politeness
Good news everyone: the summer golf course is just around the corner, and our summer tour package has you covered. Over the next week, our experts will name their favorite courses and resorts, take a look at the latest fashion trends, help you plan your next buddies trip, introduce you to the people who can help you plan your golf vacations and more. The goal here? To educate and motivate you on your next golf excursion. So read on, then get your clubs and bags.
More: 8 Stunning Family-friendly Golf Resorts Worth Visiting This Summer | 20 of our staff’s favorite summer golf courses | 8 Smart Essentials to Store in Your Golf Bag This Summer | 6 questions to answer when planning your golf trip
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It’s summer 2020, and Ashley Siora is on the golf course. There are only a few months left until the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the golf courses — outside, with their smooth capabilities of social distancing and at the height of the soaring trophy — have been seen as a relatively safe and beneficial distraction, for body and mind.
Ciora recently returned to Minnesota, where she graduated from high school, after being among several jobs lost at the Los Angeles-based hospitality and tourism agency due to the pandemic. Now she was ready for her next career – but first she had to figure out exactly what that was.
This private tour was with some of the women Ciora met through the Amateur LPGA Golf Association’s Metro Chapter in Minnesota. They talked, and two of them said they were looking forward to traveling and playing more in the future, but they didn’t know anyone who could set up a trip for them and they weren’t sure where to start. They also knew about Ciora’s past in the hospitality industry, and how she has worked with golf courses, golf resorts, and golf destinations.
“Someone said, ‘Is this something you can do?'” Syora recalls. “And that’s when I was like, You know what, there’s a need for that.”
They booked their trip to Pebble Beach for later that year.
Over the past two and a half years, Ciora has developed and revealed the next phase of her career, launching Women in fairwaysa golf and lifestyle experience that creates unique, ladies-only golf excursions.
There are now two parts of her works. One company books and plans the trips — they were recently approached by a group of 16 women looking to Bandon Dunes in 2024 — but their main focus is their bespoke design. Swing & Sip golf experiences, trips you personally attend (with up to 11 other women) to handle all logistics and business matters. But no, this is not your typical 36-hole marathon followed by beer and wings at the club. Think golf, but with additional elevated experiences like dinner, shopping, spa, town tours, wineries, and more—all at some of the best and most luxurious golf resorts in the United States.
“My whole understanding [women] Very busy anyway, so let Women on Fairways handle the planning and logistics,” Ciora said. “You just show up with your clubs and have fun.”
The first Swing & Sip took place last month at the JW Marriott in San Antonio. Ciora and a small group played both TPC tournaments, including the one that hosted the Valero Texas Open. They also checked out Hill Country wineries, toured the Riverwalk and explored The Alamo. She will have her next Swing & Sip at Big Cedar Lodge in August. It sold out in less than three weeks.
“It’s kind of putting myself and the women on Fairways away from 36-27-18 holes of golf,” she said. “It really is a destination experience.”
Her previous career played a huge influence in her new career. She has worked for more than two decades for destination marketing organizations located in Scottsdale, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles, and her goal is to promote travel agents and tour operators for visitor bookings. Many of her clients were golf courses and resorts, so she had a deep understanding of golf marketing and golf introduction trips. She also felt there was an opportunity to do more on female-focused touring, but at the time she didn’t put much thought into it. good idea? Sure, but she didn’t have time for that after that. However, the project was always in the back of her mind, and it didn’t really become a real-life project until iterated on the golf course that summer’s day in 2020.
“I wondered about going back to that (former) world after I lost my job,” she said. “I’ve done this for about 22 years. I think my time there was good. I learned a lot about marketing and strategy and research and understanding from a brand perspective, and I think those things I learned are now what I use in my company; they are my skill set.”
She is now taking her Swing & Sip experience and perfecting it. Her plan is to get a bulletproof template for a half-dozen or so destinations, then customize each trip to the group’s liking. More golf? Less of golf? More resorts? Less sightseeing? More wineries? She keeps her list of destinations small on purpose, focusing on the ones she considers herself an expert. Her reasoning: Why bring people to places she can’t 100% say she knows well? At the moment, quality outweighs quantity. Besides Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozarks, fall trips to Scottsdale and Las Vegas are in the works. It hopes to get six to eight flights and 2024 dates final this summer.
It’s open to expanding its list of destinations in the future, but that takes time. She wants to scout potential resorts in person — checking everything from amenities, facilities, courses, and activities to women-friendly — to make sure they’re perfect. You won’t settle either. Destinations must be at least four star resorts.
Meanwhile, she became more involved in the golf industry. She started a Minnesota chapter of LEGS – Ladies Executive Golf Society – and is on the Board of Directors for Women in the Golf Industry.
She wants Women on the Highways to evolve, too, and evolve into something beyond travel. It wants it to be something moms and daughters do together, trip buddies, or even complete strangers, who can sign up and build a lasting bond, strong enough that they’ll actually look forward to next year’s location and itinerary. She wants it to be a community of women, which also sends a simple message to get out there and play golf. They will, she says, find tremendous opportunities when it comes to health, communication, work, and friendship.
“It’s interesting,” she says. “I fell for this, but I didn’t. I think it’s just my next career. Likes, I am doing thisAnd I’m excited.”