I always really struggle to find the right carry bag. Some are too big, some are too small. While I have a Mackenzie, sometimes I want a stand.
Last year, I used a Hoofer for much of the season, but it was big and bulky. Over the winter, I ordered a Titleist Linksmaster. While the Linksmaster is a totally fine bag for a pushcart or a cart and it looks great, I think it lacks if you want to use it as a bag you carry every day. It’s heavy and because the material doesn’t really have much give to it, the bag is smaller in function than other bags that are the same size. For example, it’s really a tight squeeze to get a full rain suit in the big pocket and even getting a water bottle in the water bottle pocket is harder than it should be.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been looking for a new bag to carry. I wanted something light and I wanted something in stock at my club with a logo, so that limited some things. It essentially came down to the Craz-e-lite and the Titleist Carbon.
The title is probably a bit of a spoiler, but I picked up the Carbon. Opted for it over the Craz-e-lite as I wasn’t excited with how the Ping looked and I didn’t love the Ping’s pocket layout.
Here’s what it looks like.
Took it for its maiden voyage this morning.
Things I like:
- Good balance - could carry it with ease without having to use my hands to balance it.
- It is definitely light
- Pretty functional and there aren’t too many compromises I can’t live without
- After not having a handle on the Linksmaster, it was great having one again.
The reality is that every bag in the lightweight class has some compromises. A saying in the business world is that you can have any two of the following three things - awesome quality, super cheap or get it super fast - but you can’t have all three. I kind of feel that way about lightweight bags - you have to know what items are deal breakers for you and choose from there.
Potential downsides:
No rangefinder pocket: I loved the magnetic pocket above the ball pocket on my Ping Hoofer for my rangefinder. I think it is a brilliant design factor. Would I like a rangefinder pocket on this bag? Certainly. But I don’t have one on my Mackenzie, so I simply have it in my ball pocket and deal with it. Not a big deal for me.
Tight at the top of the bag:
Here are a couple of pictures of the top of the bag:
Is it a little tight? Maybe in the woods/putter area. But I don’t know that it is that much worse than the Players 4 I had a couple of years ago. A little navigation here isn’t a big deal for me.
Club tangle: This is one that I really don’t understand people getting all that worked up about, regardless of the bag. If you don’t want clubs to get tangled at all, that’s fine, but it simply won’t disappear on a lighter/smaller bag. If you want a bag that is lighter, it’s part of the deal. I don’t find it to be that difficult to hold the bag straight up with my right hand and pull a club out with my left hand. Nor is it that tough to stand the bag up while putting a club back in (or finishing sliding it in when the bag is off the ground).
Water bottle holder:
The way people complained about this, I thought it was going to be a really tight squeeze and a PITA to get a bottle in and out. Now if you wanted to use a wide-mouthed insulated canteen, it’s going to be challenging, but I didn’t find a skinny bottle difficult to use.
As you can see in the pictures below, a water bottle, Diet Coke bottle and Coors Light bottle all slid in with ease. Yes, I had a beer on the course just to give you all the full review. I I kind of had to tuck the Diet Coke bottom under the elastic, but it slid in easy from there. The water bottle and beer bottle were super easy to get in there. I don’t buy this being a real problem.
Leg droop: This is one of my least favorite things about so many Titleist bags, but didn’t experience it here. Maybe it’s easier for the bag to hold up the carbon fiber legs instead of the heavier aluminum ones? I don’t know, but it seemed like the legs stayed up against the bag.
Overall first impressions were pretty solid here. I think it will be a good bag. Would I use it if I knew it was going to rain and I had to bring a ton of stuff? Maybe not as I might pull the Hoofer out of the basement. Could I use it on a trip to Scotland? Maybe. A long weekend with a lot of walking and a decent forecast? For sure.
Happy to answer questions.