Bags
Stand bags, cart bags and how to carry your kit without the back-ache.
Sun Mountain C-130 vs Ping Pioneer: 16 pockets against 11, and neither cart bag is waterproof for winter
Two of the best-known trolley bags, both in stock heading into winter. The Pioneer has more pockets and a bigger putter well; the C-130 has bigger apparel space and weighs a little less. Neither keeps the rain out of the pockets.
By Tom Whitaker
Vessel Player VI Pro vs Player V Pro: a bigger top and magnetic pockets, not a reason to replace a V Pro
Vessel's new flagship stand bag went on sale on 23 September with a top about nine per cent bigger, three more pockets and a quarter of a pound more weight. The old one is still on sale beside it, at almost the same money.
By Tom Whitaker
Vessel Player V Pro vs Sun Mountain 2.5+: four and a half pounds and two different theories of ownership
One is tour-grade synthetic leather, sixteen pockets and a spec sheet that reads like a staff bag that shrank. The other weighs less than a third of it. Both have carbon-fibre legs, which tells you exactly where the money went.
By Tom Whitaker
Titleist Players 4 Plus vs Sun Mountain 2.5+: the tour default takes on the walking specialist
The walking revival has made the ultralight stand bag the most competitive category in golf, and this is its classic head-to-head: Titleist's do-everything carry bag against the featherweight from the company that invented the modern stand bag. One wins on storage and looks, the other on your shoulders after ten thousand steps.
By Jordan Hale
Stand bag vs cart bag: which one's right for you?
Buy the wrong one and you'll fight it every round. The choice is simpler than the wall of bags suggests — it's about how you get round.
By Jordan Hale
