Flying with clubs: packing, fees and quarantine

Australian golfers fly with clubs more than most, because the good golf is spread across a continent. Clubs travel well when they are packed properly and badly when they are not, and the damage almost always happens at the top of the bag.

Hard case or padded travel bag

A hard case protects better and weighs more. A padded bag is lighter, folds away at the other end and depends on you packing sensibly. For two or three trips a year a good padded bag with a support rod is enough; for frequent flying or expensive graphite shafts, take the hard shell. Either way it needs wheels, since a loaded bag weighs around twenty kilograms.

Pack the top of the bag first

A support rod, often sold as a stiff arm, extends above the driver head and takes the impact if the bag is dropped on its end. Failing that, an inverted umbrella or a length of pipe does the same job. Turn every head inwards, put headcovers on the woods, wrap a towel around the crowns and fill the space with soft clothing.

What the airline expects

Australian carriers accept clubs as checked baggage, some counting a golf bag as a standard item and others as sports equipment with its own allowance. Domestic and international rules differ on the same airline. Read the sports equipment page for your specific flight before booking and again before flying, and watch the weight limit: the excess charge usually costs more than the bag fee.

Security, batteries and the small print

Clubs go in the hold, never in the cabin. Balls, tees and shoes may travel in either bag. A rangefinder with a lithium battery belongs in hand luggage, which is where airlines want loose lithium cells. Put a tag with your name and number inside the bag as well as outside, and use a strap rather than a padlock that will simply be cut.

Insurance and tracking

Airline liability for checked baggage is capped and rarely covers the replacement cost of a modern set. Check whether your home or travel insurance already covers sports equipment away from the house before buying separate cover. A tracker in a side pocket costs little and turns a lost bag into a delayed one.

Quarantine and interstate travel

Clean your shoes and the base of the bag before you fly. Soil on spikes and grass clippings in the bag are exactly what biosecurity officers look for on international arrivals, and Western Australia and Tasmania apply their own checks on some domestic routes. Two minutes with a brush avoids an unpleasant conversation.

The alternative: hire at the other end

Resort courses and many destination clubs hire current sets, and for a short trip the hire cost can be less than two bag fees. It is the obvious answer for one round on a work trip and the wrong one for a week of golf.

A packing list that survives the carousel

• Support rod above the longest club, headcovers on, heads turned inwards.
• Clothing packed around the heads, towel over the crowns.
• Rangefinder and valuables in hand luggage.
• Clean shoes and bag base before an international flight.

Ten minutes of packing is the difference between arriving with a set of clubs and arriving with a story about one.