Titleist Players 4 Carbon Review

[JoeEEE]

For those looking for a lightweight bag that also carries well, this may be it. I was interested in the Jones/Mackenzie bags, but preferred a stand for long range session and also for wet grass. 

I have owned the Players 5, the 4 Plus, and the 4. All are okay bags but not perfect, to me. In addition to being heavy and seeming a little bit “boxy”. I wanted an all black, light, sleek carry bag with a stand. 
 

The Carbon has full length dividers and I haven’t had any club tangle with midsize grips on 14 clubs. The club opening seems almost identical to the Players 4 Plus. There’s plenty of storage for essentials. A sleeve of balls, glove, some tees, a rangefinder, a water bottle, snack, and maybe a spare contact lens is all I need. I still have plenty of room leftover. 

 

The Carbon Fiber legs are fantastic. They look premium and lighten the bag, but they also solve the “leg drooping” problem I had with other Titleist bags. Without question the bags best feature and I’d like to see this on their StaDry bag next year. 

A final note on the fabric: it feels much better than what’s on the 4 Plus. It’s thinner, but I don’t question its durability. This is tough to describe, but a welcome change. 

The comparison photos below are against the current year Players 4 Plus, on the left, vs Carbon on the right. 
 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by JoeEEE
Just had another thought!

[tigerfan23]

I think the opening is more like the players 4 not the 4 plus.

The top spot for woods and putter is tight on the 4.  Bag looks great though I might give it a shot.

 

 

[stuart.f.cohen]

I love my Carbon bag.  My sun mountain 2.5 wore out and this one is great.  Much better pockets and water holder, about the same weight.  Very easy to carry for 18

[mljones99]

If I didn't have a Linksmaster the Carbon would be one I take a close look at.  

[Dubv23]

Do you find the straps to "break in" over time?

 

That bumpy pattern on them causes tons of discomfort for me... like they are too firm.  Aside from that, it is a great bag.  

 

I do wish the water bottle pocket was elsewhere because a heavy bottle tends to pull the whole ball pocket off center... not a big deal at all just bothers me.

[North Butte]

3 minutes ago, Dubv23 said:

Do you find the straps to "break in" over time?

 

That bumpy pattern on them causes tons of discomfort for me... like they are too firm.  Aside from that, it is a great bag.  

 

I do wish the water bottle pocket was elsewhere because a heavy bottle tends to pull the whole ball pocket off center... not a big deal at all just bothers me.

 

Is it one of those deals where the water bottle is sort of perched on top of one of the stay-rods running down the spine of the bag? So it pretty much has to flop one way or another because it won't balance on the ridge.

 

I had a bag like that once and man, I hated it.

[Dubv23]

2 minutes ago, North Butte said:

 

Is it one of those deals where the water bottle is sort of perched on top of one of the stay-rods running down the spine of the bag? So it pretty much has to flop one way or another because it won't balance on the ridge.

 

I had a bag like that once and man, I hated it.

 

 

its mounted on the side of the ball pocket.  I have to carry a larger bottle now without any water available on the course and i found it just pulled the whole pocket to the side and kind of cinched the mesh pocket on the inside of the ball pocket.  Since the spine runs down the middle of that mesh pocket, it made it a bit tight.  I dont think it could cause too much stress to the bag in the long run but i was worried about that for a bit. 

 

I would up throwing my water bottle in the apparel pocket but thats less than ideal  

[Mikee_j]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:22 PM, JoeEEE said:

 

The Carbon has full length dividers and I haven’t had any club tangle with midsize grips on 14 clubs. The club opening seems almost identical to the Players 4 Plus. There’s plenty of storage for essentials. A sleeve of balls, glove, some tees, a rangefinder, a water bottle, snack, and maybe a spare contact lens is all I need. I still have plenty of room leftover. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no club tangle with mid sized grips! Seriously that’s impressive but really?

[mljones99]

18 hours ago, Mikee_j said:

 

no club tangle with mid sized grips! Seriously that’s impressive but really?

