With the snow finally gone for good here in the Northeast (knock on wood), I finally had a chance to load my gear into the OGIO Exodus cart bag.  OGIO sent me the bag for review nearly two months ago, and I’ve been desperate to get the bag out on a golf course ever since.

If you’ve read any of my filling my bag series you know that my general way of thinking is that the golf bag itself is one of the most underappreciated pieces of equipment on the golf course.  Whether OGIO subscribes to my way of thinking, or I subscribe to theirs is pretty much irrelevant, the fact of the matter is, smart guys like us (me and OGIO) know that while a well designed bag won’t make you a better golfer, it can make your life a bit easier out on the links.

OGIO’s Exodus model is brand new for 2008.  With a retail price of around $170, the Exodus fills the gap between the company’s Syncro cart bag (retail $150), and their top of the line cart bag, the Atlas (retail $180).

I haven’t personally spent any time with the Syncro, so I can’t get into too much detail about it.  I can tell you it’s an extremely lightweight cart bag, and should warrant consideration from those of you who own push carts.

After nearly 50 rounds of personal experience with the Atlas, I can attest to the fact that it is a fantastic cart bag.  I look at just about every golf bag one can find on store shelves, and I promise you, there isn’t a more complete large cart bag than the OGIO Atlas.

So what does that mean for the Exodus?  You’d think that comparing the two top-of-the-line golf bags from a single company would be a fairly easy exercise.  My original intent was to put the Exodus through its paces and promptly declare it better or worse than my Atlas.  With less than $20 retail price difference, you wouldn’t expect to find a great deal of difference between the two bags.  As it turns out, however; while we are dealing with a classic apples to apples comparison, there’s a world of difference between a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious (no more fruit references in this article, I promise).  The same is true of the Exodus and the Atlas.

I’m not going to get into too much detail about the Atlas.  You can read that review here.  Today belongs to the Exodus, so let’s get to it.

For OGIO fans, the Exodus comes standard with plenty of familiar bells and whistles:

• 3-point molded handle
• ZBP (Zipperless Ball Pocket)
• Hoode (Clamshell Rain hood system)
• Fleece lined valuables pocket
• Full-length EVA club dividers
• Internal “Isolation Chamber” wet/dry pocket
  

  The molded rubber feet on the 2008 Exodus are a small, but welcome upgrade from previous models.
• Two insulated hydration pockets with leak port
• Full length umbrella containment for pull carts
• Elastic tee holders
• Elastic oversized towel loop
• Shoulder strap stash loop
• Glove/Putter cover velcro strip
• Dedicated Cell Phone Pouch

Unless your bag is an OGIO, I’d be willing to bet that what I’ve just listed is already half a dozen more features than your current bag has.  As great as that is, the Exodus adds a handful of new features never before seen in an OGIO cart bag.  Those include:

• 10″ Wedge top
• Pen Sleeve
• Cigar Caddy with Pouch
• Divot tool sleeve with OGIO divot tool
• Wide, well-padded, extremely comfortable carry strap

While these really are fantastic enhancements over previous bags, there are a couple of things that OGIO fans, or at least those of us familiar with the Atlas will likely notice are missing.

Most conspicuous by its absence is the extremely popular molded 3-ball silo (a plastic cage of sorts that stores up to 3 golf balls in a very accessible external location).  The Exodus also has fewer pockets than the Atlas (no sunglasses pouch, no secondary accessories pouch).

While the Exodus does offer two hydration pockets, they are smaller than the one on the Atlas, and neither is particularly well suited to hold anything fatter than a couple cans of beer (each pouch can hold at least two).  I found it to be a bit of a struggle to get my acrylic water bottle into the pouch, and once I did, I wasn’t able to zip it closed (which doesn’t do much for keeping the water cold).

Finally, and perhaps the biggest issue for an Atlas guy like me; the Atlas has two molded handles at the top of the bag.  I’m not sure of their specific purpose, but they definitely make the bag a bit easier to get in and out of a trunk.  More importantly for me, they give me something to hang accessories off of (I loop the strap of my laser rangefinder through them, and clip a club brush).  Without the handles I had to use the towel loop, which worked well for the brush, but gets me nowhere with the rangefinder.

So why, with some standard, and beloved features missing from the Exodus, should you consider an Exodus over the Atlas (or any other top tier cart bag, for that matter)?  Actually, there are several reasons.  While you may miss the sunglasses pocket (I almost never carry sunglasses on the course), and other accessory pockets, the guys who designed the Exodus have come up with some pretty ingenious ways to compensate for what could initially be viewed as a deficiency.

The kind of things I store in the extra accessory pockets of my Atlas (like a marker, a divot tool, and cigars) all have their assigned places on the Exodus.  The external slots for a divot tool and a marker are particularly cool as they make both easily accessible (no more digging though the bag).  I can’t fathom how no one thought of it sooner.

The dedicated pouch, and included cigar caddy makes storing, protecting, and accessing your cigars exceptionally easy as well.  Personally, I don’t miss the Ball Silo at all.  In my mind it’s a bit of a legacy to the days before the Zipperless Ball Pouch.  If your bag is equipped with ZBP, the Ball Silo is a bit superfluous.

