In today’s episode, Rodney is joined by Bill Hogan, Business Development Manager for Premier Golf. Bill shares insights into the world of luxury golf travel, discussing how Premier Golf curates unforgettable golfing experiences at some of the most prestigious courses worldwide. From exclusive access to major tournaments like the Masters and the Open Championship to unforgettable trips in destinations like Greece, South Africa, and Japan, this episode is packed with valuable information for golf enthusiasts looking to elevate their travels.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [1:50] Bill explains the services and offerings of Premier Golf.
• [3:52] Bill shares the story of how he started his role.
• [7:12] Bill outlines the process from your initial inquiry to the completion of your golf trip.
• [11:25] Bill highlights emerging golf destinations in Greece.
• [15:46] Bill discusses UK and Northern Ireland golf courses and insights into the Augusta National Golf Club.
• [22:13] Bill discusses the unique experience of combining golf with a safari in South Africa and golfing in Japan and others worldwide. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Premier Golf specializes in creating customized golf packages, tours, and event experiences. Whether it’s attending major tournaments like the Masters or the Open Championship, planning a group trip to play in Ireland, or organizing a dream golf getaway to destinations like Pebble Beach and Napa Valley, Premier Golf handles all the arrangements, offering a seamless, one-stop solution for bucket-list golf trips.
• Greece is emerging as a premier golf destination, highlighted by the stunning Costa Navarino resort. Spanning six miles, it features four world-class golf courses, luxury accommodations like Mandarin Oriental and W, over 40 restaurants, spas, and unique amenities such as an NBA basketball academy. Designed with meticulous attention to service and quality, Costa Navarino rivals the best golf resorts worldwide.
• Premier Golf is an approved vendor for Open Championship tickets and hospitality, offering exclusive packages for the event. For the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland—one of the world's top links courses—guests can enjoy a blend of tournament viewing and golf play. Packages typically include playing nearby courses like Portstewart or Ballyliffin, attending tournament rounds, and accessing a dedicated hospitality venue near the clubhouse.

RESOURCES:

Luxury Travelers - Podcast

Luxe Travel - Website

Luxe Travel - Facebook

Luxe Travel - Instagram

Premier Golf - Website

Bill Hogan - Instagram

Bill Hogan - LinkedIn

GUEST BIOGRAPHY: 

Bill Hogan is the Business Development Manager for Premier Golf and has been traveling the world with luxury-minded clients since 1988. He has played golf in nearly 60 countries and has been on over 1000 golf courses. His experience has landed him a spot on GOLF Magazine's World Top 100 ranking panel and also for Platinum Clubs of the World. It's been said he's "been there, played that!"

So buckle up and prepare for a journey into the lap of luxury. Now your host.

And Premier Golf [00:01:00] is something that if you are a golfer and happen to have any interest whatsoever in playing golf, other than at your own course or club, you're going to want to hear what Bill has to say. So Bill, welcome to the show this morning.

Rodney George: Yeah. Bill and I ran into each other at a huge meeting in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. And as soon as I saw him and what he was doing, I said, we, we need to talk.

Rodney George: Well, Bill, Bill is all about Bill and Premier Golf are all about luxury golf [00:01:45] travel, uh, pretty much the world over. So Bill, tell us a little bit about what Premier does.

We do all the arrangements for you and, uh, make it very easy, kind of one stop shopping to To put together [00:02:15] your bucket list trip.

Rodney George: So what's the, uh, what's the most exciting trip that you can recall so far?

If I had to take one more golf trip in my life, it would probably be a South Africa golf safari. Cause yes, it's very exotic. Uh, but when you get down to South Africa, you know, the weather is great. The people are wonderful. Um, you have the whole food and [00:02:45] wine culture that goes back a long time. The golf courses are off the charts.

I mean, people don't realize how many really great golf courses are in South Africa, and then you combine it with the safari components, it's just off the charts. You know? Well, most people

Bill Hogan: There are incredible courses there from the Lynx at Fancourt, where they had the President's Cup, um, years ago, um, all around the [00:03:15] Stellenbosch and Parra Valleys, up the Garden Route along the coast, um, just outside of Kruger National Park. I mean, there's all kinds of great places. Great golf courses, but, uh, uh, what really caps it off is the safari element at the beginning or end of your trip.