I have Jumbo Plus4 grips and experience MINIMAL club tangle on my Linksmaster which is smaller so I can 100% believe it.

[JoeEEE]

On 8/31/2020 at 1:21 PM, Mikee_j said:

 

no club tangle with mid sized grips! Seriously that’s impressive but really?

I mean, it's not a massive cart bag, but I haven't had an issue with it. 

[Mikee_j]

@mljones99 @JoeEEE thanks for the replies and this is great news. Club tangle is the single biggest gripe with most golf bags. I’ve found sun mountain to be the best, but might need to try the carbon ?

[North Butte]

2 hours ago, Mikee_j said:

@mljones99 @JoeEEE thanks for the replies and this is great news. Club tangle is the single biggest gripe with most golf bags. I’ve found sun mountain to be the best, but might need to try the carbon ?

In my opinion, any bag with the tilting floor mechanism (i.e. just about everyone except Sun Mountain nowadays) will tangle your grips.

 

Obviously people's tolerance for what constitutes "tangle" are different but there's a night and day difference between any bag with a solid floor and external foot vs. bags where one half of the floor tilts every time you set down or pick up the bag. I have an older Titleist Lightweight Stand Bag from the last year before they went to the tilting floor "hoof" mechanism and as much as I like everything else about my Players 4 StaDry I'll use it for a round or two and go back to the old Lightweight. 

[Mikee_j]

9 hours ago, North Butte said:

In my opinion, any bag with the tilting floor mechanism (i.e. just about everyone except Sun Mountain nowadays) will tangle your grips.

 

Obviously people's tolerance for what constitutes "tangle" are different but there's a night and day difference between any bag with a solid floor and external foot vs. bags where one half of the floor tilts every time you set down or pick up the bag. I have an older Titleist Lightweight Stand Bag from the last year before they went to the tilting floor "hoof" mechanism and as much as I like everything else about my Players 4 StaDry I'll use it for a round or two and go back to the old Lightweight. 

makes sense to me now. So does the carbon 4 have the tilty floor thing?

[Jarlaxle]

1 minute ago, Mikee_j said:

makes sense to me now. So does the carbon 4 have the tilty floor thing?

 

Yes, you can see it in action in the first picture. 

[North Butte]

It's been several years since I saw a non-Sun Mountain bag without the tilted floor mechanism. I've no idea why the whole industry changed overnight. Used to be only Ping had the "Hoofer" with that mechanism (which is why I quit buying Ping bags, too much club tangle and too much leg droop). Now everybody except SM does it. 

[migolfke]

How does it carry with one strap? I have an older ping 4 series and I find it easy to carry with one strap, which I like. 
 

Can a range finder be stored in the water bottle pocket during a round? I don’t like having  to zip and unzip a pocket to access my range finder. 
 

I’m between the the titleist players 4 carbon and sun mountain 2.5+. 

[JoeEEE]

14 hours ago, migolfke said:

How does it carry with one strap? I have an older ping 4 series and I find it easy to carry with one strap, which I like. 
 

Can a range finder be stored in the water bottle pocket during a round? I don’t like having  to zip and unzip a pocket to access my range finder. 
 

I’m between the the titleist players 4 carbon and sun mountain 2.5+. 

Carries fine with just one, well balanced. The bottle pocket is tight, not ideal for a rangefinder. Would love a quick magnetic pocket of some sort, but then again there's the give and take issue of weight. 

[shanx]

On 9/3/2020 at 10:35 AM, JoeEEE said:

Carries fine with just one, well balanced. The bottle pocket is tight, not ideal for a rangefinder. Would love a quick magnetic pocket of some sort, but then again there's the give and take issue of weight. 

 

The bottle pocket will loosen up over time, my StaDry had the same issue. But after a few months of jamming bottles into it, it loosened up.

 

I stopped trying to jam my rangefinder into the other pocket, just use the big ball pouch for that now.

[Mikee_j]

On 9/2/2020 at 9:14 PM, Jarlaxle said:

 

Yes, you can see it in action in the first picture. 

so in theory is should have a lot of club tangle?

