In 1998 Andrew Stanley started a small business working out of his bedroom, organising Ryder Cup style matches for groups of golfers. As with any start-up, there were teething issues, including a punch-up between two clients! But the business diversified and thrived, grew steadily and, 25 years later, Golfbreaks employs more than 150 people in five countries, has a turnover of more than £100 million and provides golfing experiences to some 230,000 customers each year. Golf Monthly caught up with Andrew Stanley to talk about this incredible quarter of a century journey.
Born in Johannesburg to British parents, Andrew’s family returned to the UK and he was schooled in England. After A levels, he completed a hotel management degree at Portsmouth University while gaining further experience in the holiday and leisure industry.
“I spent two summers teaching windsurfing in Minorca,” he says. “That was great from a specialist sports holiday side of things - to understand people travelling with a specialist sports interest.”
After graduating, Andrew did various jobs through his 20s before deciding to branch out alone. In 1998, he started his own business organising Ryder Cup style matches for groups of golfers. The first event was held in Le Touquet for 24 people – two teams of 12. The package included shirts a trophy, the whole nine yards. It was a popular concept, but not particularly easy to police.
“24 blokes away together; the results are fairly predictable,” he chuckles on remembering. “On the first trip two guys on the same team actually had a punch up! I had to plead for a second chance with the team at Le Touquet. Thankfully they forgave us!”
The Domestic Market
Andrew realised there were perhaps easier routes to success.
“We saw there was a great gap in the market for UK golf breaks. Not huge margins but a big market,” he says. “People looking for a night away and a couple of rounds at a good price.”
That was when the business really started to take off. It was also the right place at the right time as the internet was just properly taking off. Before that, travel companies had to rely on a brochure a couple of times a year to sell product. Suddenly they were able to get email addresses and could market offers more regularly and cost effectively.
Andrew was joined by his cousin Guy Proddow and together they launched Golfbreaks.com in August 1999. They moved into a first office and, by 2000, had recruited two further directors in Daniel Grave and Steve Hemsworth. The four men are still working together today.
The business began to grow steadily. In 2001 the turnover was £2 million and they booked 19,000 golfers. By 2009, they were booking 132,000 golfers per annum with a turnover north of £20 million. They had 80 employees and were working with more than 900 golf clubs and resorts across the globe.
Keys To Success
A key to the success of the business was to take a steady approach towards growth - To be certain it was manageable.
“It was a balancing act – following the ambition we had, but growing within our means,” says Andrew. “There’s no point in suddenly opening up a whole area and sending 20,000 golfers into new territories when we haven’t dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s. You have to get everything there ready with regards booking and suppliers. That needs to be in place.”
With that in mind, another vital element to the growth of the company was employing the right people to build and maintain relationships with the suppliers.
“Early on, you go through the phase of thinking, ‘I’m the only one that can go and get the right contract with The Belfry or La Manga for example,” Andrew says. “Then over a period of time, the four of us as directors were doing the job of securing the product. When we had most of those up and running then, as long as we had the right people, which we did, we could hand it over and say, ‘you take the reins.’ Just giving our staff the info to be competitive on price and deliver that great service.”
The slogan Golfbreaks has used most over the years is “Saving golfers time and money” and that remains their ethos. Providing a one-stop shop, offering the best rates golfers can get. It’s a compelling proposition.
Golfbreaks built itself upon domestic golf and it remains a core of the business. Of the 200,000 plus golfers they book each year, more than half of those are for trips within the UK.
The USA And The PGA Tour
But the company has international interests and ambitions. A key growth area is the USA with increasing numbers taking trips there from the UK. In addition, Golfbreaks is tapping into the US market.
“There are four million golfers in the UK. In North America, including Canada, there are 30 million. The top end of those want to make the trip over to Scotland and Ireland to play the links courses, the trophy courses,” Andrew says. “But there’s also a big domestic market that is slightly untapped. So we thought, ‘let’s go over and use the same ingredients, the same formula for success that we’ve had over here.’ Even if we do only a small percentage of those 30 million golfers doing trips, then that’s exciting.”
A problem they faced though was how to get their name out to golfers in the US, and to do so with credibility. In stepped the PGA Tour. In 2019 they approached Golfbreaks as they wanted to expand into travel, seeing it as an important driver for fan engagement. The PGA Tour came on board as a minority shareholder.
