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Golf Digest Awards Sun Mountain Golf Travel Bags

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Sun Mountain ClubGlider Meridian golf travel bag and Kube golf travel cover received 2022 Golf Digest Travel Essentials Awards.

ClubGlider Meridian golf travel bag with legs that extend to support all of the weight and the Kube golf travel cover that folds small for easy storage were deemed must-have golf trip and travel essentials, according to Golf Digest Editors.

Regarding the Sun Mountain ClubGlider Meridian golf travel bag the editors said,
“I pack my golf travel bag right up to the 50-pound limit, which makes it pretty tough to lug around airports and rental car parking lots. I got this Sun Mountain travel bag and haven’t looked back. Pull the stand out and your bag becomes basically weightless. Ok, not weightless, but I forget about how heavy the bag is until I pop my rental car’s trunk. It’s incredibly convenient: The gap between the legs and the bottom wheels is properly spaced out so that I don’t have an issue on escalators in airports. The stand can be a little tough to pop out, but once you get it you’re in for a much-improved airport experience.”

best golf travel bag

ClubGlider is the only golf travel bag that has extendable legs and wheels to support 100% of the weight, while eliminating the repeated bending and lifting required with traditional travel bags. ClubGlider is available in four different models – Pro, Tour Series, Meridian, and Journey – offering protection for golfers ranging from weekend warriors to touring professionals.

About the Sun Mountain Kube golf travel cover the Golf Digest editors said, “I hate having to find space to store my travel bag when it is not in use. This one folds into a little cube and I can forget about it until I need it again.”

Kube looks like an ordinary, small, plastic suitcase but unbuckle it and it opens into a full-sized golf travel bag. Kube is constructed from durable, ballistic style fabric in combination with plastic half-shells with dense foam padding through the top of the bag to protect golf clubs. When not in use, Kube folds small for storage.

Check out the full story here.

Best Golf Bag for Women

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The editors at Golf Digest recently wrote a story about the best golf bag for women. The article said:

When it comes to finding the perfect golf bag for women, there are a lot of factors to consider. Do you want a bag that’s ultra-lightweight and easy to carry? A bag with enough storage that you could live out of it? Stand bags, cart bags, fabric, leather—the options are endless. What is certain is, if your bag is leaving dents in your shoulders, won’t stand up on its legs, or looks like it has seen better days, it’s probably time for an upgrade. To help you navigate the world of women’s golf bag options, we polled some of the female golfers on staff to find out some of their
favorites.

Specific to Sun Mountain, the story said:


“For as long as I’ve been playing golf, I’ve almost always used Sun Mountain bags, so when I recently went to purchase a new bag, it was an easy place to start my search. As a golfer who typically walks the course, I love having the backpack-style straps and a lightweight bag. Some of the older bags I’ve used would leave red marks on my shoulders by the end of the round, but Sun Mountain added extra cushion to the shoulder straps to avoid that in the recent models. It’s definitely in the compact golf bag category, but don’t underestimate the storage compartments. I’ve never had an issue finding a place to store extra layers or whatever else I need out on the course with this golf bag.”

Interestingly, and not totally unusual, the bag the magazine chose is not specifically a women’s bag. Some women play with the same length clubs traditionally thought of as “men’s”. For those who use shorter clubs, the Sun Mountain ladies’ bags are shorter to better accommodate. And the color patterns and options offer some more “feminine” choices.

Women’s stand golf bag options include the 2.5+ and 3.5LS 14-way.

Women’s cart golf bag options include the Diva, Sync and Stellar.

Click here to find a Sun Mountain retailer near you.