[North Butte]

26 minutes ago, Mikee_j said:

so in theory is should have a lot of club tangle?

In  my experience, yes it will have a lot of club tangle.

 

You can reduce the tangle somewhat by the old Hoofer trick of always lifting the bag up and letting the legs fold up before inserting or remove any club.

 

Some of the tangle comes when you force a grip down into the jumble while the floor is tilted (i.e. the bag is sitting on the ground with legs out) and then you lift the bag, it un-tilts the floor and the grips get more tangled. Then you set the bag down again, the floor tilts and the grips are forced together again.

 

I personally never have the patience to hold the bag upright with one hand while using the other hand to insert or remove clubs. But it does slow down the tangling process over the course of the round.

[spellman21]

Love the bag, however, the water bottle holder is terrible. Mesh is too tight and it’s impossible to get in and out when walking. 

[Dubv23]

11 hours ago, spellman21 said:

Love the bag, however, the water bottle holder is terrible. Mesh is too tight and it’s impossible to get in and out when walking. 

 

That water bottle mesh is terrible.  Seems like an afterthought.

[fortheloveofthegame]

I absolutely loved the look of this bag but the club tangle drove me insane (carrying 12 clubs) along with the narrow opening.  Have moved onto a Nike Air Hybrid and couldn't be happier.

[Jarlaxle]

On 8/31/2020 at 1:08 PM, Dubv23 said:

Do you find the straps to "break in" over time?

 

That bumpy pattern on them causes tons of discomfort for me... like they are too firm.  Aside from that, it is a great bag.  

 

I do wish the water bottle pocket was elsewhere because a heavy bottle tends to pull the whole ball pocket off center... not a big deal at all just bothers me.

Anyone have any feedback on this?  The straps on all the Titleist stand bags feel very stiff in the store. The straps on the Hoofer feel way softer in comparison. 

[Dubv23]

16 minutes ago, Jarlaxle said:

Anyone have any feedback on this?  The straps on all the Titleist stand bags feel very stiff in the store. The straps on the Hoofer feel way softer in comparison. 

 

They have since broken in.  The last round i carried it the soreness from the straps was a non issue.

 

Im still undecided if i will keep the bag though.  it looks great and carries well but the water bottle pocket is too small and the club tangle creeps in and can become an issue sometimes.  

[Jarlaxle]

20 minutes ago, Dubv23 said:

 

They have since broken in.  The last round i carried it the soreness from the straps was a non issue.

 

Im still undecided if i will keep the bag though.  it looks great and carries well but the water bottle pocket is too small and the club tangle creeps in and can become an issue sometimes.  

ok great, I am looking at the Players 4 and 4 Plus but they all have that same material.  How many rounds would you say it took to break in?  Thanks again.

[Dubv23]

1 hour ago, Jarlaxle said:

ok great, I am looking at the Players 4 and 4 Plus but they all have that same material.  How many rounds would you say it took to break in?  Thanks again.

 

Only a few rounds.  I would say by the third round i didnt notice the straps any longer

[caller]

Thanks for the great review!

After seeing this, I got myself a Carbon bag. Solid bag and light weight. Love it. 

[stuart.f.cohen]

It is a great bag, easy to carry with one or two straps, much better material and pockets than the SM 2.5 The water bottle holder is really tight for some reason but as others have said hopefully it will stretch out 

[ottomobeale]

I did a pile of research before buying this bag (players 4) I wanted something light(ish) but with a good number of pockets, and a somewhat trim design, I also wanted a “tilt base” stand vs the foot tilt stand as I’ve had issues with the latter in the past. I landed on this bag after waffling back and forth between it and the Ping Hoofer. After playing just one round with the bag I noticed some wear on the foam where the bag rests when carried, I didn’t think too much of it as it seemed cosmetic. However after just 5 rounds the bag has worn completely through in that spot. It seems to me this bag has a glaring design flaw, the ribs that run the length of the bag run near the outside putting tons of friction between you and the fabric of the bag when being carried, I’ve posted photos of the bag and luckily was able to return it. Wondering if anyone else has had issue with it.