Background
I’m a golfer. Have been for over fifty years. I took up the game at a very young age, around 7, despite the fact no one in my family played it. From the first time I hit a golf ball, I was hooked. The game was extremely important to me until I was a in my 30s when I began to focus more on my career. During that time, I managed to get my handicap down to as low as a 3 which would have put me near the top 5% of golfers who play and keep a handicap. In order to keep that level of play, one needs to work on one’s game and I was unable to do so. Today, I’m not very good and if I kept a handicap, it would be around 20 or so. Meaning, I suck.
That
doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the game! There are few things that feel as good as
perfectly struck golf shot and I still hit those on occasion. And the
camaraderie of playing with friends in the outdoors just adds to it. In the
end, though, it’s the game that keeps us coming back for the torture of badly
struck shots just so we can experience that perfectly hit feeling!
In
over fifty years of playing, I’ve never really been a big “gear guy.” I know
some people who buy and switch putters like empty beers, who buy a new set of
clubs every year or two. I’ve owned three sets of clubs in my life (one was a
starter set that I had for about 4 years) and have played with 5 putters in all
that time.
The
first top quality set of clubs I bought were a set of Wilson Staff that I
purchased as 
Wilson Staff 1974
a junior in high school in 1974. (I did replace the woods a few
years later.) I used this
Francis Ouimet
set until 2001. My buddy Clyde used to refer to them
as the “Francis Ouimet” signature set. (Non-golfers will want to know that Mr.
Ouimet was a US Open champion back in 1913. Since he was an amateur and never
turned pro, he wouldn’t have had a set of clubs with his name on them, making
this an excellent joke!)
In
2001 I purchased a set of Wilson Fat Shaft irons from a shop called “Second
Swing” that specialized in gently used equipment; remember those people who buy
new
Dig the Fat Shaft!
clubs every year? Yeah. I’ve used those clubs for the past 20 years as they
were state of the art back then and actually added some distance to my game.
Back
in March, I took my first lesson in over 25 years and it became immediately
apparent that my clubs were no longer my friends. They’re heavy, the shafts
don’t really fit my swing anymore and my golf muscles aren’t what they used to
be. Frankly, most of my muscles aren’t what they used to be, except for the
legs from all the cycling over the last decade. Couple all that with new
technology and it became apparent that I should go shopping.
Always
get a recommendation
At
dinner with a friend a few weeks later, he started telling me about getting
fitted for new clubs. Mac and I have played golf together dozens of times over
the 30 years of our friendship and his son, Christopher, is a top echelon
amateur (plays in national events) so I greatly respect his opinion.
He
told me that he’d had great luck with Mulligan’s Pro Shop which is based at a
driving range, west of town. Matt and Jay, the owners, were highly skilled at
fitting clubs and that there was no charge for the fitting process. He invited
me to come to the range with him one weeknight to meet them and see what they
had to offer.
I
should point out that it’s possible to order golf clubs on the internet of the
same quality that I’m talking about and, generally, at a discount of some kind.
The issue is, the fit. Unless you know exactly what to order, you’ll be using
clubs that are unlikely to fit you properly. There are literally dozens of
shaft flexes, weights, lies, and lofts and they all vary by manufacturer’s
model! Golf swings are as unique as golfers and unless you’re fitted by a
professional, you could be making the game more difficult to play. As this is
probably the last set of clubs I’m going to buy (see above) I’m going to make
sure I’ve got the right ones!
I met
Mac to hit balls a few days later. He was trying out his new Ping irons and
invited me to hit a few just to see what I thought. Even as we’re different
height, weight, and swing I could tell immediately how much easier his clubs
were to hit.
Afterward,
he introduced me to Matt and we chatted about what they did. He said they’d be
glad to spend time with me but to be sure and make an appointment for a proper
fitting after I’d hit clubs of different brands to determine what I liked and
to start whinnying down the selections. I was welcome to come anytime that they
were open to try what they had.
Fast
forward two weeks and MB and I are back at the range and Matt is putting
together test clubs for me to hit from six manufacturers. This first step is all
about initial look and feel of the clubs. Let me explain.
When a
golfer looks down at the ball at address just prior to the shot, the club is
also in view as they aim. If the clubhead doesn’t fit the player’s eye (looks
too fat, too thin, the score lines look weird, I can’t aim it very well, etc)
that puts the shot at risk immediately because hitting a golf ball is a
proactive rather than reactive move. One must be committed to it or the shot
will rarely come off.
If the
look is okay, the feel of the hit is the next critical element. I don’t know
how to describe this very well except to say that two different brands of clubs
will have a slight, almost imperceptible, difference in how they feel when
striking the ball. If it’s a mis-hit, the difference can be jarring; my Fat
Shafts when mis-hit in cold weather will leave my hands humming like a door
chime. When struck perfectly, there is still a difference and each player has a
feel that they prefer for feedback for the next shot.
