You’re finally embarking on your golf dream trip and you know you’ll need to take your “A” game, right?
Beware golf travelers, if you don’t pack carefully you might end up with annoyances and hassles that will quickly turn your “A’ game into a “C” game or worse.
Here are 10 invaluable tips that’ll help your trip be full of great memories. Some of these I learned the hard way by forgetting them or foolishly disregarding advice from fellow golf travelers and writers.
1. Invest in a top quality travel cover
Absolutely, positively don’t try to save money by purchasing a cheap travel cover. You can protect your golf club investment by getting a cover from a respected company like Club Glove, Sun Mountain or Bag Boy to name a few.
More Tips:
- Don’t select an all-black cover so you can avoid looking like everybody else. You’ll save time finding your bag on the carousel if it has a recognizable color treatment.
- Use your travel cover as an additional piece of luggage by packing shoes and extra shirts on departure and dirty laundry on your return.
- Make sure your nametag or business card is placed on the outside of the bag and the inside as well, just in case the outside card is displaced.
2. A lightweight carry Bag for the British Isles
If you’ve every played golf in this part of the world, you’ll notice that the most experienced caddies gravitate to the lightest bag in the group. Show up with one of those giant staff bags and you’ll be treated like someone with a contagious disease.
3. Microfiber clothing
These amazing fabrics were made for golf travelers. They’re lightweight, wrinkle resistant and dry quickly.
4. Quality golf outerwear
If you want to be miserable, I mean truly miserable, take a golf vacation to Scotland, Ireland or the Monterrey Peninsula in California with some ragtag, makeshift rainwear. Standing in a fairway with a thirty-mile an hour cross wind and a heavy downpour without adequate protection is not a memory you’ll treasure. Top companies include Glen Echo, Columbia and Zero Restriction.
5. Take some stain remover for mud
If you don’t, you might bring home a mud-splotched pair of golf slacks or khakis as a souvenir of your trip.
6. Waterproof golf shoes (with shoe trees)
You must have a dry pair available in case you get caught in a downpour. Ideally, you need to take at least two pair of waterproof golf shoes, especially on trips four days or longer. Also, pack an extra dry set of socks in your golf bag each day to change with your shoes if a downpour occurs.
7. Quality golf umbrella
Don’t depend on the cheap logo umbrella you received as a gift at your last corporate golf tourney. Invest in a top quality umbrella that can withstand strong winds and, more importantly, keep you dry between shots.
8. Sizeable golf ball inventory
In my experience, buying golf balls outside of the U.S. always involves serious sticker shock and a suddenly exploding travel budget. Obviously, if you’re a high handicapper you’ll need more golf balls. Honestly evaluate your game to calculate how many golf balls will be enough.
9. Extra items
If you’re traveling in the British Isles or just about anywhere away from the continental U.S., make sure you take extra tees, pencils and divot repair tools which aren’t as readily available at golf courses outside the U.S.
10. Healthy snacks
You’ll be glad you packed a couple of boxes of granola bars and packages of peanut butter crackers, especially if you’re playing in the British Isles. While the beef barley soup and fish and chips are treasured favorites after a round, you’ll need some healthy choices during play.
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