With the golfing season underway and better weather promised, many seasoned golfers from all over the world will have one objective on their mind; play an Open Championship venue. 

Trips like this would often be planned in advance with director of PerryGolf, Gordon Dalgleish, saying: “the flow and timing of bookings has remained remarkably consistent, averaging 8 - 10 months prior to travel.”

International golf travel has been going on for years where avid golfers would trek halfway across the world just to stand on the same green that golfing greats throughout history have won the Claret Jug on.

However, times have changed post-pandemic and with a growing interest in the game, it is getting harder to book tee times for established courses like St Andrews' Old Course.

“In the post-pandemic world, the window (for booking) has now increased to 12-18 months for trips that include the most famous links courses throughout the British Isles," Dalgleish said.

He believes this trend will continue as more golfers seek to enjoy the best that links golf has to offer.

As demand increases to play at such prestigious courses, the clubs are having to put a hold on taking bookings, and in some cases even closing off their tee sheets for the remainder of the year.

The Old Course at St Andrews has closed off its advanced tee times booking portal for 2023. The popularity of this course is unparalleled as it rightly holds the title, “The home of golf”. Anybody who’s anybody wants to have a crack around the Old Course and has it right up near the top on their golfing bucket list. 

Golf has seen huge growth post-pandemic but courses like Royal Birkdale, St Andrews, Royal Liverpool and Muirfield aren’t going anywhere, there is nothing quite like them so the longer waiting times will be always worth it.

Last year alone, Muirfield had to close its books after the summer tee times sold out in just two hours! Royal Dornoch was the same. In January it had to close its tee sheet for the remainder of the year after accepting over 13,000 bookings.

So if you're hoping to get a game at one of the UK's finest links courses, be sure to plan well in advance!