When I found out that I was going to be a Callaway sponsored member of the Morgan Cup, I was determined to get the best brand specific fitting I could find. Callaway offers Callaway Performance Centers around the country, and I knew from past participants and my fellow staffers this year that these facilities were exactly what I wanted for this experience. However, short of flying to Carlsbad to the ECPC, there was one location that was my dream destination for this...the Annika Academy.
The convergence of a family vacation at the beaches outside of Tampa/St. Pete and a May 20[SUP]th[/SUP] deadline for Callaway staffer orders allowed me to set up a CPC full bag fitting at the Annika Academy this morning. The below is the account of my incredible morning.
My fitting was scheduled via the online inquiry system and a subsequent phone call from Crystal there at the Academy. The website said a full bag 90 minute fitting was $150, a price I would have gladly paid, but Crystal said they were having a special and it was only $100...a freaking steal. The date and time were set for today, May 19[SUP]th[/SUP] at 10 AM. Crystal said I could get there about 15 minutes early to warm up out on the range, and that I would need my driver and 6-iron.
I left the condo this morning at 7 AM knowing I would have to transverse Tampa in rush hour to make the 90 minute trip up to Reunion Resort. It was a bit slow, but I pulled off I-4 at 9 AM and hit Dunkin Donuts for a sugar loading before heading over to the facility at about 9:30. The Annika Academy is located at the opposite end of the main driving range at Reunion Resort, which ironically was the home of the first Morgan Cup which in turn was the last time I was on those awesome grounds. I walked up to the building with full bag in tow, went inside, and met Crystal. After filling out some information, ogling the magnificent Annika trophy cases, and paying my meager fee, she set me up out on the range hitting back toward the beautiful hotel building.
Not picking up a club for a week, and driving 10 hours Saturday was not the best combination, but the muscles eventually started warming up (as did the rest of me on a Florida humid morning), and before I know it, Dave Wheeler, the unfortunate individual trying to fit my swing comes out of the building and speaks to the gentlemen conducting a lesson behind me...who was in fact Mr. Henri Reis, Annika’s personal coach. Poor guy had been conducting a lesson there as I had made sure that any worms in the first hundred yards of the range had been beheaded.
Dave and I start discussing why I am there today, and he knew all about THP and the Morgan Cup...having personally fit Tadashi and Buckjob last year. I explained to him that I was in the midst of taking lessons and trying to change some swing elements, and that I was expecting nothing more than trying to fit whatever the swing of the day presented. Dave was great the whole day about deleting out the thin and fat shots and not offering up swing thoughts and lessons. After seeing a few outdoor swings, we headed inside to see the studio...and what an amazing place it is.
The CPC at the Annika Academy uses the Callaway Performance Analysis System (CPAS) which is a dual camera based 3D launch monitor system that will measure your club head and golf ball speeds, launch angle, back-spin, side angle, club path and attack angles. Really a nice system, and Dave explained it well. This review is going to be light on numbers because I pretty much just let Dave tell me what was looking better or not and I was replying back with how things felt.
Irons: We started with irons, and Dave had me hit my Xhot Pro on the CPAS to help establish a baseline. These irons were generating pretty good effeciency numbers, but the launch was on the higher side of the range he wanted to see, so as we talked about what I liked and didn’t want to see visually. We tried the Apex head with the same PX95 Flighted 5.5 that are in my current sticks, KBS Tour 90S, KBS Tour R and S, one of the DG models, and the KBS Tour V Regular. Of those options, the Tour V Regular gave me the best combination of feel and numbers. Jumping around, Dave took some static measurements, and used some charts to say that I needed to go +0.25” in length. We also hit a few specially marked balls against some special face tape to show that I could benefit from having the clubs 1 degree upright as well.
Hybrids/FW: Dave had me hit the X2Hot Hybrids and Big Bertha FW outside, and really saw good results with both of them in the stock stiff shafts. We talked about some of the other shaft options with the hybrids, but they were all heavier in weight than the stock blue X2Hot shafts. I tried one of the X2Hot heads with the green X2Hot shaft (which is heavier) and really didn’t care for going heavier. Later in the session, we took the three clubs back inside and I hit them on the CPAS to take a look at gapping and play with some of the other options to see numbers. I tried a Big Bertha 5 wood, which was almost identical numbers to the X2Hot 3 Hybrid...I tried a X2Hot 4 wood, which was pretty similar to the Bertha 3 wood. At the end of the day, pretty much going with the similar 3 wood, 3 hybrid, 4 hybrid configuration I have now. I have to say though, the X2Hot hybrids may be my favorite of the new clubs...man those things are great.
