« The Bag For The Stylish, Walking Golfer »

Golf as we know it today exists in two forms - golf, and cart golf - and the two games couldn't be more different.

One allows you to experience golf as it was meant to be played, while the other is a revenue generator that slows play and gives the frat boys among us another means through which they can display boorish behavior. Time could be spent extolling the virtues of walking, but a read of Lorne Rubenstien's entry in The Clubhouse on Globe and Mail here says it all.

Rubenstien's post led Chapeau Noir to two great finds - The Walking Golfer - a beautiful website dedicated to providing information about the many benefits of walking when you golf, and quite possibly the finest, most stylish bag for ardent walkers made today - MacKenzie Golf Bags.

Style comes in simplicity and detail, and your bag of choice says a lot about you. Chapeau Noir favors basic black for style versatility, and is currently carrying this Titleist (Sun Mountain) offering.

MacKenzie Golf Bags should give us all serious pause, as they show the beauty that exists when one focuses on the simplicity of essential elements.

Is the double strap system really necessary?Of particular interest from Mackenzie Golf Bags is the Sherpa. The Sherpa it reminds Chapeau Noir of his first ever golf bag - a moderately worn logoless and non-descript, hand-me-down single strapped dark green nylon bag.

The bag offered no stand, and only a couple or three zippered pockets. Not a second thought was given to laying the bag down on its side while hitting a golf shot. The bag would get wet and it would pick up grass clippings and dirt. It was a golf bag.

Speaking of the single strap (appropriately the only configuration offered by MacKenize Golf Bags) how many of us consistently put the now ubiquitous double strap to use?

From personal experience and observation, not many.

While the double strap may help distribute the weight of clubs and bag across both shoulders, the fact is that most of us don't bother with it more than a couple of times per round. Yet another 'feature' we've been sold on without need.

Besides, a single, smooth leather strap will save your favorite shirts from pilling and unnecessary wear and tear.

The Limited Edition MacKenzie Argyle Golf Bag at Bandon Dunes. (Photo courtesy The Walking Golfer)

Price points for MacKenzie golf bags are certianly premium - the Sherpa at $205 (plus shipping) is actually at the low end of the MacKenzie scale.

However, the Sherpa like all MacKenzie products, is hand-made in Portland, OR by skilled stitchers who take tremendous pride in their work. MacKenzie bags are not mass produced in a factory on another continent, but constructed by hand, with care, in the United States, which is why each bag comes with a five year guarantee.

If the nylon tears or if you have stitching or construction issues with the bag, just return it to MacKenzie and it will be repaired for free.

MacKenizie's goal is to provide fellow walking golfers with a quality product that can be carried for many years with pride, and not replaced on an annual basis due to broken/bent legs, torn fabric, broken zippers, or any of the other problems we all tend to have with “modern” golf bags after a season or two.

Argle Golf Bag Fundraiser

The Walking Golfer has teamed up with The MacKenzie Golf Bag Company and The Children’s Course, a chapter of The First Tee, to offer 10 Limited Edition Custom Leather Argyle MacKenzie Golf Bags with The Walking Golfer logo to raise significant funding for The Children’s Course in Portland, OR.

Read all the details here.

Aside from this extra-special bag fundraiser, 10% of every sale via The Walking Golfer, Argle or not, goes to The First Tee Program.