andrews, Royal Liverpool, Royal Troon, Muirfield, Royal St. George’s, Royal Portrush, Carnoustie and Royal Lytham gets the juices going.
And they seem untouchable for the average golfer — but that’s not the case.
Thanks to Golf Stay and Plays partner, Lyons Links, it’s more attainable than ever — with six of the Open courses bookable through our partners.
Well, that is, once the pandemic is the rearview mirror — which isn’t too far off.
An update on openings
Catching up with Colm Crowley, the co-founder of Lyons Links, there are some important travel tips to know before starting to make plans to jump over the pond with your sticks.
First, in England, Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, has targeted June 21 for the full reopening of the economy — a move that would put golf clubs, hotels and bars back in play.
Scotland never closed down its golf courses, and is looking to accelerate coming out of lockdown, with the Old Course Hotel slated for a May 17 reopening — a great sign for anyone looking to travel.
With a couple of months before all inches back to “normal,” Crowley believes this is the ideal time to book your package.
Why you should book now
Here are some key reasons, according to Crowley:
- It’s already backed up, as a lot of groups that intended to play in 2020 or early 2021 have been pushed back into the late 2021-22 season. So you need to get your place in line.
- Due to COVID-19, 2022 golf timesheets are opening earlier, which means waiting will leave you with slim pickings. You want the pick of the litter, so to speak.
- While 2021 isn’t looking promising for landing a golf trip to Ireland, the timesheets are opening early there as well, so making that decision will land you better opportunities.
- Finally, there is pent-up demand for golf trips, and tour operators are eager to get you on the books, so deposits are low, including Lyons Links requiring only a $100 deposit for a 2022 trip. The balance would be due in late Summer 2021.
How to get a deal on a European golf package
As a GSAP partner, inking a package deal with Lyons Links also comes with the GSAP advantage, where 5 percent of your package is covered for each person in your group.
In addition, Lyons Links is offering GSAP users an exclusive deal — one in eight goes free.
That’s an incredible amount of savings, which you can tabulate by looking through Lyons Links extensive library of sample itineraries.
You can play Royal Troon — site of the Phil Mickelson-Henrik Stenson duel — or Royal Liverpool, where both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have both claimed the claret jug.
Even the Travel Caddie is looking at the calendar, looking for a week to take on some of the world’s best links — and take out some pent-up pandemic frustration on the golf ball.