Sunday Golf Ryder 23 Stand Bag Review

Sunday Golf Ryder 23 Stand Bag Review

Sunday Golf is, of course, more known for making some of the best Sunday golf bags (designed for just a few clubs) and more lately its El Camino bag (10-12 clubs) for golfers who are looking for quick, casual rounds on perhaps a par-3 or executive course. But lesser known was the Ryder bag, which was introduced in 2021 and can be used on a power cart or easily carried and can hold 14 or so clubs.

The Southern California company, which was founded in 2020, decided to refine that bag into this latest release, the Ryder 23, which features some design changes and improvements, but holds true to the sleek look and minimalist design of the company’s other bags. 

It’s also a lot of fun. When mine arrived, it came with a Sunday Golf Sharpie marker, a warning tag that reads “this golf bag is highly addictive,” and an air freshener. Yep, that’s right. You open it up the air freshener and well, it sort of smells like outdoors in the woods maybe or on the golf course. You can, of course, hang it on your car mirror or put it in the glove box. 

But back to the bag itself.  The most obvious change is that the new bag has a five-way top instead of a four-way top, which makes it a little easier to organize clubs. The rest of the bag, however, has been tweaked, with great use of space in all eight pockets, which includes six zippered pockets and place to put a rangefinder for easy access.

“We put everything you can into the Ryder 23,” said Michael Clark, design director of Sunday Golf. “We tried to give intentional function on every part of the bag we could. We maximized the space while keeping the design clean."  

This is a bag that’s perfect for every-round use and one of the best lightweight golf bags around. Even if you don’t have one of the smaller versions, the Ryder 23 is light enough (less than five pounds) that you can carry fewer clubs for a quick jaunt on a par-3 or executive course, head out to the range to practice with, or strap to a cart for 18 holes on a big course. There's also a pass-through for a cart strap, much like Ping’s Hoofer bag, and that means everything is accessible when it’s on a powered cart or push cart.

An outstanding feature is the comfortable, self-balancing strap system. Just by pulling the straps, you can easily adjust the lengths and the self-balancing buckle helps it ride comfortably on your back when walking. Plus the shoulder straps feature memory foam, so they’re very comfortable.

One of the other features that stands out is the Frosty Pocket, right above the ball pocket. This insulated zippered pouch will keep a couple of cans of whatever cold for an extended period of time, something many of the best golf stand bags offer. 

The bag also has a good-sized large pocket on the right for outerwear and rain cover, as well as a velour-lined valuables pouch right above it. Right next to it is a Velcro patch where you can keep your golf glove when not in use. And there’s also a smaller zippered pocket on the right next to the ball pocket. It has some smaller netted pockets inside, which could be used for the keys or anything else you might want to secure. 

The Ryder 23 is also a great looking bag, offered in five colors: Matte Black, Navy Blue, Heather Gray, Toasted Almond, and Midnight Green, which was the color of the one I tested. 

Bottom line is that if you don’t require a bag where you need to carry everything but the kitchen sink, this is one of the best golf bags for pretty much any kind of golf course you might play.