For the past 10 years I’ve used a Club Glove Last Bag for all of my golf trips.
It’s been on dozens of flights, to 14 countries, and is still in fantastic shape given the beating I’ve put it through.
But it’s not perfect. It’s a little small, and it can be a bit cumbersome to haul through airports and into hotels.
For awhile now I’ve had my eyes on a Sun Mountain Club Glider Meridian.
It’s a similar size to my Club Glove, but it has a unique set of wheels that pop out to make transporting the bag much easier when traveling.
On a recent trip to San Diego, I got a chance to put it through its paces. How did it hold up? And is it worth buying over the incumbent Club Glove?
The answer isn’t quite as clear as I’d hoped, but let’s find out.
In this review, I’ll be comparing the Meridian directly to the Club Glove, since that’s not only what I’ve used, but it’s also one of the most popular bags on the market.
The Sun Mountain Club Glider Meridian is a fantastic golf travel bag, with a very convenient "glider" system. It's not quite as robust and durable as the Club Glove Last Bag, but the unique design more than makes up for it.
First Impressions of the Sun Mountain Club Glider
There are a bunch of good looking colorways of the Meridian, and I opted for a black bag with red accents.
The bag looks great and along with the obvious “glider” portion of the bag, has a few differences from the Club Glove.
First, the shoe pockets are on the outside of the bag, which I was happy to see. My hope is that it would make more room for stuff in the bag – but we’ll get to that in a second.
There’s more visible padding around the top half of the bag, and the Meridian features two straps rather than the 3 of the Club Glove.
Overall, it’s a very good looking bag. The weight feels similar to my older bag, despite the extra glide mechanism.
Build Quality and Materials
At first glance, I figured this bag would be a no-brainer upgrade over my previous bag.
But once I started getting it packed for my trip, I became slightly less confident.
The Club Glove Last Bag feels all but bulletproof. The bag is made of incredibly durable nylon and has the beefiest zipper you could imagine.
The Sun Mountain feels half a level below that, both in terms of material durability and zipper quality.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very well constructed. But I’ll be interested to see how the zippers hold up long-term after repeated stress.
The primary handle at the end of the bag which you hold while rolling, also isn’t quite as thick as I’d hoped to be. It’s perfectly serviceable but doesn’t feel as good in your hand as the Club Glove bag does.
As mentioned, I was excited about the shoe pockets on the outside of the bag. It does seem like it added space to the inside of the bag which is great. The downside, however, is that I’ve been unable to fit two size 12 shoes in one pocket.
The Club Glove could pretty easily fit a pair of shoes in each of its interior shoe pockets. I can only fit one shoe in each pocket in the Merdian. It’s not the end of the world, as the additional space inside made it easy to put another pair in there. However, as someone who almost always travels with two pairs of golf shoes, it would have been nice to see.
Padding and Protection
Despite talking about the robust zippers and nylon of my old Club Glove, that bag wasn’t without its issues while traveling.
While I’ve never had a club snap while using the bag, I did have a tripod break in half, and more recently, one of the legs on my Vessel Player Air broke – rendering the bag all but useless.
From a padding and protection standpoint, the Sun Mountain feels great, and I didn’t have any major concerns about my clubs being safe.
Wait, I take that back.
I have a brand new TaylorMade Qi10 Max driver that I was planning to take on this initial trip, but in my frantic packing, I couldn’t find a club wrench to remove the driver head. Considering I haven’t done the review yet, I left it at home, just in case something were to happen.
I did however bring my Stix Compete Driver, and ran into zero issues during the trip.
How Does the Club Glider Perform?
I packed my new Vessel Player V Pro, which his on the larger side of stand bags. It fit great in the Sun Mountain bag, and I definitely had at least a little more room than I typically do in the Club Glove Last Bag. Maybe not as much as I’d hoped, but any increase in space is a welcome one.
I’ve gotta admit, up until I arrived at the airport, I was a little on the fence as to whether or not this was an upgrade over my old bag. Slightly more space, slightly less durability in terms zippers and nylon.
But when I popped the bag out of my car at Long Term Parking at PDX, and proceeded down the long walk through garage, to the underground tunnel, up the escalators, and into the new terminal – I knew this was different.
The Club Glider function? Total game changer.
A quick pull of the lever under the bag releases the glider mechanism which acts as both a stand for the bag, and engages the rollerblade-esque wheels that make this bag unique.
Walking with the Sun Mountain Club Glider is a dream. The bag basically floats around, and takes next to no effort or strength on your part to use it. Not only does it truly “glide” but maneuvering it is also much easier.
Winding my way through the line for airport ticketing, the bag felt like it was on rails as it followed me around.
I recently talked about the LAB Putter being one of the rare “revolutionary” products out there. The Club Glider fits in this category as well.
While the overall build quality didn’t quite meet my expectations, the functionality of the glider itself exceeded them.
Should You Buy a Sun Mountain Club Glider?
At $339, this is an expensive travel bag. But if you travel frequently with your clubs, it’s absolutely worth investing in a bag that will last and make your life easier.
While not as durable, I think the convenience that comes with a soft bag over a hardshell case, makes them the better fit for most people.
With the Sun Mountain Meridian, you’ve got a bag that looks great, has ample space, and performs wonderfully when you’re on the go.
I know I griped a little bit about some of the materials of the bag, but the reality? I doubt many people will run into any major issues. After one trip my clubs were totally unscathed, and my travel experience was more comfortable than it’s ever been.
Unless you’re traveling every week with your clubs, I think this bag will last you for many years to come.
Is it worth buying over a Last Bag? I think the answer for most people is, yes.
The Last Bag is a bit beefier, but this bag is still better built than most golf travel bags (I’m looking at you TourTrek), and the Club Glider feature works well enough to offset any minor issues I have about durability.
This is the bag I’ll be trusting with my clubs for the foreseeable future, and for once, I won’t be completely dreading hauling my clubs long distances through airport terminals.
The Sun Mountain Club Glider Meridian is a fantastic golf travel bag, with a very convenient "glider" system. It's not quite as robust and durable as the Club Glove Last Bag, but the unique design more than makes up for it.
A fantastic golf travel bag with a truly revolutionary party trick
The Sun Mountain Club Glider is one of the best golf travels bags on the market. Period. The build quality is very good, but just shy of what you'll find on the Club Glove Last Bag. But the unique "Club Glider" feature more than makes up for this, and it makes everything about using one of these bags more enjoyable.
The Good
- Club Glider feature works exactly as advertised
- Decent amount of space for all but the biggest golf bags
- Looks great
The Bad
- Top handle could be thicker
- Materials and build quality are a solid B+
- Expensive
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Presentation
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Performance
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Features and Quality
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Price
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Personal Affinity
1 Comment
I have 2 Sun Mountain Club Glider Meridian and love them. You absolutely must use a telescopic backbone / pole protector inside but otherwise, zero wear and tear after many trips, and yes that wheel system makes carrying the bag a breeze (I also had to rolled it at PDX to the rental car area). My 9 y/o can pull his across the airport without any complaints. They are not cheap but given the cost of the clubs you put inside, I think it is worth it. Next stop for our 2 bags: Bandon Dunes at Thanksgiving!