Redefining golf travel through access, history and bespoke design // Image: The Experience Golf
Offering bespoke, high-end golf tours and guaranteed tee times at some of the UK’s most iconic courses, The Experience Golf combines a high-quality playing experience with the best that luxury has to offer.
Founded in 1995, The Experience Golf, then named The Old Course Experience, has its roots set deep within British golfing history. When St Andrews Links Trust announced the opening of commercial tee times, to start in 1996, the company began selling these tee times as part of their luxury golf tours. Soon after that, the team moved into a small office within the St Andrews Link Clubhouse itself – a symbolic gesture of proximity that still defines their insider access today. In 1996, their first group of golfers arrived in the Scottish town for an escorted tour, where they played on the world-famous Old Course. Three years later in 1999, they began offering programmes at the Open, becoming the first company to do so.
Following their 2024 rebrand as a nod to its offerings beyond St Andrews, The Experience Golf have since welcomed over 60,000 golfers on their various tours and experiences, in courses across England, Ireland and Scotland. While St Andrews remains at the heart of what they do, The Experience Golf now offers access to heathland courses, weathered links courses and hidden gems across the UK.
Luxury golf tours with guaranteed tee times at iconic UK courses // Image: The Experience Golf
“For our guests, a golf trip is never just a round of golf – it’s a moment in their lives that deserves to be unforgettable,” says Nathan Payne, Head of The Experience Golf. “Whether it’s walking onto the first tee at St Andrews or hosting a private dinner in a Highland castle, our role is to create experiences that simply wouldn’t be possible without the relationships and heritage we’ve built over three decades.”
With the Ryder Cup coming to Ireland’s Adare Manor in 2027, The Experience Golf have been appointed Authorised Providers of golfing packages at the tournament. Guests will enjoy three rounds on Ireland’s finest courses, alongside privileged access to one of sport’s most compelling contests — all framed by elevated hospitality and five nights in a luxury hotel nearby.
For those looking for a truly personalised experience, The Experience Golf offers the freedom to create the trip that fits the moment — a family milestone, corporate retreat, or a long-planned journey with lifelong golfing companions. After providing details regarding the group size, date of travel and desired destination, a dedicated member of The Experience Golf’s team will plan out the ideal trip for their client. Bespoke golfing itineraries, travel and accommodation are all organised by the team to the highest standard, allowing their clients to truly appreciate their golfing experience. These tours can centre around the highly coveted Old Course at St Andrews Links, or at other equally impressive and unforgettable locations across the UK.
What truly differentiates The Experience Golf – rated 4.9 on Trustpilot – from other tour operators is the high level of luxury it provides to its clients. Five-star hotels, country estates and private lodges serve as home between rounds. Chauffeur-driven transport, on-the-ground hosts, and a discreet white-glove concierge service elevate every touchpoint. Beyond the course, guests can explore whisky distilleries, book Michelin-starred dining or enjoy tailored cultural experiences – all curated with the same meticulous approach.
At a time when UHNWs seek privacy above all, The Experience Golf operates quietly and confidently, safeguarding the intimate nature of each trip. Likewise, elite corporate hospitality can be arranged by the team, to suit the needs of business executives and owners.
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Experiences beyond golf, from dining to culture // Image: The Experience Golf
For The Experience Golf, luxury golf travel is about much more than setting up tee times. It is about creating moments, the kind that become stories shared for years to come. Travel is increasingly multi-generational for HNWs, as spending time with family is becoming more of a luxury in today’s fast-paced world. The Experience Golf curates itineraries to suit the whole family, ensuring younger generations can share in the experience as much as the adults.
Owing to the truly bespoke nature of The Experience Golf’s offering, tours can be arranged for all different kinds of groups: from friendship groups to couple’s retreats and golf associations looking to play elite rounds together to businesses hosting important clients.
The Three-Night St Andrews Tour, 2026
Few destinations in golf carry the same sense of heritage as St Andrews. For many players, a visit to the town – and the chance to walk its historic fairways – represents a long-held ambition. The Experience Golf’s three-night St Andrews tour offers a structured way to experience the area over a short summer stay.
Guests are based at the five-star Fairmont St Andrews, positioned on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea just outside the town. From this vantage point, the itinerary unfolds across several of the region’s most recognisable courses, combining established classics with newer additions to the Scottish links landscape. A round on the Old Course sits at the centre of the schedule – a tee time that remains one of the most coveted in the sport.
Options for families, friends and corporate groups // Image: The Experience Golf
The programme extends beyond the Old Course; rounds at Dumbarnie Links and the Castle Course introduce different expressions of links golf along Scotland’s east coast, from dramatic coastal routing to modern architectural design. Together they provide a wider sense of the region’s golfing character.
Away from the fairways, the town offers its own quiet rhythm. St Andrews’ narrow streets, historic university buildings and coastal paths give the trip a sense of place that extends beyond golf. Time between rounds might include a walk along West Sands, a visit to the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, or an evening spent in one of the town’s long-established restaurants.
The three-night itinerary provides a concise introduction to the destination, though two- and five-night variations are also available for those wishing to extend their stay.
Beyond Scotland: Golf in Ireland
While St Andrews often serves as the starting point for many golf journeys, Ireland offers a landscape that is equally compelling. The Experience Golf’s Ireland Signature Tour traces a route through some of the country’s most celebrated links courses along the Atlantic coast.
Among them is Ballybunion, frequently cited among the finest courses in Ireland and a regular presence in international rankings. Set against the shifting dunes of County Kerry, it reflects the rugged drama that defines much of Ireland’s links terrain.
Across the itinerary, each course reveals a different relationship between land, wind and sea. Evenings are typically spent in a series of carefully chosen hotels and coastal lodges, where the atmosphere tends to shift easily from championship golf to the warmth of Irish hospitality – traditional music, local seafood and the unhurried pace of life along the west coast.
Five-star hotels, private transport and concierge service included // Image: The Experience Golf
For travellers who have already experienced St Andrews, Ireland’s Atlantic links often form the natural continuation of that journey.
The company is also listed as an official tour operator for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, an event expected to draw global attention to Ireland’s golfing landscape.
Bespoke Golf Journeys
Alongside its scheduled tours, The Experience Golf also arranges tailored itineraries across the rest of the UK and Ireland. These can be intimate long weekends in St Andrews or East Lothian, or expansive journeys that trace the contours of the Highlands, England’s historic links coastline or the wild beauty of Ireland’s southwest.
Each bespoke itinerary is shaped around the priorities of the group; whether that means securing coveted tee times on renowned courses, balancing golf with cultural exploration, or designing a trip that brings together multiple generations of travellers.
Using the Bespoke Experience Builder, guests can consider the elements that matter most to them: the courses that have long been on their list, the calibre of accommodation, the dining that frames each evening, and the local experiences that add texture and meaning. The result is a schedule that reflects a group’s rhythm – not a template, but a personal map.
What emerges is less a standard golf tour than a curated journey through some of the landscapes that have shaped the game itself, where history, hospitality and the rhythms of links golf remain closely intertwined.
Supported by deep local connections and longstanding industry partnerships, The Experience Golf operates at a level far beyond a traditional tour provider. What it delivers is something rarer still: genuine access, thoughtful craftsmanship and the kind of experiences that linger long after the bags are unpacked and the scorecards tucked away.
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