Golf Travel Bags - Choose Wisely to Protect Your Investment
Planning a golf vacation? Don’t forget to protect your golf clubs by choosing the right golf travel bag. How do you choose the golf travel bag that is right for you? Let’s take a quick look at three different styles to help you make the right choice.
Remember, choosing the right golf travel bag isn’t only about the bag itself. Golfers planning a golf vacation or just looking for protection on short golf trips should ask themselves a few questions before making a purchase.
What is your budget for a golf travel bag?
Do you travel frequently with your golf clubs?
Do your golf trips mostly include air travel or auto travel?
With these questions in mind, let’s take a quick look at the different styles of golf travel bags and the benefits and negatives each offers.
Hybrid Travel Bags
These types of golf travel bags are essentially a golf bag with a hard top to protect your clubs. Unlike other styles, hybrids do not protect your day-to-day golf bag.
Hybrids will help golf travelers with space restrictions. They require less space than other models and also weigh less.
However, hybrid golf travel bags are not your golf bag. Therefore you must unpack and pack all of your golf gear each time you travel. These types of bags are also not the best choice for airline travel.
For golfers who travel more often by automobile and have an extra set of golf clubs, hybrid golf travel bags are a good choice.
Golfers can pick up a hybrid golf travel bag for as little as $60 with top of the line bags going for around $230.
Soft Golf Travel Bags
Think of this style of travel bags as a soft, padded, glove that covers your day-to-day golf bag and clubs. Usually, these bags come with a rigid bottom and wheels to help golfers carry them from location to location.
If you love to carry a lot of golf gear on your travels, then soft-style cases might be the right choice for you. You can travel with your day-to-day bag and stuff it with your other gear and golf accessories. These travel bags also breaks down easily and take up less storage space than hard case bags.
Some of the negatives associated with soft-style golf travel bags are mobility and protection. Soft bags usually do not roll as easily as hard cases. Also, these bags do not offer the same protection as hard cases. Your club heads are especially vulnerable in a soft-style bag.
If you choose a soft-style golf travel bag, I highly recommend that you pick up a Stiff Arm accessory. This will protect your club heads in the event of a direct impact to the top of your bag.
The best soft-style bags can cost anywhere from $120 - $300.
Hard Case Golf Travel Bags
This style of travel bag encompasses your bag and club. They provide the highest amount of protection but do not have space for the golf “pack rat”.
Hard cases are a great choice for the golfer who travels by air to most golf vacation spots. This style provides the most protection and highest security for your golf clubs. Unlike other styles of golf travel bags, airlines will often cover any damage incurred when your clubs are in a hard case travel bag.
Hard cases take up more room than other styles when it comes to storage. They also do not hold all of your golf gear. For the golfer who plans more trips by automobile, hard cases might not make as much sense as hybrids or soft-covers.
Hard case golf travel bags average $130 with top of the line cases costing around $300.
Now that you have a little more insight into golf travel bags, you will be able to choose the right bag for your golf travel and golf vacations. Remember to think about the type and frequency of your golf travel, how much protection you need for your golf clubs, and what type of budget you have for a golf travel bag.
Choose wisely. Protect your investment. And, most of all, enjoy your golf vacation!
Copyright 2005 Evans Putman http://www.PerfectGolfVacations.com - All Rights Reserved. Reprints allowed see below.
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Tags: golf, golf bag, golf bags, golf travel, golf travel bags, golf trip, golf vacationYour Perfect Golf Vacation - Step Two
You are only going to have one major golf vacation with your pals per year. Make it the best possible by designing it yourself. Forget the standard golf package and do it yourself.
In our last article we got to the minus two months point of your schedule. You have researched and found the ideal location, picked out the perfect house, sent out the word to your pals, and settled on the dates. By this time, you should have a confirmed group, any of which would just as soon lose their right arm as miss the event.
Let’s lock in the rental house. You DO need to get this done as early as you can. If you are setting up your vacation during the off-season like I do, you are in the driver’s seat. Talk directly to the property manager and negotiate a better rate. Here is a summary of my discussion a few weeks ago.
“Hey, Tiffany. Randall here. It’s that time again but our group is smaller. We really like the house at … but it is more than we need. We will be staying a full week. I figured the owner would rather have a bird in the hand and rent the house for a full week instead of taking the chance of renting it for just a couple days or not at all. We can afford $xxxx. I can pay you today.”
