“Why wasn’t this golf travel bag invented about 20 years ago?” That’s the first sentence that came out of my mouth the second I started carting around my new Sun Mountain ClubGlider Journey around the Salt Lake City International Airport a couple of weeks ago. I really could have used this ease when I was huffing my clubs in and out of airports on my big golf trip to St. Andrews, Scotland last summer. By the time I got to St. Andrews my right shoulder was very sore from bearing the weight of my golf bag.
Overview
The ClubGlider Journey is the newest and lightest model in the ClubGlider series of golf travel bags from Sun Mountain. The ClubGlider Journey is similar to many golf travel bags with the bottom half being a hard shell tray and the top half soft. That’s where the similarities end.
The Journey has a 2nd set of integrated retractable wheels which fold into the bottom tray for storage and travel. The legs extend and lock into place when moving the bag around airports and parking lots. With the four wheel setup, ALL of the travel bag’s weight is supported without the help of the schlepper. All the schlepper (bag carrier) needs to do is hold the handle at the top of the bag and guide the bag in whatever direction he’s going.
Ease Of Use
I can’t tell you how great this bag is, with the weight being held up by the wheels rather than my shoulder. The wheels roll so easily, even over some not-so-smooth terrain like cobblestones. Check out the video I shot in the parking lot of the Rosen in Orlando a few weeks ago which shows how easy the bag is to move around. In the video below you can see that I’m literally carting my golf travel bag around with ONE finger.
I feel bad that I used my forefinger in this video. I should have used my pinky for an even more dramatic effect.
Journeys with the Journey are great!
Lightweight
My now former golf travel bag was heavy. It was always scary when getting to the airport check-in counter, worrying that I’d be topping the 50 pound mark and having to pay a $100 or $150 fee. I always floated around 49-50 pounds, and sometimes had to take my golf shoes out of the bag and carry them on the plane to get the bag under 50 pounds.
The ClubGlider Journey weighs in at 12.8 pounds. When throwing the same gear into the Journey which hovered around 50 pounds with my old travel bag, I weighed in at 43 pounds. No worries. In fact I can pack extra stuff in there now.
The Journey folds nicely for storage! click to zoom
Storage
When not in use, the ClubGlider Journey folds into a fairly small and flat package (photo right).
Conclusion
I won’t dread carting my golf travel bag around the world again! I need to schedule another trip to St. Andrews so I can compare the ease of use with the ClubGlider Journey (and perhaps get a couple of rounds in at the Home of Golf.).
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
Appears to be a gret bag for travel. Indeed, why wasn’t it invented 20 years ago…or even 40??? Mike K.