45 minute mandatory, fantastic lunches in Japan. Removing headgear in a venerable Irish golf club. Walking 18 holes in the drizzle at a fine parkland course. Great traditions. Are we so narcissistic to think golf should bend to our demands? Plow through lunch, wear the logo’d hat in the lounge because we feel like it…
What happens if you parked Facebook, Instagram and your cell phone and then drove to the golf course? Do you think you could find time to play some holes? You must choose that this game is more important than reading negative comments or admiring a special hamburger photo. It really comes down to the opportunity…
Canadians use laser finders and have GPS systems and digital ads in our power carts (buggies). But when Athlone’s golfing clients want to play links golf in the UK and Ireland the word “technology” is never raised. They know they have to walk and wind and rain is part of the experience. A range finder…
When the Verma Cuppers heard the skirl of the bagpipes on the 16th hole at Fortrose and Rosemarkie they were pleasantly surprised. This was my intention. I had set this up with the amiable Secretary Mike MacDonald at this 15th oldest recorded golf club in the world. My good friends, many of whom attended Queen’s…
Irregular and terrific back to back Par 3’s. How about a short iron and then a monstrous driver into the wind on the back nine at Ballybunion in Ireland? Crail near St Andrews offers you a long and difficult blind shot over gunk before following with a pleasant downhiller and a glistening water back drop….
Athlone Golf and Sports is excited to announce that we will be sharing a booth with Travel Oregon at the February 2017 Toronto Golf and Travel Show. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to promote this scenic U.S. state along with other parts of the US, the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, the Caribbean and…
A brief thought and then an instantaneous decision. A birdie was speaking in my ear. Why not you say? It is the last day of the golf season and this is a beautiful November day. I finished sipping my Tims coffee and hopped into the car to play at my new golf club, Kelowna Golf…
As I sat with two engaging Donegal Golf Club members last week I mentioned Golfboard and whether they had heard about their growing popularity in North America. They stared at me blankly like other Irishmen I had spoken to earlier in the week about them. I had seen many of these nifty golfer transporters at…
Coeur d’Alene sounds more like a French-Canadian place in the traditions of Coureur des bois, those famous unlicensed fur traders from New France. But this beautiful and small city resides in the sliver of land in northern Idaho right on the border of Washington State at Spokane and not far from the Canadian border. I…
I have been thinking about the many challenges golf courses face when driving more visitors and revenue into their clubs. One of the areas I feel is being underemphasized is excellent customer service. I only have to think about my Masters experience in 2010. In my book, Golf Shorts and Plus Fours I describe the…