It’s not a friendly time to be a golf traveler who likes to bring their own clubs with them, now that most airlines charge either a mandatory checked bag fee of $15, or a $25 for a second checked bag. Delta Airlines just announced yesterday they would begin charging $50 per second bag checked. To their credit, the first is still free. That means it could cost each traveler up to $100 to bring your clubs on your golf trip these days. That doesn’t even guarantee your clubs will even show up on time. If you’re not playing three or ...

Maybe Tiger should sit out more majors. Okay, not really. But c’mon, this leaderboard at Royal Birkdale is one of the most intriguing in years. Just when you thought this year’s U.S. Open was the greatest sports event in the history of homo sapien competition, the British may offer up its own classic - albeit a 180-degrees different. Except for Rocco, of course. Talk about a throwback leaderboard. Look beyond Greg Norman (man, I need to marry a tennis pro. Is Anna K. still on the market?), and the story lines are endless. The golf writers at Royal Birkdale are ...

Sergio Garcia. He’s gotta do it this time. Okay, I picked Sergio to win the U.S. Open. I’ve picked Sergio to win a lot of tournaments. In fact, I’m going to pick him to win every tournament as long as he’s playing or I’m writing about golf. I’m not picking him for his newfound putting stroke or his Players Championship win or his new mindset. I’m picking him for my own selfish reasons. I envision a world where Tiger is No. 1 and Sergio is No. 2. This is how the order of golf is supposed to be. Add ...

Kenny Perry isn’t being selfish, he’s not slapping tradition in the face and he’s not risking his Ryder Cup spot by not playing in the British Open this week at Royal Birkdale. I’m siding with those who are telling Perry to stick to his guns and compete in the PGA Tour event he already committed to playing in well before he started going gangbusters in 2008 (and can someone tell Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN they don’t serve “luke warm beer” in any decent pub in England anymore? I’ve never had a pint anywhere in the UK that wasn’t cold. They ...

WorldGolf.com & GolfEurope.com reader Evan has been planning his trip to Ireland’s North & Northwest links and has written in to us: My father, uncle, cousin and me are booked to play, in order, Castlerock, both Ballyliffin courses, Portstewart and Royal Portrush. Unfortunately, Royal County Down says they are booked the entire time of our stay, so I have not yet booked Ardglass and am trying to decide a substitute for County Down (unless you know of any subtle way we could squeeze on). You wrote highly of the Valley course at Portrush but what about the Annesley Links at ...

The steady climb in green fees at golf courses in Scotland appears to be slowing down. The St. Andrews Links Trust announced today it will freeze its 2009 green fees at current 2008 levels. Green fees in St. Andrews and around Scotland and Ireland have steadily rose for the last decade, some £3-5 a year average, and today clubs that aren’t even famous can get three-figure green fees. A “steal” is a course generally in the $90-100 range. Due to higher fuel and transportation costs and a weakening economy that’s spreading globally, those days of price rises seem to be ...