Stitch Golf SL2 Golf Bags - 2023 Forum Review

[josmi15]

Bump.  I've added my first impression, plus a pic in the thread.  If you have any suggestions or ideas on what you want us testers to do, please respond.  I've done everything to this bag besides dragging it behind my car for 3 miles.

[KC Golf]

1 hour ago, josmi15 said:

Bump.  I've added my first impression, plus a pic in the thread.  If you have any suggestions or ideas on what you want us testers to do, please respond.  I've done everything to this bag besides dragging it behind my car for 3 miles.

A few Testers have mentioned the pockets are tight or too small.  Any chance you can put 2 or so 3 ball packs into the ball pocket or put a phone or wallet in the valuables pocket or put a range finder into a convenient pocket and take some pics.  Would like to see how small or “unworkable” these pockets are.  Thank you in advance.

[josmi15]

1 hour ago, KC Golf said:

A few Testers have mentioned the pockets are tight or too small.  Any chance you can put 2 or so 3 ball packs into the ball pocket or put a phone or wallet in the valuables pocket or put a range finder into a convenient pocket and take some pics.  Would like to see how small or “unworkable” these pockets are.  Thank you in advance.

I put my wifes iPhone, we have the 14, it does sink about an 2 inches, so you have to fish it out.  I wouldn't recommend a sleeve of balls, with the box.  i think it would tear up the cooler pocket.

 

Hope this gives you an idea

 

[KC Golf]

14 hours ago, josmi15 said:

I put my wifes iPhone, we have the 14, it does sink about an 2 inches, so you have to fish it out.  I wouldn't recommend a sleeve of balls, with the box.  i think it would tear up the cooler pocket.

 

Hope this gives you an idea

 

Thanks for the pic.   Is that where you would put your rangefinder?  Is there another valuables pocket for a phone?

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

15 hours ago, KC Golf said:

A few Testers have mentioned the pockets are tight or too small.  Any chance you can put 2 or so 3 ball packs into the ball pocket or put a phone or wallet in the valuables pocket or put a range finder into a convenient pocket and take some pics.  Would like to see how small or “unworkable” these pockets are.  Thank you in advance.

I still need to play with the pockets a bit more, but have some insight so far (didn't take pictures, but definitely can do that soon):

Ball boxes: I put 4 sleeves in the ball pocket to start, and they fit fine, but made the water bottle pocket seem very tight. But...I didn't actually try to put a bottle in with that many balls in there - reduced the balls to 9 and emptied the boxes before playing. I do see others having more success with 6 balls, but that's normally not enough for me - in a standard 18 hole round, I routinely go through 4 balls simply due to scuffing from normal shots (and then there's OB, trees, cart paths, etc. that can add to that count). 

Valuables pocket: Pixel 6 Pro + Ridge Wallet + flat travel hand sanitizer (thanks for adding to my bag contents #COVID) --> very tight, could barely get the zipper closed (need to try without the sanitizer - didn't remember it was in there until we were already on the course). For the last round, I just put the phone into a scorecard holder and left it in my back pocket so that the other things fit well, which is convenient for our use of The Grint anyway.

Water Bottle pocket: sadly, forgot my actual water bottle, which was not a good move on a 90+ degree day... But it does feel small. I put a slim can in a koozie, and even that I had to wiggle a bit to get in. I'm guessing it's just competing with the remaining balls (only ~6 left at that point), so will have to try with fewer balls + the 18oz Yeti this weekend.

Larger pocket: disorganized (probably because I need to narrow what I carry in this bag), and... it feels tighter than it is. Once past the zipper, there's actually a solid amount of storage space, but the actual opening feels pretty narrow. 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

15 hours ago, josmi15 said:

I put my wifes iPhone, we have the 14, it does sink about an 2 inches, so you have to fish it out.  I wouldn't recommend a sleeve of balls, with the box.  i think it would tear up the cooler pocket.

 

Hope this gives you an idea

 

Isn't that the water bottle pocket?

