How to Choose a Golf Bag

Some golf bags stay with their owners for many seasons, through misty mornings on the fairway and sudden afternoon downpours when the rain hood has to go on at short notice. Anything that keeps you company for that long deserves as much thought as your driver or your putter.

The easiest way to choose a golf bag is to start from the rounds you already play. Below are six things worth going through in turn, from where the bag spends the round to colour and personal taste.

Will It Ride on a Cart or on Your Shoulder?

On most courses in Vietnam, the bag sits on a buggy or on the caddie's trolley for the whole round. You usually only carry it yourself at the range, on courses that allow walking, on trips abroad or when you fly.

A cart bag is built to ride, so its base is usually shaped to sit firmly on the cart and stay secured by the cart strap on the slopes. A stand bag is lighter, with a strap for both shoulders and two legs that swing out when you set it down, which suits the times you have to carry it yourself. The two differ in plenty of other ways, which we cover in detail in our piece on choosing between a cart bag and a stand bag.

How Many Dividers Do You Need?

A golf bag's first job is to keep your clubs organised and safe. The Rules of Golf let you carry up to 14 clubs in a round, so many cart bags have 14 dividers or more to give every club its own slot, while stand bags usually have fewer, with two or three clubs from the same group sharing each one.

It is also worth checking how far the dividers go. Full-length dividers keep each club in its own sleeve, so clubs slide in and out easily. They also stop the clubs knocking together on a bumpy cart path, which spares the heads and shafts a good many chips and scratches. If you use jumbo grips, you will want slots a little wider than usual.

How Much Should a Golf Bag Weigh?

A stand bag usually weighs around 2 to 3 kg empty. A cart bag is heavier, with a bigger body, more pockets and a sturdier base, and the tour bags used by professionals weigh more again.

So the right weight depends on how you get around the course. If the bag almost always rides on a cart, a few hundred grams either way hardly matters and you can put capacity first. If you often carry it yourself or take it on a plane, every hundred grams counts. Even when the bag rides, you still lift it in and out of the car boot at least twice a day, so a solid grab handle at the top will save your back a fair amount.

When you do carry the bag, the strap matters as much as the weight. A dual strap spreads the load across both shoulders like a backpack, padding keeps your shoulders from tiring, and an adjustable length keeps the bag snug against your back instead of swinging with every step. Our stand bag, The Astronaut, has a padded, adjustable dual strap and two legs that deploy when you set it down. It also sits happily on a cart for the days you play with a caddie.

Leather or Fabric?

Golf bags are usually made from synthetic fabric such as nylon or polyester, from synthetic leather or from genuine leather, and each has its own strengths. Fabric is light and soft, synthetic leather holds its shape and wipes clean of mud with a damp cloth, and genuine leather has a classic look of its own and needs regular cleaning and conditioning.

Whichever you choose, check how well the bag keeps water out, because summer in northern Vietnam brings sudden downpours. Rain falling into the top of the bag runs down the shafts to the bottom, where the grips of the whole set sit, and a wet grip is very hard to hold firmly. That makes a rain hood and water-resistant zips on the pockets well worth having.

What Do You Take Out on the Course?

Before you count pockets, try listing what you actually take on a round, from your phone, wallet and car keys to water, a spare glove, balls, tees, a rain jacket and an umbrella. Each item deserves a regular home, so you are not rummaging around while standing on the tee.

Valuables belong in a pocket that closes, ideally a fleece-lined one so your watch face and phone screen stay free of scratches. A round in Vietnam can take four or five hours under the sun, and an insulated pocket keeps your drinks cool for longer. An umbrella holder, a towel ring and a glove holder are small details, but you will use them on almost every hole.

Our cart bag, The Spaceship, has eight pockets arranged around exactly these things: a fleece-lined valuables pocket, an insulated drinks pocket, two magnetic pockets and four accessory pockets.

Colour and Personal Taste

Once the practical questions are settled, the rest comes down to taste. The bag stands beside you all round and turns up in the group photo on the 18th, so choose a colour you enjoy looking at. Quiet tones such as black, navy, grey or green go with most of what you might wear on the course.

It is also worth looking closely at the stitching, the zips and the logo. A carefully made bag usually has straight, even stitching, zips that run smoothly and a logo of modest size.

So Which Golf Bag Is Best?

There is no single answer to which golf bag is best, because the best bag is the one that suits the way you play. If your bag spends nearly every round on a cart, a cart bag with plenty of dividers and pockets will keep each round neat and organised. If you often carry it to the range or take it travelling, a light stand bag with a comfortable strap will suit you better.

If you are still torn between the two, send us a message. We are always happy to hear how you play and to help you choose the bag that suits you.