50 Words or Less
The Sun Mountain C-130S golf bag takes the most popular cart bag and gives it legs. A great version for the rider who also spends a lot of time on the range. Loads of storage. Fantastic club organization.
Introduction
As you would expect, I’m known in my real life as “the golf guy.” People routinely ask me for recommendations and advice. When they ask me what golf bag to buy, I always respond, “Do you walk or ride?” The vast majority ride exclusively, so I’ll recommend a cart bag. The curiously common follow up from them is, “Does that have legs? I need a bag with legs.”
While the need for legs on a cart bag has always been a head scratcher for me, clearly Sun Mountain has been listening to their customers. For 2024, they’ve taken the game’s most popular cart bag, the C-130 [review HERE], and given it a stand. In this review, I’ll examine the Sun Mountain C-130S to determine if it’s the next evolutionary step for one of the game’s best-loved bags or an unnecessary gimmick.
Looks
You know that you own a category when your brand name is the best way to describe how a bag looks. The Sun Mountain C-130S looks like a Sun Mountain bag. There’s substantial branding on either side, and a noticeable callout for the model name. The features are highlighted in smaller, more subtle ways such as the snowflake on the cooler pocket.
Unlike the standard C-130 which comes in an astounding thirteen colorways, the C-130S sports a still-respectable five. Black (seen here) is always a classic, and Sun Mountain has two patriotic options – Sand Camo and the red/white/grey Patriot. Two trendier options are the Surf-River-Navy in a variety of blues and Harbor-Spruce-Orche which blends a steely blue with orange/brown highlights.
Features
True to its heritage, the Sun Mountain C-130S golf bag is not short on features. There are three separate clips around the top of the bag for mounting range finder cases or clipping towels. The largest clip also has a Velcro tab for attaching your glove. A three-part umbrella loop will make sure you never end up drenched.
The C-130S is also packed with pockets. Both sides have full-length apparel pockets, so you can bring all the cold and wet weather gear that you own. On the left, there’s a small upper pocket and a larger lower pocket that’s insulated (above). This cooler pocket is surprisingly deep, capable of holding several cans or a large water bottle. The right side of the bag has a large uninsulated pocket and a velour-lined valuables pocket.
On the back of the bag, there are three separate zippered compartments. The top is velour-lined and labeled for your rangefinder. While many bags have a magnetic rangefinder pocket, the zippered pocket makes more sense here because the riding golfer isn’t putting their laser in the bag between shots. The ball pocket is cavernous, and the middle pocket is shallow enough to keep your “sometimes” gear accessible.
Performance
One of the biggest reasons why golfers love the Sun Mountain C-130S is the top. There are fourteen club slots, all with full length dividers, and an oversized space for a putter. This is as good as it gets for keeping your clubs organized and sliding them in and out of the bag effortlessly.
Speaking of effortless, the C-130S is easy to move thanks to an array of four handles. The top has a built-in plastic handle on either side. Moving down the back, there’s a large handle in the conventional spot and a handle underneath the ball pocket near the bottom. Whether you’re loading this bag into your trunk, onto a cart, or taking it for a short walk, there’s a comfortable, convenient way to hold it.
For when you’re carrying the C-130S a longer distance, Sun Mountain has given you a heavily padded shoulder strap. Unlike most cart bags, the strap is on the back of the bag, and it has multiple quick release connection points to make it more stable. All that said, the bag still weighs 6.8 pounds when empty, so it’s not a viable option as a carry bag.
On to the feature that sets the Sun Mountain C-130S apart: the legs. If you’ve ever watched helplessly as your stand-free bag tipped over, sending your clubs to the pavement, you understand why legs are valuable. Even if you ride all the time, you may want the legs for when you’re at the range or when your bag needs to be set down outside the pro shop. The legs on the C-130S are very stout, built for the added weight of this bag, though they’re deployed by a “foot” rather than tilting the whole base, which is not my preferred mechanism.
Finally, a less obvious thing that makes the Sun Mountain C-130S such a great riding or pushing golf bag is the design of the pockets. You have full access to all the zippers when the the bag is on a cart, and the pockets are oriented so you reach into them rather than having to contort your hand into the pocket. Also, Sun Mountain added a pass through for the cart strap so that your pockets are never blocked.
Conclusion
For many golfers, the C-130 was already their dream golf bag, but for those that want a stand, the Sun Mountain C-130S is true perfection. This version keeps everything that makes the C-130 great – the full-length dividers, the storage – while adding legs to make it more stable for the occasions when it’s not on a cart.
Visit Sun Mountain HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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4 Comments
Great review as always. I was particularly keen with this since I got one earlier this year.
Everything you mentioned is spot on and is everything you’d expect from SM with that I agree with the mechanism of the leg is not preferred but that is how SM does it but at least it’s made with quality and durability in mind.
I do question why there isn’t a magnetic closure on one of the middle pockets. There are plenty of cart bags that have a magnetic closure there from vessel ping and even the C130 itself! I don’t know if it was a cost or design element but I would have wanted that, but you can’t get everything in your wishlist in a bag.
Have this bag and major complaint is rain hood…when attached, the opening is backwards, have to uncover all to get to putter or wedges??
Great review, I think you were spot on throughout your entire review. The one thing I wish they offered is this model in a waterproof version. I’ve been on few multi-day trips where it has rained for the entire time. It only took me the first experience to realize I’ll always have a waterproof golf bag.
I did see on their website they bringing back this year in their H2O series a 14 way divider stand bag again. While it’s not as good as this model, it beats the alternative of everything inside getting soaked.
I’ve had mine for a year now. My only complaint is that it needs a reinforcement near the top. The cart strap pinches down the tubes, making it difficult to remove and replace clubs. Otherwise, I love it!