Golf Bag Essentials
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Golf Bag Essentials
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Golf Bag Essentials

Golf Is Almost Back & It's Time to Get Your Basics Together Before You Hit the Links

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Depending on where you live, the winter weather might finally be disappearing, gradually giving way to longer, warmer days. And just like animals emerge from a long hibernation, eager to forage and put on weight, golfers who have been staring longingly at their golf clubs for months on end, impatiently waiting for the spring, are eager to get back to their favorite courses and play the sport they love.

Whether you’re new to golf or just looking to round out your gear after a long off-season, we’ve collected some of the most important golf bag items you need to play your best golf, from absolute essentials like golf balls and tees to optional extras that nonetheless make golfing easier and more pleasant.

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To help get you back on the course in style, we’ve picked out a mix of necessities and optional extras that deserve a place in every player’s bag, no matter their handicap.


Golf Balls


Bridgestone e6

If more of your balls end up out of bounds or in the water than in the fairway, you don’t need to spend exorbitant sums on the latest and greatest balls. Bridgestone’s e6 strikes the perfect balance between budget and performance, offering a ball that launches high and long at a price low enough that you won’t bitterly regret each one you lose.

$24.99 at Amazon.com 

TaylorMade Tour Response Stripe

Stepping up in quality, the TaylorMade Tour Response Stripe delivers a high-performance golf ball suitable for low- to mid-handicappers who want the performance of a premium golf ball but don’t want to breach that $50-per-dozen threshold. The addition of the stripe on this ball is also a great putting aid, helping you line up your birdie and par putts with ease.

$42.99 at Amazon.com 

Titleist Pro V1

If you’re a scratch golfer, or flirting with scratch, and want the ultimate no-compromise golf ball, there’s still no better option than the ubiquitous Titleist Pro V1. It’s by far the most popular golf ball among professional golfers, and for good reason: it goes far, launches high, and bites greens like no other. This ball is so good that you’ll contemplate taking a swim every time you put one in a water hazard.

$54.97 at Amazon.com 


Golf Essentials


Pins & Aces Palm Sunday Golf Glove

You need a golf glove, to protect your hands from painful blisters, so you may as well splurge on a good one. This model from Pins & Aces adds serious flair to the conventional glove, while also offering enhanced grip and club feel.

$24.95 at Amazon.com 

Pins & Aces Golf Ball Ball Marker

Once you do manage to get your ball on the green, it’s vital that you take the time to mark it, not only so you can clean your ball and line up your putt but also so that you don’t present an obstacle to anyone else putting. You could use a quarter, but where’s the fun in that? Especially when you can opt for this fun vanity marker from Pins & Aces.

$22 at PinsAndAces.com 

Full Choice 4-Prong Golf Tees

You don’t want to find yourself running out of tees mid-round, and while there are a billion different options out there, we love the versatility and consistency of these four-pronged tees from Full Choice. The striped design isn’t just an aesthetic choice, either; you can use the lines to gauge how deep your tee is, for more consistent ball strikes.

$9.99 for 100 at Amazon.com 

Birdicorn Golf Divot Repair Tool

Think a divot repair tool is optional? Think again. Basic course etiquette requires that you repair your divots, to help keep the greens in pristine shape for other players. We love this inexpensive model from Birdicorn, not only because it’s an effective divot repair tool, but also because it doubles as a bottle opener and marker tool.

$18 at Amazon.com 

Ghost Magnetic Towel Bundle

Even when conditions aren’t wet, your clubs and balls are going to get dirty, and playing with mud-covered equipment is a guaranteed way to lose both accuracy and distance. This magnetic towel bundle from Ghost is hugely popular among golfers, not only because they look great but because they perform great as well.

$60 at GhostGolf.com 


Helpful Golf Extras


REDTIGER Range Finder

Range finders aren’t strictly necessary, but if you want to play your best game and dial in your accuracy on approach shots, it helps to have an accurate yardage. There are more precise models and more expensive models than this one from REDTIGER, but for 99% of golfers, this is the perfect compromise between accuracy and budget, giving you up to 7x magnification and flag pole locking tech that vibrates when your distance is dialed in.

$159.99 at Amazon.com 

Caddy Splash Golf Club Brush

Clean clubs = better golf, and this club brush from Caddy Splash makes it incredibly easy to keep your grooves free of sand, dirt and mud. The built-in squeeze bottle gives you the perfect squirt of water every time to help loosen up clumps of dirt, while the bristles are strong enough to clean your grooves without scratching the club face.

$19.99 at Amazon.com 

Weatherman Arnold Palmer Umbrella

Golf, despite what you may think, is basically an all-weather sport. Until the lightning warning sounds out, rain is no excuse to stop play, so you may as well stay as dry as possible with a reliable course umbrella that dries fast and stores easily in a standard golf bag.

$104 at Amazon.com 

GoSports Golf Alignment Sticks

Alignment sticks are simultaneously the cheapest and most effective training aid you can buy, and we promise you will never outgrow them. There’s a reason even the best very golfers in the world carry alignment sticks on to the range: they work, and they help you rehearse the basics until you they become habit.

$14.99 at Amazon.com 

Golf Iconic Headcovers

If you want to add a little personality to your bag, pick up a custom headcover for your speciality clubs. We particularly love these menacing Chinese dragon wood covers, but spend a little time on the Golf Iconic website and we bet you’ll find a cover that you love even more.

$107 at GolfIconic.com 

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