Following up on the spending data we covered last week: golfers have the budget and the intent to travel in 2026. The next question is where. This year’s championship calendar makes that an easier call than usual — there’s an unusually rich lineup of majors, amateur showcases and Tour stops that double as built-in excuses to plan a trip around.
Southwest Ireland’s Once-in-a-Generation Stretch
Few years line up as neatly as this one for Southwest Ireland. The Walker Cup arrives at Lahinch in September, followed almost immediately by the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg. For a golf traveler willing to plan around it, that’s a rare stretch where you could watch an amateur team event, play a run of legendary local links, and be back in the gallery for a European Tour event within the same trip.
England’s Golf Coast Gets the Rare Double
England’s Golf Coast is hosting both the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July and, weeks later, the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Two major championships on the same stretch of coastline in the same summer is the kind of scheduling quirk that turns a bucket-list region into a can’t-miss year.
Southern California’s Major Championship Swing
Riviera Country Club hosts its first women’s major, the U.S. Women’s Open, in June, with the Curtis Cup following days later at Bel-Air Country Club. For golf travelers who’ve always associated Riviera with the Genesis Invitational, this is a chance to see the club host an entirely different kind of championship pressure.
Chicago’s Presidents Cup Moment
Medinah Country Club hosts the Presidents Cup in September on a completely redesigned No. 3 Course — giving Midwest golf travelers a rare team-event showcase without needing a passport, and a good excuse to build a fall trip around Chicago’s public and private golf scene at large.
The Common Thread
None of these trips require chasing a single signature hole or a single resort — they’re built around timing. The golfers who plan best in 2026 will be the ones who treat the championship calendar as a travel calendar, booking around these dates rather than trying to fit golf into a vacation after the fact.
We’ll be tracking each of these destinations as the year plays out — and with the spending confidence golfers are showing right now, expect all of them to be busy.