“We gained access to a lot of their marketing assets and the brand license so over in the US we are Golfbreaks by PGA Tour,” says Andrew. “For credibility, it’s a big tick in the box. We were able to use a lot of their marketing assets, particularly TV inventory on the Golf Channel to be able to go and say, ‘This is Golf Breaks” this is what we’re doing, this is where we’re going.’”
Golfbreaks had already been running successful packages for golfers to travel to see events like The Masters or the Ryder Cup and tie in golfing experiences alongside, but working with the PGA Tour, other options are becoming available – like a package to see the WM Phoenix Open for example.
“People want to experience that,” Andrew says. “To go stand on the 16th there and soak in the atmosphere. After The Masters and The Players Championship, Phoenix is our next biggest event.”
But not every trip Golfbreaks organises is just about the golf. As the company has grown, particularly as people travel further afield, more families and mixed groups are looking to include golf as part of a holiday rather than the trip being simply “a golf holiday.”
“We have noticed that yes, and I can give some good examples,” says Andrew. “We’ve seen a big surge in family breaks. A great venue is somewhere like Costa Navarino in Greece where there are four fantastic golf courses. But also fantastic facilities for a family or two families to be able to go along and have a load of other things to enjoy. South Africa too – It’s a record year for South Africa as a destination. Trips there tend to be – Is it a golf holiday or is it a holiday with golf? People want to visit Cape Town, take a trip up Table Mountain, go to the vineyards. They may even go on a safari. We also now do a trip to India that includes golf but also visits to the Taj Mahal and other great sites.”
Covid and Economic Challenges
The travel industry was hit particularly hard by Covid but Golfbreaks weathered the storm well and has come out strong in the last couple of years.
“We were very clear we had three groups we needed to look after during the crisis,” says Andrew. “Number 1 - Our customers. We did give refunds when they were asked for but in the main, we tried our utmost to be able to rebook people so they still had a break to look forward to. Secondly, our staff. We really made sure we looked after them. We wanted to make sure they were here as we came out of it. Third were the suppliers, who we’ve spent years building relationships with. There’s a symbiotic relationship there to be maintained. I’m hugely proud of how the team worked during and post covid to bounce us back and satisfy the demand.”
Like many travel companies, Golfbreaks has been riding a post-Covid wave and the future looks positive despite trying economic conditions.
“People are cutting their cloth accordingly, whether that’s by destination or level of experience, but fundamentally, people are still booking a golf trip,” Andrew says. “People want to travel, they want to have something to look forward to and we will continue to help them.”
Golfbreaks’ is an outstanding story. Admittedly Andrew and his team benefited from the emergence of the internet, but they have also consistently provided desirable solutions for travelling golfers and have seen fabulous growth as a result. It’s been a hugely successful 25 years honing a model that clearly works – “saving golfers time and money.” With the prospect of rolling that super-solid concept out to other markets, the US in particular, the company is looking forwards and the view is rather attractive.
Andrew’s Next Big Golf Destinations
Costa Navarino – Greece may not be a destination that rolls of the tongue when you think golf venues but what they’ve created there will be a fantastic facility going forwards.
Italy – It’s an established golfing country but I think there’s going to be some big growth there. It’s a fabulous country for golf but perhaps just hasn’t promoted itself quite as well as it might have done. But with the focus on the Ryder Cup later this year, there are some wonderful destinations and venues to explore.
UAE – is growing. More than ever are heading there, particularly from a winter sun point of view. They’re thinking, ‘I’ve been to Spain, I’ve been to Turkey, I’ve been to the Canaries… Have had good weather but not necessarily brilliant.’ And they’re then thinking, ‘I might just push that bit further and go to Dubai, Abu Dhabi…’
Mauritius – You can’t get Premium Economy upwards going to Mauritius from September onwards at the end of this year. They’re all sold. There are economy seats but that’s reflective of the market out there. Mauritius is hugely popular.
Andrew's Five Personal Favourites
- St Andrews, Scotland
- Kiawah Island, USA
- Costa Navarino, Greece
- Turnberry, Scotland
- Pinnacle Point, South Africa
