Nine rounds in twenty days — is it possible?

The whole island was then the longest trip we sold: twenty days, eighteen nights, nine rounds and three bases. The question we get is always the same — can you actually manage it?

The answer is yes, but not any old way

Nine rounds across eighteen nights averages one round every other day. That sounds relaxed and it is, as long as they do not fall in the wrong places. Two rounds back to back followed by three days off is worse than every other day the whole way through, even though the total is the same.

That is why the trip is built around the rest days rather than around the rounds. The excursions are not padding dropped wherever there happens to be room — they sit where the legs need a day.

Three bases

The island is about 65 kilometres from north to south, and no course is more than an hour or so from another. You could therefore stay in one place for the whole trip and drive out on every playing day.

We do not, and the reason is simple: an hour in the minibus before the round and an hour after is two hours of the day, every time. Over twenty days that is a whole day spent in a vehicle. Moving base twice costs two mornings and saves considerably more.

The whole party moves together. That is a rule we hold to firmly — a group split across different hotels never works as well as it sounds when you are planning it.

What holds up

The every-other-day rhythm holds all the way. So do the changes of base, provided they fall on a day without a round. And the thing that holds up best of all: not repeating a course. Nine rounds on nine different courses is an entirely different experience from nine rounds on four.

What we would rearrange

Two things.

Île aux Cerfs should not fall immediately after a change of base. The round starts with a boat and needs an early crossing, and that combination is needlessly stressful the day after repacking.

And the last round should not fall the day before you fly home. It sounds efficient and it is not — packing, checking out and a long flight mean the round is played with your head somewhere else. Put an excursion day or a free day last instead.

Who it suits

Not everybody, and we would rather say so now than afterwards. Twenty days is a long time away, and for many the fourteen-day trip with seven rounds is the better balance. But for anyone who wants to play every course on the island without cramming them in — this is what that trip is for.