Announcing 2023 My Golf Spy Outing-Pinehurst Area

[chisag]

29 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

So who’s flown with clubs before? I’ve got a gift card that’s waiting to be spent on a travel case for my clubs!

any recommendations?

 

... Another Club Glove user (Last Bag Pro) and not only can you pack your clubs but most of your wardrobe. One of my tricks is covering my irons with my golf socks. it protects the heads from clanging together, essential for softer forged irons while saving a suitcase. Cover again on the trip home. I would recommend a Stiff Arm that protects the heads and shafts and if they have an adaptor, remove the head and putt in your golf bag. 

[GolfSpy AFG]

My envy is already spiking the more I read this damn thread.  Can't believe I have to miss this one...

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

34 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

My envy is already spiking the more I read this damn thread.  Can't believe I have to miss this one...

Add me tk this club

[Tom the Golf Nut]

11 hours ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

So who’s flown with clubs before? I’ve got a gift card that’s waiting to be spent on a travel case for my clubs!

any recommendations?

Club Glove for sure. I have the Last Bag Large Pro size. I've had others and they have all failed including hard cases. Going 4 years on the Club Glove with zero issues. Do your homework you have some time. I got mine 50% off from a golf clearance center in Canada. It has TaylorMade screen printed on the sides. It could have said Joe's Pizza for all I care at 50% off. The bag is pricey but worth it. I fly with my clubs 5 or 6 times a year. Which add up to a lot of flights if you consider in all the plane changes on connection flights. The bag goes through baggage handling 8 times a trip for me. (no direct flights anywhere that I go) So all in all 160 to 190 times it has been handled and it's still in great condition. 

The claims guy at Delta told me not to get a hard case. They get hung up in the conveyor system turns. Delta will replace damaged hard cases 100%. Of course, this was after they had to pay to replace the hard case twice in as many trips. I would take the check they sent me and put it aside, order parts and fix the case. After the second time I had enough Delta money to get the Club Glove. 

Get a stiff arm or equivalent as well. It's always concerning when you see your case coming down the conveyor headfirst! 

[DaveP043]

12 hours ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

So who’s flown with clubs before? I’ve got a gift card that’s waiting to be spent on a travel case for my clubs!

any recommendations?

Another Club Glove user, with the Stiff Arm.  I have what's now called the Collegiate, and it holds my (7 year old) Ping Hoofer, 2 pairs of shoes, and some clothes just fine, and I think my Club Glove might be 10 years old or more.  A word of caution, its easy to overload a golf bag, the weight limit is 50 pounds before you start paying extra.  I have a small luggage scale I take with me to make sure I'm within the weight limit both coming and going.

[Golfspy_CG2]

17 hours ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

So who’s flown with clubs before? I’ve got a gift card that’s waiting to be spent on a travel case for my clubs!

any recommendations?

I'll echo the clubglove shoutouts, and throw in one more if you want to compare cost.  The Sun Mountain Clubglider, it has a pop out legs, that make it much easier to roll, and especially when you are in line at the check in counter, you don't have to keep standing it up, then pulling it.  Just let it glide along behind you.

And Iagree 1000% with the no hard case bag.  They are just a nightmare to fit into some retnal cars and even SUV's.  Plus both the CG and the SM fold up fairly small, for storage, which is important during the other 350 plus days a year you aren't using it

 

That said, which ever bag you get, I will give my usual bandwagon for using ShipSticks.  it will litteraly change your life traveling on golf trips.  They pick them up from your home or office (a couple days in advance) and have them waiting at your hotel or course.   

I can't tell you how nice it is nto to have to worry about putting them on and off the rental car and airport shuttles, and in some airports, you have to walk seemingly 1/2 a mile from the baggage claim to the "oversize" baggage claim to get them. 

It's not cheap, but to me it's some of the best money I spend on a golf trip. 

 

[funkyjudge]

5 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

I'll echo the clubglove shoutouts, and throw in one more if you want to compare cost.  The Sun Mountain Clubglider, it has a pop out legs, that make it much easier to roll, and especially when you are in line at the check in counter, you don't have to keep standing it up, then pulling it.  Just let it glide along behind you.

