2016 Most Wanted Stand Bag

Walker, push cart user, range hero, cart rider, speed golfer - whatever your claim to this beautiful game is, we've identified the right stand bag for you.

With more metrics, a bigger team and more insight than ever before, we've sorted through the best bags in the market to bring you this year's most wanted stand bags.

The 2016 Stand Bags:

Ben Hogan	Callaway Aqua Dry Lite	Callaway Hyper Lite 3	Callaway Hyper Lite 5
Callaway Great Big Bertha Staff	Callaway Fusion 14	Cobra Excell	Cobra King
Cobra Ultralite	Dartrek Go Lite Pro	Datrek Carry Lite II	Mizuno Elite Tour Staff
Mizuno Comp	Mizuno Tour Scratch	Nike Air Hybrid	Nike Sport Lite Carry 3
Nike Sport Carry 3	Ping Hoofer 14	Ping Hoofer	Ping 4 series
Projekt Kozmak	Puma Superlite	Srixon Z Four	Sun Mountain H2NO
Sun Mountain 2.5	TaylorMade Purelite	TaylorMade Tourlite	TaylorMade Tour Stand
TaylorMade Quiver	Wilson Nexus II

 

The Metrics:

Just like with our Cart Bag Buyer's Guide - we're always fine tuning to ensure we deliver the best data. Continuing that trend, we've updated and refined this year to bring you the best buying advice we can.

*Weight is measured with straps and rain hood (factory weights do not include these or other accessories).
*Bags weighing more than 5lbs. are listed at 5lbs.

• How We Tested
• Scoring Metrics
• Final Grades

For 2016 we added more testers who put in even more hours of testing covering multiple days. They assessed more more metrics, creating more data and allowing us to boil down to the nuts and bolts of what makes the best bag for a range of users. We tested with two brands of push carts (Bag Boy Quad and Clicgear 3.5+).  Each bag was loaded with 14 clubs, 1 rain jacket, rain pants, 1 dozen golf balls, 20 tees, a laser, 6 pack of beer (if 6 fit), ball markers, two extra gloves, phone, keys, eyeglass wipes, Burt's Bees Wax lip balm, and a Ken Kershaw pocket knife.

Testers abused clubs and bags: inserting and removing clubs repeatedly, pockets stuffed, zippers were torn back and forth, bags were loaded and unloaded from push carts. Pockets were counted and recounted, full length dividers were noted, and any special features were loaded into our metrics.

Because stand bags were built to be carried, every bag was fit onto each tester's back while fully loaded with the previously mentioned clubs and extras.

• Club Binding - Regardless of the number of dividers, this metric simply measures how much club grab/binding occurred when inserting and removing clubs from a bag. (10 possible points)
• Storage - The number and usefulness of pockets. Types of storage, eg: external tee holder, insulated drink pocket, ball pocket. Ultimately, how functional is the available storage as a whole. (10 possible points)
• Comfort - Measure of comfort with the bag fully loaded and carried on each tester's back. (10 possible points)
• Adjustment - Ease of strap adjustment. Is the range of adjustment robust enough to allow the bag to fit a variety of golfers? (10 possible points)
• Durability - Testers examined each bag's stitching, sturdiness, build quality and overall construction to determine the likely durability of a bag. (10 possible points)
• Features - How feature-rich is a given bag. Do each of those features function as intended? Pockets, glove strips, towel loops, strap pass-through, velour pocket, cooler storage, grab handles... (10 possible points)
• Stability - Tested with the bag fully loaded and legs extended. (10 possible points)
• Top Grab Handle - How easy is it to use - is there enough space for someone with larger hands to fit their fingers between bag and clubs. Zero points awarded if not included. (10 possible points)
• Zippers - How easily do zippers open and close. (10 possible points)
• Recommended - Testers were asked to provide a score of 1-10 based on likelihood they would recommend a bag to a friend. (10 possible points)

Final grades were awarded based on total scores.

Best Overall and Runner up are our two highest overall scoring bags.

Lightweight stand bags never get past 5 pounds. These bags are designed to carry everything you need for a full round of golf and not too much more. They won’t leave you stranded, but they weren’t designed to pack your 6 pack and kitchen sink and thrown onto a cart every round. These bags should be designed with the ultimate bag carrying/walking purist in mind.

A Sunday bag allows a player to get out and play a pitch and putt course without needing to lug everything (14 clubs, 20 balls and so on) for a shorter course. Speed golfers also tend to embrace a more Sunday-style bag to allow them to carry everything they need and nothing more.

 

Golf's Most Wanted Stand Bags

Good: Whether you're the range hero, an occasional walker, a push cart user, or you always ride in a cart - this bag does it all and does it well. Everything is there.

