The Top 5 Pre-Trip Checklist For Golf Holidays

Preparing for a regular holiday consists of a fairly standard to do list. A golf holiday requires some extra action items to confirm in the week before departing that will help the holiday go smoothly and ensure you get to golf. The following items cover the fundamentals for most holidaying golfers.

Medication & First Aid: A simplified first-aid kit should be prepared for packing. If you intend golfing each day then any minor injuries can really take their toll over your holiday so prepare to bring aspirin, plasters, insect repellent, indigestion tablets, diarrhoea medicine, sunscreen, contact lenses (and spare ones), spectacles and travel sickness medicine.

Most of these could be picked up on arrival but doing that would eat into your holiday time. A worthy addition is heat packs and cold packs as the muscle strain involved in golfing daily may prove more than your body can take.

Course bookings: Confirm the tee-times of your bookings at your holiday destination. Print them out along with directions to the course, exact tee-time and any booking references that may be needed. If a tee has been booked via an online agency then these details should have been sent to you by a confirmation email. If you book rental clubs/buggies then also check these are confirmed.

Garments: Pack enough layers of tops, t-shirts, polo shirts and socks for your trip. Factor in the possibility of being rained on given the destination and ensure you have enough clothing to last the trip. Layers work better than bulky clothes as you can add/subtract a t-shirt/top depending on the weather.

Pack sunglasses, caps and beanies. Check your rain gear is packed and in a good state of repair. Inspect the cleats on your shoes replacing any broken ones. Cleats near the toe are especially important for maintaining grip under foot so you could rotate broken cleats to the heel if desired. Clean the shoe soles of all soil/grass (see below).

Documentation: Read over the golf course websites you will be visiting to see if they have any course guides, specific rules (out-of-bounds/dress codes/etc) and yardage information. If you are used to playing in meters as opposed to yards (or vice versa) then prepare your own crib sheet for yard-to-meters translation. Check if courses require proof of your handicap and pack away your P.G.A. handicap proof. This can be required on championship courses.

Golf Clubs and Equipment: Inspect & count your clubs. Clean them and the bag of any soil. Some destinations (Ireland, U.K., Australia) have policies regarding the dangers of bringing potentially contaminated soil into a country.

Lastly, fill your bag with all the small golfing items that you will need on the course such as pencils, gloves, tees, golf balls, etc. You could get these at the destination, especially if the exchange rate is favorable in which case purchasing expensive items (e.g. golf balls) would work out less expensive then purchasing at home.

The goal of this list is to ensure you can enjoy your golfing holiday to the utmost from the first to last day.