Solace Capital Partners Acquires Sun Mountain Sports

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LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2022 – Solace Capital Partners (“Solace”) today announced that it has acquired Sun Mountain Sports, Inc. (“Sun Mountain” or the “Company”), a leading producer of golf equipment and apparel, from founder and golf industry innovator Rick Reimers. The Company will remain headquartered in Missoula, Montana, and will continue to be led by its current management team, including long-time executive Ed Kowachek, who will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer, and Blake Ludwig, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Reimers will retain ownership of Sun Mountain Motor Sports, which produces electric golf carts under the Finn Scooters brand. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1981, Sun Mountain is a pioneer in the golf industry known for its best-in-class brand and many innovations in golf bags, push carts, and outerwear. The Company developed the first lightweight golf bag and modern stand bag and is the leading independent golf bag manufacturer in North America. The Company was the first to introduce golf-specific performance outerwear and rainwear and has been credited with inventing the three-wheel golf push cart. Today, Sun Mountain’s products are sold in national retail stores, specialty golf stores, and pro shops, as well as online and internationally. Sun Mountain’s focus on quality and performance has earned it the trust and preference of golfers everywhere.

Brett Wyard, a Managing Partner at Solace, said, “Sun Mountain is widely recognized as the standard in golf bags, push carts and outerwear due its superior product quality and commitment to innovation. Under Rick’s ownership, the Company has built a stellar reputation for excellence, and we see attractive opportunities to grow the business and bring its wide range of products to as many golfers as possible. We look forward to working alongside Sun Mountain’s highly-experienced, long-tenured management team and talented employees to continue to provide solutions for golfers and steward the Company in its next phase.”

Mr. Kowachek said, “Our mission will always be to create original, world-class golf products that enhance our customers’ experience and performance on and off the course. We are pleased to partner with Solace, which possesses substantial financial resources and operational expertise, to execute our mission on an even larger scale. I have been incredibly fortunate to work with and learn from Rick over the years and will strive to continue the legacy of a man who did so much to improve the sport of golf.”

Mr. Reimers said, “For 40 years, Sun Mountain has watched and listened to golfers and worked diligently to create products that make the sport a more enjoyable experience. I am proud of the patents we have earned, the innovations we have ushered in, and the lifelong friends I have made along the way. Solace brings a shared sense of values and deep appreciation for the brand, and I am confident that under Ed’s and the Sun Mountain team’s leadership, the Company’s best days are ahead.”

Three Ocean Partners served as financial advisor to Sun Mountain and Herrick LLP served as its legal counsel. O’Melveny & Myers LLP served as legal counsel to Solace.

About Solace Capital Partners
Solace Capital Partners is a Los Angeles-based private investment firm that provide flexible debt and equity solutions for established lower middle market businesses. Solace seeks to leverage its extensive expertise to provide financial stability, lead operational improvements, and drive performance growth in its portfolio companies while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For more information, please visit www.solacecap.com.

About Sun Mountain Sports
For 40 years Sun Mountain has been a pioneer in the golf industry, revolutionizing golf bags, golf outerwear and golf carts. Sun Mountain’s many innovations, including the first lightweight golf bag and modern stand bag, have made it the top golf bag company in North America. Within golf outerwear, Sun Mountain redefined golf-specific performance first with the windshirt, then fleece, and again with its four-way stretch, waterproof and breathable rainwear. The Sun Mountain Speed Cart® golf push cart transformed walking carts and created an entirely new category of golf products. Sun Mountain’s “Ahead of Time Design” motto drives the company to continually design and refine golf equipment. For the Sun Mountain retailer nearest you call 800-227-9224 or visit www.sunmountain.com.

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Contacts
For Solace Capital Partners:
Nathaniel Garnick/Sam Fisher
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170

For Sun Mountain Sports:
Steve Snyders
Sublime Public Relations
steve@sublimepub.com
(406) 728-4180

Speed Cart Keeps Getting Better

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Following the mantra, ‘One who stops being better, stops being good’, Sun Mountain is rolling out the latest and greatest iteration of the golf push cart that started it all – the Speed Cart. Improvements on the new Speed Cart V1R include a redesigned handle, improved bag brackets, and more standard features. For the nearest Sun Mountain retailer call 800-227-9224 or use the Sun Mountain retailer locator.

