SAN JOSE, Calif. – It’s been a long year since my driver shaft snapped in half while traveling home from a golf trip last January.
Even with a new shaft, the love affair has faded. My trusty TaylorMade R15 never really felt the same. I’ve known for a while that it’s time to invest in a new big stick, given the R15’s age, but that decision is such a big and confusing one for many amateur golfers that’s it’s easy to put on hold.
The reality is, though, your score is only as good as how you drive the ball. If you’re constantly out of position or hitting 3 off the tee, then you’re destined for bad golf. After a year of hitting and hoping for better results, I returned to Club Champion for a driver fitting for the first time in seven years. Why Club Champion?
Because my first experience at Club Champion in Danville, Calif., in 2018 proved I could trust their process. My fitter back then said he probably couldn’t fit me into anything better than my R15 at the time. I was just too consistently accurate with it (those were the days!). The fact that he was honest without giving me a hard sell sold me on Club Champion’s motives. Their club fitters are there to help golfers play their best golf not hit a sales quota.
Investing anywhere from $500 to $800 on a new club – that’s the cost of a new driver these days – is a big expense for golfers. That’s at least 10 to 12 rounds at the public courses I play! If you’re going to commit to buying one, it’s wise to let an experienced club fitter steer you in the right direction. Driver fittings cost $175 for a 90-minute session at Club Champion. Golfers who purchase a custom-fit club get the fitting for free.
Club Champion, established in 2010 in Chicagoland, employs more than 150 club fitters nationwide with store locations in virtually every major golf market. To find one near you, check out the company’s website. I’ve got three choices in the Bay Area alone.
What it’s like at a driver fitting at Club Champion
I’ve been to enough club fittings by now to know what to expect, although there are always fun surprises along the way. The TrackMan data and the knowledge and insights from the club fitter never cease to amaze.
I bonded with Josh Perri, the store manager and master fitter & builder at Club Champion San Jose, right away. We found the right mix of swings and banter, talking about our upcoming trips to Scotland and Ireland and the Bay Area’s best courses. Don’t kid yourself. Club fittings are both fun and work. Although there’s a lot to learn, golfers generally hit more than 100 balls in a session. I was gassed afterward.
Perri didn’t have access to my old Club Champion data, although, thankfully, my 2018 story did. The numbers from this most recent session compared to 2018 was another reminder that getting old stinks. I went from setting the Danville store record (1.53) for smash factor – a number that essentially tells golfers how efficiently they strike the ball – to a very mediocre average of 1.46. This, no doubt, explains my loss of distance since turning 50.
I came into the fitting with no grand illusions of gaining it back with a new driver. I simply need something new and reliable to use the next 3-5 years. If that’s only 220 total yards off the tee like my current 14-degree driver averaged during the session, so be it.
Perri had me try nine different head-shaft combinations, obviously with varying degrees of success. My low swing speed numbers, hovering between 78 to 82 miles per hour, had us on a quest to find something as light as possible. Maximizing the launch angle would help my carry distance improve and managing the spin rates helps to keep the ball online.
Perhaps my greatest epiphany was Perri’s recommendation that maybe I should only consider a Cobra or Callaway driver, even though the PING G440 MAX gave me the longest average off the tee (232.3 yards). Since I need all the help I can get launching the ball in the air, Callaway and Cobra are the only equipment manufacturers with heads featuring 12 degrees of loft AND can be adjusted on the hosel without factoring in some sort of manipulation of the clubhead right or left.
His recommendation also explains the mystery of why I can’t consistently hit the PXG Driver Black Ops 0311 I tested into last year. The PXG clubhead’s adjustment to a draw bias, which was necessary to bump up the loft to 13.5 degrees, has me hooking everything left. Unfortunately, my R15 might be the last 14-degree driver head ever made, but the new adjustable technology from Callaway and Cobra can get me there.
The Callaway’s new Elyte driver could be my next gamer. It comes in 12 degrees with more loft available thanks to the OptiFit Technology, which is a hosel consisting of two cogs – an upper and lower – that rotate independently to provide a total of 8 possible loft and lie combinations. My testing numbers with the Elyte weren’t as good as the PING (216 yards on average) and much of that could be explained by a few tired swings at the end of the session. The best performing shaft was an Accra Shogun Blue 42g M2 with a senior flex (another darn red flag of aging).
Although I didn’t test them, Cobra’s new Max-K and Max-D could also be an option thanks to their FutureFit33™ system that can adjust the loft and lie by plus or minus two degrees in every direction.
The next step is a purchase. Now that I have a better understanding of my swing’s needs, I’m much more confident that spending my hard-earned golf dollar will be worth it. That extra 12 yards produced by the PING G440 MAX sure sounds nice. So does that extra loft – and likely solid distance gains – from the Elyte. I’ve got a big decision ahead … the future of my game depends on it.
What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned about your swing during a club fitting? Let us know in the comments below.