Golf by helicopter

Which course or championship?

Golf by helicopter is a straightforward booking once the club or the organiser has agreed the landing.

Pick the course for your guests, then check the date. Where a golf day needs a helicopter is mostly a matter of distance, because most championship courses are in places that road travel makes slow: the east coast of Scotland, the Welsh border and the Surrey heath.

St Andrews and The Open in 2027

The 155th Open is at St Andrews, and the R&A publishes the dates as 11 to 18 July 2027; check theopen.com for the daily schedule. The Open returns to St Andrews roughly every five years, and the venue rotates around the links courses, so a different course hosts it in other years. Dundee Airport is the closest airport in our library to St Andrews, so we typically use Dundee or Perth and a short car transfer. Landing on or beside the Old Course is not something we can promise. Dundee has published hours that the airport authority is reviewing, so we confirm them at the time of booking. The Dundee page has the airport facts.

Carnoustie

For the 2018 Open at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus we flew clients who simply avoided the queues by road and enjoyed a day on a championship links.

Celtic Manor

The Usk Valley resort near Newport hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup, which Europe won on the fourth day because rain affected the first. We can use the resort's helipad, subject to permission, to bring a group in from Cardiff, Bristol or London. Address: Coldra Wood, The Usk Valley, Chepstow Road, Newport NP18 1HQ.

Walton Heath

In 2018, for the British Masters, we worked with the European Tour to carry eight players, including Justin Rose, from Walton Heath Golf Club to a private site near Canary Wharf for a chipping challenge onto a target on the water. It shows what is possible when a golf event needs a fast, scheduled link to the capital.

A typical golf day timeline

A golf day by helicopter works around tee times and clubhouse rules more than around the flight. These are typical times; your own plan depends on the course.

1. Early start: guests meet at the departure site 10 minutes before take-off, with clubs and bags weighed in advance.
2. Flight: for example Edinburgh to Dundee about 20 to 25 minutes, then a car for the last leg. From central London, a Surrey or Berkshire course is usually under 30 minutes.
3. Arrival one to two hours before the first tee time: time for coffee, practice and introductions.
4. The round and lunch: the helicopter waits at the nearest approved site or repositions, depending on the club.
5. Return: a fixed departure time, with a buffer for the clubhouse and for daylight in the autumn.

Our same-day business trips page explains how a short-notice return flight is arranged, and the Scotland region page lists the landing options north of the border.

Playing or watching: the difference

Playing golf and watching it need different plans. A private round at a club means a landing the club agrees to, usually in a field, practice area or its own helipad, and the club sets the rules. A championship such as The Open is a ticketed public event with its own traffic management, so a landing at or beside the course is controlled by the organiser and is rarely offered. For spectators the usual solution is an airfield nearby and an arranged car.

That is why we ask where you want to end up, not just where you want to land. A good plan names the club, the date, the number of guests and whether you will play or watch. Add the return time and we can say what is practical.

For larger groups, such as a company day with 20 or more guests, we use several helicopters flying together, so the group arrives as one. See our Leonardo AW139 page for the largest cabin we use, and the fleet overview for the others.

More golf and tennis venues

Two course pages are worth a look before you choose a date: St Andrews, where Dundee is the usual arrival point, and Wentworth in Surrey, which is close to Fairoaks. For tennis in south-west London see Wimbledon.

Combining golf with a wider event day

Golf often sits next to other events. The Open week in July overlaps the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and the Cheltenham, Ascot and Newmarket racing calendars sit alongside the summer golf season, so ask us about back-to-back plans. See the events hub for the full 2027 calendar, and horse racing by helicopter if your guests prefer the paddock to the fairway.

If the flight is cancelled because of the weather, you pay nothing. Passenger weights are needed at booking, and golf bags should be in soft covers where the hold is small. For costs, see the helicopter hire price guides, then ask for a quote on your date and course.