Unless you ride around in a cart each and every time you play, weight is probably a consideration.  The Exodus weighs under 9 lbs. (less than most premium cart bags), which is fairly significant when pushing or pulling a cart for 18 holes, particularly over wet ground.  While the Atlas will work just fine on a push cart, I found that the Exodus does fit into place a bit better (at least on my Sun Mountain Speed Cart).  The half a pound difference between them doesn’t sound like much, but it is noticeable.

If esthetics are of utmost important to you, the Exodus is definitely your bag.  You’d be hard pressed to find a better looking way to transport your clubs to, from, and around the course.  In fact, I’ll go so far as to say it’s impossible.

While the Atlas, and other recent OGIO bags are, most days, among the best looking you’ll find on the golf course, the designers at OGIO have set a new standard for golf bag design with the Exodus.

Whatever you want to call it; the Prom Queen, Playmate of the Year, Miss America…the OGIO Exodus oozes pure golf sex appeal.  There is a level of refinement in the Exodus that simply isn’t present in other cart bags.  The new color patterns, and sleeker lines make the Exodus extremely easy on the eyes.

Subtle updates to the buckles and fasteners give the Exodus a more sophisticated look.  Improvements to even the most minute of details (zipper pulls, the velcro strip for holding your glove, and molded rubber feet on the bottom of the bag), bring the package together to give us what I consider to be, hands down, the single best looking cart bag for the 2008 golf season.

The heart and soul of any golf bag is the top (the holes in the bag where your clubs go), so I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss what the Exodus can offer you in that regard.

The Wedge (pronounced Wedg-ee) top is a new design for OGIO.  Having played a couple of rounds with the Exodus, I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about the Wedge, at least in terms of how it stacks up to the very popular Uniter design found on the Atlas.

I would imagine that, for many, the decision between bags will come down to which top one prefers.  I can say that, all other factors aside, the putter pouch on the Exodus is a huge step up from previous OGIO designs (again, the Exodus is all about refinement).  I’ve found that it allows my mallet putter to sit lower, and more flush with the bag, which helps to protect from the damage caused by the clanking around of the other clubs.

Whether or not the Wedge design is right for you is largely determined by the clubs you carry.  What I’ve learned from playing around with the Exodus over the last few weeks is there are two particular scenarios where the Wedge top makes a whole lot of sense.

If you carry two or more hybrid clubs (particularly if you still carry both a 3 and 5 wood), the Wedge top is, at least partially, designed with you in mind, and will meet your needs perfectly.  There are ample dividers designed to keep your graphite shafts well isolated and protected both from each other, and from your irons and wedges.  Which brings me to my next scenario.

If you’re like me, or Phil Mickelson, I suppose, and carry what some call an “extra” wedge, again, the Wedge top of the Exodus makes a lot of sense.  While I only carry 1 hybrid (at least for now), I do carry 4 wedges (46°, 52°, 56°, and 60°).  An entire ‘row’ of the Wedge top is designed to hold your wedges (go figure).  It is, of course, a small detail, but it makes for a very handy arrangement.

Of course, if neither of these scenarios fits your set composition, I’m not saying the Wedge won’t do just fine.  The point I’m trying to convey is that the Wedge top is ideal/optimized for those of us who carry more than 2 hybrids, more than 3 wedges, or both.

The one knock I have on the Wedge top is that the divider placement isn’t logical, at least not to me.  As you can see from the photos, the slot for the wedges is at the opposite end of the bag from the putter pouch.  I suppose it’s a small detail as all of the club compartments are easily accessible regardless of how the bag is oriented, but it’s something I find just a little bit odd.

Minor issues aside, the 2008 OGIO Exodus is a five-star golf bag.  Choosing between it and the Atlas probably is a bit like trying to choose a favorite between your two children.  You love them equally, but there’s no denying their differences.  I’ve had the Atlas for over a year, and the Exodus for only two months.  Thus far I haven’t been able to pick a favorite.

The Exodus is without a doubt the better looking bag, but the Atlas is a little bigger and has more pocket space.  If you need every cubic centimeter of space you can get, think Atlas.  If you’re willing to trade a little bit of space for a reduction in weight (not to mention a ton of extra features), the Exodus is your bag.  The beauty of it is that you can’t go wrong either way.

Regardless of what you’re looking for, you will not find a better designed, more complete golf bag than an OGIO.  Let me say that again… You will not find a better designed, more complete golf bag than an OGIO.  I’ve said it twice, so you know it’s true.  OGIO is counted among the Fifty Finest, so you can be sure the quality is unmatched.

I find the Exodus to be almost the perfect medium-sized cart bag; a solid 9.5 out of 10 (points deducted for undersized hydration pockets).  What I’d love to see for 2009 is slightly modified Exodus (keep the cool stuff…cigar caddy, divot tool and pen pouches, etc.), with a slight change to the Wedge top (have the row of wedges surround the putter pocket), roomier hydration pockets, and most importantly, the addition of a clip, a handle, a buckle, something to hang a couple of key on course accessories off of.

If you’re looking for a new cart bag, I can highly recommend both the Atlas and the Exodus (let your personal requirements dictate which one is right for you).  For those of you looking for a stand/carry bag, I have it on good authority that the much anticipated OGIO Nexos stand bag will be available sometime early this summer.  You can expect a complete review shortly after mine arrives.

The Ogio Exodus is available in Navy/Gold, Black/Copper, and Petrol, and is available from eBags.com.

For those looking for a larger bag, you might want to consider the OGIO Atlas.