Our Testimonials

TESTIMONIALS

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Links Golf in Scotland 2018 - 2nd Trip with Tom's Golf Tours

We just returned from Scotland after completing another great trip. After getting off our overnight flight from the US we drove straight to Kingsbarns where we enjoyed an afternoon round at this gorgeous seaside course. After dinner in the clubhouse we made the drive a couple of scenic hours up to our hotel, The Chester in Aberdeen, a beautiful boutique with a great restaurant attached.

The next day we caught up on sleep and then headed over to Cruden Bay which proved to be a group favorite with great scenery from the ocean side cliffs combined with lots of quirky, fun golf holes. The bathtub green 14th was a personal favorite. We also got our only rain of the trip – a proper downpour on a few holes on the back nine which made us glad we packed the rain gear. After an early dinner we decided there was more golf to be had, and we went back out to play their small lower nine hole course as a Six some – a great way to spend an evening.

The next day we played 36 – a morning round at the brawny Trump International and a late afternoon round at Royal Aberdeen. The latter was as enjoyable a four hours as I’ve ever had – light breeze, late evening light, no one on the course, great caddies guiding us around a beautiful routing along the dunes. We finished up the night at an upscale Thai restaurant in town where the losing team from the previous four rounds bought dinner.

The next morning we checked out and headed back south to Carnoustie, which hosted the Open Championship this year, where we got the full British Open experience with the grandstands and scoreboard from a few weeks prior still on the course. But before that we had some extra time and spent the morning walking around the town of Saint Andrews and the Old Course.

That night we checked in to the beautiful and historic Marine Hotel along the course at North Berwick. The next day we capped our trip on the West course with as fun a round as I can remember. North Berwick was probably the consensus favorite of the trip and a few of us were so enamored that we played a second 18 afterwards. The closing dinner was at Nether Abbey where we relived the trip, debated favorite courses, and started planning for next year.

As always, the trip Tom planned went off without a hitch and our driver, Gordon, made the whole journey extremely enjoyable…What a character!

If you would like to arrange a fantastic golf trip you must see Tom. He has now arranged one on Scotland and a few years ago Ireland for me and my friends. We look forward to returning in twelve short months to one of these wonderful golf countries.

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Blum Group

-Scotland 2018

Birthday Golf in Ireland 2018 - Old Head

Jimmy Maurin recently received a once-in-a-lifetime Birthday present from his 3 Son in Laws. A fantastic golf tour of Ireland, arranged through Laurel contributor Tom Chillemi PGA, owner of Toms Golf Tours

These are his field notes for a Birthday present we will always treasure.

“What a trip we had. Ireland is golfer nirvana. Courses are awesome, people extremely friendly, countryside beautiful and the beer just tastes better.

“We started our trip landing in Shannon. Took helicopter to Waterville so we could get in a round on the first day. We ended up playing six days of golf at Waterville, Dooks, Ballybunion, Old Head, Tralee and Lahinch.

“We had some great caddies with awesome “Irish” attitudes. My favorite quote was when Jimmy hit the ball pretty far right at Tralee and asked his caddie if we could find the ball. His answer, ‘If the ball was wrapped in bacon, Lassie couldn’t find it,’ was a classic! We laughed the entire round.

“For all of the differences between the courses we played, the beauty of Old Head sticks out in my mind as the most distinctive feature of our trip. I would highly recommend anyone planning a trip in this region to make sure that course is on the list.

“All the courses were great but my favorite was Tralee even though wind blew 35 mph. It was just an awesome setting with memorable caddies.

“We had pints at so many pubs, but loved our stop at Kate Kearney’s Cottage on the drive back to Killarney from Dooks. Just a really cool place with great Guinness.

“The food in Ireland was very good, but what particularly stood out to me was the ambiance at the various restaurants. I never felt like we were at a restaurant at all, but rather had been invited to someone’s house for a home-cooked meal. We frequently struck up conversations with the owner, which really added to the overall experience of each meal.

“Tom understands the great courses of Ireland and Scotland, and clearly has an insider’s knowledge of the magical courses that dot the Emerald Isle.

“If anyone is thinking of taking such a marvelous journey, the first step should be a meeting with Tom.”

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The Birthday boys from Mountaintop

-Ireland 2018

Ireland 2018 - Best Golf Trip Ever

Tom,

Our Ireland golfing trip that we booked through you was the best golfing vacation/trip that I have ever taken. We had superb service from beginning to end, starting with our driver, Maurice. His service and timeliness was outstanding, but he also served as a tour guide, very knowledgeable about the areas that we visited and Ireland in general. Our accommodations were outstanding as well, particularly Adare Manor, first class hotel and spa, the equivalent of any in the US.

