Sun Mountain 3.5 Deluxe (AGC members-only edition) Review
11 Jun 2013
by Pete Wlodkowski of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Equipment Reviews
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For the past few years, I have been
carrying a golf bag barely big enough to fit
all 14 of my clubs. I figured it was worth
downsizing the bag to keep the overall weight
to a minimum. Boy was I wrong. Sun
Mountain
has a bag that provides the perfect
combination of features and ample space in a
lightweight bag.
Sun Mountain's 3.5 Deluxe carry bag is a
double-strapped wonder packed with so many
"wow, they thought of that too?"
features that I quickly forgot that the 3.5
refers to pounds, and that's about as light a
golf bag as you'll find.
Here are a few of the niceties that made
amateurgolf.com go exclusive with Sun
Mountain for our logo
bags, which we have just made available to
members of our Player Staff, and which are
available on a limited basis to our loyal
website members.
(get yours>)
PADDING &
BALANCE
I've never had a bag that was so easy to
adjust to a perfect balance point for my body
type. The strap system stays put once it's
set to the right length, and padding on the
back of the bag feels soft and natural.
POCKET DESIGN
A generous long side pocket fits a full rain
suit
with room to spare. Keep it empty, and it
stays tight to the bag. To me it's the best of
both worlds. (Even if I rode a cart every time
I played, I would still be fine with the 3.5
Deluxe and probably enjoy not lugging a
bigger
bag to and from the car.) A small lined
tee/accessory pocket
is easy to get to while walking, as are the ball
and glove pockets which surround the bottom
of the bag. A convenient pen holder is a nice
touch, as is the round plastic ring that I use to
clip my range finder, but which can be used
as a towel holder as well. (The main function
it
was designed for.)
CLUB ACCESS
I should have probably listed this first,
because this is what really floors me about the
3.5 Deluxe. Four well thought out openings
don't "over-sort" a set of 14 clubs
-- they provide just the right amount of space
and separation. They are fully isolated from
each other with heavy duty nylon sleeves,
making it easy to slide clubs in and out --
and
protecting graphite shafts -- no matter
how you choose to organize each section.
Both the top and bottom assemblies are
heavy duty (as is the nylon constructed bag
itself) and the zippers feel "built to
last."
CART STRAP
This one is genius. Rather than just putting
the nylon strap of a golf cart inside the
rubber
carry handle on the bag – which in
addition to covering the zippers can lead to a
lot of jiggling, particularly on older carts
– the 3.5 Deluxe provides a sleeve to
effortlessly thread the nylon cart strap
through, bringing the bag closer to the cart
and providing full access to the zippers where
you store important stuff like balls and tees.
I’m not suggesting that you avoid the
“good walk spoiled” but
let’s face it, riding is part of golf and
there is no reason to carry a bag that wilts
like a flower in Texas heat the minute
it’s strapped onto a golf cart.
To order an amateurgolf.com logo
(members of amateurgolf.com only please)
Sun
Mountain 3.5 Deluxe bag, click here.