We’ve talked about hard and soft golf travel cases, and the differences between the two types of case. However there is also a golf travel case called a hybrid golf travel case that tries to be a compromise between the two.

A hybrid golf travel case is a case that combines both the characteristics of a hard case and those of a soft case.

For example a hybrid golf travel bag should offer a hard top that covers the heads of your clubs with good protection, and a softer body. The head slides over the body to cover the top, and the softer body protects the shafts of your clubs.

The intention is that a hybrid golf bag can offer some of the benefits of the soft travel bag, namely the ability to break it down into a smaller size so that it can be stored more easily.

We still feel that for real protection on aircraft it is wise to invest in a complete hard travel case. That is still the only solution to total protection for your clubs. This is evidenced by the fact that a good hard travel case should come with a lifetime warranty (as it should be unbreakable) and will in some cases also offer it’s own insurance for any club damage on an aircraft. That is testament to how well these hard cases should protect your clubs.

You don’t get either of these with a hybrid golf travel case, and we don’t consider that it offers adequate protection.

And there are even hybrid golf travel cases that are designed to allow you to turn the travel case into a golf buggy. Of course with a regular hard travel case you can’t make the travel case into a golf buggy, so when you arrive you have to rent one. But if your travel bag turns into a golf buggy as well then you overcome this problem.

However hybrid golf travel cases, though a good idea in some circumstances, don’t offer the protection of a good hard golf travel bag.

And travelling isn’t cheap, so if you’re travelling on a budget why not consider staying in hostels? On top of that you probably  need to learn more about how to take travel photos.

It may seem an obvious question to those of you who travel regularly and who’ve done it all before, but for those new to travelling with golf clubs it’s not quite so obvious.

So how do you travel by air with golf clubs?

Now of course the golf clubs, presumably with your new golf travel bag (if you’ve been reading our golf travel bags website) need to go on the plane. However there have been many occasions where an avid golfer has been extremely reluctant to part with their clubs and have sought to take their golf clubs right onto the plane with them.

This is known as “cabin baggage” and unfortunately it’s not allowed to take a golf travel bag onto the plane as cabin baggage. All cabin baggage is inspected and if you try it will usually be rejected as cabin baggage, and you may not get to take your clubs with you at all.

Golf clubs are too large and too heavy to qualify as cabin baggage. They will not go in the overhead lockers and it is not allowed to carry unstowed baggage in the cabin.

Rather you need to check the golf clubs in when you check yourself in, and the golf clubs go in the storage holds (unless the baggage handlers forget to load them, but that ’s another story again.)

So if you’re flying for the first time, check your golf travel case in with you other luggage, and keep your fingers crossed on the flight that your clubs turn up the other end.

Oh, 2 other things.

1. Take out good travel insurance before the trip, just in case your golf clubs are lost, or you get sick.

2. Don’t travel without a good golf travel case. Your golf clubs need proper protection in transit.

And if you feel the urge to travel then you’ve just got to go and do it don’t you?

We have already mentioned one of the problems with hard golf travel bags. They are a great travel bag, but they are a …….. to store when you get home. Too big and too hard, they can’t be folded up and they seem to get in the way of everything.

Is there a compromise?  A travel bag that protects your golf clubs as well as a hard case but doesn’t have the problem with storing the case?

There has been a solution to this problem which has been manufactured in the past called the Golf Telebag, a telescoping golf travel bag that is designed to allow it to collapse down from it’s full size to around half it’s length for storage.

We would love to learn more about the Golf Telebag but unfortunately we cannot access their website. This is either because it’s no longer available, or for some other techy internet reason.

If someone knows what is happening with the golf telebag we’d be interested to know, however to date we can’t tell you much more about it because their website is inaccessible.

Shame as it would be worth considering as a golf travel case. It probably has it’s problems as most compromises do, but it would certainly be worth a look.

And you might be interested in finding out a little more about holiday planning