huyhuyhuy

Hello, friends! I spent this Spring / Summer going all-in to build my dream bag and thought it was finally time to share it. MGS Most Wanted and club reviews heavily determined which clubs I opted to buy and almost every club in my bag is there because MGS considers them to be a top 3 performer for its club type or my swing speed. I tried my best to avoid any brand loyalty and build this bag to optimize my performance...while looking cool as hell. I've broken down the total costs with a handful of lucky deals that led me here. Hope you enjoy the tour! The Bag: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2+ - Red Bull Edition - $950 Not a lot to talk about here - TaylorMade announced a Red Bull driver, I bought a Red Bull driver. I did luck into a great deal on the shaft and was able to snag a Ventus Blue TR 6S for $200 from a local seller! Putter: Custom Bettinardi BB0 - $3,000 This is, without a doubt, the star of my bag. Bettinardi took my putter concept and brought it to life. One of the cool details here is that the BB0 headshape is a Hive/Tour exclusive, but was offered to me because they had an issue with their BB1 heads. The putter also came with a baller marker, Wizard headcover, and towel which are all great quality. Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4 thru P) - $2,175 I ordered these irons from @kingpinegolf and I'm thrilled with how they look and perform. The 4 and 5 iron have Fujikura Axiom shafts while the rest of the irons have KBS C-Taper Lites. The grips are from Rip It Grips and I painted the heads myself using G-Paint. Wood / Hybrid: Sub 70 949X - $390 These are holdovers from my previous build. I've always had Sub 70 in my bag in some form and I imagine these clubs, or a future version of them, will always be in my bag. Both clubs have upgraded shafts and I was able to buy them while Sub 70 ran a 20% off promotion. Wedges: SM10 50 12F, 54 08M, 58 08M - $370 I got incredibly lucky on these clubs. I was originally gaming Kirkland wedges and didn't have much intention on replacing them. However, this past June, I visited a friend in the Air Force and was able to golf at Eisenhower Golf Club - the Air Force Academy course. The green and cart fee here totaled $108 for civilians, but they ran a promotion where they waived both fees if you spent $150 in the pro shop. I bought the 54 without thinking twice. A month later, another friend invited me to play in a charity scramble tournament where we finished 2nd in our flight and earned myself a $100 gift card to the pro shop where I grabbed the 58. After that, I bought the 50 to complete the set. The laser etching designs were done locally for $25ea. I will note that I hadn't ever gamed high-end wedges before this and figured that I would just replace my Kirkland wedges with another set of Kirks because of value. I'm really impressed with the SM10s though and feel like the feedback helps my game a ton. Titleist may have a customer for life here. Final thoughts: Ultimately, I don't think I'll be making changes throughout the bag for years to come. I'm playing my best golf right now and I'm hoping to keep bringing my scores down.

The story is that TaylorMade released a line of Red Bull Racing clubs and accessories last Summer and I had some money burning a hole in my pocket.

Introduction: This past Spring Bad Birdie and Vessel teamed up again to release two golf bags. I'm a sucker for flowers and needed a stand bag, so I decided to pull the trigger on a premium golf bag. The Good: The design/prints are clear and well done. There was a bit of concern that the print could turn out pixelated, but the bag generally receives a compliment every other time I'm on the range/course. The bag's been a real statement piece and definitely does the job grabbing attention. The leather holds up well in wet weather. I've played one round while it hailed/rained and while some pockets got a bit damp (the magnetic pockets in particular), the bag itself held up incredibly well. I was really impressed that the leather didn't soak up the water at all and it certainly felt like a premium item in that moment. Snappy magnets & velvet lines. The bag features magnets for the rangefinder pocket and 2 cupholders around the ball pocket. It actually took me a couple weeks to realize the cupholders were even there because the bag also has an insulated pocket for cold drinks. Since learning about the magnetic cupholders though, I haven't gone back. The velvet pocketing provides a nice sense of security that my rangefinder and phone are less likely to be scratched in the bag. Ball pocket holds more than 48 golf balls. I didn't test how many it can hold exactly, but I did empty 16 sleeves in and there's still a bit of room for a few more! The Bad: Ball pocket is zipper lined rather than magnetic. This may be picky, but I thought it was strange that Vessel opted to use two zippers for the ball pocket since magnets appear elsewhere on the bag. This is both less convenient and less attractive than a magnetic option would've been. It may be worth noting that Vessel's latest stand bag, the Carbon Lux, does offer a magnetic ball pocket. Plastic parts for the straps make it feel less premium. Throughout the bag, Vessel used metal where possible to establish the Player IV as a top shelf bag. So it was really strange that the shoulder straps used plastic parts over and over. $600 price tag. The good news here is that I was able to apply a 15% discount code at checkout, but after taxes this bag still ran $550. Conclusion: Ultimately, I wanted a loud bag with all the bells and whistles, and, for the most part, Bad Birdie and Vessel delivered. I'm happy with the bag and if I could go back, I'd make the purchase again. I think it'd feel fair to rate this bag an 8/10 for me, but Bad Birdie and Vessel were incredibly close to putting out a 10 here.