Driver: Dave had me hit my driver on the CPAS and we talked about some of the thoughts I had in choosing that one and talking about what I was seeing of late as lessons have progressed. Between those pieces of information, Dave started me with the Big Bertha head and a Kuro Kage shaft. This combo didn’t fare too well, but Dave learned a bit on direction to try next, and pulled out two shafts, the Speeder 661 and the Handcrafted Project X, and outside we went. He put the Speeder 661 in the Bertha head and had me swing away. Well, you know that moment people talk about in fittings where they swing a club and Handel’s Messiah starts rippling through the air...yeah, I didn’t think I would ever have that moment, but it happened with this combo. Then it happened two more times. Then we went inside to the CPAS, hit it three more times, and if I had had a deeper wallet, I would have walked out the door with that club. Alas, I will have to put it on an order sheet and wait until the end of July.
Wedges/Putter/Ball/Etc.: Ok, so I’m getting tire of typing, and I’m sure folks are getting tired of reading. We talked putters, I tried a few, and I’m going with a White Hot Pro #2 at 35” with a SuperStroke Slim 2.0 grip. We talked wedges, and he agreed with my thought to go through the SW with the Apex, and add just a single 58 degree MD2. Throughout the fitting, we used a SR2 ball, and the various hitting confirmed this was a good choice.
Overall: Ok, so my fitting started at 10 AM, was supposed to be 90 minutes...and I left with a spec sheet at 12:30 PM. Dave didn’t have a fitting in the slot after mine, and just kept letting me ask question after question, scenario after scenario, internet golf thought after internet golf thought. He was simply awesome through this whole process, and I couldn’t have had any more fun if I had tried. This was an amazing experience, and I’m pretty sure Ms. Annika herself was walking around the office as I was wrapping up with Dave.
Gotta get up to take the kids to see the Mouse tomorrow, so my write-up will gratefully come to a close...for now.
The convergence of a family vacation at the beaches outside of Tampa/St. Pete and a May 20[SUP]th[/SUP] deadline for Callaway staffer orders allowed me to set up a CPC full bag fitting at the Annika Academy this morning. The below is the account of my incredible morning.
My fitting was scheduled via the online inquiry system and a subsequent phone call from Crystal there at the Academy. The website said a full bag 90 minute fitting was $150, a price I would have gladly paid, but Crystal said they were having a special and it was only $100...a freaking steal. The date and time were set for today, May 19[SUP]th[/SUP] at 10 AM. Crystal said I could get there about 15 minutes early to warm up out on the range, and that I would need my driver and 6-iron.
I left the condo this morning at 7 AM knowing I would have to transverse Tampa in rush hour to make the 90 minute trip up to Reunion Resort. It was a bit slow, but I pulled off I-4 at 9 AM and hit Dunkin Donuts for a sugar loading before heading over to the facility at about 9:30. The Annika Academy is located at the opposite end of the main driving range at Reunion Resort, which ironically was the home of the first Morgan Cup which in turn was the last time I was on those awesome grounds. I walked up to the building with full bag in tow, went inside, and met Crystal. After filling out some information, ogling the magnificent Annika trophy cases, and paying my meager fee, she set me up out on the range hitting back toward the beautiful hotel building.
Not picking up a club for a week, and driving 10 hours Saturday was not the best combination, but the muscles eventually started warming up (as did the rest of me on a Florida humid morning), and before I know it, Dave Wheeler, the unfortunate individual trying to fit my swing comes out of the building and speaks to the gentlemen conducting a lesson behind me...who was in fact Mr. Henri Reis, Annika’s personal coach. Poor guy had been conducting a lesson there as I had made sure that any worms in the first hundred yards of the range had been beheaded.