Bad: It may be near impossible, but we'd love to see this bag drop to just below the 5 pound mark. Also, the strap adjustment could be simplified a little.

Notes: The straps are comfy, the bag carries the load well. It's sturdy and durable, and everything works just like you'd want it to.

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Good: There was a LOT of thought put into this bag - everything you need is within reach while you walk down the fairway with the bag on your back. ALL 6 dividers are full length.

Bad: Not a ton of storage for cold drinks and just a bit too heavy to be a true carry bag.

Notes: In speaking with the designer for Projekt, we had high hopes going into testing, and the Kozmak didn't let us down. It's a bag that was well thought out. We would LOVE to see what Projekt might do with a true carry bag or a fully committed hybrid design.

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Good: You want to play Pebble Beach or Bandon Dunes? You'll likely find yourself carrying your bag on your back - and our recommendation would be taking the Callaway Hyperlite 3 - tipping the scales just over 4 pounds, this bag offers storage, comfort and function.

Bad: We'd love to see an improvement in the club binding department. That bag definitely wants to keep your clubs in place.

Notes: The walking golfer who wants to carry a bag on their shoulders will find the Callaway Hyperlite 3 does what they need. It may not do a ton more, but that's the goal, to create a bag that doesn't let you pack too much, but allows you to bring the essentials.

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Good: Lightweight yet still providing enough storage to allow you to choose how many clubs you want to drag around. If you're a 4 club guy or an 8 club guy, you won't be left in a bind.

Bad: The bag may be a bit larger than some would want for a Sunday bag.

Notes: You like to parse things down on Sunday (I on the other hand want to bring extra beers). If you don't want to bring a 6 pack, but still want to carry enough clubs to allow a variety of shots - this bag is your workhorse. Storage that will allow a rain jacket and some extra balls - yet a weight that makes you wonder why other larger bags aren't this light!

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*When the specified feature is not available, the score field is left blank

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Paper Towel Art is Gloriously Fun for Everyone

You know I love a simple activity. There’s something magical about this paper towel art. Seriously. And it’s so simple.

This is one of those activities that I see every once in awhile go through my feed on Pinterest, or I think I saw it in the Huddle not too long ago.

I have always wanted to do it, but honestly, never have because its one that I can’t come up with an alternative way to do it besides how I see it always done.

But this day… I said, why wouldn’t I do it just because its always done this way? It looks like so much fun!

And it is!

All three of my boys loved this art activity! I don’t have Henry in any of the photos because he was at school during this round, but we did it again later where he did it too.

We made art on a paper towel! So simple.

I took this outside, because it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Wherever you do it though, put down something to protect the surface, it will soak through, and will stain whatever it is below… (yeah, my new patio now has a nice blue hue.)

Check out this post with 10 tips to keep messy play clean.

I put down three layers of paper towels.

We made colored water with a cup of water and food coloring.

Then with an eye dropper, the boys sucked up the water (pinching it) and then released it onto the paper towel.

Louis was the first one to do the paper towel art.

It took him a couple tries to get the hang of the eye dropper, but soon he mastered it.

We had a windy day, so I had to pin down the corners of the paper towels to keep them from blowing away. I just used our colored water cups.

Louis loved testing to see how far he could squirt the water.

We used three colors, red, blue and green.

You could make this about mixing colors if you’d like and only do two primary colors to see what they make when squirted on each other.

When George joined in, we added more canvases of paper towels.

I cannot believe that I don’t have any more eye droppers (so I’m ordering this pack, affiliate link).

In place of an eye dropper, we used cut up sponges. I had these from a long time ago when I made sponge bombs (have you seen them on Inner Child Fun?).

The sponges proved to be very, very messy for their hands (it does stain, so don’t be doing these before you’re heading off to a wedding that afternoon).

The boys took turns…. yeah, okay, I’ll be honest, they fought over who got to use the eye dropper. The sponge just wasn’t nearly as captivating.

But all in all, this paper towel art was super fun for them.

My kids will do anything to play with water… and food coloring is right behind that. So it was a definite win!

Plus the paper towels are super pretty in the end!

Just be sure to clean up your area as soon as you’re done to prevent as much staining as possible.

Paper Towel Art is Gloriously Fun for Everyone on handsonaswegrow.com

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FIRST PHOTOS: Titleist C16 Irons & Driver

Back in March, MyGolfSpy broke the story to the golfing world about Titleist entering the high-end market, and the effect and influence PXG was having on the "#1 Ball in Golf" company.  A few weeks later some images showed up on the USGA conforming club list.

Today the first in-hand photos have surfaced thanks to JapaneseGolfPro.  Titleist isn't known for having drivers that look ll that different from the USGA pics (black and white).  But, for those gear-heads that want to see a little red and shiny chrome here are the first pics in the wild of the $1,000 driver and irons.

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