Tag: bag

Here’s Why PGA Tour Players Choose Club Glove Luggage

Luggage and travel gear for golf isn’t exactly a sexy topic, and life on the PGA Tour isn’t always as glamorous as they make it sound on TV. Sure, the stars stay in 5-star resorts, fly around in private jets and drive fancy courtesy cars, but most professional golfers can’t afford $10,000 per hour to fly on a Gulfstream G650, so they fly commercial. Regardless of how you get there, traveling all over the world requires some good sturdy luggage that won’t let you down. That’s why over 90 percent of PGA Tour players use Club Glove travel bags and luggage.

I’ve talked about my Club Glove Last Bag for several years now, and it continues to do the job as I pile up the mileage with it. Last year I picked up some matching luggage to go with it – specifically the Club Glove Rolling Duffle III and the Carry-On III.

Club Glove Rolling Duffle III

This medium size bag ( 29″ x 15.5″ x 12″) is big enough to pack about a week’s worth of clothing and personal items. It starts at just over eight pounds and when fully packed it can tip the scales at over 40 lbs, but the durable in-line skate wheels and bearings allow this bag to roll effortlessly through airports. The Rolling Duffle III is made with very tough Invista Cordura 1000D water resistant nylon, which is several times stronger and lasts much longer than the standard polyester found in cheap luggage from Walmart. It also has durable YKK zippers, beefy buckles, a telescoping adjustable handle and a dog-bone shaped opening that makes packing and unloading a little easier. The two included packing modules help keep shirts and other stuff well organized.

For my trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last fall I loaded up my Rolling Duffle III with all kinds of clothing items. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t exactly pack light for most trips. I like to bring extra shirts, shorts and pants to have options. Many times I end up not wearing about a third of the clothes I bring, but that’s the price to pay I guess. Fortunately, the Rolling Duffle III had plenty of room for all my stuff, and even had space left over for the matching team outfits from Fenix that we received over there that I would be bringing back to the States.

Club Glove’s Rolling Duffle III is a pretty large bag, but the smooth rolling wheels and Club Glove’s awesome Train Reaction system makes it a breeze to transport around airports and hotels lobbies. The solid plastic bottom and base allow the bag to hop curbs with ease, and make packing valuables a little less anxiety-inducing, because nothing is going to get through the bottom of this bag. Perhaps my favorite feature of the Rolling Duffle III is the simplest one, but the rugged carry handles on the top, side and bottom make loading a snap. The Rolling Duffle III is available in 16 colors, carries a limited lifetime warranty, and is made in the USA.

Club Glove Carry-On III

While you’ll be dropping off the Rolling Duffle and Last Bag at the Airline’s luggage counter to be checked on your flight, the Carry-On III is probably coming with you on board. Also coming with two packing cubes to keep your clothing organized, this bag has enough space for a few days worth of clothes and personal items. It measures 22″ x 13.5″ x 9.5″ and weighs 8 pounds. While these bags aren’t the lightest on the market, keep in mind that they are designed to last a lifetime, and once you see how well they are built, you’ll believe it. Packed with many of the same features as the Rolling Duffle, the Cary-On III also includes a J-Hook device to attach additional luggage pieces at a low center of gravity. Available in 18 colors, the Carry-On III also has a lifetime warranty and is made in the USA.

Club Glove’s Carry-On III is my go-to luggage piece for weekend trips and overnighters. It has enough space to pack everything I need, and integrates perfectly with the aforementioned Train Reaction system to link all your bags together for effortless transport. At this point I think it’s worth explaining this in more detail.

Train Reaction System

I could try to explain and demonstrate Club Glove’s Train Reaction interconnect system (TRS) in words, but it’s easier to let the company do it for me, so here’s their video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leeXAlN2pQU

Of course, Train Reaction works just as well with golf bags too. I snapped a picture of my “train” before leaving for my trip to Malaysia last year:

Real World Use: Observations

Marketing speak is one thing, but how does Club Glove’s luggage perform in the real world? As mentioned before, these pieces aren’t the lightest, but they find a near perfect balance between weight, toughness, durability and functionality, with a little bit of style thrown in. My bright “Sun Gold” colored luggage won’t win any beauty contests but I can spot it a mile away – or more importantly – on airport luggage carousels, and nobody is likely to walk away with my bags by accident. The bright color actually helped a great deal last year when my luggage failed to make the connecting flight on a short layover in Guangzhou, China. The lost luggage counter in Kuala Lumpur was able to find my bags in record time once I showed them the photo above, and they were delivered to my hotel room the next day, about 15 hours after I landed.

