Maybe you’ve seen the Sun Mountain Kube before. I hadn’t. New in 2019, a media friend of mine showed me one and I thought it was a suitcase.
“That’s my golf travel bag,” he corrected. (Seriously?) It was too small and cute for that to be true.
“That 12 x 12 cube fits all your golf clubs in it?”
It’s 14.5 x 13, but, yes, it does. The practicality blew my mind. It’s the first time I’ve ever sat and played with someone else’s golf bag like it was a puppy. ‘Wow,’ I thought, imagining the possibility of no more golf buddy trips with a cluster of bags all over. Hard shell on one side, padding on the other, looking like a block from Super Mario World, it’s an amazing concept and it works so perfectly.
Evaluation
NEW FEATURES: Sun Mountain’s newest travel bag meshes hard, ballistic-style nylon material with plastic half-shells to protect your clubs in a uniquely rock-soft utopia. Once you remove your clubs though, the bag gets even more practical, packing neatly into a lightweight (6.8 pound) cube.
DEFINING FEATURES: Golf travel bags can’t get much more practical, or portable, for that matter. With clubs inside, the heavily padded bag’s dimensions are 52" x 14" x 14", and with solid wheels it rolls easily in any direction. With clubs removed, the bag condenses into a tight, 9” x 13” x 14.5” cube in any of eight bold colors. Solid snaps lock the sides in place, and you could stack 12 of these in the trunk of a compact car. (Note: Squeezing 12 people into a compact car would overcorrect said lack of perspiration.)
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: Multiple materials, each with their own intentional and complimentary purpose make unfolding, packing, unpacking and folding-back-up all a breeze. (Someone at Sun Mountain got an A+ in physics, and hopefully a raise!) If the bag has a weakness, it’s that it lacks the middle padding and molded tray of their Clubgliders. If it has another weakness, it’s that it’s so cool looking it may get stolen. That’s bad if it happens, but good if your insurance gets you new clubs. (And another Kube bag.) There is no shoe pouch specifically, but that’s not necessarily a deterrent.
COMPARABILITY: As a frequent golf traveler, I’ve gone through several travel bags. My hard-shell cases have had failing clasps and broken wheels. The soft-shells have had wonky zippers and weakly stitched (easily worn) pressure points. Sun Mountain addressed and anticipated those faults well, placing extra fabric reinforcement in specific spots to prevent excessive wear and tear and by adding full-length, heavy-duty, two-way zippers. Is it better than the Clubglider? To be honest, they are actually incomparable.
COST AND VALUE: Retailing at $230, the bag isn't inexpensive. That said, novelty is certainly part of the price, and practicality is probably the rest. I don’t know what price I’d have put on one of these ($150 maybe) but I do know that I’m unlikely to need (or want) a different golf travel bag this decade so, that extra $80 is worth it to me.
This is a beast of no burden, except for the initial cost.
“Revolutionary” is an overused word when it comes to new product lines, but it fits properly here. I remain in awe of this carry bag and encourage everyone to check them out. I’m not sure how I’d react to someone coming up to play with my golf travel bag, but I’m thankful I did that myself, because it led me to owning this mini box of mucho mojo.
Eric Hart was provided equipment for review by the manufacturer.
