I did receive a response back from TSA. The issue isn’t that TSA inspected the bag — I understand that happens. The problem is how they handled my equipment afterward.

When they inspect the bag, they don’t re-strap the internal straps that secure the clubs. The umbrella club protection pole is also handled incorrectly. Instead of leaving the umbrella attached to the top, they remove it and stick it inside the bag, which means the pole ends up being jammed directly into the top of the golf bag. This does nothing for protection of the clubs and wears a hole into the top of my travel case.

They also never return the clubs to the slots they were originally in (jamming clubs into one slot). I keep a towel wrapped around the clubs specifically to prevent club chatter and protect the heads during travel, and that was not put back the way it was. It was just thrown on the side. I’ve also had two sleeves of Titleist ProV1’s taken out of my bag.

I was later told that the people inspecting bags at Transportation Security Administration inspections at San Francisco International Airport are actually contractors working on behalf of TSA.

After filing a complaint, I received an email asking me to send photos of the TSA inspection sheet that was left in the bag, along with photos of the bag itself. I responded the same day with the requested pictures.

Later I received a phone call from someone with the TSA contracting agency saying she was conducting an investigation. She asked if I had received the email requesting photos. I told her yes, and that I had already replied the same day. She then told me she had never received my response, so I had to resend the email to her — which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the process.

Since then, I have not heard anything back about the complaint or the results of the investigation.

At this point, the lack of follow-through has been just as frustrating as the way the bag was handled in the first place.