Unofficial Review: Titleist Linksmaster/Linkslegend Member Classic Bag

[Will A]

Introduction

Greetings, fellow spies!  I will soon be 40 years old and found myself in the market for a new golf bag for what feels like the first time.  I played nearly every day in the summers of my youth, but gave up the frustrating game as it didn't mix well with teenage expectations.  Having rediscovered it the past few years, I have thrown myself into the game.  Though my handicap has shown little improvement, I feel that it is becoming a more "accurate" number, as I rarely pick up and record the "max number."  While I doubt I will ever be a scratch golfer, my consistency is improving, and I expect to see some improvement in the coming months.  

Playing almost exclusively at my local club, often in league nights and other semi-structured events where most people ride.  I generally follow the crowd's lead, but when given the choice I walk, though a combination of sports injuries and genetics (I can never say my folks didn't give me anything!) make using a push cart much more comfortable.  

So why a new golf bag?  In getting back into the game, it's taken me a while to get my equipment sorted.  I'd been using an inherited bag from my father-in-law.  It was an incredibly nice staff bag made by Coach (I'm guessing around 2000) featuring real leather trim and shearling on the single carry strap and 4-way dividers.  It was a bit on the heavy side, but I don't carry.  My club has a caddy program, but even if I use one, it's a forecaddy for the group, not a carrying caddy.

I was a bit self-conscious about the dated Coach bag, but it was getting the job done, and I had things to spend my equipment budget on that would actually impact my game.  And then the bottom fell out.  Literally.

Picking a New Bag

Some fortunate picks in the U.S. Open fantasy tournament meant I had ample shop credit available, which is convenient.  The shop generally stocks a smattering of bags on the mid to high end from Ping, Sun Mountain, Callaway, Titleist, Vessel, and the occasional other, but they'd order anything I wanted.  

The big question for me was cart or stand.  I never carry, and the range at my club has nice bag stands, so I don't really need a stand.  But when I do play other courses, they don't always have bag stands, and modern cart bags with the strap in the back seem completely impractical for those occasions when a caddy is carrying for me.  Staff bags being completely impractical for 95% of my golf, I settled on a stand bag.  I knew I'd be giving up some storage, but I really don't carry anything besides the necessities.  Bottled water and other refreshments are readily available on course, and I've ditched my laser in favor of a GPS app on my watch and phone.  Even if I play in less than ideal conditions, at most I need a place to stow a layer or two.

But which one?  I didn't want to be a walking billboard for a manufacturer, so that eliminated most of the bags on the market.  And I prefer subtle, classical styling, so that narrowed it even further.  Really, it came down to the Sun Mountain Mid-Stipe, one of the Vessel offerings, or a Titleist Linkslegend.

As it happens, the shop had several of the Linkslegends in stock, so that's what I went with.  They had both the Members and the Classic in stock.  It seemed to my eye that the Classic had a nicer, pebbled faux leather, and I liked the navy color (which appears a bit more teal in the pictures below than in real life where there are no green undertones) that would wear better than those with white, especially since I ride so often.  Other than that the only differences were a 3-way divider instead of 4-way, which I figured can't make much of a difference, and a lack of a grip on the top rim - again no deal breaker.

First Impressions (9/10)

The bag was on the floor of the pro shop, so there wasn't much to unbox besides removing the pocket fillers, tags, and stand leg sleeves.  But save that tag so you can order the complementary initial plate!

This bag is luxurious.  The synthetic leather is soft and supple, and it is everywhere - including the linings of the pockets.  The straps, which include both a single and a double strap, are very comfortable.  I will primarily keep the single strap (preferred by caddies, and less cumbersome on riding and push carts), but will get in at least one round carrying with the double for testing's sake.

Since I acquired the bag, I have realized that what I got was an older model.  This one does not have the magnetic closure on the velour-lined valuables pocket, nor does it have the slot on the long pocket that is seen in the newer version.  Between not trusting a magnetic closure with my car key and other valuables and being what some would label a minimalist, I'm not bothered by either.  I also note the pockets on the "long" side of the bag are different in position and the zippering position on both side pockets is in the middle as compared to the newer model's zippers along the seams.  Just distinctions to note for anyone in the market for the newer version.  I also suspect the pebbled texture I preferred when selecting this bag over the other in-stock options may reflect a change in material.

The only negatives I have so far are that the clubs do get a little tangled, even with my standard width swing grips and modest putter grip.  The top opening is a little smaller than on my old bag (I'll get measurements for follow-up reviews).  On the pitching green and range, I noticed the bag sometimes needed to be tipped up to help the clubs go all the way in.  This will be fine when carrying or riding, but may prove problematic when using a push cart. The insulated bottle slot is a little on the small side, but fits the relatively small bottles of water we have available on-course, so it suits me fine.  The bottle pocket also looks to be repositioned on the newer models.

