Players from the East Tennessee State men’s golf team are days away from one of the biggest tournaments they will ever compete in, with the NCAA DI Men’s Golf Championship taking place between Friday 24 May and Wednesday 29 May at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in California.
However, baggage handlers at the airport seemingly didn’t quite grasp the significance of what was to come.
The team caught a flight to California in good time to prepare, but before the players could even get off the plane, they caught a glimpse of one of every golfer’s worst fears when traveling – the sight of their golf bags being tossed carelessly from the plane’s cargo hold onto the ground before being thrown onto the truck to take them to the terminal.
Anyone about to head off on a golf trip and planning to take their clubs on a flight might want to look away at this point. That's because, such was the horror unfolding that one of the members of the traveling group took a video from their seat on the plane as the team waited to disembark, helpless to do anything to stop the unfolding nightmare.
The video has now been published by the team’s official X account, along with a sarcastic comment aimed at Delta Air Lines reading: “Nice of @Delta to handle our clubs with such care.”
Nice of @Delta to handle our clubs with such care… pic.twitter.com/5tcIivt9dyMay 22, 2024
Not surprisingly, it has gone viral, with approaching two million impressions just hours after it was released, and attracting plenty of comments from disgruntled golf fans unhappy with the handling of the bags.
The sight of their bags being flung from the parked plane onto the tarmac would have made for an anxiety-inducing wait until the players could pick up their bags once inside the airport.
Assuming the clubs avoided damage, the team will be hoping the issue marks a low point of the trip as it competes in the championship for the fourth successive year and attempts to follow in the footsteps of 2023 winners the Florida Gators.
