Business and pleasure
PGA Professional Michael Mosher has forged a career taking golfers on their trip of a lifetime.
“We take people to the best golfing locations in the world, and we make sure they have a good time doing it.”
It is a simple business philosophy for Michael Mosher, PGA Professional and Director of Golf at one of Australia’s premier golf travel companies, Teed Up Golf Tours.
From Augusta National, to every course on The Open Championship Rota and most places in-between, Mosher and his team are dedicated to ensuring that with them, customers can enjoy the golfing experience of a lifetime.
Now a thriving business with over twenty years’ experience, Mosher recalls that the idea behind Teed Up Golf Tours came about largely by chance when he was the Director of Golf at Mount Broughton Golf Club in Bowral.
“A member bought a travel agency business and asked if I could help to organise a trip to The Masters,” he reflects. “That was in 1999, but in 2004, a friend encouraged me to start running tours as a business full-time.
“We took a risk, but we thought we had found a niche in the market. We did it as a bit of fun. It was a way to see the world, play some golf and have a good time.”
It is that approach that has sustained Mosher, as Teed Up Golf Tours has expanded from 8-10 person trips, to regularly hosting hundreds of keen golfers on trips to Augusta alone.
Although they started small, it was clear there was an appetite - especially for trips to The Masters.
“Since we started, we have only missed Augusta twice due to COVID and those trips often have more than a hundred people involved. When you step back from it for a moment to reflect, it’s really cool.”
Mosher puts a lot of the success of the business down to his willingness to create and maintain strong relationships right throughout the industry.
From his playing days when he remembers having to fax fellow players to stay in touch, to now, when he engages with a network of other PGA Professionals to get the word out about his tours, Mosher is a people person. That, alongside his engaging personality, has helped to foster a sense of goodwill that continues to benefit the business.
“I really believe that PGA Professionals are very personable people, who want to help.
“When I look back on those early days, I was just keeping in touch and being friendly, but it also helped to build a database of people who wanted to be involved later down the line.”
That attitude enhances the experience for golfers on the tours as well, as Mosher and fellow professionals connect, cater to and care for each member of the touring party.
“These guys are engaging and friendly,” he says. “We will play with a different group every day of the tour, and it is in our nature to help – whether that is by offering a swing tip, or just talking golf.
“We are all there for the same reason and just love being around the game. Our passion rolls through the trips, and we know the customer feels that, too.
“Ultimately, that means that the camaraderie is really strong. A lot of our clients have become close friends with other people who have been on tours with.”
Offering tours the world over, Mosher finds it hard to go past memories at The Masters and The Open Championship as highlights from his time at Teed Up Golf Tours.
There on the sixteenth green in 2005 when Tiger chipped in and privileged to have followed Adam Scott for the entirety of his final round in 2013, he remains spellbound by the place, even after more than two decades.
“Every few years it throws up an incredible finish,” he smiles. “It’s the combination of the history, the secrets, the condition of the golf course, the smells and the sounds. It is a magical place that is out of control in some ways.”
As for The Open, Mosher designed a Scotland and England tour specially to give golfers the chance to follow in the footsteps of greatness; playing all the courses on the rotation.
A twenty-four person trip, it is wall-to-wall breathtaking golf.
The quality of golf courses is something that Mosher is meticulous about, wherever in the world Teed Up Golf Tours might be.
“On all of our tours, golfers will play all the best courses that are available,” he explains. “We don’t play average courses. We will always be willing to drive a long way to play the best golf.”
Something made increasingly possible by his strong golfing network, the list of courses available to Mosher and his clients continues to grow.
“Over the journey, I've met a lot of people overseas who have helped us get on to courses I didn't think was possible," he says. “From Pine Valley to Cyprus Point and Whistling Straits, you keep building those relationships and more becomes possible.”
All of it incredibly well received, Mosher finds it gratifying when golfers relish their experience.
“We understand that people have saved up a lot for these moments and the chance to create memories," he says. “And we want to make sure they get what they are after.”
Considering the 16 pages’ worth of positive testimonials on the website, Mosher and his team are clearly doing a lot right.
Meeting increased demand ever since COVID, too, Mosher himself is in the midst of a jam-packed 2024.
First it was The Masters for Scheffler's win, then LIV Golf in Adelaide this weekend. Next, he heads to the US again for a select trip to some of New York’s elite private clubs, all before The Open Championship in July. Thereafter, he will be taking a group to Ireland in September, before rounding it out with a picturesque tour to Queenstown at the back end of the year.
“It sure is a pretty full year for me,” he laughs.
“But it really is a pretty cool job to take people to go and make progress through their bucket list.”
For more information on Teed Up Golf Tours, or to secure your spot on one of the upcoming adventures, click HERE
This story was originally published in Australian Golf Digest.