# Stupid Bag Designs?



## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Has anyone else found recent golf bag designs almost laughable?

Until a couple years ago, I always had a staff size bag through my adult life. I'm old fashioned and never really thought about it because I always took a caddy or a cart. In recent months, I decided to get something more trim, lighter and more efficient for a 57 year old to travel with instead of carrying a 40 lb bag through baggage claim or Customs on each end.

I started looking at some of these new bags and found myself pretty baffled by the reasoning behind some features. Admittedly, I'm a design freak and appreciate a well thought out design. I designed furniture for many years before I retired to do what I do now, so ergonomics is somewhat a passion to me.

Why do we need a putter well? Some bags have the putter well on the side of the bag opposite the ball pocket... wrong side if you are riding a cart... puts the putter farther away instead of closer. Some bags have a couple of rubber clamps to hold the putter on the outside of the bag, where I feel it could bounce off. (Especially if you ride with an idiot like one particular friend of mine!) I saw one guy strap his bag to the cart and then realize his putter was trapped...

Water bottle holders? Only if you carry your bag or have a pull trolley, not an electric cart. I lost a $3.00 bottle of fancy water on the first hole when I actually tried to put it on the bag instead of inside the cart. (Felt like a THIRSTY idiot for doing that!)

Little mesh ball holders that hold about 3 balls in a verticle slide fashion, so you can lose them in order?

Multi separator tops? I can understand 14 for obvious reasons, but what if you are trying to decide between a couple drivers or a couple putters, not playing a real match, and you want to carry an extra club? You KNOW that Murphy's Law says the club you leave out of your bag that day will be the one you need to hit 10 times out on the course! How do they figure out something like the Callaway X Series bag with 10 spaces? I had one and while everything else about that bag was actually pretty well thought out, I couldn't get 14 clubs in the bag in a reasonable order because the biggest spaces weren't in the efficient place to put sequential clubs. It didn't come with instructions either.

I looked at a bag the other day that had big pockets on the side, but when you opened the zippers, there was a tube down the bag to protect the clubs and nothing bulkier than a golf glove could go in those pockets. If I tried to put my size XXXL wind shirt in there, I'd have torn out the zipper.

How about overly large pockets that are flat against the bag, but you stuff things in there and then realize the pocket is in the way when you carry it? My double strap stand bag is a bit that way and the double straps can't change from side to side. Give me a single strap bag any day. God gave me two broad shoulders and I am eminently capable of using them.

Does anyone use the "valuables pocket" on their bag? I put my wallet, watch and car keys in there a few times. I kept buying drinks and snacks from the cart girl, then having to run back to the cart to get my wallet... usually all the way across the fairway where my idiot partner, (him again), is always in the rough on the opposite side from me. I also nearly lost my watch one day, because after rushing to get my wallet, I never remembered to close the zipper. My idiot partner, (him again!!!) drives over every bump he can find and I guess it bounced out, but the guys behind us found it and drove up to return it...

A string to hold your umbrella on the bag? Give me a break! Can the bag manufacturer afford 24" of nylon 6" wide to be stitched to the bag so there's an umbrella sleeve? I had one bag where the little loop at the bottle was too small for the unbrella made by the same company to go in... At the least, give me the strap and buckle like old bags had.

While I hope I don't need more than 2-3 balls each round, I've seen some bags that designated the ball poclet to be this thing about the size of an egg. What were they thinking? The so called "accessories pocket" was bigger. Do the bag police take me to jail if I put the wrong things in certain pockets?

Tee holders? The idiot's bag holds three... and even in the soft Florida soil, we probably break 4-5 a round, which means you have to dig into your bag or your pocket for a tee anyway... 

I can just picture him having his little ritual, preparing his bag before every round... three tees, balls in the mesh sleeve to lose, fresh bottle of water... and leave the Rolex in the valuables pocket... Then look at the course map and remind himself of where all the bumps are.


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## Golfbum (Oct 14, 2006)

Dennis you must be looking at the wrong bag!
I have an older TaylorMade stand bag which is a great bag. Two big side pockets, I can stuff rain pants and wind jacket in one pocket. Gloves etc in the other.
Two mesh water bottle holders. I have never had a bottle fall out yet.
Small zipped pocket, tees, coins etc in there.
Bigger zipped pocket holds balls.
Two smaller zipped pockets, wallet, keys etc.
Rain cover pocket.
Umbrella sleeve, there is a drawstring on the top, umbrella has never fallen out ( I rarely carry my umbrella, extra weight)
No putter well, wells are for holding water not putters :laugh: 
The top of the bag has 4 divided club areas. Simple yet works well.
Dual carry straps, comfortable.
All in all a good stand bag that I have used for 4 years while walking, riding or using a pull cart.
I have a Cleveland Cart bag, great bag. It has an insulated cooler pouch.
I have a Titleist Sunday bag. Now a bag doesn't get any simpler than this one! One divider, holds 14 clubs. Has two pockets and no you are not putting a windshirt in one! Two bottles of water in that pocket, and wallet and keys. Tees etc in the small pocket. On the side of the bag there is a small sleeve which holds 4 balls and I have never had one fall out. Single carry strap. Bag is light, and durable.
Look around, you will find the right bag for what you want.


