last year, only two were exclusively by private jet; the rest utilised boats, trains, vans, commercial air, maybe a chartered flight for certain legs here and there. Itineraries and prices vary accordingly, and as with any market there are competitors. Perry Golf, as one example, organises tours that tend to be more golf-intensive for smaller groups. Much of the legwork is in establishing relationships with foreign private courses. Customers book these trips 15-18 months in advance, and tour operators can predict demand like clockwork against the stock market. “Not that our clients are that meaningfully af- fected by the ebbs and flows of the market, but booking trips like ours is a matter of psychology and confidence,” says Casey Oliver, chief of mar- keting for Kalos Golf, which served 1 500 unique customers last year, all from the US. The “non- media rate” price for Golf Around the World was $156 000 per person. Before you rip your maga- zine in half or hurl your electronic reading device against the wall in a fit of jealous rage directed at me or a universe that allows such wealth disparity, know that I, your humble writer, go forth only to bear witness. How does such a trip look and feel? Who goes? What would it be like to watch the cost of a sec- ond-tier college education get spent in less than three weeks? Luckily, the flight delay that began my journey proved negligible. After a disgusting sandwich in Philly and a brisk jog through LAX, I was safely aboard a big commercial bird and just 15 miserable hours over the Pacific from answers. The open-air welcome dinner at the Park Hyatt hotel overlooking Sydney Harbour revealed, pre- dictably, a room of mostly retired white couples, although there were two younger female golf bud- dies from a club in St Louis and one patriarch oil- man from Calgary who’d brought not only his wife but also their two daughters and their husbands. He’d surprised them all on a tearful Christmas morning. “You can’t take it with you, so why not enjoy it with the people you love while you still can,” he said to our table. It would be a few days later, at the Singapore Marina Bay Sands casino, that three of us helped this gent out of an elevator after at least that many martinis on the 57th-floor rooftop bar. The total lack of judgment from his children, rather respect, for their elder sowing his oats so far from home and hearth, was touching. “We had some friends die, so we figured let’s do this while we can walk,” said a woman from Atlan- ta, which was most shocking coming from her, as she and her husband were country club tennis fit. From the cigar-chomping Texan who’d just sold his electric-parts company emanated no such morbidity. He seemed to be dedicating the rest of his days to speaking only in jokes, and at several of the golf courses we visited inquired about the course record as if on my behalf. “I couldn’t even spell AI back in 2019, but, man, those data cen-
courses and churches, thus laying the founda- tion for the business he and his wife, Karen, have grown to 26 employees plus contractors. “You’ll be eating so many new and different foods, and yoghurt coats the stomach.” Another useful quote, attributable to the leg- endary journalist Tina Brown, about the new se- duction of flying private is, “You realise there is no one you wouldn’t kill, betray or sleep with to ensure a lifetime of luxe relief from the armpit of mass transit.” Beyond the sumptuousness of our non-public vessel and great golf, across 18 days there would also be tours of opera houses and museums, wine tastings, cooking and dance classes, cruises by yacht and helicopter, small gifts and nothing but five-star hotels and meals. Joining our crew of porters and organisers would be a doctor to pro- vide medical treatments as needed and a univer- sity professor to provide social history lectures as wanted. Though the price tags are eye-watering, curated group travel by jet is a category that has thrived post-pandemic. The Four Seasons charters planes for multi-destination trips where customers stay in its hotels and partake in edifying excursions, though no golf. Of the 26 trips Kalos Golf operated
CONCRETE AND JUNGLE Above: Zipping through a Singapore food market aboard a Vespa sidecar. Left: Thick Thai vegetation places a premium
on hitting fairways.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 123
MAY 2026
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