Tag: last bag

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.