We Waited 20 Years to Play the Old Course at St. Andrews and I Refused to Let Baggage Claim Decide the Trip

Checking My Clubs Worked Until the Tee Time Became the Whole Point

I understand why golfers check their bags. You already know the process, and a domestic airline may include the club case in your baggage allowance. On a direct flight with a flexible first day, I would still consider it.

This trip left no slack. Our Old Course tee time started at 8:20 Thursday morning, less than 18 hours after we landed. If the bag missed the London connection, the airline could deliver it on Friday and call the issue resolved. I would still have played the round I had pictured for two decades with borrowed clubs.

My wife asked one question while I was packing: “Why are you putting the most important part of the trip on the most complicated flight?” I did not have a good answer.

I Booked the Clubs on a Separate Timeline

Twelve days before our tee time, I booked ShipSticks from my house to our hotel in St. Andrews. I selected a delivery date three days before we arrived, called the hotel to confirm the receiving name, and packed the clubs in my usual hard case.

The carrier picked them up from my front walk the next afternoon. I received the first scan by email, then watched the bag move through the route on the ShipSticks order page. I still checked it at breakfast and before bed. I had simply replaced “I hope” with an actual location.

The Best Trip Update Arrived Before I Left Chicago

At 6:14 Tuesday evening, while I was closing my carry-on, the delivery email came through. My case had reached the hotel in St. Andrews. The front desk confirmed that staff had tagged it with my reservation and placed it in storage.

I sent one message to the group chat:

That was when I stopped thinking about the bag. We had enough else to manage: the London connection, rain gear, left-side driving, and whether four men had packed enough warm layers for a Scottish morning.

My Clubs Were Waiting in St. Andrews. So Was the Round.

We landed in Edinburgh with one carry-on each. No oversized-bag counter. No row of hard cases taking up half the rental van. We drove into St. Andrews, checked in, and found all four travel bags lined up in the hotel’s storage room.

I opened mine before dinner. The case looked the same as when it left Chicago. My driver, putter, and the scuffed 7-iron I trust more than any club in the bag were exactly where I had packed them.

The next morning, I hit that 7-iron into the first green of the Old Course. I was nervous enough without wondering how a rental shaft would react.

What Changed for Me

I Would Still Build in Time

ShipSticks coordinates the shipment, but carriers, customs, weather, and the hotel still control parts of the handoff. I would not schedule delivery on the same day as an important round. For Scotland, I wanted the clubs at the hotel before I boarded my own flight.

I would also call the destination before booking, photograph the packed clubs, and keep the packaging and itemized receipts until the shipment closes. If tracking stops moving, ShipSticks asks customers to call with the order number so its team can check the route and contact the carrier.

After Kingsbarns, I Sent the Bag Home and Kept Traveling

Our final round ended Sunday afternoon. I packed the case at the hotel, attached the return label, and left it with the same staff who had received it. The carrier collected it Monday.

We spent two nights in Edinburgh before flying home. I carried one small suitcase over the cobblestones instead of dragging a 50-pound golf case behind me. The clubs reached my house three days later.