One of the most important accessories a golfer can own is a travel golf bag. Travel golf bags protect your clubs from careless baggage handlers, dirt, and bad weather. Your golf clubs are an investment. Protect your investment with quality travel golf bags.

There are two kinds of travel golf bags.

1). Popular Soft Cases

Soft cases, made from cloth, canvas or nylon, can fit your golf clubs and other golf accessories.

OGIO Monster Golf Travel Bag—Both fashionable and functional, the Ogio Monster is ideal for the modern golf traveler. This bag has a huge main compartment with cinch straps and a padded top. It also has four big exterior pockets, two more pockets for shoes, and oversized off-road wheels for easy transporting. OGIO uses its SLED (Structural Load Equalizing Deck) technology, so golfers can relax in the knowledge that their bags are well protected. This golf travel bag is both durable and affordable, priced around $200.

The Club Glove Last Bag XXL—Available in many different vibrant colors, (pink, green, blue, red, orange and more!) this is the number-one travel golf bag on all major United States tours. Many golfers agree that this durable travel golf bag is the best available. The Club Glove Last Bag XXL includes:

Extra-thick foam padding

Club head security strap

Two locking shoe pockets

In-line skate wheels

50-inch Drive/Putter

Personalization available

Lifetime warranty

2). Popular Hard Cases

Hard travel golf bags are unyielding suitcases, typically made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, that are specifically made to protect golf clubs.

Bag Boy Golf THC-3 Travel Bag—Available is a sleek graphite color, this hard travel golf bag is designed to fit 11.5-inch Tour Staff Bags and fits clubs up to 51 inches in length. It includes:

Interior padding

Impact-resistant molded handles

Durable PVC base

In-line skate wheels

Four high-strength keyed locks

SKB Cases ATA Staff Golf Travel Case—Specifically designed for over-sized golf bags, this golf travel bag offers golfers excellent quality and outstanding protection. SKB cases are recognized at every major international airport. Includes:

Lifetime warranty

$1,500 club insurance (Wow!)

Lift and tow handle

TSA Locking System

SKB’s exclusive Perfect-Match valance bending system. This provides a secure fit to keep dust, dirt and other particles from getting inside the golf travel bag.

Purchaing a well-known, popular golf travel bag is a good idea. This way, you know exactly what you are getting. Read some consumer reviews before you buy in order to make extra-sure you purchase the right golf travel bag for you.

Also see these golf bags too:

Rambler X Stand Bag

and

The Edge Stand Bag

The golf bag has evolved in recent years to the point that features such as backpack straps, rain hoods, and valuables and beverage pockets are all commonplace. Golf carry bags (or stand bags, as some manufacturers refer to them), in particular, have seen remarkable innovation, as manufacturers introduce novel ideas such as belt straps to redistribute the weight of the bag from the user's back to the hips and legs, new forms of specialized pockets, and all kinds of doodads to make the 18-hole stroll a little easier.

What should you look for in a golf bag?  If you typically walk the course, you probably put a premium on lightweight bags with comfortable padding and quality straps. But there is also a natural tension between the weight of the bag and the amount of storage space and number of doodads the bag provides. At Critical Golf, we review bags from a "walker's perspective", based on the following characteristics:

CLUB STORAGE. Bags were evaluated on the size of the club storage area, how clubs were sorted, and the ease of putting clubs in and pulling them out of the bag. The number of sectors into which the club storage area of each bag was divided ranged from 14 (one per club!) down to 5. 

LEGS. The legs on carry bags have improved significantly over the past 10 years. But some have improved more than others, and thus we reviewed legs for their stability and ease of deployment.

STRAPS. A critical part of a carry bag is the comfort of the straps. We evaluated whether there was sufficient padding on the straps, whether they tended to tangle, and how easy they were to adjust. One of the bags tested generated significant bonus points for a belt strap that transferred weight from the weaker muscles of the back and shoulders to the hardier hip and leg muscles.

POCKETS/STORAGE. Golfers have a tremendous amount of stuff, and always want to keep everything in their bag just in case they might need it. Sunscreen? Check. Band aids? Check. Rain jacket? Check. Spike wrench for metal spikes on a pair of shoes you don't even own anymore? Check. Critical Golf reviews the latest carry bags for how easy they make it to store all of your gear. The number of functional pockets (ignoring things such as pen sleeves and tee holders) ranged from 11 down to 6.  

RAIN HOOD. When the big fat raindrops start pouring from the sky, how easy is it to secure the rain hood and protect your precious clubs? We tried to figure out how to install each of the rain hoods on the fly, intentionally ignoring the instruction manual - because who's going to have time to find and read an instruction manual when it starts raining?

CARRYING IMPRESSIONS. Perhaps the most important category was our impressions from carrying the bag through multiple rounds. Weight, balance and padding were all considered as we traipsed across flat and hilly courses. The weight of the bags tested (including rain hoods, since most golfers tend to keep those in the bag at all times) ranged from 4.3 pounds to 9.2 pounds.  

STYLE. Andre Agassi said "Image is everything". Of course, that was when he was young and had a full head of hair. Nonetheless, how the bag looks is a factor, and we give our admittedly extremely subjective opinion of each bag's aesthetics.

INNOVATION. New inventions are cool, particularly if they make the carrying experience easier. We rate the carry bags on whether they are reaching for the stars, or trying to coast by on old technology.

VALUE. The carry bags we tested range in retail price from $160 to $260.  Price doesn't always correspond to value, so we subjectively evaluate the value for each bag - are you getting your money's worth? 

Where can you find reviews that evaluate bags across these different categories? Well, obviously, we think you should look at http://criticalgolf.com to see our reviews of bags from Sun Mountain, Titleist, OGIO, Nike and Ping. Other places to browse include different golf-related forums (like GolfWRX.com) or certain blogs.