Preparing for a regular holiday consists of a fairly standard to do list. A golf holiday requires some extra action items to confirm in the week before departing that will help the holiday go smoothly and ensure you get to golf. The following items cover the fundamentals for most holidaying golfers.
Wellbeing: Prepare a simple first aid kit for the trip with headache tablets, sun block, indigestion/diarrhoea tablets, plasters and insect repellent. Even minor injuries can worsen when golfing over a number of days as they don’t receive enough time to recover/heal.
Most of these could be picked up on arrival but doing that would eat into your holiday time. A worthy addition is heat packs and cold packs as the muscle strain involved in golfing daily may prove more than your body can take.
Course bookings: Confirm the tee-times of your bookings at your holiday destination. Print them out along with directions to the course, exact tee-time and any booking references that may be needed. If a tee has been booked via an online agency then these details should have been sent to you by a confirmation email. If you book rental clubs/buggies then also check these are confirmed.
Garments: Pack enough layers of tops, t-shirts, polo shirts and socks for your trip. Factor in the possibility of being rained on given the destination and ensure you have enough clothing to last the trip. Layers work better than bulky clothes as you can add/subtract a t-shirt/top depending on the weather.
Pack sunglasses, caps and beanies. Check your rain gear is packed and in a good state of repair. Inspect the cleats on your shoes replacing any broken ones. Cleats near the toe are especially important for maintaining grip under foot so you could rotate broken cleats to the heel if desired. Clean the shoe soles of all soil/grass (see below).
Documentation: Check the club websites you are visiting for any dress codes they may have (some of the bigger courses will have codes, especially in the club house). Pack your PGA handicap if you are playing courses with a minimum handicap rule. Prepare any course information regarding tips on how to play the course, out-of-bounds, etc.
Golf Equipment: Count and clean your clubs prior to departure. Airport Border control at some countries (British Isles, New Zealand, Australia) are rightly concerned about contaminated soil containing remnants of mad cow disease so are prone to checking visitors sports shoes and equipment for soil. If soil is found then they will provide cleaning facilities before allowing you entry to the country.
Then there is the regular golf paraphernalia to stock up on. Check you have plenty of pencils, tees, golf balls and gloves.
Hopefully this list will go some way to making sure you have a care-free golfing vacation and don’t get caught out by those minor issues that can scupper a good trip.
Looking for European golfing breaks? For the perfect golf holiday Algarve, Estoril and the other Portuguese regions have it all. Visit the Portugal Golf Holidays website to learn more.
This is great advice for those considering a golfing holiday. New Zealand is a great place to go as there are a ot of golf course and may other activities as well.