Do you long for the good old days of air travel?  That is, when you could bring your golf clubs and the airlines would lose them, maim them, misdirect them, and then deliver them to your hotel as you are checking out – but at least back then you didn’t have to pay for the privilege?

 

It’s almost as if the airlines have singled out golfers for excessive fees, knowing that packing for the sport is difficult at best:  You have to take into account all types of weather contingencies, golf clothes vs. fancy duds, golf shoes vs. street and dress shoes, hats, golf balls (how many do you take?), umbrella, and of course, your golf bag full of clubs.  There’s virtually no way to get all of that paraphernalia into a carry-on.

 

Or is there a way around it?

 

In the past few years of traveling all over the world for golf, I’ve streamlined packing to the extent I can survive with only one carry-on, regardless of whether the trip lasts 3 days or a week.  Impossible....for a woman, you say?  Not so.  How I do it, well, I’ll leave that for another column.  For now, let’s talk about the biggest and most expensive issue:  Golf clubs.  Usually they constitute the double whammy: a second and oversized bag.

 

Most people are dependent on using their own clubs, which is rather surprising since these same folks probably were never measured for proper clubs via correct club-fitting anyway.  The majority of people I play with should be using different clubs, usually for a variety of reasons. m So, why not use golf travel as a way to save money, but also as a means for trying out new clubs?  Rent or borrow them.

 

In another era, rental clubs were saddled with a poor reputation.  If you had to rent clubs, it was almost implied that you weren’t a serious golfer, or you couldn’t afford to buy them.  Therefore, golf courses and resorts spent little or no time, effort, or expense to provide top of the line offerings in the rental club department.  Rental set selections were almost as bad as Rent-A-Wreck cars.  The clubs were old, used, abused, with the newest, hottest clubs on the market unavailable at any price. 

 

However, it is a far different story now.  Today’s golf resorts understand the hassle and expense of lugging golf bags around and have done a complete 180:  rentals are now often a perk for those who sign up for special frequent customer Ôclubs’ like the Fairmont Hotels’ President’s Club or when you stay at places like the Ritz Carlton or Walt Disney World.  Hyatt’s Gold Passport has a ÔNo Hassle’ package for all leisure guests to encourage last-minute bookings; $25 gets you a set of clubs, golf balls, and a glove.  Many hotels with courses attached will usually have golf schools too, which use name-brand equipment companies like TaylorMade, Nike, Titleist, Callaway, Cleveland, Hogan, and Cobra.  A variety of sets will come in regular, senior, or stiff flexes, which incidentally is slowly taking the place of men’s and ladies designations;  you can also get regular or extra long lengths.

 

There are also companies specializing in online club rentals where you can order exactly what you want at varying rates according to club type, how long, and where: Rentalclubhub.com, Golfrentalandsales.com, Golfclubsaway.com, to name a few.  In most cases, you can order clubs online by 4 p.m., they’re delivered to your hotel or the course by 7 a.m., you play, and then you leave them at the course or hotel, where they are picked up later.  Insurance is offered should you anticipate a mishap.

 

Some people may even opt to rent clubs as opposed to buying them while at home.   This may seem strange to folks who have a garage full of clubs, but it does make sense.  Here’s why:

 

1)    You can play the latest and greatest clubs featured on tour;

2)    You may keep a club or set as long as you want, when you are finished using the clubs, return them, as is;

3)    You can shop from your home computer and avoid equipment overload when visiting a mega store full of every kind of club that is made;

4)    Your clubs are never outdated nor do you Ôoutgrow’ them;

5)    Your outlay of cash is much less at a time

6)    You are not stuck with clubs you hate or will never use;

7)    If you decide you want to buy a club, most rental companies will let you;

 

Skeptical players will insist you can never play as well with rental clubs as you do with your own clubs.  To some extent, this may be true.  But I find it a challenge to try different clubs at every destination.

 

I stopped taking my own clubs years ago, after about the fourth or fifth time the airlines Ômisplaced’ them.  My game has not really suffered; in fact, I can play quite well with whatever I’m given as long as the shaft flex is regular, not stiff, the grips are decent, not worn or slippery, the putter doesn’t have too much loft (yes, you can see it) and the driver isn’t more than 11 or 12 degrees with a pronounced hook or slice face (though drivers rarely have slice faces).  That may sound like a lot of caveats, but really, it isn’t and every club has been able to accommodate my wishes. 

 

And, just so you know, good things can happen with borrowed clubs, consider this:  in March I was invited to play in the Bacardi Par-3 Championship at the Southampton Princess in beautiful Bermuda – a stone’s throw from Philly.

 

One of the assistants, Will Tucker, had some TaylorMade clubs all ready for me, but after chatting a bit he asked if I’d like to borrow his clubs, an older set of Titleist DCIs.  I decided to take his set and the rentals to Port Royal GC, where I was playing a casual round that morning.  I opted to use the TaylorMade woods and Will’s irons in the tournament.  I aced the second hole I played and very nearly aced another, 4 holes later.  At the end of the two-day event, I tied for the Ladies Division Championship.   Will was ecstatic and has since gotten an ace of his own, the first in his 15 year career...only because I warmed up those borrowed clubs.