Bill Hogan: That's a, that's a great question, Rodney.

And my dad came to me and said, Oh, I'm going on a golf trip with my guys from the club, we're going to go over to Ireland and [00:04:15] Scotland and play all these great courses and blah, blah, blah. So it kind of piqued my interest. I was a golfer since I was a little kid, obviously. And so we, um. I went and looked at his brochure and said, Oh wow, this company's located right down the road in Carmel.

And his name was Michael C. Rossetto, Mike Rossetto. And he was kind of a legend in the golf travel industry, he was the first guy to really do this type of stuff. Um, and he [00:05:00] started in 1957. So I came in the door and he said, Hey, why don't you, you know, we talked for about an hour, hour and a half. He said, why don't you come back tomorrow?

I go, yeah, my passport's good. Okay, good, because we're leaving to New Zealand and Australia on Friday for a month. So he had, he was in a panic. He had a guy, um, who had just left the company the [00:05:45] week before. And he had two groups back to back doing Australia and New Zealand. And he said, can you go? Are you free for the next month?

where I sit today. [00:06:15]

Bill Hogan: Uh, the doubt it was the coat and tie was probably more of the fact that I had, uh, I'd lived in Europe for four years. I was pretty well traveled for my age, um, and, um, [00:06:45] on a new golf that I knew I was pretty passionate about golf. So I think it was just a good fit. And I've always been kind of a people person.

So I think, uh, that's probably more of it.

Bill Hogan: I know that's all. Yeah. So yes, starts off. So I started [00:07:15] asking a couple of questions on, on the group.

And we kind of call those a kind of the commando golfers. You know, they want to get as much in as they can. Um, but there's other groups that you know, hey, I want to do, you know, two days of [00:07:45] golf, then one day let's do some sightseeing, um, go see some things, maybe go to a soccer game or whatever the case may be.

The golf courses all cost the same. It doesn't matter where you're staying. The only difference in the price of your trip at the end of the day is where you sleep at night. And, uh, and people [00:08:30] who've been over there enough know that, um, you know, um, you don't spend that much time in your room when you're in a golf trip, right?

It's also important that you're not. Checking in and checking out of hotels every day. You want to. Get to know the [00:09:00] town a little bit, you know, you don't want to go into St. Andrews for one day. You want to go in there and, and, you know, spend a few days, get to know the town a little bit, the pubs, the restaurants, go to do the shops and the museums.

Not every place has carts. And so I want to make sure they don't try to cram too much in and really get an enjoyable, uh, vacation.

Bill Hogan: So normally, well, we have our own offices overseas in Ireland and Scotland and Spain and Portugal and England.

So we try to assist with as much of that as possible. Um, but you know, some people like to sleep with their clubs at night or they want to clean them at night or do whatever it is. You know, different people have different, different ways they [00:10:30] go about it. But we try to make it as seamless and easy for people as possible.

Rodney George: Well, with all the places around the world you can play golf, uh, and Premier offers most if not all of them, are there any really new and exciting places that we should know about? You mentioned, you touched on South Africa, [00:11:15] but beyond that?

Bill Hogan: Um, there are, and that's a, that's a great question. Um, um, one of them, for instance, is, um, Greece.

A great shipping magnet, um, Had his legacy as he wanted to build something in the region where he grew up in Messina, near the town of Kalamata, you know where they grow all the olives? And so he built four [00:12:00] golf courses and four resorts. And we're not just talking golf courses and resorts. We're talking Mandarin Oriental, W, Romano's Luxury Collection, and a Weston.

And uh, [00:12:45] so, you know, they have people that come around with cold towels on the golf course because it is greased and they can't get warm. Um, they have perfect, um, practice facilities. The golf courses are always in excellent condition. The greens run fast, they're cut every day. Um, you [00:13:00] know, things that we do in America, we take for granted, but it isn't always the case when you travel overseas, so they've got the service levels down to a T.

I mean, we're, we're featuring it heavy and we've been selling a lot of it lately. So it's six miles

Rodney George: end to end. Are you talking about the town?

