it would have to be a stop on TS: Florida, or Strapped: The Villages
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Also: as someone who planned and went on a golf trip to Australia in 2023, there just wasn’t enough material from TS1. It did still help me plan, as did many great folks from Australia on this forum. I’m so hyped to see the guis hit up Australia and do a proper szn this time.
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I think as a viewer, my preference for TS destinations would be, in order:
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Places I can likely get to as an actual golf tourist, with courses that I can actually play if I go there. Michigan isn’t the only example of this, but it fits this mold pretty well. Easily reachable destination. Mostly courses that anyone can play. A couple courses that are tougher gets, but not impossible. Wisconsin would be a good add, or even something in the Great Plains/Mountain West, like a Montana/Dakotas, Idaho type trip, which, granted, might be a logistical challenge with everything spread out so far.
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Somewhere that I’m less likely to go as a golf tourist, but playing courses that I could actually get on if I were to go there. Most of the British Isles probably fits this bill, and Australia/NZ probably as well, but I’m less sure of how the private model works in the sandbelt. I know I have a connection or two that could hook me up, however, and while I hate to ask for access, if I were traveling around the world to play golf, I could swallow my pride.
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Places I may go as a golf tourist, but playing courses I couldn’t probably access. Like Bay Area would be cool, but I’m not that keen on seeing a bunch of courses that I’ll never be able to play if that’s where they spent their time. I’m somewhat ambivalent on the South Carolina/Georgia boomlet as well, since all the new hotness appears to be private, even if I have certain connections who could help out.
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Places I’m not likely to go as a golf tourist. For me, this means I probably wouldn’t be too excited about Japan or South America. I feel like Japan may not have a lot to distinguish itself geographically (as opposed to culturally) from a lot of other destinations, but happy to be wrong. By this I mean much of what I’ve seen on TV seems to be U.S. Parkland replica stuff. I honestly don’t know what the appeal is for golf in Argentina aside from the Jockey Club, but @bamabearcat probably does.
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One plug for Australia as an accessible destination is I was able to get on many top 100 private clubs as an international visitor without any big private club connections. With advance planning I was able to get on everywhere I really wanted to get to. The unaccompanied fees aren’t cheap some places, but you generally can get a tee time
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Yeah, as a statesider, I think the courses seem to be accessible if you can get there. It’s getting there that’s the hard part.
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Strapped: The Villages could be about many things other than golf…
“How to eat, drink and obtain xanax on a budget…”
“Top 10 places to conceal carry.”
“How to properly secure your Duffy to the dock.”
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“Which color loofah to hang from your golf cart?”
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Australians are not at all precious about overseas visitors who are friends/acquaintances/friends-of-friends advising they’re visiting and seeing if dates work. I get this is a no-no in the US, but we are v chill about it.
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Obviously I have no idea what the guys would want to do or where they would want to go. But for me personally, my favorite episodes are the ones where they went to “random” courses. The episodes at Kilspindie, Elie, Cruden Bay, and Cullen are probably my favorites because of the uniqueness and quirkiness.
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I mean, the whole Southern Hemisphere is having summer now, but I get what you’re putting down. South Africa would make for an interesting watch, though I’m not sure what the public/private split is like, and if there are many “interesting” courses. Surprised @tron wasn’t able to push through a visit to his hitters at the Magical Kenya Open though.
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Gary Player has issued a no-fly to the NLU team in regards to South African airspace.
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My wish list…
TS: England with travel between destinations done entirely by train.
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In Adelaide now. Nice! Like seeing the stuff outside Melbourne as well.
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They need to figure out a way to get coffee with Bottas.
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Couple mates of mine arrived in Adelaide last night. They have little to no interest in golf and wouldn’t have a clue who the NLU lot are. So they’ll probably bump into them, right?
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Rad-elaide, noice!
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Totally. These guys and their productions have grown a lot since TS1. I trust that they know what they are doing and what they put out will be good stuff. People assuming they will just be hitting the sandbelt highlights again may be surprised.
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so far 4 known courses and zero repeats. Can’t believe they went back to Australia!
Royal Adelaide
New South Wales Club
Bonnie Doon
Bondi Diggers
possibles
Royal Sydney
Moore Park
others?
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