Heading over to Thailand for a holiday and want to take the clubs with me.

Does anyone know what I need to do to protect them from damage and the cost of transporting them?

should be able to check them in as cargo. But i’ll give you a couple of pieces of advice, based on working at an airport baggage hall (contracted sparky).

1. put two broom handles in you bag, at least an inch and half longer than your driver, bc those guys treat bags like sh!t out the back. it’ll stop them from snapping.

2. make sure you can seal your bag and preferrably put a padlock on it.
I gave a baggage handler a massive spray one day after i saw him OPEN A GOLF BAG that was someone’s luggage, and proceed to swing the driver around, as hs colleagues laughed.

Great advice from Gribbles.

I use broom handles but put an old tennis ball on the end so it doesn’t put a hole in your golf bag rain hood.

If I’m going to the USA, I use a TSA lock on my travel bag, to other destinations I use cable ties to secure all the zippers.

PT

Good advice Gribbles. I have an aluminium pole with an umbrella type fitting on one endhich is great. Also use cable ties on all zippers. I also pack underwear etc around the clubs in plastic bags.
When you fly back make sure that your golf shoes are absolutely clean and somewhere in your luggage where you can get at them easily, because Quarantine will undoubtedly want to check them.

Yea your golf shoes will give you big dramas if you don’t declare them. So make sure you do, or buy a pair over in Thailand for the duration of your trip.

Been to Thailand twice on Singapore Airlines. Did not bother with broom handles and such. Clubs wrapped with shrinkwrap plastic around all the clubs, into a travel bag. Didnt cost a thing.

I use a padded travel bag (Bridgestone Golf brand) that holds my clubs and the wife’s, both stand bags and the total bag weighs about 26kg!

I always zip tie all my zippers cause if schappelle got 4.1kg in a boogie board bag, well merce…. ooops “they” could stuff about 60kg in a golf travel bag…

If you are hard up on cash, take your carry bag when flying overseas as excess baggage $$ can come into play. If not, take the big boy for the extra protection it provides to your clubs. Good old bubble wrap has worked for me around the heads and a towel as well. No need to lock up your bag and make it a prisoner as that is what insurance is for. Get insurance! Just do not leave your $79.99 golf balls in your bag. You can leave your clubs outside/downstairs at your local golf course and they can be gone in 2 minutes.

As for golf shoes when coming back to Australia?

I have had my golf shoes checked many times when returning to Australia and that is a fair call. The thing is, I have never, ever, had the faces of my clubs checked for dirt when going through customs?

In the end, when you travel overseas, there is always the risk of something happening. The more you do it, the more you get used to it. Kind of like playing this game. The more you do it in the correct way, the easier it becomes.

my reference on locking the bag was in regard to dodgy baggage handlers opening it and messing around with your clubs, which i saw first hand.

I understand this Gribbles. If you have seen it 1st hand, did you report it? Is there not camera’s in action?

Ok listen up…

fly alot with my beloved weopons…

you can put them in “special cargo”...yes its called special cargo on qantas

will cost 20 bucks but geez 20 bucks is nothing

and if something goes amiss in special cargo they cover you..in general they dont

no need for hard bags and padding and all that garb….you need ask at cheack in…they send you down to other end where baggage is done and they put a sticker on them….

I have flown with my clubs about 10 times in the last 2 years (mostly to melbourne from perth) amd I have never had an issue

swedeas, wasn’t being a smartass mate- but in response they don’t have cameras in the section, the unions wouldn’t allow it- (this was before all the shappelle, bali bombs etc). I am a sparky and hence a unionist and therefore know exactly how a unionised workforce would have reacted to this. I have to admit i didn’t report it bc i had only been there for three weeks and had another 11 months of work ahead, which would have been unbearable had i reported it.

I guess the moral of my story is i’d rather be safe than sorry when i comes to travelling with my bats

If you really, really, really, want to play with your clubs, then take them along. The vast majority of golf courses in Thailand will hire good quality brand clubs and shoes. Most will let you hit a number of sets to determine which ones are best suited to you prior to going out.

If you only plan on 1 or 2 games it is pretty cost effective. Club and shoe hire is pretty reasonable in comparison to the cost of the round.

And as mentioned previously, padlock/cable tie your bag to prevent pilfering!

A friend of mine found that out the hard way, some baggage handlers we guess decided to help themselves to quite a few contents of his bag! (well that’s the theory as they were there when checked in at one airport but not there when collected at the final destination …............. !!??)

It just makes sense to lock your bag, well it does to me anyway. I have insurance too but I would rather not tempt fate, either that someone will take something out or probably even more important that they will put something in. I fly internationally with my clubs at least five times per year. I have had my club heads checked for dirt on four or five occasions when coming into Australia, which is a good thing, shoes always.

I use a padded travel bag ( chinese brand) and when it wears out I just buy another one. At 50 AUD not a drama.

Another simple trick – put a plastic garden bucket over the heads of your clubs and then the rain hood over the bucket for some more protection.