We waited many years to go on a British Isles golf trip, and we so wanted it to be everything we had dreamed of: golf, sight-seeing, culture, food, music, and more. A year before we wanted to go, we started to plan. Trusting someone to create a 30 day itinerary was scary, and after talking with several well-known companies, we started getting frustrated as none of them seemed to be able to put together quite what we wanted. Then we called Faraway Fairways and everything seemed to click; we had an immediate connection with Alun, laughing and joking on the phone within minutes. He spent an inordinate amount of time with us, listening to all our wants and needs, before putting together his initial proposal – which we were absolutely in love with. As we got closer to our departure, things began to affect the schedule: things like flights, an ask from us for an additional round of golf, a request to change the length of stay in each country, and more, but Alun patiently reviewed and reworked every request until we were happy.
Alun’s itinerary was extremely detailed: he included car rental information, pictures, maps, timelines, parking tips, historical snippets, and even short stories. It was not only just a pleasure to read, but it also made us confident our trip would tick off every item on our bucket list. Still, seeing a perfect plan on paper and living it out in real time could be two different things. In this case though, it was not. Everything went smoothly and turned out perfectly. The golf courses Alun chose for us were phenomenal, the perfect combination of big names and hidden gems. Alun also worked overtime making and processing ballot applications for the Old Course at St. Andrews, letting us know daily how it was going. He had contingency plans ready to go every day in case we won – and eventually we did! What an experience – and despite finding more than our share of bunkers, playing that course was the highlight of our trip.
In addition to golf, Alun created an extensive list of suggested things to see and do every day, emailing us tickets ahead of time so we didn’t have to worry about them. We took advantage of his knowledge and recommendations, and we were never disappointed. One time Alun contacted us mid-trip with an idea – would we be interested in attending a horse race? He had discovered we were in Dublin at the same time as a “once a year” event: Ireland’s only official horse racing run on a beach. When we said yes, of course, Alun had to pivot and rebook tee times overnight to accommodate us, but of course he managed, and not only did we not miss a tee time, we also enjoyed a very unique experience at the races.
In addition to amazing golf courses, the accommodations Alun booked were all exceptional, and the locations could not have been better. Most days our views included castles, spires and rivers, and we were usually a block or two off the main shopping and sight-seeing areas in town. We also spent one night in an old railway hotel built in 1893, which boasted a world-renowned whiskey bar with 700-100 single-malt whiskies, and another in a castle with 10 unique rooms and an award-winning restaurant. These were not specific requests from us, but rather stays that Alun had thoughtfully included as unique experiences he thought we would enjoy.
We loved every aspect of our trip, and we owe it all to Alun and his meticulous planning and personal attention. He checked in with emails and phone calls often, and we felt he was genuinely interested in how we were doing. We cannot thank him enough, and we would recommend Faraway Fairways to anyone planning this type of holiday.