Q
On a recent golf trip, the airline broke
one of my clubs. On the flight back, they
broke one of my wife’s clubs. The airline’s
response: We are not responsible for anything
that happens to oversize bags. What can golfers
do to get compensation when this happens?
bryan cassady, ghent, belgiumAt my club, we get only
half strokes in skins
games. Make a 4 on a
handicap hole, and for
skins it’s a 3.5. I say this
is unfair to higher-
handicappers, who
make fewer natural
birds. How about you?
vic lucas,
port charlotte, fla.▶ “I wouldn’t compete
against good players if I
received only 50 percent
because low-handicap-
pers would have a large
advantage,” says Dean
Knuth, former senior di-
rector of the USGA’s
Handicap Department.
Rather than simply halv-
ing strokes for skins pur-
poses, how about using
something less than full
handicaps? “Try experi-
menting with it,” Knuth
says. “I always found
that 80 percent of course
handicaps works best.”submit your burning
questions here
[email protected] or
on Twitter @GolfDigestWith tour pros being
so anal about putting
surfaces, why do they
shake hands after the
round while gathering
around the cup? This
drives me crazy.
todd harris,
dallas, ore.▶ Nothing to get too
worked up about. Foot
traffic on a green during
final handshakes adds no
more compaction than
the entire field of players
and their caddies over the
previous hours. Greens
for professional tourna-
ments are so firm that it’s
nearly impossible to see
even faint footprints in
the surface.
It’s true that a few pros
still use metal spikes, but
if the green is dry and
firm—as it is for profes-
sional events—these
spikes should not pull up
any blades of grass. Even
if they did, given the new
rule that spike marks can
be repaired, it seems the
chance of harm to subse-
quent golfers is low.A
The dreaded
double-breaker!
Before flying, it’s
worth taking a moment
to read the airline’s “con-
ditions of carriage” on its
website. Some do exclude
payment for damage to
oversize luggage, as
yours did. Many will cov-
er broken clubs, but only
if they’re in a hard case.
Attorney Jeff Ment,
who specializes in travel
issues, suggests insuring
your clubs if you’re con-
cerned about it. You’ll
pay about $5 per $100 of
coverage, up to $5,000.
Do you have any re-
course if the airline says
it’s not paying? Small-
claims court is one op-
tion. Ment recommends
becoming a squeaky
wheel, with phone calls
and emails and com-
plaints on social media.
“Airlines have become far
more responsive to con-
sumer complaints,” he
says. “The last thing they
want is you bashing them
on Twitter for breaking
your clubs.”The Golf Life Ask Golf Digest
ron barrett