Gifts for Golfers: What Goes in the Bag Besides Balls

The best food gift for a golfer is something that lives in the bag: sealed, salty, high in protein, and fine in a hot pocket for four hours. Our biltong and jerky fit that job, and both are certified Glatt Kosher, so you can hand them to any golfer without a conversation about ingredients.

We are The Grub Company. We air-dry biltong in small batches in Florida from grass-fed beef, and we make a sweet jerky called Meat Candy. Our biltong is certified Glatt Kosher. We are a kosher brand that sells to everyone, and a lot of our customers eat our snacks on the course.

This is a gift guide, not a snack guide. If you want to know what to eat during a round, that is a different question. This one is for the person holding a gift list and wondering what to buy a golfer who already owns every ball, tee and glove they will ever need.

Why golfers are hard to buy for

A serious golfer has opinions about gear. Clubs, shoes, grips and balls are all personal, and you will guess wrong. A casual golfer has too much gear already, and half of it is in the garage.

The usual fixes are a logo towel, a divot tool, or a box of balls with a joke on them. Those are fine. They are also forgettable.

Food solves the problem in a different way. Nobody has a strong opinion about whether they need a snack on the back nine. Everybody eats one. A good food gift gets used up, which means it never ends up in a drawer.

There is one catch. Most food is wrong for a golf bag. It melts, crushes, spoils or needs a fork. So the gift has to pass the same test the golfer will put it through: can it ride in a bag pocket all afternoon and still be good?

What goes in the bag

Think about the bag itself. A golf bag has a cooler pocket on some models, a ball pocket, a valuables pocket with a zip, and a big side pocket where the rain gear lives. It sits in a trunk or on a cart in the sun. It gets dropped, kicked and sat on.

That tells you what survives:

• Sealed bags. A bag you open at the turn and reseal is ideal. Loose food in a pocket is not.
• Dry food. Nothing that leaks, melts or goes soft in July.
• Food that does not need a cooler. Even if the bag has a cooler pocket, it is usually full of drinks.
• Food you can eat with one gloved hand. Golfers are standing on a tee box holding a club.

Dry meat snacks pass every item on that list. They are sealed, shelf-stable and high in protein, and they weigh almost nothing.

Sliced Biltong: the one to start with

Biltong is South African air-dried beef. It is cured with salt, vinegar and spices, then hung to dry. It is not cooked the way jerky is. It is ready to eat the moment the bag opens.

Our everyday bag is Sliced Biltong: three ounces of ready-to-eat slices, nothing to cut and nothing to refrigerate. There are three flavors:

• Original: beef first, then the warm citrus note of coriander. This is the reference point and the safe pick.
• Peri Peri: the same, with real heat building behind it. Not a whisper.
• Loaded Garlic: roasted garlic, rounder and sweeter, savory rather than hot.

Honest trade-off: biltong is chewy and savory. It is the wrong pick for a golfer who wants something sweet, or who does not like a dry, salty bite. And Peri Peri is the wrong pick when you do not know the person. Heat tolerance is personal, and nobody wants a surprise on the 16th hole. Buy Original unless you know better.

The Sampler Pack: the safest gift on the shelf

If you are not sure which flavor the golfer likes, do not guess. The Biltong Sampler Pack is one mini bag each of Original, Peri Peri and Loaded Garlic. The whole range in the smallest amount that tells you anything.

It also fits the situation. A golfer can toss one mini in the bag for each of the next three rounds. Each round is a different flavor. By the third one they know which they want, and they will order it themselves.

Minis: the stocking-stuffer size

The Sliced Biltong Mini's are one-ounce sealed bags in the same three flavors. They are about one round's worth for one person who is not starving. They are small enough to tuck into a card, a gift bag or a stack of other presents.

The Mini's solve a real problem for a foursome gift. If you are buying for four friends, you can give each of them a bag of the same flavor, and no one has to share a big bag on the first tee.

The honest point: per ounce, the Mini's are the most expensive way to buy biltong. That is a portioning premium. It is worth paying when portioning is the point, as it is with a gift. It is not worth paying when you are buying for yourself and know the flavor.

Meat Candy: for the golfer with a sweet tooth

Where biltong is savory, Meat Candy is our beef jerky, and it is cooked, glazed and sweet. It comes in two flavors:

• Hickory Kickory Dock: smoky hickory with the sweetness behind it rather than in front. It tastes closest to what most people mean by jerky.
• Baa-Baa BBQ Sheep: Korean BBQ, sweet and savory together, with more going on.

If the golfer you are buying for says they "don't like biltong" but loves jerky, this is the better gift. Meat Candy uses a glaze, so anyone with an allergy or a dietary rule should read the label first. If you want to browse the whole range of kosher beef jerky and jerky-style snacks, that page lists everything in one place.

