When it comes to traveling with one’s golf clubs - as we’ve discussed in the previous post - it can get tricky and not pleasant, to say the least.

If you’re tired of feeling anxious whenever your golf bag is being handled by airport personnel - or if you’ve already had your golf clubs damaged on a flight - this article is for you.

How to Ship Golf Clubs

Did you know that there are dedicated services that commit to picking-up and delivering your golf set (and luggage) from and to your preferred locations? 

It could be from your home address to the hotel you’re visiting on your next vacation, from one golf course to a hotel located somewhere else, or even from one side of the world to another. You name it.

You might then wonder why would you prefer this method over carrying the golf bag with yourself as usual:

• You won’t carry any weight with you.

• It’s easier to move around while traveling, catching public and private transportation and to perform any other activity.

• The golf bag will be handled by delivery professionals and not by airport personnel. As they are more used to oversized and valuable items being shipped, it’s way less likely to have the golf bag and clubs damaged.

To be fair, below are the reasons why you might prefer carrying your golf bag with you:

• You want to have your golf bag with yourself

• You are not carrying your best golf set and don’t mind the possibility of it being damaged

Of course, one can have multiple good reasons not to ship one’s golf clubs instead of carrying them on flight. If that’s your case, it’s perfectly fine. The goal of this article is to inform all golfers who might not be aware of such service and who might be wondering how to ship golf clubs and avoid those issues.

Pros and Cons

The perfect service doesn’t exist: as some accidents with the airlines can happen, the same goes for shipping services.

Although the consequences are different, let’s evaluate them together:

Airlines:

• It’s sadly common to have one’s golf set ruined on a flight due to storage or handling conditions

• One’s golf bag might get lost despite being on one’s same flight - as it can happen with regular luggage. The chance is even greater with connecting flights

• It’s confusing to browse all different fares and policies from different airlines

• Airlines are generally reluctant to offer any sort of refund for the damaged sports equipment

Shipping Services:

• There’s one more middleman, as often times these companies rely on external shipping providers such as UPS, DHL and FedEx

• Despite better handling, the bags might get lost or delivered late - as it can happen with regular parcels

As you can see, different risk factors have to be considered and the choice is not always easy.

It will mainly depend on your needs and personal preferences.

With that said, below are our best suggestions should you consider to ship your golf clubs instead of carrying them.

Precautions to ship your golf clubs

If you’ve decided to take the more comfortable route of shipping your golf clubs, you might wanna make sure that:

• You pack them in a proper golf bag, ideally a travel golf bag with the appropriate materials

• Purchase additional coverage options and / or take out insurance for golfers, which will cover, among many things, the value of your golf set, personal liability, hole in 1 bar bill and much more

• Make sure you can print the shipping labels, ideally printing the return one as well and taking it with you on your trip. This way, you avoid any problem related to the shipping label not being correct or available at all.

Following these 3 simple precautions, you take out of the equation every possible occurrence besides delay.

We know that a delayed golf bag delivery is not pleasant at all, but in such a rare circumstance it’s very easy to simply rent a golf set directly at the golf course. Furthermore, by scheduling the delivery 1-2 days prior to your arrival, you allow enough time to solve most of the situations related to shipment delays.

Is shipping safer than carrying?

Statistically, it’s not an easy claim.

Every year, slightly less than 1% of all luggage gets lost by the airlines. That’s not a huge number if you analyze it on a small scale. Theoretically, one might lose its bag once every 100 flights.

However, as we’ve previously stated, the chance is higher with connecting flights, as the luggage is handled mid journey and it’s twice (or more) as possible that the bag is mishandled.

Despite there’s no clear data on travel bags being lost by couriers, the big increase in airline luggage mishandling compared to previous years is quite alarming. 

Most importantly, as we previously said, most airlines are not properly equipped or willing to deal with sports gear, whereas couriers and shipping companies operate differently.

Additional Coverage

Did you know that most airlines do not offer any type of coverage for your golfing set should anything happen to it while on board or while being handled by the airport staff?

This is one of the most important differences between the two solutions: when no one or no entity is liable for any sort of damage caused to the sports gear, it generally means that either they know it can be mishandled quite easily or that the chance of damage or loss is higher than one might think.

Shipping services, on the other hand, do offer coverage options.

This means that you won’t be forced to take out insurance if the value of the golf set is within coverage limits and that the parcel is going to be treated with more care.

Honorable mentions

It is very rare, but not impossible, that the airline doesn’t allow passengers to onboard their sports gear.

The following airlines, in fact, do not allow golf sets on board (as of November 2023):

• RwandAir

This can be due to different reasons and doesn’t represent a big deal, unless many more companies opt to be part of the above list.

The workaround is very easy: it’s enough to choose a different airline for the same route or - as you might have already guessed - to ship your golf set through a shipping service.

Best Shipping for Golf Clubs

Based on our experience and our customers’ feedback, we can’t refrain from suggesting ShipSticks as your shipping provider for several reasons, among which are quality, ease of use, convenience, and excellent feedback.

We decided to partner with ShipSticks to offer the best possible service to our customers and allow them to travel hassle-free.

Should you need to ship your golf set, you’re welcome to take advantage of our discounted rates through this link and to book the service directly.

In case you have any question or doubt, do not hesitate to contact us - or ShipSticks’ support team.

Happy golfing!