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2. Lululemon men’s underwear and Darn Tough socks
The single most important item in anyone’s luggage is underwear. The second most important is socks. I have made my selections and, if I have any say in the matter, I’ll be wearing these on my journey up to the Pearly Gates.
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3. Patagonia backpack
Five years ago, as a doe-eyed boy fresh out of college, I received a black Patagonia backpack as a gift. Someone told me I’d never buy another backpack for the rest of my life.
Turns out, they might have been right. I can’t vouch for the exact model listed below, because Patagonia has taken mine out of commission, but safe to say it’ll be the best backpack you’ve ever owned. I’ve received no shortage of golf-related backpacks over the last several years of my life, and I’ve never thought about deviating from ole reliable, even though a recent toiletry spill does have her smelling a touch like Head and Shoulders.
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4. Rhone Snap-on Sweater
Heavy enough to wear when it’s cold, light enough to wear when it’s breezy, small enough to fit in my luggage and stylish enough to wear to a reasonably nice restaurant in France without too many leering eyes. Overall, I’d say that’s pretty good.
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5. Sony WH1000 headphones
Let me be the latest person to tell you these headphones will change the trajectory of your hearing life. As one Twitter commenter put it succinctly: “Before the latest version of these headphones came out, I considered buying myself a dozen pairs so I could be sure I’d never use another pair of headphones for the rest of my life.” They’re that good.
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Golf Gear
Here I should admit an unfortunate truth: I did not pack exclusively a carry-on.
For the first two weeks of my grand Euro trip (in Scotland), I traveled along with my golf clubs to test my mettle on a handful of the best Linksland courses. This offered all manner of bag-expanding options for those first two weeks, including (but not limited to) stuffing an unfortunate number of jackets and pants in my golf bag before it was to be shipped back across the pond.
Below, in short order, are some of the best items that were in that bag.
1. The Bushnell V6 Shift Rangefinder
Six months ago, I landed in Australia for the golf trip of a lifetime. I made it 50 yards out of the rental car when I realized a devastating problem: the golf courses, like everything else, were measured in meters. I spent the rest of the trip doing a self-administered math formula to guess the yardages, but found my game decidedly out of whack.
Fortunately, on the penultimate round of the trip, I realized the problem: I’d been counting wrong.
After that nightmare ended, I decided to get myself the most idiot-proof rangefinder I could find, which turned out to be the Bushnell V6 Shift. It’s just awesome. Stupidly easy to operate. Incredibly accurate. And, notably for me, it measures distances in yards (though you can change it to meters, if you feel so inclined).
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2. Bag Boy Travel Bag
Another bag I’ve beat up considerably without breaking. This version comes with a neat, hard-plastic top, which seems pretty great if you’re in the business of not letting an airline snap your irons and woods (as you should be).
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3. A driver wrench
I once made it several holes into a bucket-list round with a player whose driver was making an ungodly clicking noise. I took my driver wrench from my bag and gave it to him. Three twists later, his clicking driver sounded smooth as silk. He shrugged and, to my horror, offered the following sentence.
“Must’ve been a problem for the last six months, at least.”
Don’t do this. Own a wrench for yourself. You’ll be happier this way.
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