Organization can be key to helping you stay focused on the golf course. There’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to find a tee in your bag or a new ball; here’s how to organize your golf bag to save valuable time on the course.
Organize your clubs in ascending order of loft ensuring that your golf balls and tees are all placed in easily accessible separate pockets. Easy access to all your equipment ensures you don’t hold up play and can focus on your game.
There are many ways to organize a golf bag. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference of how you like to store your clubs and golf balls. Here are some tips I will be sharing with you in this guide to help ensure the longevity of your equipment while helping you play your best golf.
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How To Place Your Clubs In A Golf Bag?
Place your driver and hybrid woods at the top of the bag because they are your longest clubs, then your irons, and lastly you should store your wedges and putter at the bottom of your bag.
Storing your clubs in your bag depends on what clubs you have and what works best for you, there are a few points to remember when storing your golf clubs in your bag. The first is storing your clubs to ensure their longevity.
Golf clubs don’t come cheap you’ll want to take every care in the world to ensure you don’t damage them when you’re out on the course. If you like to carry your golf bag around on your back, you’ll note that the clubheads can bump and knock each other, and over time that can start to cause a lot of damage to your irons.
So, depending on how many dividers you have in your bag, you may want to equally space your clubs so that they have enough distance to move around while in your golf bag. You may also want to consider purchasing club head covers that can protect all your clubs.
You can pick up a set of these brilliant Sword & Shield club head covers from Amazon for around $12 (£9), which can save you from having to spend a fortune on getting your club heads refurbished or even replacing your irons altogether.
Curious about how much you should spend on your first set of clubs? Learn the facts in my article.
When you’re placing your clubs in your golf bag after taking a shot, ensure the club’s heads are facing towards the ground and that their grips are not resting on the sides of the bag or against any other club grips. It will stop them from spinning inside of the bag, knocking clubheads, and rubbing the grips against each other inside of the bag.
Many golfers don’t realize that their grips are worn out more by how you store your clubs and less by how much you use them.
I go into more detail on how you can reuse golf grips in my guide here, which explains how much new grips cost and how to reuse them if you store your clubs correctly, you won’t have to think about purchasing new grips.
Sometimes, maintaining the longevity of your grips also depends on the type of bag you use. As I’ve said above, if you use a stand-up bag, likely your clubs will deteriorate faster than other bags. Cart bags are perhaps the best you can use to store your clubs, as often golfers attach them to their trolley or buggy, which can prevent the clubs from knocking each other.
Cart bags are also a lot more spacious as they have more dividers which can help you keep your clubs in order a lot easier. When it comes to buying your next golf bag, cart bags are a little more expensive, but as we state in my article on how much golf bags cost, they can be 100% worth the price if they can help you keep your clubs in order/
Not happy with your progress in golf? I recommend you read my complete guide on beginner’s golf to improve your game.
How Do You Organize A 14-Slot Golf Bag?
A 14 slot golf bag has a divider for each club you should place each club in each slot, starting with your driver at the top, followed by your hybrids, then your irons, wedges, and putter.
14-slot golf bags are undoubtedly the best and easiest club bags you can use to organize your clubs. Typically 14-slot golf bags come as cart bags, with the bags themselves being used more so by professionals and scratch golfers because of their higher price; this shouldn’t stop you from using the 14-slot bag if you want to keep your clubs organized.
When it comes to organizing your clubs in a 14 club bag, you’ll need to start by placing your driver and larger woods at the top of the bag; this is important as if you put them in the middle or bottom; it’ll be harder to remove other clubs around them because they take up the most room.
Placing them in this format also makes it easier to store and transport, especially if your car has a small trunk/boot as my article states, it is possible to fit all your golf clubs into a Ferrari 458, but you have to be very savvy about storing them in the car to ensure you don’t damage your car or the golf clubs.
As your driver is the longest club in your bag, it’s best to put them at the top of the bag to keep their delicate shafts out of the way of your clunky irons. Next, order your irons and driving irons in ascending order of loft, starting with your 4-iron. You’ll have a slot for each of your clubs, so make sure they’re placed in order of loft, with your lowest lofted clubs at the top of the bag and your lowest loft clubs at the bottom.
The Callaway ORG 2021 golf bag is a brilliant 14-slot golf cart bag that comes with an arched shape that allows easy access to your clubs while they’re stored on the back of your cart. The bag also comes with a separate well for your putter or driver to help you protect the shaft of your clubs. This bag is available in a range of colorways for a bargain price on Amazon for around $229 (£164).
After your irons, place your wedges in ascending order with their loft. Most golfers don’t carry all four of these wedges, but as a typical guide on how to order them, your pitching wedge should be placed in your bag first, followed by your gap wedge, then your sand wedge, and finally, your lob wedge.
That should leave you with a final slot for your putter, which should rest nicely with the clubhead hanging over the edge of your bag.
This organization tactic can help you quickly find each club when you look to play your next shot. For example, if you’re on the fairway and have 120 yards to go, you’ll want to play a high lofted pitching wedge or 9-iron, and you’ll know to instinctively reach for the bottom of your bag for either of these clubs.
