The Luggage Club

Contributed by Joel Zuckerman
April 2010

Those of us who frequent or occasionally contribute to this fine website have a real interest in walking the golf course.  But walking to get to the golf course?  Particularly to some of those much-anticipated, far-flung destinations that we all dream of playing?  That’s not happening.  We are all at the mercy of the airlines, and I suppose I know this just about as well as anyone.  With sticks in tow, I usually travel around more in a year than most golfers do in five.  (This proclamation EXCLUDES members of the PGA Tour, Champions, Nationwide, Hooters, LPGA, Duramed Futures, etc.)

I’ve long been used to dragging my casket-sized travel bag through airports, and upon arrival waiting (praying?) they show up on either the carousel, or at the oversize luggage bin.  I’ve generally had decent luck, though of course I’ve had clubs delayed, my travel cover mangled, and in the worst scenario, an entire bag (not just my 14 weapons, but 4 days worth of clothes, two pairs of golf shoes, sunglasses, etc.) never make it out of Cancun, Mexico, and never to be seen again.

Now I’ve found a better way.  The Luggage Club (www.theluggageclub.com) will safely and efficiently transport your clubs (or skis, surfboard, etc.) from where you are to where you’re going, and then back again, if you so choose.  It’s not free, but in this day and age of airline baggage fees, it’s more affordable than you think.  Never mind the convenience and reliability factors, which are the main reasons for availing oneself of this superb service.  Here are two others:  Say you have a tight airline connection, with plans to play the very day you arrive.  If you don’t want to play a premium round with some bedraggled rental set, and aren’t sure the airline’s baggage personnel will get your clubs from the plane you arrived on onto the departing plane before it’s too late, then ship ‘em in advance.

Here’s another:  When you ship your sticks home post-trip, and then head to the airport with nothing but a carry-on, you are footloose and flexible.  After shipping my sticks ahead of me one time last summer, and with nothing on my person but an over-shoulder duffel bag, after arriving in Atlanta I jumped on a departing flight that was leaving a full three hours before my scheduled departure.  If I had been tied to my 50-pound travel bag like in the old days, and stuck with the Scarlet Letter of a checked baggage claim?  Put it this way—it would have made for a long couple of hours meandering from Brookstone, to the Sharper Image, then Cinnabon and the newsstand.

The Luggage Club may not have advanced this great game like Titanium drivers, triplex mowers and four-layer golf balls.  But for those of us who head hither and yon to experience the best golf has to offer, it’s one hell of an improvement over the previous standard.