I got to the airport recently for a trip to Arizona. I went to the kiosk and printed my boarding passes. I checked my Club Glove Burstproof bag (another thing I like) with my clubs along with a suitcase. Then I headed to the security line.

What didn’t I do? I didn’t reach for my wallet and pull out a credit card.

That, more than anything, is why I like Southwest Airlines.

Sure, I will openly admit that flying Southwest is a bit of a cattle call. If you don’t go online basically exactly 24 hours before your flight (Hint: Set an alarm on your schedule to check in), you have a pretty decent chance of ending up with a middle seat.

Now it can be argued that an airline isn’t exactly a golf thing, but I think it very much is.

My reasoning is pretty simple: Traveling as a golfer means checking at least one bag every time you go on the road. And if I’m going to check one bag, I might as well check two.

Southwest is good with that. They don’t want more of my money to do that. They don’t charge me more money because I’d like to use my own clubs while playing on the road. Instead they encourage playing new places, seeing cool courses and taking along your sticks even if you only have time for one round.

I don’t travel for work nearly as much as I used to, but I still travel about two or three times a year with my clubs. So I support the company that encourages that behavior.

When you add it all up, I probably save enough money on bag fees to pay for a greens fee on the road at a pretty nice place.

Now I’m not going to spend extra money to fly Southwest. And I’m not going to take a trip in which I have to change planes more than once. But if it’s close, I’m all about supporting the golfer-friendly airline.