Carry Bag, Cart Bag or Staff Bag?

There is one question that decides this, and it is not about the bag at all.

Do you carry, or does something else carry for you?

Everything else — dividers, pockets, materials, colour — is detail you can settle afterwards. Get this wrong and you will be uncomfortable for four hours at a time, however good the bag is.

If you carry

You want a stand bag. Light, with two legs that swing out so the bag stands up on its own, and a proper two-strap harness that spreads the weight across both shoulders like a rucksack.

Weight is the whole game here. The difference between a light stand bag and a heavy one is a couple of kilograms, which sounds trivial until you have carried it for nine or ten kilometres in the sun. Pick the bag up in the shop, put the strap over both shoulders, and walk the length of the putting strip with it.

If you use a trolley

You want a cart bag. It is heavier, holds more, and has a base designed to sit flat and grip a trolley frame rather than legs that get in the way. Pockets face outward so you can reach them while the bag is strapped down — which sounds like a small thing and is the feature you will notice most.

If you do not own a trolley yet, buy one before you buy a premium bag. It changes your back nine far more than the bag does.

If someone else carries

A staff bag is the full-size option: fourteen full-length dividers, deep pockets, and no pretence of being light. Buy one if you take a caddie or your bag lives on a trolley permanently.

What the divider count actually changes

Dividers separate the clubs; full-length dividers separate them all the way down the bag. That second word is the one that matters.

Without full-length dividers the shafts rub together on every step. Over a season that wears the grips from the inside of the bag rather than the inside of your hand, and it makes pulling a club out noisier and slower than it should be.

Fourteen full-length dividers is a genuine luxury. Six to eight is fine for most golfers. Anything with no dividers at all is a mistake you will regret by the third round.

Pockets worth having

• A ventilated one. Wet gloves and towels have to dry somewhere that is not against your waterproofs.
• A valuables pocket, ideally lined and near the top. Phone, keys, wallet.
• An insulated sleeve. Water stays drinkable to the eighteenth in this climate. This matters more here than the marketing suggests.
• A rain hood, included rather than sold separately. A wet season will find every bag that does not have one.

The honest bit about price

A more expensive bag does not hold more clubs and will not save you a shot. What it buys is better zips, better stitching and a fabric that survives more seasons in the sun — and, if you are honest, sometimes just the way it looks on the first tee.

Both are legitimate reasons to buy. Just know which one you are paying for. Come and pick a few up off the floor — that tells you more in two minutes than any spec sheet.