Best Golf Travel Bags: Here’s The Best Ones To Protect Your Clubs

There’s nothing better than packing up the clubs and hitting the road to play the best courses the world has to offer.

When looking for a solution to this problem, this is the moment where the golf travel bag jumps in and saves the day. Durable and with wheels to make transporting a snap, golf travel bags protect your clubs on the plane or in the car.

We’ve spent countless hours testing golf bags, and here are the ten best golf travel bags that will keep you worry-free, allowing you to focus on the great experiences that lie ahead.

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Last updated on 2020-07-08. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.

10 Best Golf Travel Bags

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A nice entry-level bag that is great for golfers looking for a quick fix, the AmazonBasics Soft-Sided Travel Bag has plenty of storage and a nice roomy interior for keeping your clubs secure.

The AmazonBasics bag features durable handles for carrying and moving, an excellent two-wheel system that is smooth for easy rolling and a heavily padded top that secures your clubs in the instance of hard impact.

We recommend this product as one of the best golf travel bags on the market right now.

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One of the most known companies for manufacturing some of the best golf travel bags, CaddyDaddy has made an inexpensive, well-constructed cover with their Constrictor 2 model.

Featuring in-line skate wheels that provide exceptional mobility, a series of lockable zippers that accommodate your standard luggage lock and compression straps that secure the interior of the cover as well as the exterior, the Constrictor 2 delivers a well-rounded package.

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With a hard shell top that is highly rated for impact prevention, the Phoenix delivers excellent protection and exceptional storage for all your traveling needs.

Starting with the High Impact EVA Plastic Mold top that wraps around the area of your club heads, the Phoenix does a phenomenal job of making sure you’re not picking up a set of broken clubs after your flight.

It stands as our #3 on our best golf travel bags list.

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A roomy travel cover with a large amount of storage for your golf bag and essentials is the Himal Soft-Sided Travel Bag. Made from polyester, the Himal wears well throughout your upcoming golfing vacations.

Ideal for the car, the Himal Soft-Sided travel bag is incredibly spacious with an additional pocket in the front. Although the wheel system is a bit small, you’ll never worry about becoming stuck or having an issue with getting the bag to its ultimate destination.

This is a solid choice and stands as one of the best golf travel bags if you walk a lot on the course.

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Our choices for the best luxury bag on our list goes to the great company, Sun Mountain, for their creation, the ClubGlider Meridian.

Yes, the Sun Mountain Meridian is expensive, but for your money, you are getting a bag that will last for many years and provide a convenience that very few bags can offer in the golf travel bag market.

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This Sun Mountain golf travel bag also has four wheels making it our favorite bag for mobility due to its smooth glide and wheels that pivot in all directions.

With a dynamic four-wheel system, two large interior pockets, and a sturdy internal strap that keeps your bag snug inside the Journey, this golf travel bag is a wonderful helper for any golfer’s upcoming golf vacation.

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The OGIO Mutant is our favorite bag for extra storage. With a soft cover, the Mutant has a narrow top that provides padded protection for the club heads in your bag and a large bottom area that is spacious for exceptional storage space.

For incredible storage that accommodates golf bags of any size but allows the traveling golfer tons of room for anything else they’ll need, the Mutant is a dynamite innovation that earns its stripes as one of the largest travel covers we’ve ever tested that is worth our seal of approval.

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The Club Glove Last Bag Collegiate travel bag is the most-used travel bag on the PGA and LPGA tours for good reason: despite its lightweight of just over 10lbs, it offers excellent amounts of padding and protection for your delicate golf clubs.

It includes the essential Club Glove “Stiff Arm” that anyone using a soft travel bag should have in order to protect your graphite shafts from airplane mistreatment.

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Our best bag for protection due to its hard shell case is the SKB ATA Travel Case. The ATA case is made from a tough compound known as polyethylene that is the material that the U.S. military deems acceptable for their cases and containers.

The ATA is capable of storing drivers up to 48 inches long and bags that are around one foot in diameter. This hard case won’t provide a lot of additional storage capability, but you can rest assured that your clubs aren’t going anywhere and won’t be damaged during travel.