[josmi15]

47 minutes ago, ChiefMikeOfficer said:

Isn't that the water bottle pocket?

yes, but there was a question about using it for possibly using it for your phone or extra balls.  

[josmi15]

1 hour ago, KC Golf said:

Thanks for the pic.   Is that where you would put your rangefinder?  Is there another valuables pocket for a phone?

I use GolfLogix on my phone.  So I just keep that in my back pocket to get my distances, while walking.  The valuables pocket I put my wallet and my car keys.  I found that it putting all 3 in there i couldn't zip it up.  

[josmi15]

5 minutes ago, josmi15 said:

yes, but there was a question about using it for possibly using it for your phone or extra balls.  

and maybe i misunderstood the original question, (i just reread it) but when i saw it last night, i ran out and grabbed my wifes phone just trying to utilize as much as i could.  my apologies. but yes, i personally have a water bottle for it. 

[PeterHenric]

So I have an update on the pockets. I went and did a little comparative research on some other stand bags. In particular, the valuables pocket on the SL2 is very comparable to the valuables pocket on a Titleist stand bag. Not very big, not easy to get anything of size into or out of. Not to be used on the course repeatedly. Put your valuables in there and don't touch them again until the round is over or you see the cart lady and need your wallet.

The water bottle pocket could be used for a phone or a rangefinder but then you can't carry a water bottle unless it has a tether to attach to the top rail of the bag. Best to just use the water bottle pocket for a water bottle.

The other 2 pockets are okay in size depending on how much you are going to carry. The bag is not designed or inteded to carry all of your stuff you normally would. It could be a good travel bag...

The zippers feel high quality but are quite "firm" in the zipping and unzipping. Not easy to quickly open and close.

The pockets don't have any expandability to them. On the water bottle side, anything you put in the adjoining "ball" pocket just makes it harder to get the water bottle in/out. If you have a water bottle in there, it can be hard to get anything in/out of the "ball" pocket. The bigger pocket on the other side doesn't have any competing pockets so it's a little easier to use assuming you don't have the rain hood in there. Rain isn't a concern out here in Vegas so we always just take it out and pretty much forget about it. If you need to keep the rain hood with you, there isn't much room left in that pocket. IMO, That would probably be the pocket to put a rangefinder in.

 

[Q22Golf]

My experience is similar to @PeterHenric‘s so far. The pockets are great when keeping in mind Stitch Golf is marketing this as a “weekend warrior golfer” bag. They don’t say it but to me that means traveling for golf, etc. where you might pack lighter. 
 

I haven’t benchmarked as much of what I’m where fits but when you look at the pockets, you quickly see you won’t fit all that you want. It definitely fits a round’s necessities though. 
 

Material and craftsmanship is also solid. There isn’t a part of this bag I have yet that I feel was shorted. Zippers are high quality. Pockets are fit well to the core bag. Strap clips are great. High quality all around. 
 

[KC Golf]

2 hours ago, PeterHenric said:

So I have an update on the pockets. I went and did a little comparative research on some other stand bags. In particular, the valuables pocket on the SL2 is very comparable to the valuables pocket on a Titleist stand bag. Not very big, not easy to get anything of size into or out of. Not to be used on the course repeatedly. Put your valuables in there and don't touch them again until the round is over or you see the cart lady and need your wallet.

The water bottle pocket could be used for a phone or a rangefinder but then you can't carry a water bottle unless it has a tether to attach to the top rail of the bag. Best to just use the water bottle pocket for a water bottle.

The other 2 pockets are okay in size depending on how much you are going to carry. The bag is not designed or inteded to carry all of your stuff you normally would. It could be a good travel bag...

The zippers feel high quality but are quite "firm" in the zipping and unzipping. Not easy to quickly open and close.

