11 ironclad golf travel tips from the 2025 season

Nobody likes pain. And no organ likes it less than the brain.

For its many touted gifts of cognitive function — thinking, reasoning, feeling, breathing — the brain possesses an equally uncanny ability to forget. When presented with unpleasant stimuli, the brain will go to great lengths to avoid experiencing it. Often, the coping mechanism of choice is amnesia.

For the most part, the painful moments in my life are mundane: Leaving chapstick in the laundry, accidentally washing an article of red clothing with the whites, or putting performance fabrics through the dryer. (For a type-B person in a type-A household, laundry is a frequent area of anguish.) But in some cases, the lessons from these painful moments are real opportunities for learning — organizational hacks, important lessons for navigating high-stress situations, ways to keep my shirts from turning pink — that I am unconsciously choosing to forget.

One of my favorite podcasts, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show, has developed a genius way of doing precisely this kind of mental indexing. In an episode that has become an annual tradition, hosts Danny Kelly, Danny Heifetz and Craig Horlbeck take the end of each fantasy football season to hand out their Memento tattoos — or the painful lessons they’d tattoo upon themselves to remember for the following year. The episode is a wink to the 2000 Christopher Nolan film, in which the amnesia-stricken protagonist character tattoos himself with his autobiographical information, but is also serves as a kind of mea culpa to the audience, an opportunity for collective learning from individual pain.

I have learned an unusual collection of painful lessons from golf in 2025. I have spent large portions of the last six months on the road, criss-crossing the United States (with golf clubs usually in tow) in pursuit of the best golf stories. I have spent mornings on Jim Nantz’s backyard par-3, afternoons at Arnold Palmer’s barnyard storage facility and evenings on cliffside par-3 tracks. I have filed stories from a trailer-park with questionable heating and a flat with questionable plumbing and an apartment in the middle of nowhere with questionable wifi. Along the way, I have picked up some things about traveling and golf and life that I think might help some folks back home. And so, with the spirit of the Memento tattoo in mind, here are the 11 lessons you should know.

My 11 golf Memento tattoos for 2025

1. You can survive with much less than you think

I find a lot of travelers — and specifically, golf travelers — fall victim to a kind of travel anxiety: They fear they will not have the requisite amount of clothes/clubs/gear, and so they overpack to cover for all instances.

If there is one single lesson I’ve learned from five years of travel at GOLF, it’s that you can survive with far less than you think. Never forget a belt, a toothbrush, socks and underwear. Everything else? You can probably cut your packing list in half and survive without anybody noticing.

Also helpful? Neutral basics, like white shoes and non-logoed shirts and pants for men (I love Buck Mason for these), which can be swapped interchangeably for many different looks!

2. Your golf bag weighs more than you think

I might actually tattoo this one on my forehead, because it may be the only way to effectively remind my idiot lizard brain that a checked golf bag is not license to pack unlimited additional clothing and shoes.

Here’s the reality: With your bag, some golf balls and a pair of spikes, your travel bag should weigh nearish 35 pounds. Most airlines have imposed a strict 50-pound limit on luggage (23 kgs if you’re traveling through Europe). That’s not a lot of room!

(I am also noodling with the idea of bringing a half-set of golf clubs next time solely to lose the baggage weight, but can’t decide if that makes me an insufferable hipster.)

3. Leave space for items acquired along your journey

But James, you might be thinking, if your golf bag weighs 35 pounds, that means you still have 15 pounds for other stuff. Yes, that is true, but do you have any idea how easy it is to add 15 pounds worth of shoes, clothes, or camera equipment to your golf bag? (Very easy!)

And do you have any idea how easy it is to do those things unwittingly on your outbound flight, leaving out the very real possibility that you might obtain souvenirs or keepsakes from your new, far-flung golf destination? And do you have any idea how hard and embarrassing it is to find other places to store your newfound luggage weight while you are at the front of a long, meandering baggage line in a crowded airport for your return flight? And do you have any idea how readily baggage handlers utilize the orange “HEAVY” tag as license to keep your bag from reaching its intended location?

No, you don’t. So be smart and bring your golf bag (which should be a light standbag like the one listed below), three golf balls, an umbrella and two pairs of shoes (one pair of golf spikes, one pair of nicer, basic white shoes).