Now there's some other stuff in between it. But he's basically [00:14:00] stretched it out to the best parts of this beautiful, long coastline along Costa Navarino Bay. So is it,

Rodney George: is it one of those situations where if you're staying at one of his resorts, you can play at the other courses? Absolutely. Yes. Oh, that's a golfer's dream.

You can

It's all [00:14:30] ready to go. The carts have all the bells and whistles with the GPS and everything. It's really first class. And how far is that from,

Rodney George: how far is that from Athens?

But you can also fly right into Kalamata from, here's some 25. gateways that fly into Kalamata airport, um, throughout Europe. But if you're coming from America, most of the non stops [00:15:00] go into Athens and they meet you in brand new Mercedes vans with, you know, big captain's chair to, it's first class all the way.

Rodney George: Okay.

Bill Hogan: Absolutely. Every year. We're one of the, uh, the um, Royal Ancient Golf Club has approved a certain amount of vendors who are approved to sell Open Championship tickets and hospitality, et cetera.

90 percent of the people will bring their golf clubs and they play before, during, and after, after the tournament. So a common thread is maybe you arrive on Wednesday, you play golf on Thursday. [00:16:30] Friday you go to the Open, um, and you get to see all the players before the cut. So if you wanted to see. Tiger or somebody playing in the year after if they're going to make the cut, you see them for sure on Friday.

Um, and we have in their drink and food and special guests. Last year we had John Daly in there. Do a Q and a session. It was really entertaining. We've had rich being who does, um, [00:17:15] broadcasting in Europe and he's, of course, from Here in, here in Texas. And, uh, but we always have something like that. We have music.

Uh, it's really great for people afterwards to go and before, during or after the tournament to relax a little bit and have, yeah,

And, uh, this year when I walked in, he raised his hand, says, [00:17:45] everybody, Get quiet for just a second. I want to let you know, Arkansas is in the house. He still doesn't know my name, but he knows I'm from Arkansas. And he, if you've never hung out with John Daly, that's a, that's quite a treat.

Bill Hogan: Oh yeah. He's a hoot.

He's really a great guy. And, and when you get personalities and you get to meet them in person. They're not what you just think or hear about them on television or something like that. They're regular people. Like everybody, [00:18:30] he's a, he's a good guy. Uh, he's

Rodney George: had his ups and downs throughout his career, uh, personally and physically and everything else, but he's still a fun guy, which by the way, speaking of the masters, uh, that's something else you do.

Bill Hogan: They are, they, they, they police it pretty heavily, but for years, we, and our, our partner company, [00:19:00] which is your golf travel line of England.

So we make it really easy for people, really [00:19:30] seamless, and uh, take it from, again, it's just not a, a ticket at a hotel thing. We, we go to the extra yard and make, and we have various different, uh, packages where you can go anywhere for the whole week, which not many people do. [00:19:45] To one or two days and, uh, watch the masters.

You can play golf in the area as well, but it's, it's really about going in there and seeing it with your own two eyes and. And how beautiful and, and, and how much fun. Well, those of you who

It's up and down hills all day long.

If you get there early in the morning, you buy one of the Augusta folding chairs, you put it out by, say, by the 18th screen. When you come [00:20:30] back at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it's sitting there, nobody's moved it, nobody's touched it. You can sit down and watch the last of the groups that come through. So, probably the most educated, best behaved, Um, fans in the world of golf these [00:20:45] days, it truly is.

And

Bill Hogan: but you can Rodney in the practice rounds.

So there's ways you can get in there and take photographs and there is no more photogenic course. No, none that you can find it, especially when the azaleas are in bloom and everything. It's just, it's like, yeah, it's,

Um, if you had a crystal ball and you could take one more golf trip, it's [00:22:00] slickers where Jack Pallance goes, that one thing, if you could take that one more golf trip and you knew it was going to be your last golf trip, where would it be to? And why?

Do a couple of different [00:22:30] safari camps. Um, I always wanted to go gorilla trekking in Rwanda, which would be a side venture, of course, but I always thought that would be fantastic to play all the great places, go to the wine estates. Um, go to the beaches, you know, go out and do [00:22:45] all the things that you would do when you go to South Africa.

