Ten things I know after ten years of doing this

Dormie turned ten years old in 2022. Here are ten things I know now that I didn't know then.

1. The trip that takes most convincing is usually the one that produces the most gratitude. Japan. Kenya. Vietnam. Every single time, the person who said 'isn't it a bit far?' is the person who calls me from the course.

2. Over-programming a trip is the most common mistake. Seven rounds in seven days sounds like value. It's exhausting. Five rounds with two days off to eat well and move slowly is the trip people remember as their best.

3. The first round matters disproportionately. Jet-lagged, unfamiliar, still calibrating — if the first round is hard and goes badly, the rest of the trip carries that residue. We always plan a gentle first round.

4. The 19th hole is underrated in trip design. Two hours at a good restaurant after a round is worth more to a group's experience than one extra round of golf. Food, conversation, the specific way a group functions when the pressure of competition is behind it — this is where trips become memories.

5. Caddie knowledge is irreplaceable. At courses with serious caddies — Old Course, Leopard Creek, Nine Bridges, Old Head — the caddie is half the experience. A good caddie knows things about a hole that no GPS will ever capture.

6. October is almost always the correct month. For Portugal, for South Africa, for Japan, for the Canary Islands. Summer has gone. Prices have come down. The courses are in their best condition of the year. Almost nobody in golf travel tells their clients this clearly enough.

7. The non-golfer in the group is not a problem. They're an opportunity. Plan one day specifically for them — a driver, a winery, a cooking class, a spa — and the trip becomes a couples trip rather than a golf trip with a reluctant companion. The non-golfer is often the reason the golfer comes back.

8. Confirmed tee times are non-negotiable. We have never sent a client to a destination without confirmed tee times. This is not standard in the industry. It should be.

9. Price transparency builds more trust than price competitiveness. Clients who know exactly what they're paying for come back. Clients who later discover a hidden charge do not.

10. The best trips aren't planned around courses. They're planned around feelings. What does this person want to experience? What did their last trip give them, and what did it fail to give them? The courses are the instrument. The feeling is the music.