Welcome to Road Rules, a GOLF.com series in which we pick the brains of expert golf travelers, ranging from professional golfers and caddies to globetrotting course raters and teachers. We’ll unlock their must-have travel items, go-to airline tips and more to inform you for your next golf excursion.
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Jeff Lewis has clubs and he will travel. Check that. He will travel a lot.
A GOLF Magazine course rater, Lewis, 58, has pegged it in 26 countries and on all six continents where the game is played, making his rounds on every course that has ever appeared in our World Top 100 rankings. (Okay, due to travel restrictions during the pandemic, he has yet to visit a couple of newbies on our latest roster, but the point stands: the man gets around.)
Dozens of his excursions have been across the Atlantic to the great links of the United Kingdom and Ireland, where the golf culture is different than it is in many places. The climate, too.
Here’s an eight-point guide from Lewis to help you get the most out of your trip.
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1. Pack rain gloves. “The best accessory on earth,” Lewis says. Specifically, the ones that only work when they are wet. “You are overseas, you won’t be in that same town again for years or maybe ever and darn it, you’re going to play in a driving rain,” he says. “The only reason that’s plausible is that those rain gloves are amazing.”
2. Wear shorts under your pants. The conditions can change in a blink.
3. Feel free to play fewer courses so that you can play the better ones more than once.
4. Take a local caddie. You’ll spend a little extra but it’s hard to put a price on what you get in return. “They are often members of the club at where you are playing, and they are fantastic sources of information on the course and the community you are visiting.”
5. Prior to your trip, practice in a simulator to see how far your shots carry in both a helping and hurting 20 mile-per-hour wind. “I promise that whatever you think those numbers are, you’re wrong,” Lewis says.
6. Consider hiring a driver. Not because driving on the opposite side of the road is overly taxing, Lewis says. “It’s that one of the great pleasures of traveling and playing over there is stopping for a pint or two.”
7. Book as much as you can yourself. “All of the clubs have reservations systems or emails at this point,” Lewis says. “They are open for business, and you can save a lot of cash. Ask the clubs about the best places to stay nearby.”
8. The exception to point No. 7 is the Old Course at St. Andrews. “The best way on is to pay a tour operator,” Lewis says.
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