If a resort or cruise offers golf, or skiing, should I bring my own equipment?

If a resort or cruise offers golf, or skiing, should I bring my own equipment?

Joel Widzer (Travel Strategist) gives expert video advice on: What type of wardrobe should I pack for a cruise or resort vacation?; What is 'resort casual'?; What's the difference between day clothing and night clothing on a cruise or at a resort? and more...

I think it really depends on your skill level, and also the number of times that you're going to be playing. If you're a really great golfer and you have a great set of clubs, and you're going to be playing every day on the trip, you probably want to bring your own clubs. If you're a great tennis player and you're going to play every day, you probably want your own tennis racket. But keep in mind that many resorts and cruise lines have very nice golf clubs and equipment. In fact sometimes their golf clubs are better than what most people have at home. So it depends on your skill level and the number of times that you're going to play. The other thing to keep in mind is that when you do bring along golf clubs, you have to check them in as larger items, and that means you're going to have oversized baggage. Sometimes there's a fee for that and what you want to do is, particularly for golf clubs, make sure you pack them well. A lot of people will use what they call "hard case golf clubs," which is a hard plastic cover that you put your golf bag into and it protects them well, and you can lock it if you want to.