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One golf item I never thought I would review in my 30-plus years in the industry is a golf strap. Yes, I’ve talked about strap systems in individual golf bag reviews. But as a stand-alone item? No. In fact, I’m a little surprised that someone actually thought of a smart strap and thought there might be a market for it.
But Stitch Golf, a premium brand that pushes the envelope a bit, is banking that there’s a niche market of golfers who will gravitate to this concept.
“This isn’t just a strap; it’s a game-changing experience,” said Brad King, CEO of Stitch Golf. “We saw an opportunity to integrate smart tech into the most overlooked part of a golfer’s gear, and we took it to a whole new level. What no one else has, now everybody is going to want.”
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(Image credit: Mike Bailey)
I’m not sure everybody will want it, but I tried it. And you know what? The new Stitch Golf Link Strap with embedded technology from Bushnell Golf makes more sense than I thought it would. And there are definitely golfers out there who love to have the latest and greatest and will take a look at this.
The Stitch Link Golf Strap is a new addition to the company’s MIY (Make it Yours) concept, where you can personalize various components of the SL2 golf bag, like the body, the saddle, and the strap. These three elements can be changed out, and come in different color combinations.
Now there’s a new strap you can add if you have a Stitch bag already, and it comes with two pieces of technology – a Bushnell Wingman Speaker and a magnetically attached Bushnell Phantom 3 Slope Handheld GPS. The new strap ($350) is specially designed to accommodate them. For those who have another carry bag brand, Stitch is planning to offer adapters soon.
(Image credit: Mike Bailey)
Bushnell, of course, sells these items separately for those who aren’t interested in embedding them in a strap, and they work very well. The GPS can be carried in your pocket, for example, or magnetically placed on a cart rail or hooked to a golf bag. The speaker can also be hooked to a golf bag or placed on a golf cart. As of publication, the Bushnell speaker and GPS are on sale on the Bushnell website for $80 and $130, respectively, if you bought them separately.
If you always ride, this smart strap probably doesn't make sense for you.
I actually don’t carry too much (I usually use a push cart when I walk), but for this review, I did both. While it’s pretty cool on a push cart, to get the full effect of this concept, carrying is the way to go.
My first impression when I hooked up everything and started carrying this bag was how comfortable the strap was. In fact, I actually had a round where I had a caddie, and he remarked how cool he thought the concept was and how good the strap was, too.
(Image credit: Mike Bailey)
That’s probably due to the construction of the strap, which is made with Stitch’s signature "Touring Fabric,” and has thicker padding than its regular straps, so it could embed the Bushnell products. The straps are also very light, and you definitely don’t feel the speaker and the rangefinder while carrying clubs.
But here’s why I really liked this concept. While I don’t usually listen to music on the course, having that speaker right behind me when carrying does a couple of things. First, it sounds great, because it’s a pretty decent little speaker, and it’s close to you as you walk with the bag. Secondly, because it’s close to you, you can keep the volume down, which means it’s unlikely to bother other players. I found that unless they got close to me, or we were on the tee, they couldn’t hear the classic rock or jazz (and sometimes spa music I play to help calm me down) I was playing through the speaker.
(Image credit: Mike Bailey)
Secondly, where the GPS is located means that every time you put the bag down, there it is, right in front of you. You don’t have to pull it out of your pocket. Of course, the GPS could also be clipped to the bag, but having it in the strap is cooler.
Also, it doesn’t appear there’s any reason to be worried about these devices falling out of the strap as you walk. Not only do the devices fit snugly into the cavities of the strap, but the magnets also work on the strap.
As for ease of use, the Wingman speaker pairs easily with a smartphone via Bluetooth. The controls on the speaker aren't very accessible when in the strap, but you can control everything with your phone anyway. You can also get audible distances with the Wingman.
The Phantom 3 Slope GPS has a touchscreen for all its displays. Plus, unlike some best golf GPS devices, once you turn it on, it figures out where you are and what hole you're on, so it’s pretty automatic. One of the cool features – as the name states – is that it can give you slope-compensated distances much like an optical rangefinder.
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