Intro

After years of playing golf with my good friend, and DRH’s own, Tommy O’Connell, I’ve learned that I not only need to come prepared for my own round of golf, but for Tommy’s as well.  The thing about it is, I know most regular golfers likely have one of these guys in their circles.  Well, after gaining experience with Tommy needing to “borrow” all sorts of items, I’ve come up with a plan to not get caught off guard.  I’ve created a Survival Bag for the rounds I play with my beloved Thomas.  Using this technique could shave scores off your game too since you’ll be better prepared to handle your playing partner’s on-course emergencies.

Survival Bag Items

There are a few survival bag “absolute must” items.  When I play golf with Tommy, I can expect him to ask if I have certain items with 100% certainty.  Those items are “a ball,” tees, some variation of Ibuprofen or Aleve, and sunscreen.  As such, those were the first things I included in my survival bag.

You also have to account for the unexpected and non-emergency situations.  For instance, last time Tommy and I played, it was SCORCHING so I packed two bottles of Gatorade for my round in addition to my Tempercraft water bottle.  Naturally, Tommy asked for one and I was like “listen, you need one from the cart girl.  I came prepared for the heat.”  Rest assured, in an emergency, I’d relinquish one to my good friend in order to keep him alive, but the survival bag now addresses that need without costing me one of my own.

Your “Tommy” may also notice you pull out a crisp $5 bill to buy a Snickers from the cart girl.  He maybe doesn’t have any cash so he asks you to pick him up a Snickers too.  Well, that leaves you with your $5 spent and no possible refuel later, so I added $10 cash to my survival bag.

Last but not least are band-aids.  I’ve had some weird nasty cuts in my day that god knows how I got on the golf course.  As a result, I always keep a small supply of band-aids in my bag along with a roll of athletic tape.  I try to keep up to date with the first-aid inventory, but to avoid possible issues when your playing partner needs them, I’ve added an extra supply to the survival bag.

Pro tip: keep everything in separate ziplock bags to keep your kit more organized.

Balls

When I go golfing, and I know I’m not carrying my bag on my shoulders, I usually make sure I have a minimum of 18 golf balls in my bag – as in one and a half dozen balls (since golfers count balls in dozens, you guys).  Should I need that many golf balls?  Absolutely not.  Can I have a day where I might?  Absolutely.  I’d much rather be prepared than not.

Well, after having to loan Tommy three golf balls because he was “having one of those days” (my quote, not his), balls were an obvious addition.  Here’s the thing.  At this point, quality of golf ball is not your concern.  They just need something to play.  My suggestion is to get something modestly priced as a minimal investment, and then a big bright color to help your playing partner’s chances in recovering said balls.

Here’s the most important tip.  You don’t want your playing partner to know you have a dozen balls at their disposal (literally) so just put sleeves in your bag so you can just pull out a sleeve at a time.

Depending on your relationship with your playing partner, it’s not inappropriate to arrange a “reimbursement agreement.”

Tees

I would say tees are the most reasonable thing on the list your buddy may need to bum off of you.  We’ve all been there.  As such, they’re a good thing to add your bag.  Even though I hate plastic tees so much, I decided a more durable plastic tee is more desirable in a survival bag situation.  The tees are less likely to break and I chose brightly colored tees so they will be easier to find so he doesn’t have to keep asking to borrow them.

Pills

I’m hesitant to post this one because it feels sketchy having a big picture of a plastic bag full of pills.  Rest assured, those pills are simply Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen.  With regular requests for either type of pill from many different people over the years, this is a no brainer.  Also, Tommy probably says “I forgot to take my Ibuprofen before I left the house, do you have any in your bag?” every other time we play.  Sometimes I do have some, sometimes I don’t.  Now I will always have some Ibuprofen for my sweet boy.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen is one of those things that many players don’t think about until they see you put some on yourself.  In an effort to keep things moving along and quickly manage the issue, I added a spray bottle of sunscreen for quicker application and less of a “slippery hands” issue.  Most importantly, there will be less time spent worrying about how well it’s rubbed in so they don’t like a ghost.

Cash

I didn’t take an extra picture of this because it’s pretty straight forward.  Golf courses are catching up quickly, but there are still quite a few places and situations requiring cash only.  It’s not your responsibility to cover your buddy’s tips all day at a club, but a few extra bucks for when your buddy needs that emergency Gatorade or Snickers is a good call.  Make sure you keep it in a sealed ziplock to avoid the bill(s) getting wet and ruined.  It’s still money afterall.

Band-aids

My thought on band-aids is that if you want to be picky, you should get your own for your own bag.  If you’re now relying on my clearly well-thought-out survival bag for band-aids, then you have to be willing to live with the possible outcome.  In my case, I view this as an opportunity to have fun with your playing partner.  Rather than pick a simple generic band-aid, I went straight to the kids section with my daughter and asked which ones to get.  Lucky for my next approximately 20 band-aid requests, she went with relatively universal Finding Dory.  My hopes for the next box is that it will be something Disney Princess related.

Bonus Items

There are a few extra items I would consider for my bag.  First, an extra towel.  There are a million reasons an extra towel may come in handy with the right playing partner.  Next, I might put in these crazy blue Golf Ball Goggles that are designed to make finding your golf ball easier.  After losing a few “in plain sight,” these may come in handy more than you know.  Last, but not least, and we’ve all been guilty of needing this…a USB charger and an iPhone cable.  Your buddy forgot to charge his phone and your sick of hearing about how his phone is gonna die on the course?  You’re prepared.

Obviously everyone will have different ideas for what they should put in their own survival bags based on their regular playing partners.  If you have any good suggestions not listed here, put them in the comments!  None of us are perfect, but being prepared is key.  Part of being prepared is understanding that some of your favorite friends to golf with might not be and a good survival bag could minimize a lot of headaches on the golf course.