And Iagree 1000% with the no hard case bag.  They are just a nightmare to fit into some retnal cars and even SUV's.  Plus both the CG and the SM fold up fairly small, for storage, which is important during the other 350 plus days a year you aren't using it

 

That said, which ever bag you get, I will give my usual bandwagon for using ShipSticks.  it will litteraly change your life traveling on golf trips.  They pick them up from your home or office (a couple days in advance) and have them waiting at your hotel or course.   

I can't tell you how nice it is nto to have to worry about putting them on and off the rental car and airport shuttles, and in some airports, you have to walk seemingly 1/2 a mile from the baggage claim to the "oversize" baggage claim to get them. 

It's not cheap, but to me it's some of the best money I spend on a golf trip. 

 

The Sun Mountain Club Glider is absolutely fantastic!  I have one, and used it on my great golf trip to England and Scotland last summer. It survived beautifully the multiple flights and lots of ground transfers via “luxury motor coaches” (e.g. - buses), plus handling by many baggage handlers, hotel staff at three different hotels, golf course personnel and the tour bus drivers.  This “travel bag” also provides lots of extra room for clothing, spare shoes, multiple boxes of golf balls, many extra golf towels, rain gear, etc.  We decided to stay an extra week in London following a week+ of golf, and I shipped the Club Glider home from the hotel where we stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland after our last round of golf, packing all of my golf clothing, rain gear, golf shoes, used underwear and socks and various other items that we wouldn’t need during our week in London, which made for a much more comfortable week there, plus a light load for the flight home.  You just need to be sure to wrap a few towels around and between clubheads and any portion of shafts that protrude above the top ring on your golf bag, although with the ample padding at the top end of the bag this may be considered by some to be overkill. I noticed that several of the guys on the trip who were also using Club Gliders did not take this precaution, but I am a firm believer in “better safe than sorry”.

By the way, there were about 24-30 golfers on my trip, and more than 48 golfers overall when we joined forces with another group on the final weekend of the golf portion of our trip. About 50% of this group were using the Sun Mountain Club Glider, and maybe a dozen were traveling with a Club Glove travel bag.  I’m glad that I got a white one with red and black trim, because I was the only participant with a Club Glider in this color scheme (I’m sure that the white will show dirt more readily and may get dingy-looking over time, but it was nice to always be able to immediately spot my bag at airport baggage claims, hotels, and as the bags were being unloaded from the storage area on the buses.

We are going back to Scotland next summer to play many more courses (including both the Old Course and New Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, North Berwick and Gullane), and I’ll once again be very happy to be using the Club Glider!

[funkyjudge]

34 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

I'll echo the clubglove shoutouts, and throw in one more if you want to compare cost.  The Sun Mountain Clubglider, it has a pop out legs, that make it much easier to roll, and especially when you are in line at the check in counter, you don't have to keep standing it up, then pulling it.  Just let it glide along behind you.

And Iagree 1000% with the no hard case bag.  They are just a nightmare to fit into some retnal cars and even SUV's.  Plus both the CG and the SM fold up fairly small, for storage, which is important during the other 350 plus days a year you aren't using it

 

That said, which ever bag you get, I will give my usual bandwagon for using ShipSticks.  it will litteraly change your life traveling on golf trips.  They pick them up from your home or office (a couple days in advance) and have them waiting at your hotel or course.   

I can't tell you how nice it is nto to have to worry about putting them on and off the rental car and airport shuttles, and in some airports, you have to walk seemingly 1/2 a mile from the baggage claim to the "oversize" baggage claim to get them. 

It's not cheap, but to me it's some of the best money I spend on a golf trip. 

 

Also, there is an alternative to ShipSticks, particularly if you are going on a golf trip arranged and operated by Perry Golf.  It is a company called Luggage Forward (or Forwarders) and they operate much like ShipSticks …. Plus, they cost about 35% less than ShipSticks!  We used them for the England/Scotland trip, and they sent the paperwork, plus large see-through plastic envelopes, tags and zip-ties, etc for attaching the paperwork to the bag for the multiple legs of the trip, which we received about two or three weeks prior to departure.  FedEx or DHL then picks up the clubs about a week prior to your trip and the bags are waiting for you at your first hotel. Then, at the end of the trip, they will pick up your clubs at whatever location you give them (hotel, golf course, etc.) Since we were taking a train from Edinburgh to London, and then spending a week in London, we arranged for the pick-up to take place at the hotel in Edinburgh where we spent two+ days and asked them not to deliver the clubs to our home until the Monday after our Saturday evening return flight from London (they said that it would probably be Tuesday or Wednesday, but the clubs actually got delivered to our home on Monday before Noon).

