Golf bag plane travel ?

[Forescoreand7bogeysago]

Hey guys , gonna be flying out on a golf trip soon and wondering what most of you guys are using as a travel bag / case ?

 

I am leaning heavily towards a hard shell case for extra protection at the moment .

 

thanks Y’all .

[Volnut]

I use a Club Glove Last Bag with Stiff arm. I remove my wood heads and have never had an issue. Allegedly there are more problems with hard cases (hinges maybe). 

 

Just a sample size of 1 but I travel some for work and haven't had an issue with this setup over the course of several dozen times. 

 

Also, I have my whole bag insured via a rider on my homeowners policy for about $35/yr. It covers damage, loss, and theft. No brainer for me.  

[Forescoreand7bogeysago]

Removing wood heads …. Interesting thx .

[412BryanC]

I've always stuck with soft cases. Typically we buy the ones that will fold up the most so we can fit them in the car the best with three other guys. I also remove the heads or use a PVC pipe or something above the head shaft height to keep them from getting broken. 

[mikec3672]

Club Glove Last Bag Collegiate (comes w Stiff Arm) -- You will never buy another bag. Ever.

[dono]

What @Volnut and @mikec3672 said club glove with stiff arm.

[hammergolf]

5 hours ago, lifemisspent said:

Hey guys , gonna be flying out on a golf trip soon and wondering what most of you guys are using as a travel bag / case ?

 

I am leaning heavily towards a hard shell case for extra protection at the moment .

 

thanks Y’all .

I have both, and they both have advantages/disadvantages. Which one I use depends on how much room my rental transportation will have. If it’s 4 or less guys and we have a SUV I use my hard case, if it’s more people than  and we have a van I use my soft case. I’ve had my SKB hard case for 20+ years and it’s been all around the world with me. In a perfect world I would be able to use my hard case for every trip because it’s more protection and much easier to roll because it’s more rigid. However, sometimes that’s not feasible and I use my soft. It does have sone advantages as well. It’s bigger so I can use packing cubes with my clothes in it and not have to bring a carry on. It’s still under the weight limit. I do remove the heads from my driver, fwy woods, and hybrid from the shafts, use a stiff arm, and wrap towels around my iron and wedges so they are protected. Obviously not as much protection as a hard case, but still pretty good.

Edited August 13, 2022 by hammergolf

[slprince67]

CLub glove, take the heads off of woods..... dont even use the stiff arm anymore since the wood heads come off.... will probably come back to haunt me!

[BostonWRX]

I think best travel bags out are the sun mountains that have the 2 front wheels. So easy to move around. Like everyone else said stiff arm + heads off 

[N8dogg2669]

1 hour ago, BostonWRX said:

I think best travel bags out are the sun mountains that have the 2 front wheels. So easy to move around. Like everyone else said stiff arm + heads off 

I have this exact setup with the stiff arm and I remove the driver head. Never had an issue, been on plenty of trips. Things glides better than my luggage

[af592]

Club Glove Last Bag like most have mentioned. I also drop an Apple air tag in my bag too

[Kamen]

9 hours ago, BostonWRX said:

I think best travel bags out are the sun mountains that have the 2 front wheels. So easy to move around. Like everyone else said stiff arm + heads off 

Yup I have a tour series club glider and you can move it with your pinkey. Always a get a lot of looks from other golfers at the airport. 

[cristphoto]

I've used the Club Glove Last Bag with Stiff Arm for about the last eight years.  As others have said, I take the head off the driver since it sticks up the most. It has plenty of padding and the build quality is made to last a lifetime - hence the name.  Never a problem.    

[Pearson10M]

I have a Club Glove Bag, but the are $$$.  If you travel a lot with your clubs, then they are worth the $.   However, there are other less expensive bags that are made with similar build quality.  TGW has one for about 1/3 of the price (No affiliation with TGW).  So if you are traveling once or twice a year with your clubs, maybe the lesser $ would be sufficient.

I do use a Stiff Arm and remove my fairway/driver heads if I can and wrap a towel around my irons.

One thing about hard cases.  They are sometimes difficult with rental cars as they won't fit into a trunk unless the seats are folded down and some rentals don't have folding rear seats.  They won't fit through a pass through.  You can take your clubs out of the soft cases and put in trunk and then fold up case.