Dave and I start discussing why I am there today, and he knew all about THP and the Morgan Cup...having personally fit Tadashi and Buckjob last year. I explained to him that I was in the midst of taking lessons and trying to change some swing elements, and that I was expecting nothing more than trying to fit whatever the swing of the day presented. Dave was great the whole day about deleting out the thin and fat shots and not offering up swing thoughts and lessons. After seeing a few outdoor swings, we headed inside to see the studio...and what an amazing place it is.
The CPC at the Annika Academy uses the Callaway Performance Analysis System (CPAS) which is a dual camera based 3D launch monitor system that will measure your club head and golf ball speeds, launch angle, back-spin, side angle, club path and attack angles. Really a nice system, and Dave explained it well. This review is going to be light on numbers because I pretty much just let Dave tell me what was looking better or not and I was replying back with how things felt.
Irons: We started with irons, and Dave had me hit my Xhot Pro on the CPAS to help establish a baseline. These irons were generating pretty good effeciency numbers, but the launch was on the higher side of the range he wanted to see, so as we talked about what I liked and didn’t want to see visually. We tried the Apex head with the same PX95 Flighted 5.5 that are in my current sticks, KBS Tour 90S, KBS Tour R and S, one of the DG models, and the KBS Tour V Regular. Of those options, the Tour V Regular gave me the best combination of feel and numbers. Jumping around, Dave took some static measurements, and used some charts to say that I needed to go +0.25” in length. We also hit a few specially marked balls against some special face tape to show that I could benefit from having the clubs 1 degree upright as well.
Hybrids/FW: Dave had me hit the X2Hot Hybrids and Big Bertha FW outside, and really saw good results with both of them in the stock stiff shafts. We talked about some of the other shaft options with the hybrids, but they were all heavier in weight than the stock blue X2Hot shafts. I tried one of the X2Hot heads with the green X2Hot shaft (which is heavier) and really didn’t care for going heavier. Later in the session, we took the three clubs back inside and I hit them on the CPAS to take a look at gapping and play with some of the other options to see numbers. I tried a Big Bertha 5 wood, which was almost identical numbers to the X2Hot 3 Hybrid...I tried a X2Hot 4 wood, which was pretty similar to the Bertha 3 wood. At the end of the day, pretty much going with the similar 3 wood, 3 hybrid, 4 hybrid configuration I have now. I have to say though, the X2Hot hybrids may be my favorite of the new clubs...man those things are great.
Driver: Dave had me hit my driver on the CPAS and we talked about some of the thoughts I had in choosing that one and talking about what I was seeing of late as lessons have progressed. Between those pieces of information, Dave started me with the Big Bertha head and a Kuro Kage shaft. This combo didn’t fare too well, but Dave learned a bit on direction to try next, and pulled out two shafts, the Speeder 661 and the Handcrafted Project X, and outside we went. He put the Speeder 661 in the Bertha head and had me swing away. Well, you know that moment people talk about in fittings where they swing a club and Handel’s Messiah starts rippling through the air...yeah, I didn’t think I would ever have that moment, but it happened with this combo. Then it happened two more times. Then we went inside to the CPAS, hit it three more times, and if I had had a deeper wallet, I would have walked out the door with that club. Alas, I will have to put it on an order sheet and wait until the end of July.
Wedges/Putter/Ball/Etc.: Ok, so I’m getting tire of typing, and I’m sure folks are getting tired of reading. We talked putters, I tried a few, and I’m going with a White Hot Pro #2 at 35” with a SuperStroke Slim 2.0 grip. We talked wedges, and he agreed with my thought to go through the SW with the Apex, and add just a single 58 degree MD2. Throughout the fitting, we used a SR2 ball, and the various hitting confirmed this was a good choice.
Overall: Ok, so my fitting started at 10 AM, was supposed to be 90 minutes...and I left with a spec sheet at 12:30 PM. Dave didn’t have a fitting in the slot after mine, and just kept letting me ask question after question, scenario after scenario, internet golf thought after internet golf thought. He was simply awesome through this whole process, and I couldn’t have had any more fun if I had tried. This was an amazing experience, and I’m pretty sure Ms. Annika herself was walking around the office as I was wrapping up with Dave.
Gotta get up to take the kids to see the Mouse tomorrow, so my write-up will gratefully come to a close...for now.