Golf courses were spectacular, I believe that Old Head is the prettiest golf course in the world. I have had the opportunity to play in the UK, Scotland, Spain, Singapore, Japan, Australia and certainly the US, including Pebble Beach, Augusta National and Cyprus Point, and I believe Old Head is the prettiest. The ocean views surpass any that I have seen. In addition to Old Head, we particularly enjoyed Tralee and Lahinch, great courses as well.

I highly recommend anyone thinking of arranging an Ireland golfing trip to contact/book through Tom’s Tours. My sincerest appreciation for arranging a trip though Ireland’s storied golf courses that will not be forgotten.

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Greg O.

-Ireland 2018

From Augusta to Ireland 2018

Tom,

Our golf group consisted of 8 players from the Augusta Country Club in Augusta, Ga. To say that we had a great time during our 17-23 Aug 2018 trip would be a huge understatement. We were treated like royalty everywhere we went, starting with our bus driver at the Dublin International Airport. It was a really good move to have a driver and his upscale bus. Our driver was extremely friendly, helpful, and offered us great VIP service, plenty of room to spread out, a very adequate provisions for our clubs and suitcases.

Our “east coast” golf venues included County Louth/Baltray, followed by wonderful experiences at Portmarnock GC and then Royal County Down. After 18 tough holes at the beautiful and memorable RCD, we had lunch in the club and then drove cross country to the quaint and friendly town of Killarney. Our stay in the Ross Hotel was especially nice and was the best accommodations we had during our trip. After a good night’s sleep, we began our “western” swing of some of the world’s best links layouts to include Tralee, Ballybunion, and Lahinch.

While it is really hard to pick a favorite, we pretty much agreed that Tralee was the most memorable and scenic 18 holes of the week. Very close behind was RCD. What an absolutely amazing rounds those were- full of challenging holes, highly capable and beneficial caddies, and stunning scenery. Of course, each day included the seemingly mandatory 20-30mph winds to help make our links golf experience complete. But the final round at Lahinch tested our will and determination with a steady wind in excess of 50mph. According to our caddies that day, it was “the worst weather we have seen all year”. However, we returned to our Augusta CC still talking about that “final insult” after surviving both wind, rain and a marathon 6 hour experience. The beer was especially good that last night in Lahinch.

This was indeed a golf trip of a lifetime. Many thanks to Tom’s Golf Tours for setting us up for a very successful golf tour.

Good luck with your business going forward.

Sincerely,

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Scott L.

-Ireland 2018

Tom –

I can’t thank you enough for a trip of a lifetime. All went amazingly well. I greatly appreciate you taking the burden off of me by planning our golf and hotels. It was a truly great week and I greatly appreciate your attention to the details to make it so wonderful.

I will call you later to give you a recap.

Thanks again!

Tom –

I can’t thank you enough for a trip of a lifetime. All went amazingly well. I greatly appreciate you taking the burden off of me by planning our golf and hotels. It was a truly great week and I greatly appreciate your attention to the details to make it so wonderful.

I will call you later to give you a recap.

Thanks again!

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Scott B.

Ireland

Hello Tom,

Wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how much I appreciate your work in our behalf on our recent trip to Scotland. The arrangements went off like clockwork, truly the trip of a lifetime (I’m going to do it again, however). Loved our drivers (Lindsey at the Old Course, Jim Traynor for the rest of the trip), loved the courses (Old Course, Kingsbairns and Dornoch were the kings), and I had great caddies (my caddie at Kingsbairns, Joe Duddy, is from my grandparents’ hometown, Motherwell). I am recommending you to a number of friends and associates, hope they engage you.

Best regards,

Hello Tom,

Wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how much I appreciate your work in our behalf on our recent trip to Scotland. The arrangements went off like clockwork, truly the trip of a lifetime (I’m going to do it again, however). Loved our drivers (Lindsey at the Old Course, Jim Traynor for the rest of the trip), loved the courses (Old Course, Kingsbairns and Dornoch were the kings), and I had great caddies (my caddie at Kingsbairns, Joe Duddy, is from my grandparents’ hometown, Motherwell). I am recommending you to a number of friends and associates, hope they engage you.

Best regards,

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Jim G.

Scotland

Tom,

I would like to thank your for arranging a fantastic golf trip to Ireland and Scotland.

Clearly the ease with which tee times were made and caddies were arranged was a huge benefit, but the biggest benefit of using your service was the arrangement of travel. In Scotland we had 3 different drivers and each was good but Jim was by far the best. In Ireland John was simply awesome. In both instances Jim and John truly added to the enjoyment of our bucket list trip and the overall experience would have been dramatically reduced without either Jim or John.

Tom,

I would like to thank your for arranging a fantastic golf trip to Ireland and Scotland.