This is certainly a step up from the bag I was using, and feels much more at place on the range and in the bag room.  I look forward to getting to know it and reporting back my findings.

 

Edited July 16 by Will A
typo

[Evegoe]

I've got a tidy amount of shop credit from a successful season and this style of bag has a strong pull on me right now. If I have another good showing this weekend in our event, then I think it'll be time to pull the trigger on it. Thanks for the review. I've got a old Nike bag that's about 10 years ago and the zippers and straps are failing -- so it's time.

I carry my bag every once in a while, but my home course is a hilly one so I mainly use a clic cart to push around for 18. Anyone have this bag and have insights for how it sits on a push cart? My Nike one is notoriously finicky to get setup and wants to slide off on any sidehill parts of the round.

[Will A]

I haven't had a chance to get mine on a push cart, yet, as all of my play since picking it up has necessitated riding.  I might walk 9 this evening and will report back if I do.  It's small size and velcro for the legs makes me think it shouldn't be a problem, but you never know until you try!

[Rob Person]

That's a nice looking bag. Any downsides to it besides club jumbling?

[Will A]

23 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

That's a nice looking bag. Any downsides to it besides club jumbling?

It's a bit on the small side, so issues are related to that - grips snag a bit and the drink sleeve could stand to be bigger.  Pretty sure they addressed both of these issues in the newer Linkslegend bags.

[Evegoe]

I took the plunge with the bag and absolutely love the look. It's going to be a minimalist bag for me in terms of what's in it for the round, but I love how everything zips and the magnet pouch so far. I won my league's shootout with it on the course today, so obviously I'm now going to be tied to this bag for a long time with the good memories.

I had been using a couple different bags over the past few seasons, going back and forth between a Titleist Sunday Carry Bag, a circa 1995 Ping Hoofer and a late 2010s Nike bag that I couldn't pin down the actual 'name.' One thing that stood out about the Titleist carry bag and LinksLegend is how easy it is to grab the bag for transfers from spot to spot. It may seem like such a small thing, but the grips for a transfer from car to cart is really well done with the Titleist bags. I felt like I was always going to be a Ping bag guy, but I'm starting to think I'm now a Titleist bag guy.

A thing about the LinksLegend bag is the material is a faux leather which means it doesn't have a lot of stretch. I feel like with some of my other bags, it was almost too easy to just put everything you can think of putting into a bag into it for an entire season. I think I've gone from year to year with Clif Bars that are expired and DripDrop drink packets in there that might not get used once during the season. Hopefully this bag will force me to reduce my hording tendancies and I'll have light bag going forward.

I've only used the bag for four rounds so far, but it fits great on my Clic Cart for when I want to use a push cart. When I carried it for a quick nine-holes I used the traditional single shoulder strap and appreciated the convenience. The bag also game with the double shoulder strap configuration that I've become used to and it worked great. The clips and loops for the bag are all fancy, they allow for easy changes between the options.

My Nike bag had a slot for every club and it was one I was using a fair amount... I like the LinksLegend bag so far with my Winn Dri-Tac Grips and SuperStroke Mid for my putter. Bags with the slot for every club absolutely didn't work with my grips before. The LinksLegend setup has worked great lately though.

I feel a bit sheepish talking about how much the bag cost me with my public golf crew, but I have to say it's a fun bit of equipment to take out on the course. And maybe that extra confidence helped me win my event today. I mean... I really hit my wedges awesome during the day and didn't have any three putts... but I always had this beauty of a bag to look at when I had a drop in swagger.

Edited September 22 by Evegoe

[Will A]

On 9/22/2024 at 3:01 AM, Evegoe said:

One thing that stood out about the Titleist carry bag and LinksLegend is how easy it is to grab the bag for transfers from spot to spot.

Mine is missing that feature, but I'm not surprised you like it.  I read somewhere they talked to a lot of professional caddies when updating the bag, and this was a top feature they like to see in bags, along with a single strap option.

Mine will be flying half way around the world with me next week for its first trip away from my home course.  I'm excited to see how it does.

[vandyland]

A truly beautiful bag and high end line. Similar to @Will A experienced, the Linksmaster was just too small for my clubs. I have a LAB DF 2.1 which was very difficult to accommodate in the Linksmaster so I stuck with my old MacGregor carry bag (from the 1980s). But if you carry a smaller set or have a standard putter it is a bag that is extremely attractive and well made.