[cksurfdude]

4 hours ago, funkyjudge said:

You just need to be sure to wrap a few towels around and between clubheads and any portion of shafts that protrude above the top ring on your golf bag, although with the ample padding at the top end of the bag this may be considered by some to be overkill.

So I have both a hard sided case and a Club Glider - last few trips the hard case has been used.

Just seem to find it easier to pack a bunch of stuff into, and .. not worry about the shafts. One thing on the Club Glider that worries me is where the hard plastic ends...

..sooo.. that's where my OCD kicks in and I add extra foam under the bag and then wrap extra padding around that section.

Heck I've even placed the bag upside down so I can (try to) protect the shafts better .. plus the bag rolls/maneuvers a little better with more weight towards the bottom.

[Golfspy_CG2]

1 hour ago, cksurfdude said:

So I have both a hard sided case and a Club Glider - last few trips the hard case has been used.

Just seem to find it easier to pack a bunch of stuff into, and .. not worry about the shafts. One thing on the Club Glider that worries me is where the hard plastic ends...

..sooo.. that's where my OCD kicks in and I add extra foam under the bag and then wrap extra padding around that section.

Heck I've even placed the bag upside down so I can (try to) protect the shafts better .. plus the bag rolls/maneuvers a little better with more weight towards the bottom.

I’ve never had a worry about that.  The “soft” portion of the bag is very thick and well padded.   And usually just to remove all doubt. I will take the heads off my driver and store it in a towel in one of the pockets of the bag.  
 

Prior to COVID I was flying 5-6 times a year with them or sending via ShipSticks.  Never an issue. 

[JohnSmalls]

Are we all going to have to wear nametags with our MGS handles on them?

[Hoyoymac]

Bag tags with our forum names will do nicely.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

1 hour ago, JohnSmalls said:

Are we all going to have to wear nametags with our MGS handles on them?

I can just see it now! We are all sitting around in a circle, and it goes like this:

ME: "Hi my name is Tom and I am a Golfaholic. 

Group: "HI Tom" 

ME: "I have been addicted for over 30 years and I have been clean for zero days have no plans on quitting. 

Group: Long and loud applause 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I can just see it now! We are all sitting around in a circle, and it goes like this:

ME: "Hi my name is Tom and I am a Golfaholic. 

Group: "HI Tom" 

ME: "I have been addicted for over 30 years and I have been clean for zero days have no plans on quitting. 

Group: Long and loud applause 

That is pretty close to how it went in MD.  Gotta figure out who everyone is somehow and @Jwc5149wants to learn all your intimate secrets

[Berg Ryman]

12 minutes ago, cnosil said:

That is pretty close to how it went in MD.  Gotta figure out who everyone is somehow and @Jwc5149wants to learn all your intimate secrets

And to further point this out, even for those of us in MD (points specifically at self) learning everyone's names was easily and immediately forgotten, so don't be offended.

[Golfspy_CG2]

When we would do local meetups for like a foursome or two.   It was always fun checking in with the Pro Shop, it went something like this. 

Pro Shop:   Welcome, what's your name, I'll check you in.

Me: My name is CG2, I'm playing with  UVAWahoo and MDGolfHacker

Pro Shop guy over his shoulder to the GM:  Hey Boss, call security we got two more wise guys...ha

[JohnSmalls]

54 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

When we would do local meetups for like a foursome or two.   It was always fun checking in with the Pro Shop, it went something like this. 

Pro Shop:   Welcome, what's your name, I'll check you in.

Me: My name is CG2, I'm playing with  UVAWahoo and MDGolfHacker

Pro Shop guy over his shoulder to the GM:  Hey Boss, call security we got two more wise guys...ha

This is EXACTLY what happened the first time @Kor.A.Door and I got together.   Then we both get up to the first tee with complete randoms, Kory is about a foot taller than me (imagine: Dominique Wilkins and Spudd Webb) and we're both lefties.  What a day to be alive.

[JohnSmalls]

2 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I can just see it now! We are all sitting around in a circle, and it goes like this:

ME: "Hi my name is Tom and I am a Golfaholic. 

Group: "HI Tom" 

ME: "I have been addicted for over 30 years and I have been clean for zero days have no plans on quitting. 