[BYK]

More expensive but I’m lazy 

 

shipsticks for me. 
Just makes it so easy and no lugging around airport or rental car 

[rbark11]

I have the TGW bag, and so far it works great for me. I also use a stiff arm (made my own, I just cut down a hockey stick and screwed on a hard plastic container to the end, works great), and add towels around irons. I also flip the clubs upside down, so the heads are inside my golf bag (don’t know how much it helps but I feel like it does). But definitely get a stiff arm

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

Last Bag + Stiff Arm....no damage (yet) after 20 years with this combo

[j.b.newton]

I have the Club Glove Last bag and a couple various sizes of their rolling duffles.  They all hook together and are a breeze to pull...I think they call it the "Train Reaction" or something like that.  Even without traveling with my clubs, I still prefer the club glove luggage to my other stuff.

[Puppy_Flower]

It's this one and it's not even a close race (as pictured above). I've had them all and this takes all of the stress and pressure off of your shoulders. I'd pay double what they are asking. It's that good.

 

https://shop.sunmountain.com/cg-meridian-19897-detail

[bcc69]

3 hours ago, Puppy_Flower said:

It's this one and it's not even a close race (as pictured above). I've had them all and this takes all of the stress and pressure off of your shoulders. I'd pay double what they are asking. It's that good.

 

https://shop.sunmountain.com/cg-meridian-19897-detail

I recently switch to the Sunmountain Meridian from the Club Glove.  It's a game change.  You can literally pull it with one finger.  Takes all the pressure off your shoulders.  

[596]

SKB either on the flight or through Shipsticks.

 

No packing needed. Open the case, place bag in, close and lock. Done.

 

SKB has insurance on club damage. Also includes free replacement parts like hinges, wheels or locks if they get broken. 

[qtlaw]

Club Glove, Collegiate sized with the stiff arm/whatchamacallit.  I travel about 4 times a year and its great set up.  Fabric takes a beating and holds up (see Morikawa's tweet about his clubs being dropped and sitting on runway, Club Glove).  Two zip pockets too, so room for two pairs of shoes, plus probably extra room inside.

[JNK]

On 8/16/2022 at 2:28 PM, bcc69 said:

I recently switch to the Sunmountain Meridian from the Club Glove.  It's a game change.  You can literally pull it with one finger.  Takes all the pressure off your shoulders.  

With the Sun Mountain, does it fold/roll up like the Club Glove?

[bcc69]

2 hours ago, JNK said:

With the Sun Mountain, does it fold/roll up like the Club Glove?

Yes

[TwistedSister]

Definitely take the wood heads off but also turn the shafts so the adapters are in the bottom of the bag and the grips are up.  Then wrap the entire top off the bag in a HEAVY towel before you put it in the travel bag then load ALL the remaining space at the top with as many socks as you can to fill the space.

[HenryReardon]

It’s been said a lot already but the Club Glove Last Bag Collegiate has not let me down. I travel with clubs 1-2 times per month and it has plenty of room for everything. I have gone through phases of removing the driver head and not, but it’s a safe bet to do so.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Yup another vote for Club Glove and stiff arm combo. Pack it tightly at the top with a large towel around the heads. Remove any heads you can and flip the shafts.  The more tightly the bag is packed, with cloths and shoes etc the better the protection.

 

I'd never get a hard case, just too bulky and overkill. My buddy got one and dumped it for a soft case. 

[j.b.newton]

And head covers for your irons won't be laughed at TOO badly when packing for a flight - just remember to take them off before you leave for the course....

[Jack Pearsall]

JP uses golf glove lb too with the stiff arm and he takes the head off driver, pretty much sop these days.

try to do direct flights with them these days.

generally he uses his second set with travel and an older bag. 

[dubbelbogey]

I'm also in the Club Glove camp but I use a sawed off hockey stick with tennis ball on the end instead of a retail stiff arm. My last stiff arm got - ahem - crushed. Nothing is going to break that hockey stick.

 

Club heads that can be removed are removed. Shafts go in with the tips in the bag.

 

All other clubs also go into the bag head side down (handle up). Not only does this give extra protection, it makes the weight balance *much* better for wheeling around the parking lot and airport. Sure, still not quite as easy as the Sun Mountain, but for those who haven't tried it, it's a bit of game changer.

 

As for hard cases, my buddy's case was damaged where the latches won't latch anymore after it got crushed and the hinges and alignment rails got racked. Plus all the stuff others have said about hard cases being a pain if you don't have plenty of space in your rental.