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If you are looking for a low priced travel bag that offers a sizable cover for your golf bag, then the Athletico Padded Travel Bag is a reliable option.

Featuring an interior 5mm pad protecting your clubs, the Athletico may not give you a tremendous amount of protection, but it will provide you with enough padding to make a car trip safe for your clubs.

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Testing Protocol & Criteria Used For Evaluation

Durability

Travel covers, cases, and golf travel bags are only as good as their durability. If you use travel bags for air travel, the bag has to withstand the punishment of being thrown into compartments, riding along the conveyor belt that throws travel bags in with other luggage, and general wear and tear along the way.

Since golfers have two choices, soft and hard case, for their travel bags, it is vital to determine what each can bring in terms of durability. USA Today states that soft cases are “ideal for golfers who do the majority of their traveling by car rather than airplane.” On the other hand, hard cases “provide more protection, but are much heavier.”

For soft covers, make sure the material used is a durable nylon or polyester. When looking at hard shell cases, see if the plastic is EVA impact rated so that it can withstand the beating of air travel.

Materials

Typically, golfers have two types of golf travel covers and cases to choose between. The first is a soft cover usually made from nylon or polyester. The softness of the cover does well to keep out dirt and other debris.

Also, most manufacturers have added an inch or two of dense padding around the area that surrounds the clubs to prevent damage if that location is impacted.

The hard shell case is typically made from a high-impact rated plastic or composite material. As Golfweek states, “Unlike soft travek bags, which has flexibility, the hard case shape is set, so measure to ensure the case is large enough for your clubs and bag.” The hard shell case must be able to deflect or absorb any possible impact that it encounters along the way.

Whether you choose the soft shell or the hard case, know that the materials used with each item are vitally important in keeping your clubs safe throughout traveling. No matter if you are riding with your clubs in a car or taking them through the punishment of an airport, each type of case must be durable and willing to withstand the rigors of travel.

Protection

The whole point of a golf travel bags or case is to protect your clubs so that they make it to the course without any damage. Although a hard shell case does much better compared to a soft case, companies have adapted the soft case to provide maximum protection with the materials used.

The company, Shipsticks, is known for delivering your clubs safely ahead of your arrival at a golf course. As they state on their website, “Flying or driving with your clubs and accessories requires protection. If you want to play your best on the course, your sticks have to be in good, playable condition, without any travel damage.”

So when looking for a golf travel bag or case, if it is a soft cover note how much padding is around the clubs. Does the inside of the golf travel bag have an internal strap system that will lock my clubs to the cover and not allow them to slide around?

If it is a hard shell case, is the plastic or composite EVA rated for high impact protection? Running down a checklist of how the cover or case will or will not protect your clubs is essential before purchasing travel bags.

Mobility

Most golf travel bags, covers, and cases have a wheel system that allows them to roll around an airport, parking lot, or any hard surface area without a problem. Hard shell cases are typically easier to move around because of the rigidity of the case, but soft travel bags have made considerable strides in recent years.

As USA Today stated in their article about travel bags, a hard shell case, “…(has) one benefit to these cases is that they tend to be easier to maneuver around busy airports.”

But soft cover travel bags are, as Top Travel Tips states, “easier to store and maneuver into different types of cars, making them an excellent choice if you are mainly traveling with your golf gear by car.”

When looking for quality golf travel bags with high mobility, take note of the wheel system. Are the wheels small or large? Is the base wider or more narrow? Typically, a broader base with bigger wheels is easier to move around, especially in heavily trafficked areas like an airport or hotel.

Storage

Finally, the last area to gauge the quality of a golf travel bag is by how much storage it contains for your clubs, shoes, towels and other accessories.

Most golf travel bags will have exterior pockets for plenty of room for your rain gear and footwear, but some bags, in particular, hard shell cases, won’t have any additional storage.

It is wise to have a bit of spare room in the bag to give yourself the ability to pack more items without having to use extra luggage. Heavy coats, sweaters, and rain tops and pants all do well filling the extra space in travel bags.