The pockets don't have any expandability to them. On the water bottle side, anything you put in the adjoining "ball" pocket just makes it harder to get the water bottle in/out. If you have a water bottle in there, it can be hard to get anything in/out of the "ball" pocket. The bigger pocket on the other side doesn't have any competing pockets so it's a little easier to use assuming you don't have the rain hood in there. Rain isn't a concern out here in Vegas so we always just take it out and pretty much forget about it. If you need to keep the rain hood with you, there isn't much room left in that pocket. IMO, That would probably be the pocket to put a rangefinder in.

 

Thanks Testers for looking into this pocket issue for me. 

The answers are very helpful.  Good luck with the ongoing testing. 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

On 8/23/2023 at 5:12 PM, KC Golf said:

A few Testers have mentioned the pockets are tight or too small.  Any chance you can put 2 or so 3 ball packs into the ball pocket or put a phone or wallet in the valuables pocket or put a range finder into a convenient pocket and take some pics.  Would like to see how small or “unworkable” these pockets are.  Thank you in advance.

Alright alright alright, I played a bit more with the pockets last night and took a few pictures of different contents. Here we go: 

Water Bottle + Small (Ball?) Pocket

Until I got a bag that had a separate ball pocket, I always used this one for balls and tees; with the separate ball pocket, my main use for this pocket is gloves and other soft goods (koozies, scorecard holders, etc.). So, with the SL2, I went back to balls+tees. With 8 unboxed balls, which is how this session started (yes, there is a glove in there because...habit):

 

Still lots of room, but that's me pulling the pocket open pretty hard. Now, the water bottle basically splits the pocket in two -- yes, those balls remain in there in this pic: 

As requested, with two sleeves of balls -- this made it a bit of a fight to get the water bottle in, because the boxes take up more space, and the water bottle hits the tops of the boxes on the way in (need to maneuver it past the boxes): 

 

Valuables Pocket

As I noted before, my Pixel 6 Pro plus a wallet and pocket-sized sanitizer basically filled this pocket up. If I were to pick a spot that's not hanging from my bag that allows "easy" access to my Rangefinder, this is the pocket I'd pick (also like to protect that thing, so the lining helps with that too). This is with my Bushnell Hybrid in there, which mostly fills it up -- if rangefinder is in there, can't really use it for other things, so I'm choosing not the put the rangefinder in there (in contrast, I think the Jones has two valuables pockets, and I used one of those for the rangefinder, specifically the one that was close to this pocket): 

And, with my old phone only, a Pixel 4 XL (needed to use the 6 Pro to take the picture...so old phone it is) -- in order to fit and close the pocket, it needs to be angled. It does not fit horizontally, and this is vertical. There's a little more room in there for a wallet and other small things, but not a ton (can try other configurations later too, but I thought the rangefinder and phone were reflective of pocket size): 

 

Big / "Clothing?" Pocket

Didn't do a lot to this one for the pocket test, because there really is a lot of room in there. But since it's just one big thing, it's just all jumbled together / disorganized (and any attempt at organization just kinda undoes itself as I start using things from the pocket). I'm still thinking of ways to add organization to it -- to start, I used this as an excuse to buy a Glove Keeper/Caddy (which is on the way), but need to think of other ways too. Like the small pocket, this is me pulling it open pretty hard: 

 

[KC Golf]

6 hours ago, ChiefMikeOfficer said:

Alright alright alright, I played a bit more with the pockets last night and took a few pictures of different contents. Here we go: 

Water Bottle + Small (Ball?) Pocket

Until I got a bag that had a separate ball pocket, I always used this one for balls and tees; with the separate ball pocket, my main use for this pocket is gloves and other soft goods (koozies, scorecard holders, etc.). So, with the SL2, I went back to balls+tees. With 8 unboxed balls, which is how this session started (yes, there is a glove in there because...habit):

 

Still lots of room, but that's me pulling the pocket open pretty hard. Now, the water bottle basically splits the pocket in two -- yes, those balls remain in there in this pic: 

As requested, with two sleeves of balls -- this made it a bit of a fight to get the water bottle in, because the boxes take up more space, and the water bottle hits the tops of the boxes on the way in (need to maneuver it past the boxes): 