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Oh, I know I'll get there eventually. I think the best I've seen is the TaylorMade cart bag. It's not too big, but just right. It has things in good positions for a riding cart so you don't have to fumble through your woods to get to your middle irons or putter... just well thought out.

If you check the catalogs online, look at how Callaway has changed their cart bag. The new version has the putter well on the opposite side from the older version. They are beginning to get the picture. If you look at my clubs in the thread asking for pictures of equipment, you'll see that I used to pack that bag backwards because the whole top apparatus seemed backwards.

I just need 14 swimsuit models to follow me around, each one carrying a club, but I'd probably wake up in the middle of that dream and never finish 18 holes.


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## Golfbum (Oct 14, 2006)

DennisM said:


> Oh, I know I'll get there eventually. I think the best I've seen is the TaylorMade cart bag. It's not too big, but just right. It has things in good positions for a riding cart so you don't have to fumble through your woods to get to your middle irons or putter... just well thought out.
> 
> If you check the catalogs online, look at how Callaway has changed their cart bag. The new version has the putter well on the opposite side from the older version. They are beginning to get the picture. If you look at my clubs in the thread asking for pictures of equipment, you'll see that I used to pack that bag backwards because the whole top apparatus seemed backwards.
> 
> I just need 14 swimsuit models to follow me around, each one carrying a club, but I'd probably wake up in the middle of that dream and never finish 18 holes.


You would probably have a heart attack!:laugh:


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## 65nlovenit (Dec 8, 2006)

I just need 14 swimsuit models to follow me around, each one carrying a club, but I'd probably wake up in the middle of that dream and never finish 18 holes. 

YEAH RIGHT! I think you said you were 57, they'll find you on the 5th fairway, face up, with this stupid grin on you face and your putter in your hand....


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

65nlovenit said:


> YEAH RIGHT! I think you said you were 57, they'll find you on the 5th fairway, face up, with this stupid grin on you face and your putter in your hand....


Yeah, but WHAT a way to go!


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

This is the new model of the bag I bought last year. It is essentially the same as mine except for a better umbrella holder and some rearrangement of the pockets (the pocket arrangement on mine is fine... don't know why they needed to change them). When I bought it last September, it was on sale for $130 in the pro shop at my course.

NEW 2007 Calina "Admiral" 14-way individual divider cart bag


I find everything is in the right place for a riding cart bag (all pockets are quite accessible), and it also works fine on my Sun Mountain Speed Cart. My only dispute with it is the umbrella fastener... not as secure as I'd like but it's at the back where it is inside the golf cart well if it comes loose at the bottom (I don't usually carry the umbrella except in case of anticipated need anyway). I actually like the putter well, as it keeps my putter away from the other clubs as I bounce along in the rough. :thumbsup:


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

To continue this idiocy, I found a pretty good bag, an Ogio, but the top edge needed to be riveted through from the outside to the inside and after around 3 months, the grips of my clubs were tearing the inside fabric. It had velcro holding the fabric over the top edge of the bag to the inside... crazy...

I turned around and bought a Cleveland stand bag because the top os about as big as it gets and the pocket arrangement is fairly good. It seems well made, it's lightweight to carry around when I just want to go to the range, it has a separator arrangement that doesn't dictate to ME where my clubs go... so in short, it's about as close to an old fashioned bag as I've seen.

If this thing doesnt work, I guess I'll go back to using an old fashioned staff bag and just suffer the teasing I'm sure would come from my friends about my game not being able to live up to the look of my bag.


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## Chipmunkslayer (Jun 17, 2007)

I get what you're saying, but some of what you're saying stinks I actually kind of like.

I use a cart bag from Hippo Golf (HiPPO - the power behind the player ). Paid 90 bucks for it. 

It has a putter well, which I love (you didn't seem to like them). I'm the type of person who doesn't always put his clubs back into the bag in the slot I found them, so I like having the well so I don't go having to dig for a putter. Plus that, I use a mallet putter which is wide enough to where it's just good sense to have it separated from the rest of my clubs.

My bag has slots on it for I believe 5 tees, which is perfect for me (4 tees and a pencil).

Even though I do cart, I love the insulated beverage pouch in the bag. I drink fast enough to where I'm usually out before the beverage girl carts up to me again. With that, I can double up and still have a cold beverage ready for those in between holes.

I've got well over 14 club slots in the bag, and that's fine with me. I'm a casual player, probably always will be. The 14 club limit is more a guideline than an actual rule, in my book.

I can't really relate to you on pocket size. I can't even figure out how to fill all my pockets, and they're all amply sized.

Hell, they were even considerate enough to throw in a travel top so I could load my clubs on airplanes free of charge (the other bags I was looking at all sold those things separately--for roughly the same price as the bag.

The only thing I wish this bag had was an umbrella holder. Though I live in the desert, so it doesn't really matter.

*Edit: So I was just reading the features on this bag, and it says it has an umbrella holder. I have apparently been missing it for the 2 months I've owned it. Time to run out to my car to see if there really is one, heh.


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