The result of this little conversation was that she immediately lopped twenty percent off the advertised rate! You will never know until you ask. Shoot for about a thirty percent reduction and go from there. I slapped the deposit on my credit card and emailed the group. (Yes, I was looking for praise.) You can dust off the smaller details like arranging linens (if not provided in the rate) and final payment later.
Time to grab tee times. What I recommend is setting up early morning tee times for each day. You will have to get up earlier than you may like, but scheduling tee times around 8:00 to 8:30AM will accomplish several things, including:
Being close to first off the box on rain or frost delays (allowing a second 18).
Finishing your round early enough to grab a second 18 with lunch in between 18’s.
Allowing easier to change to later tee times if desired rather than to move them earlier.
Over the Internet and by talking with local pros on the phone, you have come up the courses you want to play. As with the house, you DO need to get this done as early as you can so that you can get the tee times you want. When scheduling tee times, I prefer talking directly to the head pro. In general, you will find more flexibility on prices. Other bonuses like getting a second set of tee times while only paying for a replay fee are easier. The head honcho is also more likely to bend the rules to allow advanced tee times if you are beyond the time window normally allowed.
Granted, this may be your first time in the location you picked, but you can use about the same language as I do. I have just locked in our tee times for February. I associate myself with a golf course to let them know I am a “player” and the pros seem to be more deferential in talking with a “player”. Here is a summary of a standard call:
“Hey Bucky, Randall from Snee Farm here. It’s getting to be that time of the year again for our annual golf vacation. You have always treated us so well and given us such a great rate in the past. The guys love the challenge of your outstanding spread. I was just wondering if you fit us in again on February 23rd. We are looking to play 36 and would appreciate anything you could do for us.”
With that or something similar as an opener, I forecast that you WILL get a great rate from most of the courses. Don’t make a second set of tee times at this point unless you get them for just the replay fee. If you are playing during the on-season and want to play 36, you may have to make and pay for a guaranteed set of afternoon tee times. Some of the courses may have events already scheduled when you want to play that particular course. You may have to juggle this slightly and change already made tee times, so complete your tee time set up within a couple days.
Now you have your group, your house and your tee times. It is time to get down to real business. Now is the time to get the financial commitment. Send an email spelling out the accommodations and the tee times. Ask for your troops to send you at least half of what the final cost per man will be. Our total per man is normally around $900 for all the lodging, transportation, golf, food and beverages for the week.
Dining. In general we fix whatever breakfast we personally want, make sandwiches to eat between rounds, and fix our own gourmet supper (with loads of snacks to wreck our appetites during the entire day and night). You can see our 2006 evening meals by clicking on 2006 Schedule at the sample website www.eye-mind-tricks.com/golf . To support all this, you will need to know what the group wants and prepare a shopping list. This year, I used a free survey website and built a fill-in-the-blank survey for the troops. You can see that at: www.surveymonkey DOT com/s.asp?u=256691624905 (remove the “DOT” and insert a “.” )
You can use surveymonkey like that or ask the same questions in an email. To give you an idea of what your shopping list will look like for a group of eight and assuming you follow our general plan, I put a close copy of last year’s shopping list at the above eye-mind-tricks website. Substitute the word “shop” for “golf” to see it. With your shopping list built, you will either grab the goodies before the flights of the group arrive if you live locally, or have the troops assist on the way to your house.
You are now at the minus one month point of building the perfect golf vacation. The next article will provide recipes, administration details, entertainment ideas, and odds and ends.
Randall Ulbricht is a retired Nuclear Submarine Officer. He currently works from home sharing information via several web sites, including:
http://www.article-outlet.com and
http://ezpromotes.com.
Your Perfect Golf Vacation - Step 3, the Conclusion
Your perfect golf vacation with your friends starts and stops with you. Toss the vacation package brochures in a heap and design your own ideal golf getaway. This is the final of four articles to assist you in providing an outing for yourself and your friends that will make you want to do it every year (as we have for 19 years running).
From the last article, you are now at the minus one month point. So far you have rallied the troops, picked the dates, selected the lodging and golf courses and are in the final preparation stage. You will soon see your friends smiling faces at the airport baggage claim. The final preps and smoothly running the whole show are child’s play. The tough part was getting your bunch of friends to buy the tickets to enjoy the event. Here are a few things you will want to do before the scream of the aircraft’s tires on the tarmac.
1. Transportation. The limiting factor is arrival and departure from the airport due to clubs AND suitcases. If you can just barely stuff everyone in the vehicles at this point, the rest of the week is gravy. From your experience, you know that when you pack up four guys to go golfing locally, you will entirely fill the trunk of a full sized car. With that in mind, you should plan on a full sized car for every three people. We use one minivan/SUV augmented with cars for our adventures. Just make sure you allow for the limiting case.