Since ushering in the golf push cart movement in 1999 with the introduction of the Speed Cart, Sun Mountain has continually refined and improved its carts. Current offerings include the three-wheeled Speed Cart V1R and Pathfinder PX3, and the four-wheeled Pathfinder PX4.

Speed Cart opens and folds in two easy steps. The storage tray on the Speed Cart seemingly has a spot for everything including extra balls, car keys, pencil, tees, scorecard, and even a convenient slot for a mobile phone for those who use it as a GPS rangefinder.

folded Speed Cart golf push cart  

Attached to the storage tray and included as standard accessories are a drink holder, umbrella holder, and a mesh headcover tray. Optional Speed Cart accessories can easily clip to the handle and include options such as cigar holder, sand/seed mix bottle holder, battery charger, and more. Other optional accessories include cooler pouches, covers, seats and others.

golf push cart storage tray golf push cart storage tray

 

 

 

 

 

 

The upper and lower bag brackets on the Speed Cart are designed to work with a wide range of golf bag shapes and sizes and work particularly well with the Sun Mountain Sync golf bag. In fact, the lower bag rest on the Speed Cart V1R is shaped to ‘lock’ into the plastic bottom of the Sync golf bag to minimize side-to-side movement of the bag. A built-in bracket on the Speed Cart is designed to hold the optional Speed Cart seat or an industrial-sized sand/seed mix bottle holder.

Speed Cart V1R is available in 10 different colors, folds down to W 37” X H 16” X D 13” and weights just under 18 lbs.

For the nearest Sun Mountain retailer call 800-227-9224 or use the Sun Mountain retailer locator.

 

2.5+ Golf Bag Reviews

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The Sun Mountain 2.5+ lightweight golf bag continues to receives positive reviews from the golf media.

Weighing less than three pounds, it’s the lightest full-featured golf bag on the market. To put three pounds into perspective, that’s about the same weight as two wedges, or a pair of golf shoes, or few cans of a soft-drink. When you lift up the 2.5+, it’s more like lifting off as the bag seems to launch off the ground.

The bag is made up of carbon fiber legs, lightweight nylon fabric, and high density foam, while featuring a comfortable X-Strap Dual Strap System. The 2.5+ doesn’t skimp on conveniences, either, offering six pockets including a full-length clothing pocket, velour-lined valuables pocket, beverage pouch, ball pocket, and accessory pocket.

Along with winning the Golf Digest Editors’ Choice for best lightweight golf bag, it has also won the best Sunday bag (and it’s not even a Sunday bag, it’s just as light as one) in the yearly awards by MyGolfSpy.com.

Additional models include the 2.5+ 14-way with a 14-way top and a Women’s 2.5+.

                                 

Best-Selling C-130 Golf Cart Bag Keeps Getting Better

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C-130 continues as Sun Mountain’s best-selling golf cart bag. C-130 offers an abundance of pocket space and golfer-friendly features that have kept it in the top spot for 10+ years plus some newer features such as Smart Straps that offer a new way to secure the bag to a golf cart, more velour-lined valuable pockets, and an easy-access range finder pocket.

C-130 Golf Cart Bag     

What helped the C-130 become the best-selling golf cart bag is being designed to work optimally on a riding cart. All pockets and zippers are accessible when the bag is on a cart and the reverse oriented top positions the short irons in the front and driver and woods in the back, so you don’t need to reach over a driver to get to a wedge.

What has kept the C-130 at the top is continual improvement. The Smart Strap system offering two Velcro® straps to secure the bag to the cart and eliminate the need for the traditional cart strap. The challenge with the traditional cart strap is that, if left too loose, the bag can twist sideways and if tightened too tight, the strap can restrict club access. The Smart Straps will keep the bag from twisting while still offering full and easy club and pocket access.

C-130 Golf Cart Bag Smart Strap

Also new is a range finder pocket positioned at the top of the bag for easy access and multiple velour-lined valuables pockets, one offering protection from rain.

