Full length dividers, 5-way, 14 dividers, insulated pockets, tons of storage – whatever your poison, this year’s cart bag buyer’s guide covers everything you need to make an informed decision on what bag is best for your new season.

For 2016 we introduced more testers, more metrics and more refinements to overall score weighting from last year’s guide – we’ve picked out the best options for your cart bag lust. So, are you a push cart user, or a rider?

The 2016 Cart Bags:

BagBoy Chiller	Burton Premier Pro	Callaway Org 14	Cobra Tech F6	Cobra King
Cobra Ultralite	Datrek Lite Rider	Mizuno Tour Cart	Mizuno Elite Tour Saff	Nevr Looz NL Pro Clip
Nike Performance IV	Nike Sport IV	Ping Pioneer	Ping Rhapsody	Ping Traverse
Srixon Z	Sun Mountain C130	TaylorMade Catalina	TaylorMade San Clemente	TaylorMade Kalea
Wilson Nexus II

 

The Metrics:

We’re always fine tuning the process to make sure we’re collecting the best data possible – continuing that trend we’ve updated and refined this year’s analysis to bring you the best buying advice possible.

We utilized more testers than ever before, put in more hours of testing over multiple days with more metrics, creating more data.

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 counted and noted, and any special features were given consideration.

• Club Binding – Regardless of the number of dividers, this metric evaluates how much grip 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)

• 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, velcro glove patches, towel loops, strap pass-through, velour pocket, cooler storage, grab handles and any extra goodies. (10 possible points)

• Stability – With the bag free-standing and fully-loaded, how resistant is the bag to tipping. (5 possible points)

• Zippers – How easily do zippers open and close. (10 possible points)
• Push Cart Mounting – Bags were mounted on both a Bag Boy Quad and Clicgear 3.5+ and tested for ease of mounting and secure fit without twisting. (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.

Best Push Cart was selected from the three bags taking perfect scores in push cart scoring. Of those bags, the highest total scoring bag wins. (In this year’s case, the highest scoring bag already took best overall, so the second best overall score was awarded best Cart Bag)

Golf’s Most Wanted Cart Bags

Good: Every feature you need. The lack of club binding you demand. 15-way divider with individual putter well. Tons of storage and a pass-through loop.

Bad: Bad? Nothing about this bag is “bad”… but we’d take an extra towel loop if we had to be picky.

Notes: This bag was built for the cart bag connoisseur. If you like your golf bag to be thoroughly thought-out and to include everything along with loads of storage (am I the only guy who loses two sleeves of balls a round?), the Cobra Tech F6 is just the cart bag for you.

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Good: A pass-through strap you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t look twice. Ample storage. 14 dividers.

Bad: While it sits REALLY well on both our ClicGear and BagBoy test push carts, this bag could find itself sitting a little more snuggly with some work on the base.

Notes: After taking top honors last year, it’s no surprise to still see the Ping Pioneer II topping our charts. You wouldn’t go wrong putting your clubs and gear into this workhorse.

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Good: Enough storage to get the job done, but not so much that you’ll break your back loading her onto a push cart for a round of 36.

Bad: A separate putter well from the main club dividers would be great.

Notes: If you haven’t noticed Cobra lately, they have been working hard. Not only are they knocking it out of the park with their drivers, but they have taken their golf bags to another level at the same time. The King bag lines up with the rest of Cobra’s 2016 gear – it just plain works.

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