You need to arrange these rental vehicles ahead of time, but you can only drive one yourself. Here is the minus one-month mandatory. When you figure out your vehicle requirements, contact the group to arrange among them and you who will contact and rent the remaining vehicles. There will probably be some in your group that have existing discounts and can score a great rate. Hash this one out via email.
2. Entertainment. Unless you are going to the deserts in Arizona or get exceedingly lucky, you will have a rain day or two. You will also have a bunch of time at night after golf (after you have all told your lies). We suck that time up pretty effectively watching the golf channel, ESPN, playing cards, or watching videos. The latter is what you can address ahead of time. We have a guy that is pretty good at selecting movies to watch and we task him to bring them with him. Movies like “Gladiator”, “Miracle”, etc. are big. More risque’ titles are optional. On severe rain days, we also have gone bowling (a real hoot), done the local movie theater, and toured the area.
3. Checklists. After about ten years of being asked twenty times per day where we were playing the next day, or when we had to leave, or what was for supper, or who stole my teddy bear, I finally started typing out these things. I make a copy of each and post sporadically throughout the house. I make individual laminated cards and hand to each golfer. Know what? It reduced the questions to half and now when asked, I say that I can’t remember. Let me walk over to the frig and read it for you. Here are the things I prepare ahead of time:
-#- Listing of course, tee times, course contact number, and departure time. I base departure time on MapBlast directions and factor in a stop for ice for the coolers and if we will need to hit range balls.
-#- Listing of the menu for the evening meals. If this is your first time, keep the menu simple and make sure you have the recipes in hand. With any size group, you are going to have a chef or two and this won’t be a big deal.
-#- Multiple copies of the “order sheet” for sandwiches. For most of our noon meals between rounds, we dine on our self-prepared, gourmet sandwiches prepared the night before. As you saw from the previous articles, I solicit what the group wants and have that on the shopping list. What winds up being the least confusing way is to have some sheet for people to circle or fill in to specify what sandwiches they want for the next day. You rotate the preparers (two is best) every night and with that sheet, they manufacture the gourmet feast. (Don’t discount this! The sandwiches you make will be superior to anything short of the full meal at the course AND you will not have to wait on it if you are pressed for time between your rounds.)
-#- Biggy! We did not keep a record of our scores for our first few years. Big mistake. What great history we tossed out. Keep a record! I prepare a hard copy sheet to fill in as we go. It allows us to follow who is the overall stroke leader and gives us all ammo to use in negotiating the next day’s bets. I take this home and plant it permanently on our golf website.
-#- Expenses. I pay for everything with minor exceptions and collect everyone’s share the final evening. That keeps it simple. I currently use a spreadsheet to administer this. It works great. I would provide this for you, but this article format doesn’t allow. Before that, I simply used pen and paper and got it to within a penny. My point is that from the minute you start your adventure, keep a tally of what you have spent! Streamline course check in by paying for everyone, buy all the food and drink, buy all the gas, etc. If someone pays for anything, log it in immediately. If you are religious in this, you will have no complaints, only praise.
4. Things nobody else will bring but you:
- Several decks of cards, poker chips
- Cribbage boards
- Screw driver and pliers (you never know)
- Pens, pencils and permanent markers (you will need all)
- Over the counter pain killers
- Band-Aids
- Game
5. Arrival. So here you have a rambunctious group of friends descending on the Mecca of golf. You have motored to the house your staying in and it is the mad dash to the best room to be found. NOT. To avoid any hard feelings between the lodger that got the queen bed and the lodger that got the twin bed, simply set up a quick draw out of the hat. For subsequent years, do the same, but use the seniority system. Once a person misses, he goes to the end of the list.
6. Once you have dumped your bags in the drawn rooms, it is time to go shopping. With the template I gave you in the last article, and with your modifications based on menu and orders, grab one or two volunteers and get what you need.
This is the conclusion of my recommendations on how you can have the best golf outing or outings you have ever had. The fact that folks have been coming to enjoy my preparations for 19 years should be testimony to you. At least give it a shot once. The first time may not be exactly perfect, but my guess is that it will be superior to and more remembered than anything you can buy as a package. Go for it!
Randall Ulbricht is a retired Nuclear Submarine Officer. He currently works from home sharing information via several web sites, including:
Article Outlet and
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