 

The point is, if your swing is somewhat sound and your fundamentals are decent, you can play good golf with just about any club.  Put your money into golf lessons instead of expecting the newest clubs to fix your game. 

 

And, for those of you who have about 25 putters in your ClubCave.......I’ve always said this about putting: it isn’t the putter, it’s the putt-er.

 

Janina Jacobs is a multi-media consultant and freelance writer specializing in golf, business, music, nutrition, fitness and women's issues. These days, much of her efforts are devoted to her blog on the international golf and travel website, The A Position.  Her full bio is here.

 

To hear players make favorable comments about the United States Golf Association’s (USGA) course set-up for this year’s U.S. Open at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md. is, to say the least, quite a deviation from Opens past.   Who can forget the best of the best struggling mightily at Bethpage Black in 2009 just to get the ball to the fairway?  How many public course golfers could relate to that?   However, watching the players most golfers emulate hacking and whiffing through high rough on the way to over-par scores is.....well, was, just wrong.

 

But now, change has arrived in the persona of Executive Director Mike Davis, and even the somewhat stern, arm-band wearing USGA rules officials may have some time off from searching out wayward golf balls in places not fit for man nor beast.   Mr. Davis promises that he does not want players looking foolish nor does he have a target score in mind when setting up Open venues.  Some laugh, unbelieving.  Not me....the time is ripe for this.

 

Have you ever competed in a USGA national event under the watchful eyes of volunteer officials (they ARE volunteers and pay their own way, you know) and a real Rules Committee?  During my competitive amateur career, I have played in over 20 national USGA championships, including the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and the U.S. Women’s Public Links (WAPL).  Tried for the U.S. Women’s Open a few times but fell short, with my best attempt at qualifying coming at Congressional’s neighbor, Columbia CC, when a late round triple bogey left me a couple strokes shy of the big show.  How I’ve re-lived that hook off the tee box into the Maryland trees. 

 

Playing in USGA events was always a great experience, except for when the USGA made errors in course set-up and would not correct them.  Yes, they DO make mistakes.   During a practice round for the 1988 WAPL in Tulsa, OK, there were four groups backed up at a par-3.  The USGA tee sign read 138-yards, yet player after player kept hitting the ball into the lake running from tee to green.  I thought, Ôwhat’s wrong with these gals? Take enough club!!’  Then it was my turn, and the distance surely looked farther than 138-yards.  Normally I’d hit a 7-iron but instead took a 5-iron – promptly splashing it into the drink.  Changing to a 4-iron, I barely made it to the fringe of the green.  Pacing off the yardage, the old fashioned way before lasers and such, it was 165-yards just to carry the pond.  After the round I informed the officials, many who I knew well after years of playing in this event, and they were surprised – because they sometimes don’t play the course prior to the event.   But the sign was posted, the scorecards were printed, and so it remained:  an official 138-yard par-3 that was really about 175-yards.

 

Why it was so difficult for the USGA, for so long, to improve course set-ups...I don’t know.   When you position yourself as the Ruling Body of anything, it is thorny to admit you’re infallible.    That’s why Mike Davis is such a breath of fresh air.  He understands that the course should be tough but also knows it must be playable, and variable, depending on weather and conditions.  He plans periodic seclusion in the privacy of his on-site office to watch the action on TV, getting a clear picture of what’s happening with his handiwork and making alterations if need be.  All the pre-planning in the world is useless if Mother Nature decides to do her thing, thus rendering previous strategies useless.  But still, there is a bit of the rogue in Davis:  he may decide to offer the traditional U.S. Open drivable par-4.  But he won’t say which hole.  "I want the players to decide what to do then and there without having practiced it."

 

Janina Jacobs is a multi-media consultant and freelance writer specializing in golf, business, music, nutrition, fitness and women's issues. These days, much of her efforts are devoted to her blog on the international golf and travel website, The A Position.  Her full bio is here.

Do you long for the good old days of air travel?  That is, when you could bring your golf clubs and the airlines would lose them, maim them, misdirect them, and then deliver them to your hotel as you are checking out – but at least back then you didn’t have to pay for the privilege?

 

It’s almost as if the airlines have singled out golfers for excessive fees, knowing that packing for the sport is difficult at best:  You have to take into account all types of weather contingencies, golf clothes vs. fancy duds, golf shoes vs. street and dress shoes, hats, golf balls (how many do you take?), umbrella, and of course, your golf bag full of clubs.  There’s virtually no way to get all of that paraphernalia into a carry-on.

 

Or is there a way around it?

