Golf bag dilemma - any recommendations?

Currently rocking a Ping Moonlite pencil for away days, and have a Titleist trolley bag for games at the home course. Using the Ping, I had a game at Kilspindie last week, followed by a trip up north last weekend with the new woods in the bag. With a full set of clubs the new graphite shafts are already getting scratched up a bit - not happy. This happened with my old woods, but as they were already a little bashed up it didn't really bother me. So, looking for an alternate carry bag with full length dividers for my away days.

In addition, the Titleist trolley bag is on its way out. I'm fed up with it leaking on the odd wet day for a start, but it's also a bit of a cumbersome beast - looking for something a bit smaller. My playing partner has a H2NO which he thinks is fantastic. I've had a good look at these but in all honesty, I don't really want to fork out around 190 for a bag. You can get a couple of the older models direct from SM on the 'cheap', but if i'm spending 130, i'd rather not be stuck going for a garish orange and white or yellow and grey bag!

The moonlite is also a little tricky to replace. None of the other pencil bag options on the market seem to have a full length divider. I've concluded they're great for a wee trip to the range with a half set, but not for general play with a full set.

That seems to leave me with a couple of options. Buy a couple of new bags, cheapo stand bag and a (preferrably) waterproof trolley bag. Or try and find a hybrid which will do both. SM do a waterproof stand bag, as do Titleist. Thinking that may be the best option, and just occasionally strap it to the trolley. I've had issues with twisting stand bags on trolleys before - but these were with Ping Hoofers, which didn't have a leg-lock to keep the stand from popping out. Does anyone use a Titleist stand bag on a trolley regularly and does it work ok? If I went for this option i'd only ever use the trolley for competitions, so most of the time I'd just carry.

Experience, suggestions and advice most welcome!  

Barra, I hate scuffed shafts so I put some of that invisible Scotch tape on the shafts at the bit where it rubs on my bag.

Is the titleist waterproof stand bag actually the SM with titleist logo?

It's at a bit of an odd spot - just a few inches below the grip. 3-wood has taken a bit of a bashing, but driver and hybrid ok for now. Anyone with those KBS c-taper iron shafts must be wrapping them in cotton wool to protect the finish!

puligny wrote:Is the titleist waterproof stand bag actually the SM with titleist logo?

I think so. About £30 cheaper and better looking also.

I also hate scuffed shafts but solved it by getting the mrs to cut her fingernails - boom boom!

On a side note, played with a chap who had a callaway bag that had a rain cover built in to the base - was very good idea and would save me lugging round my semi waterproof slazenger rain cover (that gets constantly caught in the front wheel of my trolley).
I've basically given up carrying cos of an old collar bone break that rubs raw on the carrying straps so always use a trolley - also our place is flat.

At the moment I am carrying a Cleveland hybrid stand bag. It has full length dividers and 14 individual dividers at the top so no clanking or scratching! I'm quite particular and like to have lots of pockets to compartmentalise all my odds and ends and this is perfect for that. It even has a handily placed range finder pocket waiting for my Xmas present to arrive.

It's obviously bigger and heavier than a pencil bag, but when you're carrying a full set the difference is minimal. This is offset by well padded straps with a spring suspension to reduce jarring. It also removes the need for a second bag.

Titleist don't make golf bags, so you are just paying a premium to have the logo on a sun mountain bag. I carried a TM R7 bag for ages but you have to go for their premium bags as their cheaper ones look, well, cheap! I had a callaway bag which fell apart after a few months. Callaway replaced it but that also was a disaster.

raycastleunited wrote:At the moment I am carrying a Cleveland hybrid stand bag. It has full length dividers and 14 individual dividers at the top so no clanking or scratching! I'm quite particular and like to have lots of pockets to compartmentalise all my odds and ends and this is perfect for that. It even has a handily placed range finder pocket waiting for my Xmas present to arrive.

It's obviously bigger and heavier than a pencil bag, but when you're carrying a full set the difference is minimal. This is offset by well padded straps with a spring suspension to reduce jarring. It also removes the need for a second bag.

Titleist don't make golf bags, so you are just paying a premium to have the logo on a sun mountain bag. I carried a TM R7 bag for ages but you have to go for their premium bags as their cheaper ones look, well, cheap! I had a callaway bag which fell apart after a few months. Callaway replaced it but that also was a disaster.

always had ping stand bags. only reason i've looked at titleist sta-dry is that it's waterproof, same as the sun mountain h2no, which would fill one of the criteria i'm interested in. also has a trolley friendly base (they say), which i didn't find with the pings. cost at the moment is £135/170 respectively, so definitely go for the titleist in that case, especially when it looks better in my opinion. the fact titleist is made by SM is a definite positive from what i've read elsewhere. pencil bag is ideal for journey up north with a car full of toddler gear as it takes up so little room, but i'm not going to sacrifice my clubs condition for the sake of just lumping a stand bag on top of everything instead!! shouldn't take up too much more room.

Can I ask why you have 2 bags in use?

I was really attracted to the idea of the waterproof Titleist bag as well... so annoying when all your gear gets soaked.

In the end I didn't go for it because:
1. The straps are really thin with minimal padding
2. There are hardly any pockets
3. It's a lot more expensive than other stand bags

I guess you have to weigh up the benefits. I live in London which is one of the drier parts of the country... might be essential if you play a lot of golf on the west coast!

beninho wrote:Can I ask why you have 2 bags in use?