By the numbers, C-130 offers a 10.5” diameter, 14-way top with full-length individual club-dividers plus an integrated putter well. For pockets, C-130 offers apparel pockets; a ventilated cooler pocket; rangefinder pocket with magnetic closure; and multiple velour-lined pockets, one of which is water-resistant; plus several ball and accessories pockets. Other cart-friendly features on the C-130 include handles integrated into the top that offer multiple hand-holds for picking the bag up to take on and off of the cart.

Additional C-130 models include the C-130S Stand Bag offering the perfect solution for the cart-golfer who likes to have a stand-bag for the practice range. C-130 5-Way offers a five-way divided top instead of the standard 14-way top. C-130 Supercharged includes a built-in USB port and power pack to recharge phone, GPS devices, and other electronics.

           

Lightweight Series Golf Bags Offer Something for Everyone

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Sun Mountain Lightweight Series (LS) golf stand bags offer a full range of features and options to please the individual golfer’s preferences. Bags include the minimalist’s 2.5+ that weighs under three pounds, 3.5LS, and 4.5LS. With each progressively larger number comes additional pockets and features.

2.5+

3.5LS

best lightweight golf bag

4.5LS

[Read more…]

New Styles Added to Colter Thermal Golf Outerwear Collection

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Sun Mountain’s popular Colter thermal golf outerwear collection featuring insulated panels for core warmth and side panels with 4-way stretch for easy range of motion, is getting more style options. Joining the Men’s Full-Zip Jacket and Vest is the new Colter Long Sleeve Pullover. New Women’s styles include a Full-Zip Jacket and Vest. The Colter collection features a clean, unquilted appearance with insulated panels using the break-through 37.5® insulation which is a chemical-free, synthetic fiber known for its unique ability to absorb body heat and transmit moisture out. Click here to find your nearest retailer.

37.5 insulation is known for helping to maintain an ideal core temperature for athletic performance and comfort
by keeping the body warm without overheating, allowing outerwear featuring it to be worn longer and in a broader range of temperatures. 37.5 insulation also resists odors and its insulating qualities never wash out or wear away.

Sun Mountain Colter Jacket is a full-zip, hooded jacket with a retail price of $149.99. Colter Long-Sleeve Pullover is a deep-cut, half-zip pullover at $139.99. Colter Vest is a full-zip, packable, ultra-lightweight vest with an internal chest pocket that doubles as a stuff sack for $119.99. All styles feature two hand warmer pockets plus internal and external chest pockets.

Women’s Sun Mountain Colter Jacket is a full-zip hooded jacket at $139.99 and the Women’s Vest is a full-zip vest for $119.99. Both styles offer two hand warmer pockets plus internal and external chest pockets.

Sun Mountain is also using 37.5 insulation in the Granite Jacket and Vest which features a square quilting pattern; Trapper Jacket with a 4-way stretch fabric and insulated body and sleeves; and the Women’s AT Hybrid Jacket and Vest featuring quilted, insulated panels and 4-way stretch side panels.

For 40 years Sun Mountain has been a pioneer in the golf industry, revolutionizing golf bags, golf outerwear and golf carts. Sun Mountain’s many innovations, including the first lightweight golf bag and modern stand bag, have made it the top golf bag company in North America. Within golf outerwear, Sun Mountain redefined golf-specific performance first with the windshirt, then fleece, and again with its four-way stretch, waterproof and breathable rainwear. The Sun Mountain Speed Cart® golf push cart transformed walking carts and created an entirely new category of golf products. Sun Mountain’s “Ahead of Time Design” motto drives the company to continually design and refine golf equipment. For the Sun Mountain retailer nearest you call 800-227-9224 or visit www.sunmountain.com.

Experts Praise Health Benefits of Golf

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Two recent stories added further support to the recent growth in popularity of golf and its health & wellness benefits.

“Walking is cool again,” one California-based golfer recently explained to The New York Times in an article titled, “Golf Carts Are Parked, Walking Is In and, Yes, It’s Exercise.” “I’m out there together with these kids walking, getting a good workout and playing the sport the way it was meant to be played.”