I think they have five courses ranked in the world top hundred. Um, [00:23:15] and, uh, it's the whole experience when you play golf in Japan too. Um, you know, you go and they have the baths and the multiple meals and it's a full day thing. You don't just go play 18, get a hot dog and take off. It's a full day experience and they're treated like kings.

[00:24:00] There's essentially, yeah, there's, there's no crime. There's, it's just, it's just a great, great place to live. So probably my bucket list trip and what I could do only do one more. It'd probably be. An extensive trip through Japan.

There's not a nicer, uh, country to visit as far as the people they're friendly. They have such pride in everything that they do. I was told that if you, if you have [00:24:30] a fender bender in your car, you can't even drive it on the streets and highways of Japan until it's properly repaired. Uh, you don't walk down the street, drinking your Starbucks coffee, because they will stare you down because that's considered impolite, you, uh, you eat [00:24:45] and drink while you're seated, uh, and not walking around, uh, I actually had to throw a cup of coffee away because I was told that everyone was staring me down.

Bill Hogan: Yeah. And, and the, the thought there, Rodney, is what if you spilled it and then it would make a mess on the ground or bump into somebody and it spills on them. Then that's, you know, so they, they really respect, you know, [00:25:15] um, looking after each other.

And if you ever went on some of those trains in Japan and you get on a train, you know, that you've seen a vision on people cram in there. No, I've been on that

Rodney George: train.

Rodney George: since you brought the train up, the interesting thing is that train stops for like 37 seconds and the people that get off, get off.

Well, listen, the world of golf takes on a whole new meaning with you guys, because it truly is the world. [00:26:15] And for our clients, uh, that are, that are watching this podcast, if you're truly want, um, shall we say bragging rights and the ability to go back to your course and your, your club and the guys or the [00:26:30] gals that you play with and, uh, and have some bragging rights, you need to give us a call so that we can get you over to premier golf for the golf.

Trip of your dreams.

There's a course in Portugal that [00:27:00] not many people know about because it just really opened last year. Um, and it's called Dunas Comporta. And it's kind of between about an hour South. of Lisbon and an hour and a half north of, of the Algarve, kind of in [00:27:15] that middle area there. It might be the best golf course in continental Europe.

Americans

Golf in extravaganzas to, uh, one of the special places on earth and, and play golf for seven, 10, 14 days and create some memories that will live on [00:28:30] long after you're gone.

And that is really something and, and, uh, just lost my dad a couple of years ago, but some of the fondest memories, um, I have are some of our golf tricks that we did because. That's just, and the photographs, you know, I have some here in my office. Uh, [00:29:00] that's not, it's not, you just don't ever forget

Rodney George: it. You don't, I, I, I think of my dad often.

And he goes, wow, that's got all my stuff in it. And I go, you can wear it. I mean, you can wear it any other time, but we're not, you're not going to wear that on at my country club and [00:29:30] playing golf with me and what I would give Bill to have the chance to play golf with my dad again with his fanny pack.

Bill Hogan: Yeah, exactly. You you'd put up with it now, wouldn't you? I would totally put up with it. You're absolutely, you're absolutely

So a few years later, one of the guys passes away. And [00:30:00] about a week later, he appears in a vision to his best friend and he goes, Larry, I got, I got, I got, I got to heaven and I've got good news and bad news. And he said, well, what's the good news? And he says, there is golf in heaven. And he goes, well, what's the bad news?

Bill Hogan: Yeah. Wake up. Well, that's, you know, if nothing else that teaches you, you know, you gotta, you gotta use your days, you know, what you can, and, and in travel, I mean, if, what did we learn from 9 11 or the pandemic, [00:30:30] you know, if you, if you could do it now, I recommend people do it because you don't, there's no guarantee of tomorrow.

Rodney George: comes through my mind, I go do it because I'm in the fourth quarter and you know how games go in the fourth quarter. Most of them are won or lost and I plan on winning and leaving a lot of memories for my kids and grandkids.

Bye for now, Bill. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you, Robbie. Appreciate [00:31:15] it.