Ogio Spry Cart Bag - 2011

While this is a big upgrade from my Dunlop Rebel II stand bag, I regret buying this bag instead of the Ogio Kingpin. It seemed fine in the store but in the field there are a few flaws that make this bag "not recommended" in my book.

A number of these pockets aren't as useful as they first seem; the garment pockets are large and well suited for my needs but the two pockets on the outside of each garment pocket are odd to say the least. The shapes that seem to be more intended for stylishness rather than usefulness. They include a hard molded pocket flap and a triangular pocket with a difficult zipper turn; don't count on putting much in them. The insulated cooler pocket is another "tick the checkbox" item: yes, there's an insulated cooler pocket but at best it can hold a 12 ounce water bottle. Unfortunately putting a bottle into the insulated pocket causes it to expand into the pocket below, reducing both size and accessibility considerably. Worse still, while the insulated pocket does have two convenient drain ports, it drains directly into the pocket below, which has -no- drain ports! All told the "true" useful pocket count is closer to six so don't count on having nine large pockets at your disposal.

Lastly, and most damning in my opinion, the openings in the 14 way top are too small to accommodate a club handle without some force on two of the compartments. I use standard sized grips on my clubs; if you use oversized grips there's a good chance that you won't be able to fit all 14 clubs in the bag. I had to use a mandrill to stretch out two of the dividers just to make the bag usable. (It's a shame when every time I pull out my hybrid I'm annoyed by this purchase)

Although I have yet to use it (golf season ends pretty early in the Great White North), my new Ogio Spry bag looks like it will do exactly what I need it to do - keep all of my clubs separated for the full length so they don't get tangled. My old bag didn't do this and I often had to fight my bag and clubs to get the right club out of the bag! I'm looking forward to golf in 2010 with my new bag!