Royal Porthcawl: Unusual yes, great golf yes.

When someone thinks about playing golf in the British Isles, one usually thinks of Scotland, Ireland or England. However, Wales is another place to consider taking a trip.

Near the Welsh capital of Cardiff, lies Royal Porthcawl. The club, created in 1891, sits right along the Bristol Channel. It has held many major competitions such as the 1964 Curtis Cup and the 1995 Walker Cup. It is scheduled to hold the Senior Open Championship in 2014.

Not only that, it is a very enjoyable golf course. It has a fantastic set of green complexes that contain contours that are a fun to putt and provide a plethora of fun short game shots.

With Cardiff Castle, originally dating back to the 1st century Romans, just minutes away, Wales is a fantastic option to take a trip. 

We'd love to send you to Royal Porthcawl today!

Matt

Royal County Down and the Slieve Donard...

Along the ocean under the shadows of the famed Slieve Donard Hotel and the Mourne Mountains, lies Royal County Down Golf Club. 

The Slieve, only a three minute walk away from the first tee, is a fantastic place to stay when making your trip to County Down. 

Royal County Down is one of the premier golf courses in the world. With its variety of beauty, strategy and challenge, County Down offers something for all golfers. 

Royal County Down is a must see for any trip to Ireland! We can make it happen for you! 

Let Bradley Golf Travel plan that trip for you.

Matt

Lahinch- A special place to me

When I was 10 years old, I got to go to Lahich for the first time. It was the first great golf course I had ever played. It was a glorious sun filled Irish afternoon and spending that day with my dad was one of the most special days of my life.

Me on the back bank of the par 3 5th, the Dell hole. I got up and down for a par from there :)

I was lucky enough to return this summer. It was the same special palce to me.

Lahinch is an undervalued and underrated golf course and is a must see on any first time Irish golfing vacation.

I urge you to explore the links of Lahinch and let Bradley Golf Travel plan the trip for you!

Matt

It's the little things...

Having fun off the golf course can be just as rewarding as the time spent on the course. Traveling with a group of buddies with whom you can laugh, joke and have fun and relax in the car, at dinner or at night can make a golf trip truly memorable.

On our last trip to Ireland,  Bryan had me take this picture with his dog head cover. 

Be sure to visit the local sites on your golf trips. Spending the time to visit the Cliffs of Moher was definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable addition to our stop at Lahinch.

The Cliffs of Moher. 800 ft high on the western coast of Ireland

So on your next trip, go with people that will make all those other hours fun, 

And let Bradley Golf Travel book that trip for you!

Matt Bradley

We can now help with Australia!

After returning home from a whirlwind tour of Tasmania, Melbourne and Adelaide, I now feel quite comfortable in offering help planning a golf or family trip down under.  So many great courses, people, cities and sites.

When traveling to Tasmania, I can happily suggest a charter service from Melbourne that saves time, energy and gets you on the courses at Barnbougle much more efficiently.  Check out the view from the plane as we arrived over Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm:

Once on the ground, so many great holes to see including this Doak gem:  #13 at Barnbougle Dunes:



And here is a picture from my new all-time favorite course, by my all-time favorite golf course architect.  Royal Melbourne, designed by Dr. Alister Mackenzie:



I can highly recommend every course that I visited...give us ring or send us an email, and we will start planning your down-under adventure.

Bart

London Olympics Guide

Preview: London 2012

Q: Which of the following comments was made by an actual London resident regarding the upcoming Games?

1) Be a bloody stinkin' hellhole, won't it?

2) I won't see any of the Games; I'll be working at Harrod's. Harrod's is not allowing any employee to have time off during the Games.

3) Olympics? Um. Well--that'll be nice. Won't it?

4) The Olympics? Is that this year?

The answer is 5. All of the above.

I just got back from a trip to England that was part fun, part research for the family travel agency business (www.bradleygolftravel.com), and part research for my current novel. I actually didn't go near Greenwich Park since I figure that I'll be spending 4 days of my life there in only 4 short months. I did do a pretty comprehensive tour of non-Olympic London, and I'll tell you, non-Olympic London is most of it right now. The sites are ready, the plans are in place, but the atmosphere is--well, missing. Aside from a very few adverts, and a tiny stack of children's sized Olympic t-shirts on sale at one gift shop, you'd never know the Olympics were on their way. But I learned a lot on my trip. Here are my travel tips for London 2012.

1) If you're just now thinking you might like to go, HURRY!  Many of the options for lodging and tickets are becoming scarce.

2) Wear your walking shoes. You'll have to take public transportation to the Games, as they cleverly (and deliberately) designed all the venues without any parking within 6 miles; if you were insane enough to think you'd just take a cab, think again. They're blocking off half the street lanes of a very congested city for travel for the athletes and officials alone. You're going to be on the Tube with 50,000 of your best friends. If you're smart, you'll get off the stop before them and walk the rest of the way. Otherwise it's 50,000 people all trying to climb the same set of stairs.

3) Unless this is your once-in-a-lifetime trip to England, and you've always dreamed of seeing Westminister Abbey or the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, skip them. If you really must go, get up early and get in line at the Abbey half an hour before opening. All the tourists are herded along the same route, and space is really tight in some of the chapels. Some people walk fast, but others will stand around forever listening to all the options on their audio guide. The farther along in the day, the more it becomes a human traffic jam. In the case of the Changing of the Guard, get a breakfast picnic, find a spot on the Victoria Memorial facing the Palace, and camp out before 9am. Bring a book to pass the time. The guards change at 11:30. Warning: it's not a cool as you think. They pretty much just exchange one troop of guards for another.

4) For all other attractions, do some research. Some allow you to buy tickets online and save yourself the queue. The London Eye allows you to make exact-time reservations online. If the attraction is physically small (Churchill's War Rooms) get there early in the day; if it's huge (Tate Museum) you've got more leeway. And skip Madame Tussaud's. What a waste of time.

Questions? Let the experienced warriors at Bradley Golf Travel find you the answers. Cheers!

guest blogger:  Kim Bradley

From the course to the pitch..

When you aren't sampling the great golf in the London area, you should check out a Barclay's Premier League football game!

The Premier League is considered the best domestic league for club football in the world. The game even is starting to be influenced by American players. Clint Dempsey is currently 6th in the league in goals with 13. With 5 teams in the London area, you can easily catch a game!

Adding a Premier League game to your itinerary is a fantastic way to top off any London based trip. Contact Bradley Golf Travel today to set up your trip to England!