Extra room in a golf travel bag allows you to also complement the protection of your cover or case by packing it with extra clothes, especially around the area where the clubheads rest.

As Paul Schmidt, a golf travel bag specialist with Premier Golf in Duluth, Ga, told the PGA website, “If you’re going to Scotland or Ireland, it’s easy because you’re going to be throwing extra sweaters or a windbreaker in there to give it extra protection.”

When looking for the best travel bag for your game, always account for the storage capabilities because it will undoubtedly save you a lot of headaches when you’re ready to pack.

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Questions & Answers

The difference between choosing a soft cover or hard case is primarily dependent on how you travel.

As Top Travel Tips notes, “a hard case gives the best protection and tends to be preferred by those that travel frequently by air with their golf set.”

The site further states that, “a soft case is lighter, cheaper and easier to maneuver and therefore popular choice by those that travel occasionally with their golf set by air.”

When deciding between the two take note of how the bag handles its weaknesses. A soft cover will need to augment its protection, while a hard case will need to maximize its storage.

There are not many water-resistant golf travel bags on the market. Since their primary function is to give your bag protection during travel, there won’t be too many opportunities where your golf travel bag is exposed to moisture.

However, Amazon makes the AmazonBasics Soft-Sided Golf Travel Bag that has a waterproof black canvas that repels water. If interested for a more in-depth review, we have covered the AmazonBasics bag in this best golf travel bags list.

Most hard shell cases will claim to be moisture resistant due to the locking mechanism that seals out dirt or any water from getting into the case.

Not all the golf travel bags on our best of list have wheels. The lone exception is the Athletico Padded Travel Bag. This travel bag works exclusively as a cover. It has three handles that help with mobility.

The first is on top of the golf travel bag and helps hold the bag when it is vertical and needs placement in a vehicle. The second set of handles is in the middle of the bag and come together to provide a secure holding point. Finally, a shoulder strap allows golfers to place the bag tightly against their back for carrying.

If you are using your golf travel bag in an airport or having to cross long distances, then the incorporation of wheels is an essential feature. It makes mobility so much easier plus removes strain from your body.

The best way to assure that your clubs will get maximum protection is by using a hard shell case when transporting.

As Golfweek recently wrote in an article about golf travel bags, “the best option is a “hard case” made of plastic or fiberglass. The hard case provides the highest level of protection, and many airlines require them for golf bags.”

If you are locked in on a soft cover bag, make sure there is padding around the top of the bag where the club heads will rest and make sure to wrap your clubs in dense clothing or blankets when traveling.

The first thing you need to take into account is that a standard weight of golf clubs alone is around 30 pounds. So any travel cover, whether it be a soft cover or hard shell, will add substantial weight to the cumulative total.

This figure is essential to note, especially when taking your golf travel bags on an airplane as most airlines have weight limits on bags before they begin to charge fees for storage.

The PGA website encourages golfers to always check with the airlines for details. “And if you’re unsure on the cost or weight allowance, check with the airline or your travel agent.”

Soft cover bags typically weigh around 8-10 pounds with hard shell cases weighing anywhere from 12-20 pounds.

The most important thing to do when packing a golf travel bag for either shipment or travel is to minimize the free space inside the bag or case.

As Paul Schmidt, a golf travel bag specialist with Premier Golf in Duluth, Ga offered this great tip to  the PGA website, “You can put gifts and other things you’re bringing back home in that golf bag.”

Also, it’s a great idea to take bulky items such as jackets, heavy shirts or sweaters and wrap them around the club heads to lock them into place, so they don’t rattle against each other during the trip.

Most golf travel bags have a one-year warranty that protects your bag from the rigors of running around airports and throwing the clubs in the back of cars undoubtedly causes degradation to cases and covers.

However, some of the more elite bag companies, such as Samsonite, offer five-year limited warranties. You can see an example of the company’s warranty here at the Luggage Pros website.

Shipping companies that handle golf clubs like Shipsticks offer $1,000 of protection on your clubs with any purchase but highly suggest the use of a case or golf travel bag.