PING 2025 Hoofer Lite Stand Bag

New colorways and lively patterns are offered in this long-popular carry bag. It boasts a stacked pocket configuration for easier access and a large ball pocket among nine altogether. A four-way top is reconfigured for improved club organization and easier handling. It also features an innovative bottom that improves club removal by guiding clubs to the correct segment and keeping clubs separated while carrying.  

$245 from Fairway Jockey

View Product

4. You need less clothing than you think

Here is my (now and forever) official packing list for seven days in the U.K. for the Open Championship:

That’s it! You don’t need any more than this for seven days in Ireland or Scotland. You won’t need any more than this. And if you do, it means your gear cannot layer and should be replaced (perhaps with a versatile q-zip like the one below from one of my favorite brands, Rhone).

Rhone Commuter Q-Zip

The Commuter knit q-zip like this one from Rhone is a layering game-changer.

Buy Now from fave.co

5. You NEED Global Entry

I am not a gatekeeper, BUT IF I WERE, Global Entry would be the first thing I’d hide from the public. If you get on an airplane more than twice per year and choose not to have Global Entry, I will forever judge you both mentally weak and mildly sadistic — and that’s if I’m feeling CHARITABLE!

6. You should never pack a toiletry bag…

A few years ago, I realized the dozen tiny objects routinely shuffling between my toiletry bag and medicine cabinet were causing me to lose an impressive amount of my sanity.

Finally, after a little too much intrusive thinking, I had enough. I went on Amazon and invested around $100 to purchase duplicates of my entire daily toiletry collection. The result? I travel everywhere with the creature comforts of home (my usual electric toothbrush, cologne, moisturizer, etc.), and I never worry about leaving something behind.

(If you think I’m insane for this, please break the news (nicely) to [email protected].)

7. Always travel with two, separately located forms of ID

I have a friend who we’re going to call “Connor” (because that is his legal name). Connor lost his wallet on a recent golf trip, and learned the hard way that even in Jeff Bezos’ America, it can be very hard/impossible to “rush” ship a passport or second form of identification to a location.

Connor wound up arriving at the airport in Detroit with his passport lost in the mail, and his wallet en route back to New York. He was able to board his flight after an exhaustive TSA search aided by an empty evening at DTW, but his life would have been much easier (and his security line wait much shorter) with a second form of ID tucked somewhere in his backpack. The TSA list of acceptable forms of ID is surprisingly comprehensive and can save you a real headache in the case of disaster.

8. SPF, brother

Not to sound like your mom, but I recently learned that SPF is the only product FDA-approved as “anti-aging.” And even if you don’t care about porcelain skin, sunscreen will continue to be a lovely product to own for as long as golf is enjoyed largely outside and in the daytime. The key is getting good stuff in quantities close to (but not over) the TSA liquid limit. Below are a couple I have tried and like, but anything with sufficient SPF will do the trick.

La Roche Posay Antihelios Facial Sunscreen SPF 60

The gold standard.

Bask Sunscreen

Great products all-around, but this invisible gel fits nicely inside the golf bag.

9. Stiff-Arms

I was surprised to learn from a handful of buddies that Stiff-Arms are not viewed as necessary components of golf travel. In my mind, they’re as valuable — and necessary — as any piece of luggage.

And speaking of luggage: I travel religiously with a Victorinox Duffel that I’m fairly sure is indestructible (except for the zippers) and protected by a lifetime warranty, a CaddyDaddy Golf Travel Bag I’m pretty sure is indestructible, and a Patagonia backpack I’m completely sure is indestructible. They cost more than your standard-issue roller-bag, travel bag and backpack, but a headache today is better than a few of them tomorrow.

10. Airtags

Much like a defibrillator or an Epi Pen, an Airtag is an item you never hope to use, but you should never leave home without.

Ok, obviously the stakes are lower here. But for $25, your peace of mind is worth the cost.

Apple Airtag

A must for any air traveler.

11. Speaking of lost luggage…

Never, ever, under ANY circumstances should you take a flight with a short connection in Heathrow and expect to emerge with your luggage.

I have seen enough horror stories, read enough angry tweets, and generally experienced enough bad vibes from members of the golf industry who have fallen victim to these ills to speak on this subject with absolute authority. If you see the flight, stay away.