Jack Sallis

I founded Halcyon Golf Travel in 2018 because organising golf trips is, genuinely, my dream job – and I’m now lucky enough to be living it. The idea was simple: treat every client trip as if I were planning it for me and my mates. That principle still runs through everything we do.

For me, a great golf trip is about more than the courses. It’s the rounds replayed in the bar afterwards, the long dinners, the in-jokes that come out of a windy afternoon on the links. Golf is one of the best ways I know to connect with people and build lasting memories, and that’s really what we’re trying to create with each trip we plan.

I’ve built Halcyon slowly and deliberately, latterly with the enormous help of Lee Shepherd, our MD and my best friend (and now shareholder). We’re a service business at heart, so the thing we invest in most is our team’s knowledge – the four of us spend a serious amount of time visiting hotels, playing beautiful golf courses, and eating our way around the best restaurants in each region. The job genuinely is as good as it sounds. It also means that when we recommend something, it’s because we’ve been there, walked the course, and know how the whole trip flows. Find good people, invest in them, focus relentlessly on quality, and the rest follows.

On the golf itself: my favourite links course in good weather is Tralee – the back nine views are life changing. My favourite inland course is Hankley Common; the setting is so expansive and beautiful it’s almost impossible not to enjoy a round there. Having said that, put me on any Heathland course such as Sunningdale, Hollinwell or The Berkshire and I’m a happy Chappy.  My favourite golf trip I’ve ever been on was northwest Ireland in the spring – quiet, raw, proper pubs and a real adventure. Killarney is my favourite “golf trippy” town, with St Andrews a very close second. Give me a links course on a sunny, breezy day, plenty of shot options, big views, and a mandatory halfway house stop, and I’m very happy.

A bit of background: I went to Wellington College and then Durham, where I read Economics and played golf for both schools. I’m a +4 handicap, a lifelong member of Hollinwell, also a member of Rye and the British Golf Collectors’ Society. I still play semi-competitively and have reached Final Qualifying for The Open twice and play for the Nottinghamshire mens team.

Outside of golf I love dogs, tennis, and just about any game you can play in a pub. My partner Victoria and I have a campervan that we use to explore the UK whenever we get the chance – usually with a golf course or two pencilled in along the way.