Most golfers have a love-hate relationship with their bag. They love how it holds all of the clubs they need, but hate how it’s always a mess and how long it takes to find the right club at the right time.
In this blog post, we’ll teach you how to properly organize your golf bag so that you can avoid these frustrations, have a clear mindset, and speed up the pace of play throughout the round.
7 Steps to Organizing Your Golf Bag Like A Professional
Step 1: Determine what type of golf bag you have
There are a few different kinds of golf bags you’ll see: Cart Bag, Sunday Bag, and a Carry Bag.
Each of these bag types should be organized differently since they aren’t laid out the same way.
Cart (or Staff) Bag
A cart bag is designed specifically for use on a golf cart, and has several pockets that are easy to access while the bag remains in its designated spot on the back of your pushcart or riding cart’s seat.

Sunday Bag
A sunday bag is a smaller, lightweight bag that typically only holds the essentials for a casual round of golf. This bag is perfect for those who walk the course and don’t need all of the extra gear that comes with a full-sized golf bag.

Carry Bag
A carry bag is just as it sounds – designed to be carried on your back while you walk the course. This bag generally has a stand for when you’re hitting your shot, and like the cart bag, has several pockets for storage.

Step 2: Remove everything from your golf bag
Before you start organizing your golf bag, it’s important to have a clean slate so that you can see how much space is available and where things should go.
Start by laying your bag flat on the ground, then remove all of your clubs from their slots in the bag.
After that, you’ll want to remove all of your balls, tees, and whatever else is taking up space in your bag.
Step 3: Determine what essentials you need
Now that everything is out of your golf bag, it’s time to decide which items you’ll want in it on an every-round basis.
The essentials that you need in your bag every single round include your clubs, golf balls, tees, a ball marker, a glove, and a divot repair.
In addition, a range finder or any other essentials should be considered as well.
Step 4: Put your golf clubs in the correct order
Now that you have an idea of which bag you have, and what you’ll want to put in it, it’s time to put your golf clubs in the right order.
This order should be based on the type of clubs you have, and how you’ll use them during your round.
The most common way to organize your golf clubs is by starting on the top left of the bag, and working towards the right.
Once each section is filled, move down a section and repeat the process again.
So for example, you’ll want to put your driver in the top left section, then your fairway woods directly to the right of it.
After that, you’ll want to put your irons in order from lowest iron (3-iron) to highest iron (9-iron) in the middle section, starting from left to right.
And lastly, you’ll want to put your wedges in order from lowest loft (52 degree) to highest wedge (60 degree), with your putter to the right of it.
Here are a few examples of properly organized golf bags:



Having a setup like this will help you easily find your clubs throughout the round, and speed up your pace of play making for a better round!
Step 5: Put your tees, balls, and other essentials in a convenient area
Now that you have your clubs in the right sections, you’ll want to take a look at each of the pockets on your bag and see which are the easiest to access.
Usually, on the front of the bag, you’ll have two sections near the bottom (the top one should be used for tees, and the bottom one for standard-size golf balls).

You can choose how you’d personally like to organize your essentials, but make sure you have the most used essentials in the most convenient pockets!
Step 6: Find a dedicated space for your valuables
Most golf bags have a dedicated pocket for your valuables near the top of the bag.

They’ll usually have an indicator for it, but you’ll want to put your valuables such as your phone, keys, and wallet in there.
This way, you won’t have to worry about where they are throughout the round and you’ll know they’re safe.
Step 7: Determine which situational gear you need
Every golf bag should have a dedicated area for situational gear.
If you’re playing in the winter, you’ll probably want a beanie or another jacket to put on if it’s cold.
If you’re playing in the rain, you’ll probably want an umbrella or another towel to keep your clubs dry.
If you’re playing in the heat, you’ll probably want a small cooler for some extra water bottles to stay hydrated.
Whatever your situation is, you want to be prepared, and the best way to do this is have an area committed to these kinds of gear.
Here’s a great guide on what to wear golfing if you aren’t sure which situational gear to bring!