BOMB & GOUGE: And you think Bomb & Gouge only care about clubs, shafts and golf balls? (Well, Gouge does, but he spends weekends reading the latest entries from the Journal of the American Journal of Physics. Not that he understands any of it. He was a liberal arts major who took one science course in his entire collegiate life. His life is just that boring.) But really, think again. Of all the products that caught our fancy at last month’s PGA Merchandise Show, perhaps none had us saying “why didn’t someone think of this before” as much as Ogio’s Mammoth travel bag. Hey, don’t laugh. If you think travel bags aren’t important, then you’ve never had your hat crushed or tried to figure out a way to get your clubs, a pair of shoes and about a week’s worth of laundry in one only to find out that you can’t close it over the top of your 45–inch driver. In short, the Mammoth is the solution to all those crises. Just as JetBlue seemingly solved every nitpick of air passengers, so too has Ogio with golf travelers, thanks to input from its team of out-of-the-box thinkers (like their yoke-like bag strap you might remember called The Shling), with some real world traveling golfer input from national sales manager Tom Gocke, a former Nike Tour pro. For starters, the Mammoth has firm sides so instead of wrestling to get your clubs in the travel cover you can simply lay them in there and then secure them with a strap—a big plus when you get to the Avis dropoff and realize you haven’t packed your clubs and you have about two minutes before the shuttle bus that will allow you to catch your flight leaves. And it has plenty of room, so even the tallest driver fits, as will several loads of dirty clothes. One pocket is designed to hold two dozen golf balls, another will hold half-a-dozen caps in a crush-proof cocoon. Shoes? How about not only a shoe compartment, but one that zippers off so you can take it right in the locker room with you. Double that you can rinse out the shoe bag with a hose because its divider is not some weak fake fur that holds in dirt and odor, and you have the simple kind of genius so much of the golf industry is desperately lacking. But a bag with all these bells and whistles (and called Mammoth) must be a beast to get through the line at the airport, no? Not so much. Ogio has designed a bottom with four wheels that allows the bag to stand straight up and easily roll not only front and back, but side to side as well. We tried it. It works. A gentle push with your hand or foot will do the trick—without worry of the bag falling over on the 3-year-old in line next to you. What can we say, after seeing the Mammoth we were reaching in our pockets for the $250 American the bag will sell for at retail. Only problem is that this marvel won’t be available until May 15. Start saving. After all, it beats one of those cardboard freebies the airlines give you.