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SAN JOSE, Calif. - I knew right away that the sagging top of my Sun Mountain golf travel bag meant trouble.
I opened the zipper after retrieving my golf travel bag from the over-sized luggage claim at the San Jose Mineta International Airport on Jan. 18. Inside was every golfer's nightmare. My driver shaft had been snapped and the Stiff Arm meant to protect it was bent at almost a 90-degree angle. The mangling of the Stiff Arm, a heavy, retractable metal rod created by Club Glove, was arguably the more disturbing sight. Someone had to have dropped, smashed or run over it - or a combination of those - to wreak such havoc on my golf travel bag.
I was steps from the Southwest Airlines luggage office, where my hunt for justice for my damaged golf club began. A month later, I'm left feeling more like the person at fault than the victim. That's a shame considering I've gone on more golf trips than almost any person on the planet and never once had an issue with damaged or lost clubs until this ordeal.
I've had my golf clubs delayed a time or two. Who hasn't? This, however, felt like the ultimate airline sin, where the most important and most expensive club in the golf bag gets destroyed. It might take me months and hundreds of dollars before I find an adequate replacement.
I'm not sharing my story to shame the airline or look for pity, but simply to explain the complicated process involved with getting any sort of compensation or culpability for damaged golf clubs from an airline, while sharing a few tips for helping you avoid a similar headache.
Have you had your golf clubs lost or damaged by the airlines? Let us know how it turned out in the comments below.
Southwest Airlines's response after damaging my driver
I have to give Southwest credit in one respect: they've got the company line down pat.
As soon as I entered the luggage office to log my complaint, the woman behind the counter looked at my soft-sided golf travel bag and said there's nothing she could do for me. I noted that the extent of the damage sure looked like negligence to me. I also argued that this just wasn't any soft cover bag incident. That Stiff Arm made the soft-sided case much stronger than the golfers who travel without such protection. I purposely pack my golf clubs with it because every golfer knows that traveling with golf clubs involves some risk.
She reminded me that I had signed away any damage liability while checking in with the Southwest agent at my trip's point of origin in Palm Springs. She dutifully took a few pictures, gave me a form detailing everything I had reported and noted that I could call a help line if I wanted to pursue things further.
The following day, I got the same answer over the phone: that Southwest is never liable for any damage related to soft-sided golf travel cases, but I that could go to a specific Customer Portal website and submit my case again. The woman on the phone was very nice, and offered a helpful tip: if you go to the "comment" section, you should get a response within a day or two.
It actually took 24 days before I got a letter that didn't acknowledge any guilt and offered a $150 'LUV' voucher toward the purchase of my next flight. In part, the letter read (I've bolded a few key points):
In this particular case, sporting equipment packed in a soft-sided case is considered improperly packed as it generally cannot withstand normal handling. As you undoubtedly know, bags are not only handled by our Employees and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), but also travel along many conveyor belts leaving them at risk for damage. For this reason, we encourage Customers to pack their sporting equipment in hard-sided cases for proper protection. We regret that we are unable to accept liability for your claim.
While a literal and uniform application of our liability limitations may suggest we are insensitive to your loss, this is not the case. ... We hope you will accept this gesture of goodwill as evidence of our desire to serve you and ask that you give us another opportunity to provide the high quality of service you deserve and should expect each time you travel.
I'm guessing not everyone who suffers damaged golf clubs while traveling will get this same amount of airline compensation. I assume if more golf clubs were broken I would have gotten more, but perhaps that's wishful thinking. I was transparent throughout the process that I would be writing a story about the experience - not seeking special treatment but simply to be forthright with the sharing of information.
I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome, but I look forward to using the $150 to visit my dad in Seattle or go south again for more golf, maybe to Las Vegas, Phoenix/Scottsdale or southern California. But I'm struggling to answer this question: How do I ensure this never happens again?
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How to keep your golf clubs from being damaged by the airlines
The best way to protect your clubs, according to Southwest, is to use a hard travel case.
"When golf clubs are transported in a hard, plastic travel case, we do not require the Customer to sign a limited release of liability, thus, per our Contract of Carriage: The Carrier will compensate the Passenger for reasonable, documented damages incurred," a Southwest spokesman noted in an e-mail.
Buying a hard case is something I'll never do. I can count on one finger the number of golfers I know who use a hard case. They are too bulky and inflexible. They don't fit well into the trunks of rental cars and if you've got four hard cases traveling in your foursome, you'll need something larger than an SUV to fit them all. They're completely impractical. Strike one.
I stopped by the Club Glove booth at the PGA Merchandise Show to inquire about how many stories they've heard of their Stiff Arm failing. The representative I spoke to didn't want to be quoted, but he noted that it's probably not often and insinuated that I should blame A: Southwest. B: Sun Mountain and C, myself for using not a Club Glove travel bag. Strike Two.
A friend who's a PGA professional noted that he unscrews his driver head every time he travels, but this doesn't seem like a foolproof solution, either. Look at where on the shaft my driver snapped and the rod bent. Even without the head attached, it's possible, if not probable, that it would have snapped anyway. The only good luck I had throughout the whole ordeal was that I left my 3 wood and 5 wood at home. They would have been demolished, too. My hybirds and irons were short enough to survive whatever damaged my driver.
The heads on most woods don't detach, and if they did, where would I put all three heads for safe transport every single time I fly? Strike three. I'm running out of ideas.
Should I ship my golf travel bag instead of flying with my golf clubs?
I could consider using Ship Sticks or some other company to ship my golf clubs. I've shipped golf clubs multiple times in the past and been pleased with the results.