Motorized carts have ferried golfers from hole to hole for 50 years, but more players these days are walking their rounds, and some courses have shunned carts entirely.

A story in Eat, Sleep, and Play added… given the events of 2020, when golfing experienced a generational surge in popularity because it’s a friendly activity to do during the era of social distancing, it’s now being widely recognized for something that it’s been all along: Worthwhile exercise.

The New York Times story said that… the walking boom, propelled by the advent of lightweight carry bags and technologically sophisticated push carts for golf bags, is being advanced by a legion of young and older players — with an increasing percentage of them women — who hark back to golf’s roots as a walk-only activity.

The increase in walking rounds — some golf courses have seen an upsurge of 300 percent — is traced to the pandemic and the impact it has had on leisure pursuits.

In 2020, golf was one of the few outdoor activities considered safe from the spread of the coronavirus and American golf facilities hosted 50 million more golf rounds than they did in 2019.

The walking golfers flocking to the game in the last two years are part of a cohort of new players that are more likely to be female and younger than 35.

Still, before this year, nearly 70 percent of rounds were played with a golf cart, according to National Golf Foundation. But in a foundation survey last summer, 33 percent of golfers who played regularly said they were walking more frequently.

The Eat, Sleep and Play article states that….the folks at the UK-based website Skilled Golf took well known (and often cited) research published by Harvard Medical School and combined it with other datasets to reveal which of these more “leisure” sports are especially great at burning calories. According to their calculations, if you were to walk a full 18 holes while carrying your own clubs, which usually takes roughly four hours, an “average, healthy, and able-bodied person weighing approximately 155 lbs.” would burn upwards of 1,640 calories.

The New York Times story said that …. sales of easy-to-carry golf bags and lightweight, nimble push carts rocketed by as much as 210 percent in 2020. This year, sales of women’s golf bags have doubled and junior golf bags sales are up 200 percent.

There are also new modes of golf course transportation — the Finn Cycle, an electric two-wheel golf scooter — challenging the standard electric or gas golf cart.

Eat, Sleep and Play advanced the conversation further saying….There are other added benefits to playing the game, as well.

1 – You’ll Gain Greater Balance and Stability

2 – You’ll Gain Flexibility

3 – You’ll De-Stress –

This one is debatable, given that many golfers get frustrated with the game.  But for most amateur golfers, the game is a healthy release. For starters, it’s a walk in nature, which is one of the most important things you can do to bolster your mental health.

4 – You’ll Have More Friends

Seems clear to us — golf is the solution!

Eco-Lite Golf Bags Turn Trash into Treasure

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Sun Mountain Eco-Lite golf bags made from recycled plastic bottles, turn trash into treasure. Approximately twenty-five 20-oz bottles go into the fabric used in each bag. Eco-Lite Stand Bag is available now with a retail price of $219.99 and Eco-Lite Cart Bag retails at $249.99. For the retailer nearest you, call 800-227-9224 or visit www.sunmountain.com.

Beyond being made from recycled plastic, Eco-Lite bags include many of the most popular features offered on Sun Mountain’s top-selling bags.

Eco-Lite Stand Bag features a 9”, 4-way top with Sun Mountain’s proprietary easy-on, easy-off E-Z Lite Dual Strap System. The stand bag offers five pockets including a velour-lined valuables pocket, sizeable apparel pocket, and a hydration sleeve. Eco-Lite Stand Bag is available in five different colors and weighs less than four pounds.

Eco-Lite Cart Bag features a 10” top with fourteen individual full-length dividers to organize and protect clubs. The cart bag offers eleven pockets including a velour-lined valuables pocket, vented cooler pocket, sizeable apparel pocket, and multiple accessory pockets. Two utility handles help when lifting the bag on and off a golf cart. Eco-Lite Cart Bag is available in five colors and weighs less than six pounds.