Review of Ping Hoofer C-1 Golf Carry Bag

OVERALL RATING SCORE: eigthy-eight GRADE: B+

The new Ping Hoofer C-1 falls into the middle band of the bags tested in terms of weight, features and cost. It does not particularly stand out among the competition, but is reliable and versatile enough to appeal to a wide range of players. There are a number of improvements for the Hoofer this year, including sliding shoulder strap adjustments, a magnetic enclosure for the water bottle pocket, a pocket for scorecard and pencil, and a buttons for the rain hood. Players who have used Hoofer bags in the past will be happy with the latest iteration, and those looking at the Hoofer for the first time would be hard pressed to find fault with any particular element. It is not the lightest, cheapest, or most full featured entry in the market, but it is a solid bag that we cannot help but like.

Retail price: 189.99

This can easily be really important section of this specific subject matter. CLUB STORAGE SCORE: ninety-four GRADE: A Following the look and feel of the Hoofer Vantage of years past, the Hoofer C-1 has a 5-way top to separate clubs into different groups. 2 full-length dividers running the length of the bag divide club storage space into 3 major sectors. This is a reasonably simple setup, which, on the Ping spectrum of products, falls in between the 6-way top with six dividers of the Ping Latitude V2 and the 4-way top of the four Under.

LEGS SCORE: eigthy-seven GRADE: B+ The Ping Hoofer C-1 is designed to collapse at the bottom of the bag with pressure, which in turn engages the legs. While it sometimes may require a little encouragement to get the legs to extend (just get used to sitting it down at the correct angle), we like this design as there is no protruding lever from the base of the bag (which is used by other manufacturers to engage the legs) that will get in the way when using either a push cart or motorized cart.

The legs are rubber tipped, but aren’t the wider triangular feet found on some competitors. In theory this design may be slightly less stable, and the legs could more easily sink into wet ground or mud (nothing wrong with playing golf in bad weather, right?).

STRAPS SCORE: eigthy-six GRADE: B The Ping Hoofer C-1 retains the same 2 separate shoulder strap design of the previous Hoofer Vantage model. As before, the right strap has a system which allows the strap to retract when not in use, and the left shoulder strap is a standard non-retracting version, most likely to keep the left side more easily accessible when throwing the bag over your shoulder. This year’s bag also has a new sliding strap system to that allows you to easily adjust while walking (see ‘Innovation’, below). The padding on the straps for the shoulders is comfortable.

POCKETS/STORAGE SCORE: eigthy-six GRADE: B The Ping Hoofer C-1 has six total pockets.

One large apparel pocket runs along the right side of the bag. One smaller sized apparel pocket sits on the right side of the bag on top of the large pocket. One small velour-lined valuables pocket (waterproof!) sits above the large pocket. One medium-sized pocket and one small pocket sit on the spine of the bag, handy for storing tees, balls and other items that you need to access most often. One beverage pocket, lined with insulation and with a drain, runs along the left side of the bag. The pocket is smaller than the beverage pockets of the competition, so the largest size bottles may not fit. We liked the magnetic closure of the pocket to keep the beverage secure. Of course, there is a small pouch to hold a scorecard with a pen/pencil holder that Ping doesn’t include in its pocket count.

The Hoofer C-1 includes a slot on the right side of the bag for holding an umbrella and a plastic loop for attaching a towel or GPS device in its carrying case. There is also a velcro pad by the towel loop to attach your glove.

RAIN HOOD SCORE: ninety-four GRADE: A The rain hood of the Hoofer C-1 is an evolution from earlier Ping bags, and now features five buttons to attach the hood to the bag. These buttons all snap in easily, and we prefer the new design to the prior Ping models that required wrapping velcro straps around the top of the bag.

CARRYING IMPRESSIONS SCORE: eigthy-nine GRADE: B+ Though the Hoofer has never been the lightest bag on the market, the new Hoofer C-1 sheds nearly a full pound from the previous generation Hoofer Vantage.

Weight. The Ping Hoofer C-1 is one of the lighter carry bags that we’ve tested, coming in at under five pounds. Quite a diet from the Hoofer Vantage it replaces. Balance. We liked the balance of the bag, as well as the ability to easily adjust the shoulder straps while on the course (see ‘Innovation’, below). Padding. There is reasonable amount of padding where the bag rests against the user’s lower back. This straddles the line between the lightweight bags that offer less padding to conserve weight, and those bags where the padding extends over a slightly wider area.

STYLE SCORE: eigthy-nine GRADE: B+ The Ping Hoofer C-1 has a relatively wide range of colors to select from, and designs that include different colors for trim as well as secondary colors. 7 different combinations are available:

Navy with black trim Dark green with black trim Black with silver highlights and black trim Plum, lavender and white Red, white and black White with black trim Yellow, black and silver

None of them are loud, and depending on where you fired your tee shot, it just might be nice not to bring attention to your location.

INNOVATION SCORE: eigthy-four GRADE: B The Ping Hoofer C-1 features an integrated handle which extends from where the straps attach the top of the bag. Combined with the bottom strap, this makes the bag reasonably easy to grab and lift into a vehicle or while traveling.

In addition to a retractable right shoulder strap, both strap pads are “dual sliding” and allow for easier adjustment than the common straps of the past.

In the end, the Ping Hoofer C-1 also has a zippered opening at the bottom of the largest apparel pocket, making it easy to retrieve the car keys, food, wallet, golf balls and GPS units that have fallen into your bag without having to turn the bag upside-down.

COST/VALUE SCORE: eigthy-four GRADE: B The Ping Hoofer C-1 retails for 189.99, which puts it at about average among bags tested. It is a solid, dependable bag, but at this price point users will probably start to consider bags that have more features and carrying capacity, as well as less expensive lightweight bags.

Presented by Andrew B., one of the editors at CriticalGolf.com. For our complete set of golf bag reviews and for reviews and ratings of golf gps devices, golf laser rangefinders, golf push carts, iPhone golf GPS applications and more, visit http://criticalgolf.com.