Shipping does take a lot of the hassles out of traveling with golf clubs, but is shipping golf clubs really any safer? Club shipping still requires air travel after all. Where shipping helps is guaranteed protection against damage or loss, often up to $1,000. The downside is shipping golf clubs is costly, and shipping golf clubs abroad is very expensive.
How should you pack when flying with your golf clubs?
One of the perks of flying Southwest is that two bags fly free, and that includes golf club travel bags. Most other airline baggage fees cost between $25-$35 to fly with golf clubs each way. American Airlines just announced it is raising checked bag fees to $35 online and $40 at the airport (a second bag will be $45)! My go-to strategy for luggage on golf trips has always been two-fold:
* Always fly direct. The expense is worth it because it minimizes the handling of your luggage and the chances for your checked luggage - in this case, your golf clubs - to get lost or broken (not to mention the fact you avoid the worry of potential missed connections and the hassles of changing planes).
* Always use a carry-on for your golf clothes and only check your golf bag. Golfers can reuse pants, shorts and golf polos once per trip, so it shouldn't be a problem to pack smart enough to fit everything into your carry-on. I also put my rangefinder, golf speaker, extra golf balls, glove, rain gloves, ball marker, tees and beanie in my carry-on in case my golf travel bag gets lost or delayed. That way you don't have to buy those things and fight for them to be reimbursed when you ask the airline for compensation following your trip. This strategy also keeps the weight below the 50-pound limit for your golf travel bag.
Conclusion: How I plan to fly with my golf clubs in the future
It's time to figure out real-world solutions for my next golf trips. I'm too cheap to pay for shipping my clubs everywhere. Considering I go on at least 10 golf trips a year, it just does not make economical sense.
It's too bad you can't bring your golf clubs on the airplane. Really, the only club I must travel with is my driver. It's custom-fit to my unique swing - I use a 3-wood shaft on a high-lofted head - and you just can't get that in any rental set.
For now, I guess I will just have to be more cautious how I pack my golf clubs into a soft cover golf travel bag. I'll start packing towels or other support items around the longer-shafted clubs. I'll definitely consider removing the head of the driver and packing it inside the golf bag with some socks (or something else) for padding.
I'm definitely going to buy a replacement Stiff Arm, too. It protected my clubs for hundreds of flights, and at $30, seems like the most affordable, practical weapon against the airlines. Maybe I'll buy a second one and start traveling with two.
Beyond that, all I can do is sit in my airplane seat and wonder whose golf clubs will be destroyed next: yours or mine?
Comments (14)
I have had a Stiff Arm fail, but it gave it's life protecting my expensive graphite shafts. I always remove the heads and stash them in the bag inside their headcovers, it's easy to do. Is it really true that "the heads on most woods don't detach"? That seems less likely to be true with newer clubs. My Club Glove bag has made a ton of trips and is still in great shape. I agree with your opinion of hard cases, not even remotely practical, and heavy as well.
My 3 wood and 5 wood are older, so yes, many newer fairway woods can detach. Your Stiff Arm deserves a medal for its sacrifice in the name of saving your clubs.
I recently traveled with a soft sided bag. I used a stiff arm. Prior to flying, I removed my driver head, my three wood head, and I placed both of those shafts tip down in my bag. I also carry a driving iron. I put that in the bag upside down since that head was not removable. Yes, I was anxious the whole time my clubs were apart from me during the flights. However, both directions included a plane change. I was very relieved to find my clubs intact when they arrived at their destinations.
Glad to hear your clubs made it safely! I'm planning to be more thorough when I pack my clubs to better guarantee a safe arrival.
I guess I would have to say, look in the mirror and see who’s at fault here. Southwest states very plainly their position on soft sided ship cases. Period. You chose to ignore it and hope for the best. I have traveled with a hard case, no problems, never found a car that the case wouldn’t fit in. But, my best solution was to simply ship the clubs UPS, always arrived, cost is less than ShipSticks, never had an issue.
I often travel with family and clubs. The hard case is just too bulky. Hard Pass.
Jason, I pack my clubs in a club glove travel bag with a club glove stiff arm and Delta still managed to snap the driver shaft and bend the stiff arm. Now I travel with two stiff arms to ensure the driver stays positioned under one of the stiff arms all times. I do like the other readers suggestion to remove the driver head completely.
Sorry to hear about the damage Philip. I, too, am likely to do two stiff arms in the future. Great minds think alike.
I always take the heads off my Driver, 3 Wood, and 5 wood, put them in their head covers and pack them inside my bag. I take of picture of each setting so I can put them back on when I arrive. Never had a problem over the last 4 years.
I hate the extra work this requires, but I might have to go this route. Glad to hear it's working for you.
Back in May 2022, was flying Southwest with my clubs from St. Louis. Getting back into Ontario, we noticed at baggage claim that my soft club travel bag and both of our suitcases had large, foot long tears in them. We reported to the Southwest supervisor. He immediately reimbursed me $78 for the travel bag, which was the online price he found. He refused to give us anything for the luggage citing normal wear and tear, which was funny since the golf bag was about 5 years old and used multiple times and the luggage was only 4 months old and this was the first time we had used. We filed a claim with Southwest and they did eventually reimburse us $150 for the luggage. Also, I used Shipsticks to ship my clubs to Alabama on this same trip. They got stuck at the Memphis Fed Ex shipping center. Credit to Shipsticks, they sent a currier to Memphis to get my clubs and deliver them to Muscle Shoals, and was only out them for a few holes the next day and worked the delivery charges into the insurance they provide when you use Shipsticks.
Sorry to hear about the damage, but glad to hear that Ship Sticks delivered on its promise of top notch service.
I've never tried it, but I wonder if the "upside down bucket" over the Club Glove Stiff Arm would have helped?
Sounds bulky traveling with an extra bucket. Getting clubs safely from one spot to the next shouldn't be this hard.