REVIEW: Titleist Sent Me This New Bag To Walk 9 Holes With…

Titleist sent me the StaDry 4 Stand Bag several weeks ago to test and review, and I was more than impressed with it during a way-too-early review that basically highlighted what there was to offer at face value. Coming from last year’s model, I was impressed: the look was better, the space was more plentiful, and the size was sleek and maneuverable for a cart or for a walk. I tested the latter today during a walk on nine of the most hilly and uneven courses in my area: Bridgewater Golf Club.

A little background on BGC: I played there roughly six years ago for the first time when it was called Springwood Golf Course. It was 18 holes of tight fairways, thick rough, and some of the most interesting layouts for a course I’ve played, even to this day. I can vividly remember hitting holes on the back nine and thinking: am I even in Pennsylvania anymore?

Fast forward to 2020, and it was Bridgewater Golf Club. It was the height of the pandemic, and a lot had changed. The attached restaurant was different, the owner was a PGA Professional who had a great personality, and it was trimmed down to nine of the most locally-located holes as the rest of the course was bought by a commercial real estate developer (something that is all too well known in my area now, unfortunately). The owner had put two flags on each green, so when you made the turn, you had a different pin location to go after. You also played from a different tee box the second time around.

Since 2020, the course has been owned by three different people, and the current ones have it in the best shape it has been in for a while. I filmed a significant portion of the round and tried to get my thoughts about the bag out as best as I could, and while the course may not look like much, it is pretty crazy to see how much it has changed, and there is no doubt in my mind it will continue to get better.

Now, Bridgewater is nine holes, nine pins, and in the best shape it has been in since 2020. It is hilly, it is tiring, and it is a tough place to play, especially when you’re walking, which is exactly why I picked it for this review.

I wanted to see how light this bag really was when it was a full bag of 14 clubs, balls, range finders, and water to drink, as the day I chose to do the review, it was 88 degrees outside, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

In the first review, I did my best to highlight what the new bag encompassed: more storage, a better look, obvious waterproofing, and slightly different Titleist branding. My main focus for this review was the walking, and this is how I feel about it now.

According to my Whoop, I walked 3.4 miles and burned 1,010 calories. My Strain Score (for the Whoop users reading this article) was 14.6.

And although this was my first bit of golf walking, it will certainly not be my last, and the biggest part of it was this bag for sure. It was light, agile, and not overly strenuous to carry. There were parts of my walk on the Bridgewater 9 that were long, hilly, uneven, and hot. However, I never thought that the nine-hole stretch was something I wouldn’t do again.

It really was an ideal choice, and I could not imagine doing this with my Titleist 14 Cart Bag, which is huge, bulky, and obviously not suitable for this type of thing.

If I had to complain about something, it would be the shoulder straps, and I would just like a tad more padding on them, but I think I could get over it. In fact, I’m somewhat convinced it was more of the “not used to walking” and not the comfort level or quality of the straps themselves.

The Titleist StaDry 4 Carry Bag is $295 on Titleist’s website. It comes in a variety of colors, so there’s a little something for everyone there. I highly recommend it, and I think it is something I will absolutely use for my future walking rounds, even if they will likely be few and far between.

Cover Image Via Joey Klender