 

Valuables Pocket

As I noted before, my Pixel 6 Pro plus a wallet and pocket-sized sanitizer basically filled this pocket up. If I were to pick a spot that's not hanging from my bag that allows "easy" access to my Rangefinder, this is the pocket I'd pick (also like to protect that thing, so the lining helps with that too). This is with my Bushnell Hybrid in there, which mostly fills it up -- if rangefinder is in there, can't really use it for other things, so I'm choosing not the put the rangefinder in there (in contrast, I think the Jones has two valuables pockets, and I used one of those for the rangefinder, specifically the one that was close to this pocket): 

And, with my old phone only, a Pixel 4 XL (needed to use the 6 Pro to take the picture...so old phone it is) -- in order to fit and close the pocket, it needs to be angled. It does not fit horizontally, and this is vertical. There's a little more room in there for a wallet and other small things, but not a ton (can try other configurations later too, but I thought the rangefinder and phone were reflective of pocket size): 

 

Big / "Clothing?" Pocket

Didn't do a lot to this one for the pocket test, because there really is a lot of room in there. But since it's just one big thing, it's just all jumbled together / disorganized (and any attempt at organization just kinda undoes itself as I start using things from the pocket). I'm still thinking of ways to add organization to it -- to start, I used this as an excuse to buy a Glove Keeper/Caddy (which is on the way), but need to think of other ways too. Like the small pocket, this is me pulling it open pretty hard: 

 

This is Exactly what I was looking for… this looks comparable to my Titleist bag.  But it has a lot more style… A Big Thank You! I really appreciate the time it took to do this stuff.  I think it’s really helpful.

I really like the marker holder and the water bottle holder.  It looks great! 

[Q22Golf]

I went out for another round today with the Stitch Golf SL2 Fadeaway. Overall the quality continues to shine. The double straps have lots of padding to make it comfortable. You really notice how light it is overall too. Not a lot of noise coming from the bag or clubs (some but not a lot). 

Since pockets have been a focus given it is a weekend warrior bag, I took a bit of time with them. I tried out storing smaller items in my valuables pocket and stored my valuables in my Full Metal Markers bag. This worked well - I could put the FMM bag in the bigger pocket and trust not losing any valuables. My valuables include wallet, keys, ring, pocket knife, and chapstick. I use my phone for yardage and scoring so it is kept in my back pocket as I walk. 

The water bottle pocket is for sure small. Using a tall, Miir water bottle, it was a tight fit. I feel it very well may be designed for the standard plastic water bottle. This also meant the water bottle bumped me with ever step. This wasn't comfortable to start but after awhile I became numb to it. When I explored why, I could tell that the water bottle pocket steals room from the small pocket behind it. So when I adjusted how my golf balls were sitting there, the water bottle fit better.

 

Overall I am still really liking the bag!

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

Took it out again today, and quickly realized I'm terrible at taking on-course pics (which is weird considering the phone is in my pocket and I take it out every hole to track scoring...), so here's a few behind the 9th green. Consistent with the last few outings - very light, comfortable, and stylish (got a few compliments too). Packed lighter today, and also switched up the storage with the glove caddy and a travel bag for the sunscreen, so the big pocket isn't as sloppy. 

Started to develop a squeak, mostly when single-strap carrying (still using the double, but often go one-strap on shorter distances) - it mostly goes away when putting the second strap on. I'll try swapping the straps around to see if that persists.

Club section still seems very roomy - surprising for a small 4-way bag like this, so that's impressive. 

~10 days left in the test, and one thing I definitely haven't tested: the umbrella holder. That's not a big thing for me because I'm mostly a fair weather player and took a hiatus from tournaments this year... But it's probably important to you all reading this, so I'll try to get a carry round in with the umbrella. Unfortunately I'm unlikely to get a cart round in until the test is over, but I do have one lined up for the 22nd, so I'll make sure to add a post for that (assuming it doesn't get rained out). 

