The Missoula, Montana-based company has been a leader in providing lightweight, durable, and attractive bags and carts since 1981. I’ve owned a number of them, and have always been impressed with how they stand behind their products — they once sent me a wheel assembly for a travel bag at no charge when it was well out of warranty.
Like most of the golf equipment industry, golf accessory companies like Sun Mountain were affected by supply chain issues. All those new and returning golfers needed golf bags to carry their weapons, and for a while the shelves of retail stores were bare. That issue has largely gone away, giving Sun Mountain’s designers time to work on a product line that forms the perfect marriage of nostalgia and functionality.
When I got my first glimpse at the Mid Stripe collection, I knew that despite owning more than a half dozen bags, I needed to get not only the golf bag but the matching Boston bag as well.
“What color do you want?” asked the Sun Mountain rep when I told him. “The one in the picture,” I replied.
That’s because the photograph was of a gorgeous combo of white and grey, with crimson stripes embroidered in the middle sections of each product (thus the Mid Stripe name). I always love any bag in white, and my high school colors were grey and crimson. So that struck a chord with me, who graduated high school right about the time that Sun Mountain was formed.
What goes around comes around, and today’s new breed of golfers seem a lot more style-conscious as they hit the links. Gorgeous bag and leather or knit head cover combinations have shown up, draped in custom towels. There’s even a market for custom covers for alignment sticks.
On the golf bag side, you can go with a completely unstructured leather bag and look like Old Tom Morris walking the fairways. But when you lay it down in the morning dew, it will pick up weight. And try and put it on a cart, and getting clubs in and out becomes a chore.
Sun Mountain’s Mid Stripe bags are the best of both worlds. With seven highly functional pockets (two of them lined) and a built-in sturdy handle on the top, Mid Stripe bags don’t give up any function for their attractiveness. You’ve got a pocket for a range finder, your Sharpie, and you can choose between single or double strap depending on your preference.
MATCHING BOSTON BAG
The matching Boston bag is gorgeous; just the perfect size to fit everything you need for a long weekend golf junket. But wait, there’s more. When I started playing with the zippers I realized that there are two really ample sections, one for shoes and the other for clothes. It’s a great value at $249.99.
The real kicker is when you set these two beauties down together. Unpack at Bandon Dunes and when your friends come by the room they are going to want to know where you got this gorgeous combo.