Clearly the ease with which tee times were made and caddies were arranged was a huge benefit, but the biggest benefit of using your service was the arrangement of travel. In Scotland we had 3 different drivers and each was good but Jim was by far the best. In Ireland John was simply awesome. In both instances Jim and John truly added to the enjoyment of our bucket list trip and the overall experience would have been dramatically reduced without either Jim or John.

Thanks again for helping us, we had wonderful weather and a wonderful time! Not not to mention playing the finest links golf in both countries.

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Scott C.

Ireland/Scotland

Tom,

I would recommend you to any of my friends planning an Ireland golf trip. Bjorn, the Concierge from the Malton Hotel was very helpful in picking me up at the Shannon airport, after my passport snafu, and it was a pleasure talking to him as we drove thru the Irish country side. The trip quality was outstanding, the value excellent. The courses selected were awesome, the weather great. The coach driver, Senan, was very attentive to our needs. Your advice and guidance were excellent. Hope to do it again someday.

Tom,

I would recommend you to any of my friends planning an Ireland golf trip. Bjorn, the Concierge from the Malton Hotel was very helpful in picking me up at the Shannon airport, after my passport snafu, and it was a pleasure talking to him as we drove thru the Irish country side. The trip quality was outstanding, the value excellent. The courses selected were awesome, the weather great. The coach driver, Senan, was very attentive to our needs. Your advice and guidance were excellent. Hope to do it again someday.

For a great price, personal service and ability to make any arrangements I strongly suggest Toms Golf Tours.

Thanks again,

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David H.

Ireland

Tom,

We made it back safely from Scotland and had a great time. Everything ran very smoothly including the drivers, hotels and courses. Your services and contacts in Scotland worked flawlessly. I understand that you were in Ireland during some of the same days and hope that your weather was as good as ours. We only had sprinkles of rain on about 3 holes out of the 7 rounds. There was plenty of rain each day, but our tee times were perfectly timed to avoid the weather.

Tom,

We made it back safely from Scotland and had a great time. Everything ran very smoothly including the drivers, hotels and courses. Your services and contacts in Scotland worked flawlessly. I understand that you were in Ireland during some of the same days and hope that your weather was as good as ours. We only had sprinkles of rain on about 3 holes out of the 7 rounds. There was plenty of rain each day, but our tee times were perfectly timed to avoid the weather.

I loved Royal Dornoch! I have played over 500 different golf courses, and the 17th hole at Dornoch may be my favorite of all time. I finally understand the enjoyment of links golf which often rewards bad shots with fortuitous bounces, while evening things out by punishing a good shot.

I wished that we had scheduled Cruden Bay instead of Trump. Trump is grand in scale, but lacked in personality and character, much like its owner. It seemed to be more focused on routing the course to create postcard views rather than designing holes that make you think about what shots to play.

We went first class on this trip, but in the future, I would like to visit many more links courses besides the famous ones – “Hidden Gems”.

Once again, thank you for your fine service in arranging our trip. It could not have been better.

Sincerely,

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Charles H.

Scotland

Tom, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Ireland this June. Thank you.

The friendly personal service you provided in planning the details of our trip and your and accessibility made it special because we could customize our itinerary and golf.

Tom, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Ireland this June. Thank you.

The friendly personal service you provided in planning the details of our trip and your and accessibility made it special because we could customize our itinerary and golf.

Going out of your way to personally contact each club on our behalf and request senior caddies and introduce us made our welcome at clubs like Dooks, Waterville, Tralee and Lahinch very warm. We had terrific caddies the entire trip.

We really appreciated you rebooking our rooms at The Slieve Donard and getting us on RCD with two members on Saturday. They could not have been better hosts.

Noel at Waterville allowed us to play an extra nine holes at no charge. He could not have been friendlier.

Mary in the pro shop at Lahinch was a sweet lady and so helpful.

Mossie Cremin was an extremely reliable, informative and friendly driver. He was very helpful and flexible if we wanted to change our plans a little. He kindly waited while we enjoyed a pint of Guiness after a round or played an emergency nine. We felt extremely safe the entire trip. He was a very conscientious driver. He personally introduced us at each club, made sure we got underway and was always there waiting. Gave us lots of history and local perspective on each place we visited as well as great Restaurant recommendations.

The value of the trip was very strong. Excellent accommodations, all transportation and lodging with golf and breakfast each day.

Golf in Ireland is an experience like no other: true links golf on amazing courses with the friendliest people on earth. So different from Americanized golf…… It’s much about using your imagination and skill to run the ball or keep it under the wind and about the match and the friendly completion rather than a score. You play fast, are constantly facing different conditions, and get to enjoy amazing scenery at every turn.

Thanks a million.

See you at Mountaintop soon,

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Dr. John B.

Ireland