How to organise a golf bag

If you tend to arrange your golf clubs in a rather haphazard manner, you’re certainly not the only golfer to do so.

So long as there’s space to shove your wedge in, it doesn’t matter where it goes, right? Wrong. It matters, as does making the best use of all the pockets and storage space your golf bag provides. Here’s our guide on how to arrange your golf bag, helping you focus on your game and keep all your golf gear in tip-top condition.

How to organise a golf bag

Table of contents

1. Clubs
2. Clothing
3. Balls
4. Accessories
5. Valuables
6. Refreshments

Clubs

Let’s start with your sticks. We can’t stress enough just how important it is to organise these correctly. The last thing you want to be doing when you’re facing a difficult shot, or if you’re getting pressure from the group behind to hurry up, is to be rooting around frantically for your club of choice. Not only that, a disorganised bag looks… well, messy.

Modern golf bags offer a range of top cuffs to facilitate club organisation – from the 14-way with full-length dividers to the 4 or 5-way Tour Bag style top. Whatever design you have, the general consensus is that the longest clubs should sit nearest to the longest section of the bag (the spine), moving downwards to the shorter clubs. If your woods sit at the bottom of the bag, the shafts receive less protection (they tend to poke outwards more). Secondly, they get buffeted by the irons above them. So, woods up top, moving down to wedges at the bottom. Simple.

If you have a classic 4-way top bag, we suggest the following split: two woods/metals and a hybrid/long iron in the top, three irons middle right, three irons middle left, and four short irons in the wide bottom.

Not everyone agrees on where the putter should go. However, as it’s the shortest club in the bag, this should reside alongside the woods and longer clubs up top where it’s easily accessible. It’s where you’ll more often than not find the oversized putter well, which some bags have. 

Clothing

Today’s golf bags have ample storage space and numerous pockets, most of which have a certain purpose – so it makes sense to organise all your gear in the correct space.

Most bags offer at least one full-length apparel pocket for storing clothes–your waterproofs, spare mid-layer, jumper, gilet, and so on. This pocket should be used purely to store clothes, nothing else. Tees, balls, pitch mark repairers–none of these belong here–they have their own place to live, as do balls, food and valuables.

Fold up or roll up what you have and stow it away neatly; that way, this pocket won’t become a jumbled mess.

Balls

Most bags have a separate ball pouch. Only you know how many is enough, but the more you carry, the greater the weight you end up lugging around. Keep your golf balls separate and within their own pouch, as loose ones will cause discomfort when you’re carrying, and they take up unnecessary space elsewhere.  

Accessories

Most of us have more accessories now than we’ve ever had, and there’s often a designated spot in the bag for these, too.

Let’s start with those items that we all have, or at least we should have: tees, markers and that crucial item, the pitch mark repairer. These accessories tend to go well together, and you could probably throw pencils and the good old Sharpie pen into the mix. Some bags have a marker pen sheath, which is handy.

One of the most important golf accessories is the glove; they might have their own space, so this is something you should utilise, thus keeping it in good shape, so it performs well for longer. You should never just throw your glove back in whatever pocket you unzip first, especially if it’s wet.

Umbrellas are best stored on the side of the bag, in their own slot. If your bag doesn’t have one, the next best location is alongside the woods and long irons. 

Valuables

Most golf bags have a valuables pouch to help keep your smaller, personal belongings safe. Use it, because nothing quite spoils a round like a £500 lost phone, even if you do have a Golf Care insurance policy. These pockets are often luxuriously lined with velour or ermine, and the best ones are waterproof, making them the best place to store your wallet, phone and car keys.

Refreshments

We’ve all made the mistake of leaving a sandwich or a banana in our golf bag for a week or two – it’s not a pretty sight or smell. Keep your consumable solids in one of your spare side pockets, ideally one that’s insulated. Most bags now have a water bottle pouch or holder, but if yours doesn’t, make sure you screw the top on tightly. The main thing is to keep food and drink separate from your clothing and accessories.

Specialist golf insurance from Golf Care

Playing golf this summer? Now you know how to organise your bag, you also need to think about insurance.

At Golf Care, our golf insurance includes Equipment cover up to £7,500, Public Liability up to £10m and much more. It’s also underpinned by our very own ‘Ripe Guarantee’, which promises great cover and exceptional service at a price you can afford.

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