Gifts by the kind of golfer

Golfers are not one person. Here is how we would match a gift to the actual human.

The weekend regular

They play every Saturday with the same three people. They have a routine, a cart partner and a favorite hole. Give them a bag of Original Sliced Biltong. It will be open on the first tee and gone by the turn, and the other three will ask where it came from.

The new golfer

They took lessons this spring and now own too many things with a logo. They do not have a routine yet. Give them the Sampler Pack. It is easy, low pressure, and teaches them what they like.

The golfer who has everything

Gear is off the table. Give them a gift that disappears. A few bags of biltong, one in each flavor, tucked into a gift bag with a sleeve of balls. The balls are the excuse. The biltong is the gift.

The retiree who plays four days a week

This golfer goes through a lot of snacks. For them, a bulk pack makes more sense than minis. If you are buying for a heavy user, Buy Biltong Online lists every size, flavor and sampler, and US orders over $50 ship free.

The golfer who also hosts

Some golfers run the league, the outing or the clubhouse trip. A pound of biltong is more than they will eat on the course, but it is a good thing to put on a board after the round. Our biltong charcuterie board guide shows how.

How to wrap it so it feels like a gift

A bag of snacks feels like an afterthought unless you give it some context. Three ideas that cost almost nothing:

• Tuck it in a ball sleeve box. Empty a sleeve of balls into the gift, put the biltong in the box, and wrap the lot. The golfer opens it expecting balls.
• Write a scorecard. Use a real scorecard. Write nine holes of flavors: Original on the first, Peri Peri on the third, and so on. It reads as a joke and works as a menu.
• Pack a "bag kit." A towel, a few tees, a bag of biltong and a note that says what goes in which pocket. It is the closest thing to a custom gift you can build in ten minutes.

If you would rather skip the wrapping, the sampler arrives ready to hand over, and a gift bag is all it needs.

Check these before you buy

• Do they eat meat? This is obvious, but it is the one people forget. Biltong and jerky are beef. They are the wrong gift for a vegetarian.
• Do they keep kosher? Ours are certified Glatt Kosher, which makes them easy to give. They are meat, so a golfer who keeps meat and dairy separate will keep them that way. How long to wait between meat and dairy is your family's custom. Ask your rabbi if you are unsure.
• Is there an allergy? Read the ingredient list on the product page. Our biltong lists beef, coriander, pepper, salt, garlic and vinegar, with Peri Peri adding red pepper and brown sugar. Meat Candy has a glaze, so check its label.
• Where is it going? We ship in the US only. If the golfer lives abroad, we cannot send it.
• Is it a surprise? If you are shipping it, order early enough for it to arrive before the occasion.

Bottom line

Do not buy a golfer more gear. Put something in the bag they will use up. For most people that is a bag of Original Sliced Biltong. If you are unsure, the Sampler Pack. If they like sweet, Meat Candy. Wrap it like a sleeve of balls and they will remember it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good food gift for a golfer?

Something sealed, dry and high in protein that survives a golf bag pocket. Biltong and jerky fit well. They need no refrigeration, they do not melt and they are easy to eat with one hand. Original Sliced Biltong is the safest flavor, and the Sampler Pack is the safest gift when you do not know their taste.

Will biltong survive in a hot golf bag?

Biltong is air-dried and shelf-stable, so it does not need a cooler. It is a good fit for a warm bag. As with any food, keep the bag out of direct sun when you can, and reseal the pouch after you open it. Once opened, eat it within a reasonable time.

Is biltong the same as beef jerky?

No. Biltong is cured with vinegar and spices, then air-dried, and it is not cooked. It is savory and often sliced thin. Jerky is cooked, marinated and dried, and is usually sweeter. We make both. Our Meat Candy vs. biltong guide explains which suits which person.

Is this a good gift for a golfer who keeps kosher?

Yes. Our biltong is certified Glatt Kosher, so you do not have to check the label for a certification. It is a meat product, so it follows the usual rules for meat. On Passover, check for a Pesach certification, and ask your rabbi about anything you are unsure of.

What flavor should I buy if I do not know their taste?

Buy the Sampler Pack. It has one mini bag each of Original, Peri Peri and Loaded Garlic. If you can only pick one flavor, pick Original. It is the mildest and the one that suits the most people.

Can I ship it directly to the golfer?

Yes, within the US. US orders over $50 ship free. We do not ship outside the United States.

How much should I buy?

For one golfer, one three-ounce bag or one sampler is a real gift. For a foursome, give each person a Mini's bag. For a heavy user who plays several times a week, look at the larger sizes on our Buy Biltong Online page.