Can you get away without a club fitting? Find out if it’s overrated in my article.
How Do I Organize My 8-Way Golf Bag?
To organize your 8-way golf bag, you will need to pair up similar clubs and place them in the same slots. You’ll want to order them in ascending order of loft, pairing your driver and woods, your hybrids, your irons, wedges, and keep a separate slot for your putter.
8-way golf bags can be just as good as a 14-slot golf bag, typically they are a lot lighter and are easier to carry around the course, but there is an increased risk of damaging your clubs with an 8-way golf bag.
I prefer 8-way golf bags because you can carry them around the course, and if you use club head covers on your irons when you’re transporting and storing them, then there is less chance of wear and tear.
You should organize your 8-way bag in the same way as a 14-way bag, but you’ll need to pair up some of your similar clubs while leaving a slot open for your putter, this depends on what clubs you use, and for those golfers who don’t use a full set of 14 clubs, an 8-way golf bag may be very beneficial for your needs.
The table below sets out how I would suggest you pair up each of your clubs in an 8-way golf bag.
How to pair clubs in a 8-way golf bag
| Slot | Club Pairing |
| Slot 1 | Driver / 3 Wood |
| Slot 2 | 20º Hybrid / 23º Hybrid |
| Slot 3 | 4-iron / 5-iron |
| Slot 4 | 6-iron / 7-iron |
| Slot 5 | 8-iron / 9-iron |
| Slot 6 | Pitching Wedge / Gap Wedge |
| Slot 7 | Sand Wedge / Lob Wedge |
| Slot 8 | Putter |
For a great 8-way golf bag, check out the OGIO Woodie stand bag this stand-up golf bag will give you multiple individual dividers in which you can store your driver, two of your woods, and your putter. You can then keep your irons and wedges stored separately in the bag’s compartmented pockets.
What Does Every Golf Bag Need?
Every golf bag needs a good strap. Golfers are constantly cursed with bad backs, and if you’re going to be carrying a heavy bag of clubs around 18 holes, you need to ensure your club has a supportive strap, as well as easily accessible handles.
I cannot stress enough the importance of having a golf bag that has a supportive shoulder strap. As most caddies on the PGA Tour will tell you, carrying a heavy bag of clubs around can do some damage to your back, and for that reason alone, I advise you to source a bag that has additional padding and support that spreads the weight across both your shoulders.
Having a supportive bag also doesn’t just protect you from injury, but it can help you play better and stop fatigue in your muscles. If you’ve read my guide on the top six muscles you use in your golf swing, you’ll note that your shoulders, arms, and back are an integral part of any golf swing.
If you’re able to protect them as much as possible to ensure they don’t get tired carrying your bag around over 18 holes then, you’ll play a lot better over your round.
For that reason, I recommend you purchase a bag like the Callaway 14 Club Fairway Stand Bag, which comes with a comfort strap that conforms to your shoulders’ shape and has an added lumbar support that will prop your back up as you carry your clubs.
What Goes In Each Pocket Of A Golf Bag?
Keep your tees and golf balls in the most accessible pocket on your golf bag. In addition, you should keep a raincoat, a spare pair of socks, and a hat in your largest pocket, and a bottle of water in your bag’s cool pocket.
Modern golf bags come with all sorts of cool pockets and gadgets that can help you have a more efficient and enjoyable round of golf. Depending on what sort of pockets your bag has, you’ll want to customize what you put in each bag to ensure you avoid slow play on the course.
It’s also very frustrating to have to search through the myriad of pockets you’ll inevitably have on your golf bag, which is why I recommend golfers keep their bag clean, tidy and ensure each pocket has a sole function, to see what essential items you should keep in your club’s locker check out my article
Most bags will come with a couple of small, easy-access pockets. These are great for storing things like tees and golf balls in, which most high handicappers need on the course.
My top tip is to not overfill each pocket with balls or tees, as that will add to the weight of your bag, and don’t mix your tees with your golf balls; that can be a recipe for disaster.
Most bags also come with a valuables pouch, which you can store your phone, keys and wallet in as you go on your round, but I also like to store my glove in my valuables pocket when I’m not using my bag on the course.
Other bags, like the fantastic 2021 Titleist Players bag on Amazon, come with an umbrella holder and a cool pouch in which you can store refreshments for your round.
This bag also comes with a clip on the side which you can use to attach a club brush and a towel. These are two necessities you should always have with you on your round to keep your clubs clean if you’re playing out of heavy rough or sand.
Lastly, your bag will likely have a large pocket on its side which is where I recommend you keep a waterproof coat, hat, spare pair of socks, and suncream. It’s good to have these essentials with you on the course, as you never know what weather conditions you’ll run into on your round.
Organising your golf bag ultimately comes down to how you want to play golf. There are recommendations on how to store your clubs and what you should keep in each pocket, but it always comes down to your personal preference and what you think will help you play better golf.
My parting piece of advice is to ensure you don’t overload your bag. Carrying a heavy bag around 18 holes can be a serious drain on your body and will cause you to play your worst golf. Be frugal with what you take on your round, and you’ll notice you’ll have a lot more energy to hit bombs in your back nine.
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