Recently, when I was traveling with my clubs, it cost me $45 each way for my golf clubs and my suitcase - $90 extra dollars!!! And I thought my ticket was expensive! Well, I told myself after that, no way am I giving the airlines any extra of my money! (And, how are they not making money? That’s a whole different article). I will always travel with my clubs, so I’ll accept paying for the first bag of $25, but not for two. So, I did some research and want to share what I’ve learned with you.

First, find the right travel bag. This is going to be the most important thing you can buy. You want a cloth bag with wheels because these will hold more and be lighter than a hard case travel bag. I find that the cloth travel bags hold more and with more stuff comes the weight, but since the cloth is lighter, you’ll be good to stuff away.

Then, take your golf-trip essentials and pack them in with your golf clubs. For me, this would be my golf shoes, golf balls and my hairdryer (which takes up more space than you realize in a suitcase). If you need to bring essentials that aren’t travel size, this is another perfect place to put them, such as my hairspray. A little can of hairspray is not going to last me a week! I need the big can, so the golf bag is a perfect place to put these larger items.  

Next, having put your golf-trip essentials in the travel bag, this will leave you with less to put in a small size carry-on. The largest carry-on you can bring on the plane is 45 inches, so with the bulky stuff in your travel bag, you can put only clothes in your small carry-on. Also, with the stuff in your travel bag, this will leave you with less to pack, so you can go smaller with the carry-on.  

Being a woman, I need everything to match: shoes, shorts, hat, shirts, etc. Well, a short cut to this is to use one color to base everything on. I can pick black skirt and can pack a white, striped, colored top to go with the black skirt. Also, then I will only need one pair of golf shoes (black & white).  

Last but not least, choose your golf bag wisely. There are carry bags that weigh about five pounds so that will also help with how much you can put in your travel bag.

Next time you travel, I hope you don’t have to pay an additional $90…there are great ways to get around not having to pay.

See you out on the course!

Tiffany Nelson is Director Business Development at TPC Scottsdale/ PGA TOUR located at 17020 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85255. You can reach her at 480.585.4334, ext. 226. Follow TPC Scottsdale on Facebook (The TPC Scottsdale) and on Twitter www.twitter.com/tpcscottsdale) and keep up with all the action!