Thanks to a cool gadget called the LugLoc Luggage Locator I stashed in the side pocket of my Last Bag, I knew my golf clubs didn’t made the flight to KL as soon as I landed, and I was able to track their location as they arrived on the next flight from China in the morning.

In just over two years since I got my first piece of Club Glove luggage, I have logged over 50,000 miles with them. I’ve traveled to and from four continents and circumnavigated the world. So far my luggage has shown no signs of wear and tear except a little dirt and grime from being tossed around by airport luggage handlers.

Thanks to the Train Reaction system and the smooth rolling wheels, I didn’t hurt my back or endure sore muscles from hauling it around airports, hotels and parking garages despite having over a hundred pounds of gear with me in Malaysia. That trip really proved to me that Club Glove’s luggage is unmatched.

Pricing & Availability

Here’s my load-out for long golf trips. With these bags I can carry enough clothes & gear to last me over 2 weeks.

Club Glove Last Bag Large Pro (Fits my 10″ staff bag with ease) – $319.00
Club Glove Rolling Duffle III (Mid-size checked bag) – $299.00
Club Glove Carry-On III (Small, tough carry-on bag) – $379.00

All pieces are available online at www.clubglove.com, with free shipping on orders over $100. Obviously with prices on the higher end of the scale, it won’t take long to fill your shopping cart with over $100 of gear. When buying, I highly recommend getting a few extra clothing organizers. These little packing cubes are essential items to help you keep things in order and they make unpacking so much faster. They are available in three sizes that hold about three to ten shirts.

Final Thoughts

Not only do 90% of PGA Tour professionals travel with Club Glove, but a growing number of flight crews are trusting Club Glove and their 3-piece luggage ensembles designed specifically for them. The bottom line is, the luggage is built to last in the USA and they have so many options and colors it’s almost mind numbing. You can get custom embroidery, and the list of accessories to match your luggage is extensive. There isn’t a a company that I know of that offers so many ways to move your stuff around or makes better performing and better built luggage than Club Glove, and I’ll continue singing their praises for years to come.

February 11, 2018
Club Glove – Last Bag
Club Glove has long been known for making high-quality products. The fanatical attention to detail and durability they build into their travel cases is almost legendary. If professional tour usage is any indication of quality, Club Glove is king of the hill. 90% of PGA Tour pros use Club Glove to protect their golf clubs.

For years I’ve used a hard plastic travel case from a rival brand and have been happy with it, but despite the durability of hard cases, the weight and size are drawbacks. I am only able to fit a small carry bag with the driver removed in the plastic case, and it weighs in at about 46 – 48 pounds with only a lightly loaded bag inside. Most airlines limit weight to 50 pounds before charging you extra, so excessive weight is a constant problem when traveling with golf clubs.

Recently I traveled to Antalya, Turkey to represent Team USA in the World Amateur Golf Championships and as part of the package I received a sweet new custom staff bag. Because of the size of the new bag, I needed a new travel case to fit it in. That’s where Club Glove’s Last Bag comes in!

The Last Bag from Club Glove is their top of the line golf travel bag. This premium large collapsible bag weighs about 11 lbs unloaded and accommodates nearly any golf bag and up to a 47″ driver, plus still has room for additional gear and accessories. Here are the specs:

Club Glove Last Bag – Specs
- 51″ H x 19″ W x 16″ D • 86 linear inches
- Single piece burst proof construction made with Invista™ Cordura® 1000 D water resistant nylon up to 3x stronger and lasts up to 5x longer than standard polyester
- 1600 D ballistic nylon base reinforcement
- Reliable and durable YKK® zippers and ITW Nexus® Buckles
- Patented high-impact plastic wheelbase with integrated support and super high rebound 70mm 78A inline skate wheels with bearings for smooth and quiet transport (U.S. Patent #7,188,714 and # 7,219,902)
- Over the top zipper for easy loading
- Patent-pending integrated carry handle integrates with Train Reaction™
  (Patent Pending Ser#12/348,857)
- Patented adjustable restraint device to secure golf club set (U.S. Patent #6,901,979)
- 2 exterior shoe/storage pockets with nylon shoe bags
- ID card holder
- Made in the USA
Real World Testing

Specs are nice and all, but how does the thing perform when being tossed around by disaffected airline baggage handlers? The bottom line is this: If you are anything like me, you’ve spent a lot of time and money putting together a set of golf clubs that look great and help you perform your best. I personally have about $3500 worth of custom made equipment to protect when I travel, so I don’t want to throw my clubs in some cheap $25 travel case you can pick up at Walmart.