Matt
returned with clubs from Titleist, Callaway, Mizuno, Ping, Wilson, and Taylor
Made. I was like a kid in a candy store! I took the time to hit shots with each
of the clubs and came away with some winners and some losers.
 |
| Titleist T300 |
 |
| Mizuno JPX |
 |
| Wilson D7 |
Titleist, Mizuno, and Wilson all fit my eye and had the feel I was looking for and it was apparent from the first swing. Callaway, Ping, and Taylor Made all had a good look to my eye but I could tell fairly quickly that I didn’t really like the feel compared to the others. (That said, if I were properly fitted with these three, it might have been a different story but with so many to choose from, why force yourself into something? It’s not like I’m getting a contract to play their clubs! I’m paying for these.)
After
hitting shots for about an hour, I was ready to make the next step – sign up
for a fitting. I went back inside and told Matt which clubs I wanted to test
and fit for and made an appointment a few weeks later to do just that.
Time
to Get Fit!
Last
Monday was a big day. MB and I played with two friends in the Quinn Classic, a
fundraiser for ALS, at Brandermill Country Club. I hadn’t played the course in
at least 25 years and realized that it had gotten narrower over the years.
While we had fun, it wasn’t a very impressive display of golf prowess. My
highlights included two excellent bunker shots and a couple of par saving putts.
Those are hardly spectacular when playing a scramble format, where everyone
hits the same shot and the team takes the best one and all move to that spot
and do it again until you hole out. When your best result is in a bunker, you
suck. Fortunately, we had low expectations and it was a beautiful day to play
golf with friends!
The
evening was far more rewarding. I got to the shop at 5:00 and Matt was ready
for me. I told him which clubs I was interested in fitting and he sent me out
to the range to warm up.
After a
few minutes, he showed up carrying one club with a small plastic tube filled with electronics attached to the
shaft, just below the grip. This tool is called a “Shaft Maximizer” and it’s
designed to provide data around your swing to recommend the proper shaft for
your clubs. He had me hit a half dozen or so shots with it and then looked at
the readout on an Ipad. I was surprised to find that my swing speed still
supports the use of a stiff shaft in my clubs. At my age, I was convinced that
a more flexible shaft would be better for me. We ended up agreeing to test both
as I tried out the clubs to determine what was best and he assured me that
there are multiple flexes available I could try.
TrackMan
Next,
he went back in the shop and came back with clubs from my three chosen
manufacturers and the Track Man. These clubs are "fitting clubs" that with a twist
of a special tool, the fitter can adjust the length and lie of the clubs adding
as much as a half inch and +/- 2 degrees of change to lie as well.
Track
Man has revolutionized golf on many fronts, especially in equipment selection
and fitting. Using “radar technology” it provides 26 parameters of data on each
shot including clubhead speed, ball speed, launch angle, angle of attack, ball
spin rate, and it shows a 3D flight of the ball! (By the way, it works for
baseball, tennis, all kind of sports where a moving ball is used.) I had never
seen one in action before and, as a bit of a data geek, was fascinated.
We began
the session by my hitting each club about ten times to lay down some basic data
and compare the performance to each other. The initial result showed that the
Wilson club would need to be fitted with a 3rd party shaft which
would add a layer of complexity and cost that I didn’t want to indulge, so that
one was right out.
The
other two clubs, Mizuno and Titleist, were compared for another ten shots and
the results were clear. The Mizuno I was able to hit farther but not
consistently and this resulted in a bigger dispersion of shots, as much as
twenty-three yards in distance, and the mishits were farther off-line, too. Looks
like the Titleist is our winner!
The
next step was dialing in the fit. Jay came out with a couple of different
shafts and I hit a series of shots while he changed shafts and it became clear
that the softest stiff shaft was perfect to get the most consistent ball
flight, spin rate, and dispersion. It was interesting that while I couldn’t feel
a difference, it was very measurable. I then hit another couple of dozen shots
with that shaft while Jay adjusted the lie from normal to flat, going back and
forth several times. With that, we came to realize that a proper fit for me was
one degree flat. We also discussed an increase in grip size, something I’d
forgotten over the years. Back in the day, technicians would add two extra
layers of tape under the grip to make it easier to get my hands on the grip in
comfort. This was a great catch on his part, all due to watching my hand action
very carefully during the fitting.
The
final fit had me hitting another dozen shots to get a final dispersion pattern
to understand what the final clubs would do for me. The difference on screen
was remarkable; the new clubs, in addition to being easier to hit, will be far
more accurate. That should translate to better scores and more fun! I was
impressed and excited by the possibilities!
Order
up!
Jay
and I went back into the shop to complete the transaction. He wrote up the
order for Titleist for a set of T300 irons, 4-9 iron, pitching wedge, and gap
wedge, and charged my credit card. Once that was done, he immediately called to
place the order and let me know the current fulfillment time was six to seven weeks.
(I knew that beforehand, so it wasn’t a surprise.)
I thanked
Jay and Matt for their time and expertise. The fitting took about ninety
minutes and including the prior hitting session, it was close to three hours.
That’s real professional service, in my opinion.
I told
them I’d be back later in the summer for a new driver and fairway woods!
