The golf tourism industry in the UK & Ireland is well and truly booming. This is great news for the local economies of the most popular golf towns in Scotland, Ireland and England, which are attracting investment in the forms of new hotels, improved transport links and thirsty tourists keeping the local pubs busy. But despite significant increases in the green fees at the most popular golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, these clubs are selling out all of their visitor tee times in record times, often within weeks of opening their diaries for the following summer.
Increasing demand is good for our business as a luxury golf tour operator, although it does come with its challenges. To ensure we secure all desired tee times, it’s vital to plan ahead and get these bookings in early. An added challenge is some clubs don’t have a set date for when their diary opens and just an approximate timeframe, making it even more important to plan ahead, and rarely do clubs in set regions line their diaries up so their tee bookings for the following year are made available at the same time.
In this article, we list the 10 most difficult golf courses to get a tee time. But what were the criteria we used to determine this?
It won’t come as a surprise that this is a simple supply and demand equation.
Visitor Demand: This is influenced by world ranking, popularity in golf publications, hosting famous tournaments and most interestingly proximity to other famous golf courses. When you have regional clusters of great golf courses, it makes the destination more attractive than visiting just 1 great course in a remote location. In the UK there are many truly world class courses which fly under the radar due to their remote location, but are always easy to acquire tee times at. Machrihanish (Scotland), Silloth (England) and Enniscrone (Ireland) are prime examples of this.
Membership (Supply): Most of the clubs in GB&I operate as “private members clubs”, however, unlike many in America or Canada, most British private clubs still allow and depend on limited visitor play at selective times. The volume of visitor tee times up for grabs determines how easy or difficult it is to get a tee time there, and a few factors come into play here. The size of the club’s membership (more members normally means less visitor tee times), and its financial health all feed into this, determining the extent of higher yielding visiting golf they wish to permit.
Most member clubs in the UK are not run for profit, they just need to make enough money to pay the staff, manage the course and cover any capital expenditure, for example Royal Dornoch and their new clubhouse which they’re just about to start building. Often, many clubs will opt to reduce their tee time stock, instead focussing on increasing the green fees. There really is no hard and fast rule.
Now without further ado, the 10 toughest tee times to secure on the links of GB&I.
#10 Royal Troon (Ayrshire)
With The Open Championship being played here in 2024, we’re expecting a huge surge in demand for Scotland golf trips including tee times at Royal Troon. On top of that, it’s been very tough to acquire tee times at Troon in 2024 due to preparations for The Open, so there’s some pent up demand there as well. The last time the Claret Jug went to Ayrshire, it produced one of the most memorable final rounds in years. Another year like that will send bookings for Troon into sheer overdrive.
2025 Diary opening date: Late March / Early April 2024.
Visitor Days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Waiting list: Yes
When will tee times sell out? Mostly within a month. The occasional 2/3/4 ball can be booked later in the season or via local hotels.
#9 Tralee (South West Ireland)
One of the most visually spectacular golf courses in Ireland, Tralee is blessed to be located close to a handful of other world class golf courses, which makes it an extremely popular venue. Ballybunion, Waterville and Lahinch are all often featured in World Top100 lists and can be played together on the same golf tour of South West Ireland. It’s worth a mention that those other Irish gems are also extremely popular and will sell out quickly, but Tralee should be the first one to book.
2025 Diary opening date: Late March / Early April 2024.
Visitor Days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Waiting list?: Yes
When will tee times sell out? May/June 2024 (which is when Ballybunion opens their diary)
#8 Royal Birkdale (Liverpool)
The Open will once again return here in 2026. However significant work to the course has been conducted by Mackenzie & Ebert, with particular focus on the par 3 holes to create more variance and demand even more from the world’s best. Birkdale is on a stretch of coastline where several world class courses back onto each other, which makes for an epic golf trip to North West England. West Lancs, Hillside, Formby and Southport & Ainsdale, as well as two other Open hosts in Royal Liverpool and Royal Lytham within easy reach.
2025 Diary opening date: Opened in February 2024
Visitor Days: Monday, Wednesday, Sunday Lunchtime, & ‘Birkdale Experience’ on Thursdays
Waiting list?: Diary is already open!
When will tee times sell out? Before the end of summer 2024