When I first received my Club Glove Last Bag, I was impressed with the thick cordura nylon and solid construction, but I was a little worried that my huge 9.5″ Burton staff bag would fit. My fears were misplaced however, because the bag fits inside easily. I picked the bright yellow color to make it easy to spot in airport baggage claims, and it also matches this website’s logo color. When packing my clubs I usually weave a couple extra towels back and forth between the irons to prevent them from banging around against each other too much. I then fit the golf bag’s rain hood on it, then slide it into the travel case.

In my opinion, one critical accessory for this travel case is the Club Glove Stiff Arm. The Stiff Arm is a metal pole with a plastic cap on top that expands and protects your clubs, should the soft-sided travel bag be dropped on its head. Simply place it in your golf bag and expand until you get a tight fit against the rain hood. The Stiff Arm extends past your driver and three wood to absorb any impacts, giving your clubs additional protection. When you buy on Amazon they send you the Stiff Arm free.

Once packed, the entire thing closes up nicely without much room to spare. The compression straps on the side of the bag allow you to take up that extra space for a nice tight fit. After adjusting the straps, it all felt very tightly packed and solid. The heavy-duty YKK zippers glide nicely and installing a standard TSA lock to secure the zipper ends was no problem. Once packed the bag weighed in at 46 pounds fully loaded, giving me some wiggle room for the airport baggage weight limit.

My trip from Florida to Turkey and back included layovers in New York and Istanbul both ways, so that meant that my golf clubs would be handled (or mishandled) by airport staff at least 8 times. Getting the clubs through the airport to the check-in counter was a breeze. The large rollerblade wheels roll smoothly, the beefy grab handles are easy to use and the hard plastic skid plate allows the bag to negotiate curbs and escalators with ease.

When I arrived in Antalya, Turkey I was happy that my bag arrived without any signs of wear and tear other than a bit of dirt and dust. The bag was intact and all my clubs were ready to go. After the return trip the bag showed some signs of tampering, but it was just the TSA that had opened it for inspection. It turns out that they rummaged around quite a bit because my lock was in the bottom of my golf bag instead of attached to the travel case, and some of the clubs were not in their usual position.

After traveling over 13,000 miles and being tossed about and handled by various baggage handlers, airport security, customs agents, bus drivers and golf course attendants, the Last Bag stood up to the abuse and came out smelling like roses. The fact that there was no damage or appreciable wear to the bag and its contents is testament to the build quality of Club Glove products.

In the end, the Club Glove Last Bag lives up to its name. If you are in need of a solid, high quality golf travel bag, this is the last bag you’ll ever need. The $299 MSRP may be a bit steep for some, but considering the investment you are protecting I think it’s worth it. This bag is tough as nails, easy to transport and functions perfectly. It even integrates and attaches to Club Glove’s other fantastic travel luggage to form a train for easy transport. If for some reason the Last Bag is not big enough for your bag, you can even get the Last Bag XL for those huge old-school staff bags. For more info, visit www.clubglove.com
January 4, 2016
WITB – September 2015

As a golf blogger, I get to handle many different golf clubs and try many products over the course of a year. As a result, I always get asked about what’s in my bag. Most amateur golfers like me aren’t sponsored by club companies, so our bags tend to be a mix of clubs from different manufacturers.

While I have had opportunities to officially endorse products in the past, doing so might violate the rules of amateur status as outlined by the USGA in rule 6.2, and that would be a no-no since I sometimes compete in FSGA and USGA events. Therefore, I must disclose that none of the companies shown here paid me to represent their brands.

After years of testing hundreds of drivers, fairways, hybrids, irons, wedges, putters and assorted golf gadgets, these are the ones that have found a place in my bag as “gamers.” I’m always tinkering with and testing new clubs, but my gamers remain pretty consistent. The only part of my bag that changes constantly is the putter, because I’m a mess on the putting green and always looking for the BBD – bigger better deal.

