How to play the big-name UK and Ireland courses in 2027

The 2026 golf season is just getting underway, which means it’s time to plan for 2027. The biggest-name courses in the UK and Ireland — the Old Course at St. Andrews, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Muirfield and their ilk — book out in the manner of hotels in Augusta around the Masters: early, fast, and with the nagging suspicion that you should have acted yesterday. If you’ve got your sights set on a big trip, now is when the logistical busywork begins: watching booking windows, corralling playing partners, sorting lodging. Never mind your swing. Focus on your spreadsheet.

That was the message from Destination Golf podcast co-host Simon Holt on a recent episode devoted to dream itineraries, and the planning required to pull them off.

For starters, know your dates. Muirfield’s booking window for 2027 opens March 18. Holt’s advice: get on the website, and get on it fast. Once you’ve got that building block in place, you can start adding on with North Berwick and other nearby musts.

Royal County Down opens Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. local time — which, depending on where you live, may qualify as “crazy o’clock.” Holt, who also runs luxury golf travel outfit 8AM Travel, didn’t sugarcoat it. “You will hit redial the whole day,” he said. “You will get a tee time. Just don’t expect to get 9:30 a.m. on the day you want to play.”

Royal Portrush opens March 2, and Holt recommends landing County Down first, then hoping your Portrush options sync up. Miss one? There are workarounds. Pair Portrush with Portstewart and St. Patrick’s Links. If County Down is your anchor, build around it with a Dublin swing and Portmarnock.

The point: there’s more than one way to build the trip of a lifetime. But you have to start building now. And, as Holt put it, one of you has to do the hard work of getting up early and making the calls. You can listen to the entire episode below.