Trolley bag and a carry bag

When our little boy arrived, it was not possible to transport my clubs in my trolley bag when holidaying with a full car load of baby gear. We visit my parents around 6 times a year and I normally get a round in at my away course. The size of the trolley bag + the fact it's too large and heavy to carry round the course (no room to transport trolley either) meant I needed a more practical alternative. The pencil bag seemed sensible from both size and cost perspective. In fact I used some vouchers I won in an away event so it didn't cost anything.

I changed headcovers and replaced them with the sock type, this ensured the shafts never came into contact with the bag/divider. Clubs still unmarked

Problem with the ping pencil bag is that there is not a full length divider so the graphite and metal shafts bash together every time you put the bag down.

I follow a moto of never buy anything that makes you get precious about it.

what about your bus pass?

So, I bit the bullet and ordered a Titleist Stadry bag, 2013 model in black. Got a reasonable deal online for £130 inc. postage. Ordered at 1pm and arrived the next day at 12:30 - fantastic! First trial at the weekend - pretty darned wet day in Edinburgh so a good test. Decided to carry and it was great - very light, clubs easily accesible and enough pocket space for my requirements. Everything stayed dry too. Also tried it afterwards on my trolley and it seems to be very stable. It has a very square top section which seems to help keep it from twisting. All in all, ideal for what I'm after - I will be giving it a proper trolley test on Saturday over a full round.

I looked at getting one of the Stadry bags for winter but ended up staying with a pencil as just gave up trying to keep everything dry. For winter I now use a half set, wear my waterproof trousers as they also keep me warm and use two wet weather gloves when it rains.

I used to use a trolley when wet with a big waterproof condom type thing which kept everything dry but started to worry about course damage and found it was a big hassle trying to keep grips dry and so on so just let everything get wet....or don't play!!

It also helps by the sound of it that I am not too precious about my clubs (irons are about ten years old) and only my driver is graphite shafted.

Mate got one thrown in for free when he bought his irons/wedges/putter/driver from clubhousegolf. Only carries but he really likes it.

If it works on the trolley OK too you can blow another £100+ on something else shiny and golfy instead of getting a cart bag!

no chance.... having forked out for new woods a couple of weeks ago i'm well over my golfing allowance at the moment - i need to get round to selling off my old woods and bags to make up some of the difference! then it'll be time to start saving for next years subs due in january and march

delighted the new bag will save me switching back and forward between bags - perfect for my needs   

I need to flog a load of my old stuff too.

Anyone want to buy a...

super_realist wrote:Barra, I hate scuffed shafts so I put some of that invisible Scotch tape on the shafts at the bit where it rubs on my bag.

I hate my shaft rubbing off my bag too, thanks for the tip super  

incontinentia wrote:

super_realist wrote:Barra, I hate scuffed shafts so I put some of that invisible Scotch tape on the shafts at the bit where it rubs on my bag.

I hate my shaft rubbing off my bag too, thanks for the tip super  

At the risk of turning it into smutfest 2013 - try putting your bag on your back instead. Should stop it rubbing your shaft.

Man who walk through airport turnstile backwards going to Bangkok

after all my efforts to keep the clubs looking tip top, i inflicted a brute of a skymark on my 3wood yesterday afternoon - what an utter fannulah   
i won't be hitting it from a fluffy lie in the rough again in a hurry.

My mate carries a black permanent marker and 'colours in' his sky marks! Gets through about 4 pens a season...

Nothing worse than getting a sky mark as you are guaranteed to loose any psychological edge in matchplay. As soon as someone pulls a club out with a sky mark you know they are really a duffer and the confidence you can beat them surges.

i'll just ask my opponents to stand well back in that case.

can't believe it - not hit a single sky mark on any of my previous 3woods but managed to inflict one within about a dozen shots with the new one...

ah well - i got it out on the next tee and spanked one miles up the middle, flicked a wee wedge to 4 feet and knocked in the birdie to feel a little better about things.

McLaren wrote:Nothing worse than getting a sky mark as you are guaranteed to loose lose any psychological edge in matchplay.  As soon as someone pulls a club out with a sky mark you know they are really a duffer and the confidence you can beat them surges.

Seems a bit of a dull assumption. So confidence surges and concentration goes down. Actually, I think it might be a decent idea to have a few pop marks on woods - be interesting to watch their expression falter as they get dog licensed.

I'm always very wary when I see someone rock up with slightly battered clubs as I figure that they will be pretty well practiced at using them. I worry less about the person who turns up with all the latest gear.

Or at least that's what I tell myself when I take out my 20 year old Big Bertha 3 wood from its burgundy velour cover!

Has anyone hit practice balls in a golf shop and they put masking tape on the clubface? Annoys the hell out of me, aren't clubfaces designed to take hits (unless you have a clubhead speed of mach 2). And they never put tape in the sky-mark zone.

Me too 289. Someone with well-used gear, to my mind at least, is far more likely to be obsessed about golf as opposed to the gear associated with playing golf.

incontinentia wrote:Has anyone hit practice balls in a golf shop and they put masking tape on the clubface? Annoys the hell out of me, aren't clubfaces designed to take hits (unless you have a clubhead speed of mach 2). And they never put tape in the sky-mark zone.

I have. Perfectly understandable as the average chopper isn't going to hit the centre and, in all likelihood, will mark either the mirror chrome or brushed finish somewhere. Who'd pay the new price for something with an obvious abrasion on it? The American Golf I occasionally try something at always puts tape on the crown of woods.