What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Ping G30 (9° w/ Ping Tour 80x)
Fairway: Tour Edge Exotics E8 Tour (14° w/ Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ 70x)
Hybrid: Cleveland Launcher DST (18° w/ Miyazaki C.Kua 83x)
Irons: Cleveland CG16 Tour Concept 3-PW (w/ Aerotech Steelfiber i95cw x-flex)
Wedges: SCOR Golf 50° & 54° (w/ True Temper Dynamic Gold X100)
Lob Wedge: Hopkins Golf CJ-1 60° (Custom channel grind w/ Dynamic Gold X-100)
Putter: Cure RX3F Putter
Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

My current setup has been in place for over a year, except the 3-wood and putter. I recently started testing the Cure RX3F putter and after some work on the putting green and one round of golf, I decided to bring it to the WAGT National Championship at Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort. The Cure putter will be featured in a review article soon. The Exotics E8 Tour replaced my trusty old Adams RPM LP back in May. After years of searching, I finally found a fairway wood that out performed the Adams. You may notice I listed 15 clubs. That’s because I usually swap the 3-iron for the 50° gap wedge depending on the course setup where I am playing.

Coming Soon…

I’m long overdue for a new set of irons. The CG16 Tour Concept irons that came from Cleveland’s Tour Van have been awesome, but they are almost five years old and ready to be demoted to a backup role. The Aerotech Steelfiber i95cw shafts are amazing. I’ve said it for years – I think they are the best iron shafts you can get, and their popularity on the professional tours all around the world backs up that claim.

I’m currently testing the Srixon Z745 irons, Z U45 3 & 4 Utilities and a Z H45 2 Hybrid. The Z745 irons are a forged cavity back club that looks sharp and performs similar to my CG16s. The clubs I’m really excited about are the Z U45 3-iron and 4-iron. They are called utilities because they have the looks and workability of an iron with the forgiveness of a hybrid. I love hitting long irons, and these things make it even easier to hit them. The Z H45 16° hybrid will fill the distance gap nicely between the 3-iron and 3-wood. I was looking for 5-10 more yards out of my hybrid and this guy will do the trick nicely. I have a strong feeling that this fantastic 2-PW set will soon be my gamers.

Ping’s awesome G30 driver has been in my bag since last fall, but I’ve started experimenting with the G30 LS-TEC driver which is the same as the regular G30 but spins slightly less. According to Ping, 400 rpm less. Combining the LS-TEC with my switch from the softer, higher-spin Srixon Z-Star back to the lower spin and firmer feeling Z-Star XV, I should see a measurable decrease in spin off the tee which means more distance.

The SCOR wedges I got a few years ago have been stalwarts in my bag ever since I first hit them. I started with SCOR’s complete short game system: 42°, 46°, 50°, 54° & 58°. Going from the 42 and up, they replace your traditional 9, PW, GW, SW & LW. SCOR wedges are forged and their unique v-sole design works amazingly well in all conditions. However, they have taken a real beating from heavy use and need to be replaced. Enter Ben Hogan Golf. SCOR’s founder Terry Koehler acquired the rights to Ben Hogan golf equipment and re-launched the brand with his already proven TK15 Wedges and the new Fort Worth 15 irons. The result is a gorgeous set of forged blades and wedges that perform on par with any of the best irons in golf. They are also much more forgiving and easy to hit than you might think for a blade. The TK15 wedges will soon be replacing the aging SCOR wedges in my bag.

I love my Hopkins 60° custom grind wedge. The Channel Grind basically gives me two wedges. With the face square it has very low bounce, making it perfect for fairway shots and tight lies. With the face open it has high bounce for deep rough and sand. This wedge has made me look like a much better bunker player than I am, so it’ll be very hard to replace it. The new Callaway Mac Daddy PM Grind wedge might just do that, however. Designed with heavy input from Phil Mickelson, this wedge has grooves all the way to the edges of the face and a very high toe to help with shots from the deep rough, along with a similar channel-type grind on the sole. My early testing so far has been very promising.

I’ll try to post another WITB early next year so we can see what’s changed and if my predictions for new gamers comes true. Until then, keep it in the short grass!

October 1, 2015