The Birth of Golfing Vacations
January 21, 2019
Kathy and I love taking golf vacations. But it is something we had to learn about. And in many ways we are still learning. Of course there is a story to how it all began.
Kathy and I were on a vacation in Australia and New Zealand. The beginning of the vacation started in Australia and was like any other vacation. We walked around the city sightseeing. Walked on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We ate great food and we even shopped a little.
Then we went to New Zealand’s south island. We drove around the south side of the island and made our way to Queenstown. It was a beautiful drive. We saw where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. Met Orcs and made our way through the black lands of Mordor and saw Mt. Doom. We even had a fire in our hotel and had to evacuate. No worries, everything was fine and nothing burned down.
I have wanted to bungie jump for a long time and thought of little else once we got to Queenstown. Making bungie jumping first thing we did. It was great. There wasn’t a lot of people when we got there. I just walked right up to the counter and paid for my jump. I walked up to the platform, got my legs wrapped and jumped. It was about 15 minutes from start to finish. I started to think about it. It cost about 200 dollars and took 15 minutes. It was worth it because it was a once in a lifetime thing. But, a bit pricey for sure. Kathy was watching from a great spot below the bridge. When we met back up, she was thinking of going. Of course I had to encourage her. I was still very excited about my jump. And I wanted her to experience it too. But, she was not as sure as I was. Now, I have been wanting to do this for a long time and when it was time to step up and go, I was ready. My mind was already unchangeable. Kathy needed a little more time to think about what was going to happen and if it was something she wanted to do. So, we watched people jump for a bit. Then a family stepped up and jumped. There was a mom and dad in their early 30s. Then a little boy about 10 or 12 years old stepped up. Then the clincher was an older man about 70 or so. Kathy looked at me and said ok, I am ready. If a little boy and older man can jump, so can I. She turned and undeterred made her way to the counter, paid and stepped up to jump. At least Kathy got a little more for her 200 dollars. It took her about an hour to get up the nerve. But she did it. She got it in her mind and did it. I was so proud of her. Heck, I was proud of us both. It was a great morning. But that was it. It was over.
Now here we are, 10am in the morning 400 dollars down and wondering what else we were going to do for the day. We checked on a few other “adrenalin sports” but they all were going to be 400 dollars again and be about 20 minutes. I just couldn’t see doing that for 3 more days. So, Kathy and I chatted and tried to figure out what we were going to do. We decided we would go back to the hotel and walk around that area. While we were driving back to the hotel, we saw it, a golf course. It was beautiful and both of us wondered out loud how much would it be to play. I looked at her and said, “let’s find out”. As we drove up to the clubhouse we noticed there weren’t that many cars in the parking lot. We knew we would be able to play. We got to the counter and asked about the price and available tee times. The tee box was open and it would be 80 dollars for both of us. That included clubs and a cart. SOLD. We had a blast. The course was beautiful. We both played well and we met a nice couple that teed off just before us. Neither of us can remember their names. But we will never forget the day. The other players were friendly and even bought us a beer after the round.
That is where the idea of golf vacations was born. Think about it. You spend 80 to 300 dollars for two people to enjoy 5 hours of golf. It is a great way to see the area. We are doing something we love and we aren’t buying little nick-nacks that we will have to dust for the rest of our lives. The best part of all, we both remember the day years later and talk about it with lots of enjoyment.
Over the next few vacations we created our golf vacation formula. We go to places that we either want to golf or we want to visit to see something from that country. We plan the trip like this. One day sightseeing, one day golfing and one day shopping. We often substitute shopping days for more sightseeing or more golf. Then if we have more days we golf again. We always plan at least two golf days. And then there are the best trips that are primarily planned around golfing. That gave us the opportunity to plan trips that golfers love. We planed a trip to Scotland and Ireland and all we did was golf and golf some more. We did squeeze in a little sightseeing. But just a little sightseeing.
So, consider planning your vacations with golf as a part of it. It beats sitting around wondering what you are going to do. It is better than shopping for stuff you really don’t need or want. And it is a great way to spend time with the people you love.
By: Marc Festa We are 18 Holes and Counting. Fairways and Greens.
Memories my friend and so lucky to be in a position to travel the world…to golf too. Wayne and I didn’t get a chance to play on our family visit this past holiday in Australia….but, we did talk about all the good times over the years!!!