[PeterHenric]

Bump!

The final reviews are pouring in. Check mine out. 

 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

Final Review is up! 

I took it out for one last walking round over the weekend, and really tested the limits of storage -- my 4-year-old was my walking buddy "carrying his own bag", which of course meant I needed to carry both for 7/9 holes and also needed to stash things of his in each of our bags (snacks, water, his headcovers that keep falling off, etc.). And it reinforced that storage is the big downside to this bag -- I got his putter cover into the Stitch, but the driver (which is really FW size to fit his club) would not fit alongside it, at least not without crushing or folding them. This is also the round where I swapped to a new water bottle that I expected to fit better -- the Sic Cups Mickelson Jump bottle (taller and slimmer, I think 27oz) -- well, it didn't help, and actually made the experience worse because the top of the bottle kept jabbing into my hip while walking (so...water bottle really needs to be short and slim). Some last-minute photos of the bag in action: 

And then, a swing vid from the kid:

 

 

 

 

[Q22Golf]

My final review is up! This was truly a fun experience - thank you MGS for the opportunity! And thank you readers for the interaction...keep it coming! As you consider this bag let us know what questions you have...or better yet, as you buy it, let us know what you think! I am going to play it so I will share a few updates in the last 1-2 months of midwest golf season. 

Golf on!

 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

Alright alright -- promised I'd play the bag for a cart round and send an update, so here goes: played in a scramble yesterday, and kept this bag in play. It's consistent with prior experiences -- the cart made little difference. 

Considering it was a fun brewery scramble, I kept a lot of things out of the bag naturally -- speaker, cooler, etc., which means I didn't need that much storage in the bag (which is good, because...we've been over this). The bag fit nicely on the cart, and the things I needed to access were right there. Really, the cart round changed nothing with my perception of the bag, just showed that it's consistent in performance regardless of carrying vs. riding. 

Some quick pics (and yup, just remembered right now that my alignment stick cover is from Stitch!!): 

 

That basically does it for me with this test. When I got home, I unloaded the bag and reloaded my Vessel, immediately re-recognizing how many features the Vessel has that the Stitch lacks. Again, the Stitch bag has a place, it's just hard for me -- this weekend, I plan to hand it off to my dad, who is in his low 70s and still likes to carry, and I think this will be great for him, I'm just not there. I would've used this with a caddy at Whistling this fall, but my dumb dumb friend didn't sign us up on time (sound harsh? Well, it's not really - he had all the info he needed, just dragged his feet thinking it wouldn't fill up), so I'm just letting my dad keep it for now. 

[Q22Golf]

A few more walking rounds. Overall the Stitch Golf SL2 Fadeaway is a solid bag. I haven't changed my opinion on it - I will continue to use this bag for my weekly rounds. Some highlights that keep coming around for me...

• I'm IN LOVE with how light it is. This is pretty much why I will keep using it.
• It is a solid walking bag! I know, we have been over this - yes, the pockets are a bit small, but this forces you to keep the bag light overall. 
• It is good enough for a cart round or more. The cart makes up for the extra storage, if you need a place for your speaker, rangefinder, beers, etc.

For longevity, the bag straps have started to fade. Since this is a "weekend golf warrior" bag, I am surprised they have faded. To be fair, the straps are being thoroughly tested in my truck box (see the background of the second picture). I help on the family farm so a truck box helps keep my golf bag and clubs clean overall but can be more harsh on the bag. Again, this won't change my usage but I am interested to see if the bag starts to wear or fade any. 

 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

Update on my bag...my dad decided he's 100% push cart now, so it's back in my hands. It's now my wife's bag, and working very well for her so far -- has a WAY better look than her last bag, combination of comfort and weight fits her well, etc. She doesn't play nearly as much or in the same ways as I do, so she doesn't lug around as much stuff, which makes this is a great upgrade for her (basically minimizes the things that didn't work for me with the bag).