 

In the past few years of traveling all over the world for golf, I’ve streamlined packing to the extent I can survive with only one carry-on, regardless of whether the trip lasts 3 days or a week.  Impossible....for a woman, you say?  Not so.  How I do it, well, I’ll leave that for another column.  For now, let’s talk about the biggest and most expensive issue:  Golf clubs.  Usually they constitute the double whammy: a second and oversized bag.

 

Most people are dependent on using their own clubs, which is rather surprising since these same folks probably were never measured for proper clubs via correct club-fitting anyway.  The majority of people I play with should be using different clubs, usually for a variety of reasons. m So, why not use golf travel as a way to save money, but also as a means for trying out new clubs?  Rent or borrow them.

 

In another era, rental clubs were saddled with a poor reputation.  If you had to rent clubs, it was almost implied that you weren’t a serious golfer, or you couldn’t afford to buy them.  Therefore, golf courses and resorts spent little or no time, effort, or expense to provide top of the line offerings in the rental club department.  Rental set selections were almost as bad as Rent-A-Wreck cars.  The clubs were old, used, abused, with the newest, hottest clubs on the market unavailable at any price. 

 

However, it is a far different story now.  Today’s golf resorts understand the hassle and expense of lugging golf bags around and have done a complete 180:  rentals are now often a perk for those who sign up for special frequent customer Ôclubs’ like the Fairmont Hotels’ President’s Club or when you stay at places like the Ritz Carlton or Walt Disney World.  Hyatt’s Gold Passport has a ÔNo Hassle’ package for all leisure guests to encourage last-minute bookings; $25 gets you a set of clubs, golf balls, and a glove.  Many hotels with courses attached will usually have golf schools too, which use name-brand equipment companies like TaylorMade, Nike, Titleist, Callaway, Cleveland, Hogan, and Cobra.  A variety of sets will come in regular, senior, or stiff flexes, which incidentally is slowly taking the place of men’s and ladies designations;  you can also get regular or extra long lengths.

 

There are also companies specializing in online club rentals where you can order exactly what you want at varying rates according to club type, how long, and where: Rentalclubhub.com, Golfrentalandsales.com, Golfclubsaway.com, to name a few.  In most cases, you can order clubs online by 4 p.m., they’re delivered to your hotel or the course by 7 a.m., you play, and then you leave them at the course or hotel, where they are picked up later.  Insurance is offered should you anticipate a mishap.

 

Some people may even opt to rent clubs as opposed to buying them while at home.   This may seem strange to folks who have a garage full of clubs, but it does make sense.  Here’s why:

 

1)    You can play the latest and greatest clubs featured on tour;

2)    You may keep a club or set as long as you want, when you are finished using the clubs, return them, as is;

3)    You can shop from your home computer and avoid equipment overload when visiting a mega store full of every kind of club that is made;

4)    Your clubs are never outdated nor do you Ôoutgrow’ them;

5)    Your outlay of cash is much less at a time

6)    You are not stuck with clubs you hate or will never use;

7)    If you decide you want to buy a club, most rental companies will let you;

 

Skeptical players will insist you can never play as well with rental clubs as you do with your own clubs.  To some extent, this may be true.  But I find it a challenge to try different clubs at every destination.

 

I stopped taking my own clubs years ago, after about the fourth or fifth time the airlines Ômisplaced’ them.  My game has not really suffered; in fact, I can play quite well with whatever I’m given as long as the shaft flex is regular, not stiff, the grips are decent, not worn or slippery, the putter doesn’t have too much loft (yes, you can see it) and the driver isn’t more than 11 or 12 degrees with a pronounced hook or slice face (though drivers rarely have slice faces).  That may sound like a lot of caveats, but really, it isn’t and every club has been able to accommodate my wishes. 

 

And, just so you know, good things can happen with borrowed clubs, consider this:  in March I was invited to play in the Bacardi Par-3 Championship at the Southampton Princess in beautiful Bermuda – a stone’s throw from Philly.

 

One of the assistants, Will Tucker, had some TaylorMade clubs all ready for me, but after chatting a bit he asked if I’d like to borrow his clubs, an older set of Titleist DCIs.  I decided to take his set and the rentals to Port Royal GC, where I was playing a casual round that morning.  I opted to use the TaylorMade woods and Will’s irons in the tournament.  I aced the second hole I played and very nearly aced another, 4 holes later.  At the end of the two-day event, I tied for the Ladies Division Championship.   Will was ecstatic and has since gotten an ace of his own, the first in his 15 year career...only because I warmed up those borrowed clubs.

 

The point is, if your swing is somewhat sound and your fundamentals are decent, you can play good golf with just about any club.  Put your money into golf lessons instead of expecting the newest clubs to fix your game. 

 

And, for those of you who have about 25 putters in your ClubCave.......I’ve always said this about putting: it isn’t the putter, it’s the putt-er.

 

Janina Jacobs is a multi-media consultant and freelance writer specializing in golf, business, music, nutrition, fitness and women's issues. These days, much of her efforts are devoted to her blog on the international golf and travel website, The A Position.  Her full bio is here.