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| Turnberry Resort in Scotland |
You're finally embarking on your golf dream trip and you know you'll need to take your
“A” game, right?
Be
aware, golf travelers, if you don’t pack carefully you might end up with so
many annoyances and hassles that playing your best is almost impossible.
Here
are 10 invaluable tips I can share 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, Ogio or Sun Mountain.
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 huge 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 Sun Mountain,
Sunice 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.
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 around, you’ll need some healthy fortification during play.
