Shipping golf clubs to England and Wales: fly or send them?
Getting golf clubs to England and Wales: airline golf-bag rules, Luggage Forward prices from US$129, UK customs for visiting golfers, trains and club hire.
The short answer: fly with them for one base, ship them for a tour.
If you are landing at Heathrow for a week of Surrey heathland, or at Manchester for a few days around Southport, your fare includes a checked bag and the clubs come in under your airline’s weight limit, fly with them. The airport is close to the golf and you only move the bag twice. Shipping starts to pay when the trip spreads out. A route from Royal St George’s in Kent to Sunningdale, then north to Royal Birkdale and Hoylake, and west to Royal Porthcawl, crosses most of the country, and the bag becomes the hardest thing to move. The same is true if you plan to travel by train, because British train companies carry golf equipment only at their own discretion. Shipping also suits golfers on basic fares with no checked bag included. Price both options for the whole journey, there and back.
What the airlines on these routes allow.
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American, United and Delta all fly between North America and London, and each publishes its own sports-equipment page. Read yours before booking, because the rule depends on the fare as much as the airline. Delta is the clearest example. It lets each passenger check one golf bag as a standard checked bag, with standard bag charges for your cabin and region. Inside it you may pack a single set of clubs, plus golf balls, tees and a pair of golf shoes. Above 50 lb (23 kg) an excess-weight fee applies, and Delta will not accept anything of 100 lb or more, or larger than 115 linear inches (292 cm) once you add length, width and height. Clubs must travel in a hard case, or in a soft travel bag only after you sign a limited release. Delta also says it is not responsible for damage noted at check-in or caused by over-packing, so a hard case is the safer choice. On a fare with no checked bag included, the golf bag is charged like any other bag.
Luggage Forward to England and Wales: price, timing and paperwork.
Luggage Forward’s golf rates start at US$129 per small bag, which may weigh 18 kg and measure 127 × 30 × 25 cm, and US$149 per large bag, up to 22 kg and 132 × 38 × 30 cm. Those are floor prices: a route to England or Wales is international, so your quote will be higher, and quicker delivery adds more. A bag over its booked limits is simply billed in the next category, with no airline-style oversize charge. The company says it prepares and submits the UK customs forms and oversees clearance. Bookings open 180 days ahead of pickup, and your forwarding packet is posted to you up to one week beforehand. The company quotes two business days for many trips inside the US but says international trips need more lead time for customs, so leave a margin before your first tee time. Clubs are delivered to the pro shop or bag room at the course, and at the end of the trip they can be collected from the course and sent home.
UK customs: what a visiting golfer needs to declare.
For a visitor, golf clubs brought in for the trip and taken home again are covered by temporary admission, a relief from import duty. HMRC’s customs handbook lists golfing equipment among the goods travellers may bring for sports purposes, sets a maximum period of 24 months, and says most such goods can be declared orally or by conduct, which in practice means walking through customs with them. Restricted items are the exception. Clubs you buy abroad are different. If you live in the UK and come home with a new driver bought in the US, it counts towards the £390 allowance for other goods (£270 if you arrive by private plane or boat), and above that you pay duty and tax on the whole value. For a shipped bag, Luggage Forward asks that international bags travel unlocked, since customs may open them, and says locking one voids its on-time guarantee.
What to leave out of a shipped bag.
A shipped golf bag has a stricter packing list than one you check in at the airport. Luggage Forward bans lithium batteries, including the ones inside rangefinders and tracking devices, so take those out and carry them in your hand luggage. Electronics are also out, though cables and converters may go. So are pressurised containers such as sunscreen, food, alcohol (which for this purpose includes perfume and hand sanitiser), tobacco, medicines including vitamins, valuables and cash. No shipping box is needed; a hard case or soft golf travel bag does the job, with the club heads padded. Free value protection covers each bag up to US$500, or its actual value if lower, and extra cover can be bought before pickup. If a bag arrives late, the company refunds twice what you paid to ship it.
Getting clubs around once you are there.
A hire car is the simplest way to link Kent, Surrey, Lancashire and Wales with a golf bag, as long as the car is big enough for every travel case in the group. By train, check first. National Rail says you can generally take up to three pieces of luggage free, that items over 1 metre in any dimension may be charged extra, and that you must be able to carry large luggage without help. Its Conditions of Travel go further: golf equipment is on the list of items carried only at the discretion of each train company (condition 23.5). A golf travel case is usually longer than a metre (Luggage Forward’s small size alone is 127 cm), so staff on a busy service can turn it away. That matters on the obvious rail links, such as London to Sandwich for the Kent links, Waterloo to Sunningdale, or Paddington to Bridgend for Royal Porthcawl. On those routes a shipped bag lets you walk from the platform with nothing but a carry-on.
Hiring clubs instead.
For one or two rounds, hiring can be simpler than moving your own set. Royal Liverpool at Hoylake lists hire clubs at £60 and a single caddie at £80 plus gratuity, both by prior booking, and says both prices are subject to change. Conwy, on the North Wales coast, hires sets at £45 a round and keeps them no more than two models old where it can. Per round, it also hires pull trolleys for £5, GPS electric trolleys for £17.50 and, from a limited number, buggies for £40, all booked through the professional’s shop. Not every club publishes a price or keeps many sets, so ask when you book the tee time, and say whether you need left-handed clubs. Bring your own shoes and glove at least; they take up little room in a suitcase. If your trip is mostly about one Open venue and a couple of quieter links, flying light and hiring can be the cheapest option.
A checklist before you book.
Five checks settle it. First, confirm your fare includes a checked bag on every flight, including any connection, and read your airline’s golf page for weight and packing rules. Second, weigh the clubs in their travel case at home: Delta charges extra above 50 lb (23 kg), and Luggage Forward’s small and large categories stop at 18 and 22 kg. Third, count the moves: each change of hotel, train or hire car is a lift. Fourth, if shipping, book early enough for customs, leave the bag unlocked and take every battery out. Fifth, if hiring, ask the club for a price and a set when you book the round. If the trip is one airport, one base and a bag that comes in under the limit, fly. If it is Kent to Lancashire to Wales, get a quote.
Price the trip to England or Wales.
Add your home address and the English or Welsh course on your itinerary to see Luggage Forward’s rate and collection dates; UK customs paperwork is part of the service.
Get a shipping quoteSponsored link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work