Sunday Golf El Camino Life-Tested Review
I tested the Sunday Golf El Camino bag on the course and there's only one issue I could find
The Sunday Golf El Camino bag has a lot to offer. If you’re attracted to the brand’s minimalist style and you don’t always need 14 clubs in your bag, I think the El Camino could be the golf bag you’re looking for.
I put the Sunday Golf El Camino bag to the test to find out if it really is the perfect bag for the less-than-14-club crowd. Here’s my complete, life-tested review.
Sunday Golf El Camino Bag Final Recommendation
Pros:
- Sleek style
- Lightweight
- Easily holds 12 clubs
- Generous drink pocket, very nice sized pockets all around
- Sturdy zippers
- Very functional
Cons:
- Strap system was a struggle
- Carrying more than 12 clubs is difficult
I’ll spare you the suspense and begin with my final recommendation. After testing this bag thoroughly, I would recommend Sunday Golf’s El Camino bag to golfers who want to walk, are either interested in ditching the push cart or want to avoid using a push cart to begin with, and are willing to play with 12 or fewer clubs but still want room for all the accessories and drinks they need. If that’s you, this bag just might be perfect.
I struggled with the straps on the El Camino bag, which I’ll detail later, but ultimately with enough trial and error, you can find the ideal strap settings to alleviate that issue.
This bag is good-looking, highly functional, and at 3.9 pounds, it's lightweight enough to carry around the course with ease even when it's all loaded up.
Complete Sunday Golf El Camino Review
The El Camino bag is a little smaller than a traditional carry or stand bag. It’s designed to hold up to 12 clubs, and perhaps 10 clubs is the ideal number. It’s made to be for the walking golfer who wants a stylish, lightweight, undersized bag.
From the moment I unboxed the El Camino bag there was a ton to like. Personally, I love the style. I got my hands on the black bag with black trim, and I tend to gravitate towards a solid-colored, minimalist bag, which is exactly what this is.
But a golf bag is all about function over fashion, and a good bag has a few important functions. First, it needs to have good pockets and storage. Next, for a bag like the El Camino that’s designed for the walking golfer, it needs to be lightweight and easy to carry.
After walking 18 holes with the Sunday Golf El Camino bag, and using it for several trips to the driving range, here’s my personal experience with each of these important elements, and my overall opinion of who I think would enjoy this bag.
Pockets & Storage
The Frosty Pocket is a nice feature of the El Camino bag
I’ll start with the pockets and storage on the El Camino bag because this is both an essential function of any golf bag, and probably the aspect of the El Camino bag that I was most pleasantly surprised with.
The El Camino bag has a full-length side pocket that houses a rain hood and easily fit my top-layer on the back nine. The bottom pocket, although smaller than similar pockets on full-sized bags, easily fit enough balls, tees, repair tools, ball markers and other utensils needed for a few rounds on the course. There’s a nice velour-lined valuables pouch at the top where I stashed my wallet, phone, and keys comfortably.
The icing on the cake for me was the insulated cooler pocket, which Sunday calls the “Frosty Pocket.” It held my water and a couple sandwiches and was a pleasant upgrade over anything my current bag has to offer in that category. That pocket can easily hold enough of your favorite beverages, plus ice, to get you through your round.
Beyond that, I took advantage of the tee slots on the exterior of the bag, and there’s also a nice mesh pocket on the exterior where you could stash your phone. I clipped a towel and rangefinder to the side, and everything fit together perfectly.
Club Storage
Sunday Golf says the El Camino bag is ideal for 10-12 clubs, and since I was playing a full 18-hole round on a regulation-length course – and because I wanted to test its maximum capabilities – I loaded it up with 12 clubs.
It’s not too much extra effort to pull and replace clubs when you have 12 in the El Camino bag, although from time to time I needed a little shimmying to get a club all the way in. Any more than 12 clubs, however, and the shoving and shaking required to get clubs in and out of the bag would become more frustrating than it’s worth.
At one point off the course, I packed 14 clubs into the bag just to see if they would fit, and yes, they did fit, but pulling and replacing clubs from the bag when that many are jammed in there would be a chore. That’s not what this bag is made for.
If you’re cool with gaming 12 or fewer clubs, you will have no problem fitting them into the El Camino bag.
Carryability
I found the carryability of the El Camino bag to be a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. On one hand, the straps gave me more trouble and frustration than I bargained for. On the other, the bag feels super lightweight, even when all those convenient pockets are loaded up. I’ll explain.
Let’s start with those straps, which I found to be the biggest issue with the bag overall. I struggled to get the straps set to a position where the club heads hung higher than the bottom of the bag when I wore the double straps. The bag naturally hangs parallel to the ground with the double straps. Then inevitably the club heads begin to slide out of the bag and eventually everything falls out the top at once.
Despite constantly adjusting both ends of both straps throughout the day, I never quite found the right balance point to where the bag fit comfortably on my shoulders and the clubs were securely in the bag. Instead, it felt like one shoulder strap was looser than the other and I had to use my hands to actively help keep the bag in place to prevent spillage while walking.
I’m sure most of this can be corrected by adjusting the straps properly, but this is a crucial element in a golf bag, and despite some pretty focused effort, I still struggled with this. I’m a pretty average-sized guy so I wouldn't expect too much adjusting to be necessary. Ideally, this part of the experience would be effortless or a quick and intuitive set-it-and-forget-it adjustment.
Lastly, I should mention that the double strap can easily be converted into a single, over-the-shoulder strap if you prefer that instead.
That’s probably the only negative thing I have to say about the El Camino bag, because for walking 18 holes with 12 clubs and all the balls, sandwiches, water, and accessories I needed, the bag still felt super light and easy to transport around the course.
I love to walk the course when I play golf and for the last few years I’ve used a push cart to make that walk a little easier. The El Camino bag convinced me that I could ditch the push cart for this carry bag if I can accept permanently removing a couple clubs from the rotation.
Style & Colors
The final thing we need to talk about with the El Camino bag is the style. As with most of Sunday Golf’s bags, it features a minimalist, understated style with just a couple small Sunday Golf logos. As I mentioned, I used the black bag with black trim, but there are plenty of color options, so if you like the style but want a pop of color, you can easily find one you like.
The Final Word
If you like walking the course and you prefer not to do it with a push cart, this El Camino bag is an excellent bag to keep your load light while only sacrificing two clubs from your regular 14-club arsenal.
You may have to spend some time dialing in the straps – or maybe that struggle was unique to me – but if you can handle that, I think you’ll love this bag.