Group: Long and loud applause 

^^muted and respectful, yet lengthy clapping.  We don't want to get blacklisted on the Masters ticket lottery.

[JohnSmalls]

On 1/10/2023 at 9:00 PM, cnosil said:

We can do wardrobe scripting once we get closer to the event. 

I'll have to bring some orange so I won't be considered a fraud with all of the Clemson posts over the years 

[tommc23]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:46 AM, Getoffmylawn said:

My envy is already spiking the more I read this damn thread.  Can't believe I have to miss this one...

I agree Hayes

10 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

Are we all going to have to wear nametags with our MGS handles on them?

We didn’t in Maryland but there will be a few more at this one

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

That is pretty close to how it went in MD.  Gotta figure out who everyone is somehow and @Jwc5149wants to learn all your intimate secrets

But ours was around a fire pit by the time I got there

6 hours ago, Berg Ryman said:

And to further point this out, even for those of us in MD (points specifically at self) learning everyone's names was easily and immediately forgotten, so don't be offended.

By the end we had everyone’s names down though

6 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

When we would do local meetups for like a foursome or two.   It was always fun checking in with the Pro Shop, it went something like this. 

Pro Shop:   Welcome, what's your name, I'll check you in.

Me: My name is CG2, I'm playing with  UVAWahoo and MDGolfHacker

Pro Shop guy over his shoulder to the GM:  Hey Boss, call security we got two more wise guys...ha

Wahoo is a name I haven’t heard on here in a long time anyone hear from him ever?

[JohnSmalls]

10 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

Are we all going to have to wear nametags with our MGS handles on them?

2 minutes ago, tommc23 said:

We didn’t in Maryland but there will be a few more at this one

 there might be some legs to this idea.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

4 minutes ago, JohnSmalls said:

 there might be some legs to this idea.

Agreed, especially as we get close to 20 signed up. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

38 minutes ago, tommc23 said:

I agree Hayes

We didn’t in Maryland but there will be a few more at this one

But ours was around a fire pit by the time I got there

By the end we had everyone’s names down though

Wahoo is a name I haven’t heard on here in a long time anyone hear from him ever?

I see wahoo from time to time, he'll stop by my course.  He also works part time at a local golf shop, and I've gone in to see him.  He had some health issues and while he hasn't quit playing completely, he only gets out occasionally, and doesn't know how many holes he'll last.    

But one of the funniest guys and nicest guys I've had the pleasure of knowing. 

 

[cksurfdude]

On 1/17/2023 at 9:56 AM, cnosil said:

  Gotta figure out who everyone is somehow and @Jwc5149wants to learn all your intimate secrets

Well probably ALL of my personal info and details and life history .. sadly along with a lot of you other guys, I guess .. is out there on the dark web for @Jwc5149 to peruse at his leisure...

[JohnSmalls]

Don't look now, but True Spec has a fitting location at Pine Needles

[Golfspy_CG2]

4 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

Don't look now, but True Spec has a fitting location at Pine Needles

I know they had one at Mid South, so wonder if they moved it or built another one. 

 

[Golfspy_CG2]

On 1/13/2023 at 10:23 AM, Golfspy_CG2 said:

More Spots Added to MGS Outing..Sign Up Now!!

So with Adam (tentatively scheduled) we actrually now have 13 players singed up to stay/play.  So I reached out to Talamore and had two more villas added.  So there's plenty of room for more players, this is shaping up to be a great event, and as they say the More the Merrier!

Also just post here, Everyone who has signed up to date  will be playing Mid South Saturday AM, Pine Needles Saturday PM and Talamore Sunday AM.  

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions. 

 

Update We Now Have 20 Spots at Pine Needles on Saturday PM!!

I just wanted to pass on a great update.  I hd posted last week that we weren't able to get more times at Pine Needles for the Saturday PM round, but we did.  So we now have all 20 spots playing at Pine Needles on Saturday PM!   

This is great on a lot of levels!

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Great news.  What is the head count up to now? 

[JohnSmalls]

[GolfSpy SAM]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Update We Now Have 20 Spots at Pine Needles on Saturday PM!!

I just wanted to pass on a great update.  I hd posted last week that we weren't able to get more times at Pine Needles for the Saturday PM round, but we did.  So we now have all 20 spots playing at Pine Needles on Saturday PM!   

This is great on a lot of levels!

My jealousy knows no bounds.