Welcome to I Tried It, a GOLF.com series about golf items — apparel, gear, accessories, etc. — that we’ve recently taken out for a spin. We’re here to give our honest, no-frills takes on the latest and greatest golf or golf-adjacent items. So, scroll down to read about what we love about golf’s newest (or new to us) products.
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In the pre-COVID days, I was concerned by one golf-bag trend: they just kept getting unnecessarily bigger. And I don’t just mean cart bags; even the lightest carry bags on the market were getting bigger and bigger.
Seriously, what do people plan to put in these things? A change of clothes plus lunch for the turn?
I don’t get it. To me, the only things a golf bag needs to hold are half a dozen golf balls, tees, ball markers, Sharpie marker, a glove, a towel, one rain jacket and, of course, 14 clubs. That’s it.
Thankfully, since the pandemic golf boom, we’ve seen more people walking again, which in my opinion, is the best way to play the game, and bag makers have followed the trends with smaller, lighter designs.
Some of my recent favorites have also leaned into a minimalist aesthetic, with form matching function.
Sun Mountain Matchplay Swift Sunday
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: Golf Galaxy, Amazon
With the Sun Mountain Matchplay Swift Sunday, we’ve got an uber premium and clean-looking bag that is also a walker’s dream.
The basics
The Matchplay Swift Sunday is a smaller version of Sun Mountain’s new Matchplay stand bag. It’s the company’s latest entrant into the premium bag space, which has been populated by the likes of Titleist, Vessel, and Stitch for a number of years. Lots of this style of golf bag has been popping up using vinyl materials that make the bag durable, but also very clean.
The downside is that these bags can be on the heavier side.
With the Matchplay Swift Sunday, Sun Mountain went really compact and consistent with the design, shrinking the top to just 5.25 inches, more than two inches smaller than the standard version with a 3-way top. The result is a bag that weighs 4.75 lbs, rather than the 5.4 lbs of the larger version.
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Despite its small stature, the bag still has six pockets: a full-length apparel pocket, a smaller valuables pocket on the side, a ball pocket, a range finder holder, a drink sleeve and a saddle pocket.
Basically, this bag is like you took a lightweight Sunday bag, attached a stand to it and switched to the vinyl material.
What we liked
Let’s get the first concern out of the way: Even with just a 5.25″ top, the Matchplay Swift Sunday fits 14 clubs without any issue. Throw in any more clubs and it will start to get clunky, but you’ll have no issues carrying a legal full set.
The styling of this bag is also very clean and very subdued. There are just four colorways available right now: black, navy, sand-almond and green-white. This is in contrast to Sun Mountain’s last luxury bag lineup, the mid-stripe collection, which was also very good, but featured lots of different color block styles. Nothing’s wrong with either; they’ve just taken a different direction and executed well once again.
The polished Sun Mountain badging on the apparel pocket is something new, and it’s very understated. It’s the smaller details like that and the stitching patterns on the apparel pocket and hip pads that give this bag a premium look.
Of course, carrying the bag is easy given the size, and it balances super well. With the included single strap attachment, this bag should be a caddie’s dream, and I intend to bring it everywhere I expect to need a caddie. Like the Mid-Stripe bags, the Matchplay bags have clips that allow you to interchange the double and single-strap attachments.
Another highlight for me is the very sturdy metal stand legs. Sometimes with smaller stand bags, companies will skimp out on the stand legs, but I think this is where Sun Mountain bags have stood out: I’ve never seen one bend. On my old Sun Mountain 2.5, the legs were made of carbon fiber; now they’ve gone to a heavier metal, it seems. I’d like to try and see American Airlines bend these legs!
What could improve
We’re being just a tad bit nitpicky here, but I’d love to see the valuables pocket on the right side be just a little longer. It’s just big enough to fit my iPhone, but that means it’s tough to get in and out when other things are in there, too.
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I have absolutely no issue with the two dividers, but with one section on top and two on the bottom, I think that’s a point that could be alleviated. Perhaps just two sections is all that is needed with such a small top. I used the bag once on a cart; that was the only time I had trouble pulling clubs in and out. Mostly, though, this bag is not designed with a rider in mind.
Lastly, while I get the single-strap appeal of being a small bag, if you’re going to put 14 clubs in this bag, it would be better offered with a double strap.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a premium-looking lightweight bag, look no further than the Sun Mountain Matchplay Swift Sunday.
The company is doing some really cool things in the golf bag space now with their recently released Eclipse series, and their new partnership with Joel Dahmen for him to use a Sun Mountain X Marucci collab stand bag on the PGA Tour.
But with the new Matchplay series, they really have an option for everyone who wants a premium bag and for a walker like me, the Swift Sunday fits the bill.
Sun Mountain Matchplay Swift Sunday
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: Golf Galaxy, Amazon
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