Choosing the Right Golf Bag
Your golf bag is your friend. It stays with you all through the round. It keeps everything safe. That's why it's important to know which type of golf bags work best for you. You need to think about where, when, and how often you play when you consider getting a bag.
Functionality is key when selecting a golf bag. Are you a walker, rider or both? Do you like to store extra clothing and accessories such as rain gear, GPS/rangefinders or umbrella? Answering these type questions can help determine what bag would suit your needs.
Let's take a closer look at each type of golf bag.
Staff Bags
Staff bags are the top of the line when it comes to golf bags. Staff bags are used by the pros when on Tour and the bags they carry. Most staff bags prominently display brand logos.
You can think of them as the luxury sedans of golf bags: big, roomy, luxurious, and (above all else) heavy. The weight is not an issue with pros, since a caddy carries their bag. But if you don't have a personal caddy, you may get tired of lugging around the extra weight, whether that means pushing it on a hand cart throughout the round or even just carrying it from your car to the riding cart and back.
Staff bags tend to tip the scales around 10 pounds, but what they lack in lightness, they more than make up for in higher quality materials, plentiful storage space, and Tour-worthy aesthetics.
Cart Bags
Cart bags are slightly smaller and noticeably lighter than staff bags. A cart bag is a golf bag specifically designed to be carried on a golf riding cart or golf push cart. That means it's not going to be the best option if you plan to walk the course, carrying your bag on your back the whole time.
Around 6-7 pounds on average, cart bags are lighter and easier to carry than staff bags, but they are meant to be used with a cart (hence the name). If you walk the course using a golf pull cart, then cart bags are a great option. And of course, if you use a riding cart, these are perfectly designed for that use.
What makes these bags work so well for carts is that they're designed to provide easy access to all the bag's pockets while remaining strapped to the back of your riding cart or pull cart. Another feature most cart bags have is a rubber or non-slip base that will keep the bag from sliding off the cart.
Stand Bags
Stand bags feature a design that's unique compared to other styles of golf bag—they have two retractable legs.
These legs allow the bag to stand either completely upright (like a staff or cart bag) or else it can stand canted, where its two legs extend out to stabilize the bag while allowing for easy access to any club. When the bag is upright, the legs retract and lay snug against the bag.
Golfers prefer stand bags when they are walking on the course. That's because the retractable legs allow the bag to remain upright on turf, whereas cart or staff bags are designed to be used on flat surfaces, such as the back of a riding cart. But if you walk the course, there's no need for your clubs to stay on the cart path when you're teeing off or lining up a putt.
Many stand bags come equipped with backpack-style shoulder straps that distribute the weight across both shoulders. Stand bags weigh about 5 pounds or lighter. Some even have additional ergonomic features, such as a hip pad to prevent the bag from rubbing you the wrong way as you walk.
It also should be noted that stand bags can be used with push/pull carts or strapped to the back of a riding cart. But you should take particular care when doing so, especially with push or pull carts, to make sure the legs don't get damaged in trying to secure it with straps.
Carry Bags
Stand bags are a type of golf carry bag, since they're designed to be carried by golfers as they walk the course. However, if don't feel like you need the stand legs but still want to walk the course, you have another option with carry bags, sometimes known as "Sunday bags."
While carry bags don't have the retractable legs found in stand bags, they can boast being the lightest golf bags available. Carry bags tend to average around just 2 pounds. They manage to weigh so little because they tend to be made of lighter materials as well as being less structured than most staff, cart, or stand bags. While those bags may have half a dozen or more pockets, carry bags will have just a handful of pockets at most. And while other golf bags will have a divider that separates the bag's opening 4-, 6-, or even 14-ways, carry bags will typically have 2-way dividers.
For the most part, carry bags are minimalist bags for golfers who are going to walk the course essentially any time they play. Good carry bags will have enough pockets for spare golf balls, tees, gloves, beverages, and not much else. The more pockets on a bag, the more likely you are to use them, and carry bags are all about having just the essentials.
Travel Bags & Covers
Golf travel bags and covers aren't exactly golf bags in the sense that you take it to the course and it holds all your clubs. Instead, these bag covers are designed to enclose and protect your entire bag and your clubs while traveling.
Typical features of travel cover golf bags include a padded top to protect clubs in transit, luggage or in-line skate wheels for easy mobility, padded or reinforced handles for easier handling and perhaps one or more external pockets for additional storage.
If you're a golf tripper, these bags are essential to help keep your clubs safe from check-in to baggage claim and back.
