Home exchange keeps your golf break affordable without sacrificing comfort
The trouble with visiting famous golf courses is that any nearby hotel worth its salt (& your patronage) knows about the attraction, & tariffs rise accordingly. You can be frugal in many areas of the game – buy second hand clubs, play with lake balls, use booking websites to find discounted green fees – but check into a golf resort & you’ll find your leisure fund trickling from your pockets like so much sand. Even the prestigious PGA Golf Resort in Palm Beach was recently accused of unlawfully hiding a daily $25 compulsory resort fee from guests until they checked out. But if you love the game, it stands to reason that you’d like to visit different courses, perhaps go on holiday to play golf in the sunshine for a change.
So how can you do that without overspending? Golf package holidays can be good value, but usually only if you’re travelling in a group of 10 or more, & you’ll be tied in to which courses you can play, & how often. If you have the time & inclination, you’ll probably find that booking your hotel & green fees separately costs about the same, if not less, & is far more flexible. If you’re travelling with family, all-inclusive deals in a non-golf resort are even more versatile, usually including a range of modern watersports & activities.
Youngsters can get away with staying in a hostel, many of which have grown pretty trendy these days, with a relaxed international crowd. Camping is another option, providing you have a car to stash your clubs in. But creaking bones need better beds, & perhaps a little peace after midnight. If you’re travelling with your family, they’ll need space of their own, too, especially if you have young children. Home-exchange holidays are becoming a popular solution, with agencies springing up all over the place to facilitate safe & appropriate swaps. Factor in a rapidly growing community of golf-specific home-swaps, & things start to look interesting.
Home-swap newbies tend to be nervous at first. Who wants complete strangers staying in your house? Suddenly you start visualizing the condition of your underwear drawer & your various precious objects. Veteran home-swappers are reassuring – you are quite literally exchanging homes with one another, not a randomly assigned person; you’re in their house while they’re in yours (unless you’re letting each other use second homes, in which case timing is more flexible).
What’s more – it’s free – unless you break their Ming vase & have to replace it. Suddenly your entire accommodation budget can be spent on golf, golf & more golf. And outings for the kids, if you’re feeling generous. You’ll be staying in a well appointed residence owned, if you do your research, by keen golfers, who’ll happily point you at the best nearby courses. Of course you’ll need a house of your own to offer in exchange. It needn’t be glamorous but it must be clean, tidy, & generally not falling down. Just a few minutes time with Google will yield reliable golf-focused home swap websites where you can safely advertise your home, without broadcasting your personal details, & find somewhere to stay. After that it’s just a case of arranging travel & making sure your clubs are up to a solid fortnight of satisfying golf.
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