My Recent Club Champion Fitting Experience - I may be getting some new clubs.....

[Tywithay]

Was the Paderson demo shaft pured? I believe you're correct in their spineless manufacturing, but if the shaft you hit was pured, it moght be worth it so you're getting the same performance. I would also be interested in other shafts, if it were me. Callaway has a deep matrix of no upcharge, or smaller upgrades. MMT80 or Catalyst 80 come to mind as something that might be similar. Definitely tough to swallow the price tag, but it sounds like it'd be well worth it knowing you're holding the best clubs for your game.

 

[BigE]

Was the Paderson demo shaft pured? I believe you're correct in their spineless manufacturing, but if the shaft you hit was pured, it moght be worth it so you're getting the same performance. I would also be interested in other shafts, if it were me. Callaway has a deep matrix of no upcharge, or smaller upgrades. MMT80 or Catalyst 80 come to mind as something that might be similar. Definitely tough to swallow the price tag, but it sounds like it'd be well worth it knowing you're holding the best clubs for your game.

Not sure if the Paderson shaft I hit was pured or not. A good question for me to ask on Monday.

Plus, I'm wondering how much I'd really save on no upcharge shafts?
I've heard some bad stories on specs from mass production shafts.
Which means for my peace of mind - I'd probably would want those shafts pulled, inspected, pured, and re-inserted anyways.

 

[Tywithay]

Not sure if the Paderson shaft I hit was pured or not. A good question for me to ask on Monday.

Plus, I'm wondering how much I'd really save on no upcharge shafts?
I've heard some bad stories on specs from mass production shafts.
Which means for my peace of mind - I'd probably would want those shafts pulled, inspected, pured, and re-inserted anyways.

Club Champion builds everything in house, I believe. So even the no upcharge shafts would be treated the same as the Paderson prior to being installed. I actually had the pleasure of meeting the folks in the CC build shop and it's pretty incredible.

 

[BigE]

Club Champion builds everything in house, I believe. So even the no upcharge shafts would be treated the same as the Paderson prior to being installed. I actually had the pleasure of meeting the folks in the CC build shop and it's pretty incredible.

Good to hear!

 

[BigE]

Well, I finally got back to Club Champions this past Monday to finish my fitting. It was nice having a week between my first and second sessions. That allowed me to mull over, reflect upon, and research my potential purchase options from the 1st session.

For example, I was fitted to Paderson shafts for my irons which I had never heard of. And the more I read up on them, the more I was impressed. That was cool.

It also allowed me to get input from this forum both supportive and critical. So I thank everyone for their responses. I actually learned a lot.

So what happened at the 2nd session? First thing we did after I warmed up was to hit my old 6i and my potentially new Callaway DCB 6i just to make sure I was still comfortable with the new clubs. And I was. I love the feel of those Callaway forged irons! In fact, they felt so good I probably would have bought them even if they were only marginally better than my current clubs (Titleist AP3’s)…lol.

Then it was on to the long game. I basically needed to find a couple of clubs to gap between my new 5i (sb about 180 yds with carry) and my current Taylor Made M6 driver (240ish). I would be looking for a 3W (I actually I like to hit a 4W with a 3W length shaft) that goes about 220 yds with carry and a Hybrid in the 200 yd range. I also told my fitter I prefer a lower profile look for my FW wood.

So the goal here would not be to find more distance from my current Callaway X2 Hot 3W and Hybrid – since I currently can hit those about the 220 and 200 yds needed respectively. The goal was to see if there is a 3W and Hybrid out there that would give me that same yardage but with better dispersion than my current clubs.

So just as with the iron process I hit a bunch of balls so we could settle on a shaft and then try that shaft with a bunch of different head combinations. The club ultimately selected was a Callaway Epic Speed 4W (16.5 degree) with a 75g Oban Kiyoshi shaft that strangely enough turned out to be a stiff flex (all my other clubs are R flex). But the club felt great, the hits solid, and the dispersion on my shots improved significantly.

The Hybrid we settled on was a Srixon ZX Hybrid (19 degree) with a Drago Hybrid 65g R-Flex shaft.

So here we are. My new bag will now look like this:

Driver: Taylor Made M6, 10.5 degree, regular flex (my current club)
FW: Callaway Epic Speed 4W with 19 degree Oban Kiyoshi Stiff Flex Shaft
Hybrid: Srixon ZX 19 Degree with Drago Hybrid R-Flex Shaft.
Irons: Callaway DCB with Paderson R-Flex shafts
Wedges: 52, 56, and 60 degree Callaway Jaws Full Toe Wedges
Putter: My current Bobby Grace 46” inch sidesaddle putter.

The process was fun and I learned a lot. Obviously the next test is to get the clubs out next spring and see how how they actually perform on the golf course. I’ll come back to this thread then and give an honest assessment as to how I feel the clubs are performing.
BigE

 

[GolfTravelDude]

Sounds like you had a great fitting. Enjoy the winter and get at it come spring.

 

[brian7770]

Enjoy your new clubs. I have a wedge fitting this weekend.

 

[BigE]

Enjoy your new clubs. I have a wedge fitting this weekend.

Nice. Do you have your eye on something?

 

[BigE]

Sounds like you had a great fitting. Enjoy the winter and get at it come spring.

Thanks! I definitely be excited to get these outside in the spring.
I'm sure I'll get in a few simulator sessions before then!

 

[brian7770]

Nice. Do you have your eye on something?

Nothing specific, but I'll go in with an open mind. My Mizuno wedges certainly aren't bad, so new wedges would likely need to show a clear benefit.

 

[Hamfist]

Your parents would want you to splurge on yourself and get the ones that make you say "wow."

I can hear them: "You're 63, and you are playing with house money. Why are you asking this?"

 

[BigE]

Your parents would want you to splurge on yourself and get the ones that make you say "wow."

I can hear them: "You're 63, and you are playing with house money. Why are you asking this?"

I think you're absolutely right.

 

[Phil75070]

Does Club Champion have full sets of irons so you can see how blade length, offset and top line might change over the set, or just the 6i or 7i that they use for iron fitting?

 

[BigE]

Does Club Champion have full sets of irons so you can see how blade length, offset and top line might change over the set, or just the 6i or 7i that they use for iron fitting?

I think they only carry the 6 irons. I can't imagine the inventory they'd have to carry if they carried full sets....

 

[BigE]

I'm still waiting for my irons (Callaway DCB) and Wedges (Callaway Jaws Full Toes) to be built.
But I did get my new Epic 3 Wood and my Srixon Hybrid a few days ago.
So I ran to a local simulator to hit both my old and new clubs and see if the differences I saw at the CC fitting still held up.
(Caveat: Winter has set in here in Upstate NY, so I haven't taken any full swings with a golf club since my fitting back in mid-Nov)

Here's the data just simply looking at average distance and average dispersion and taking 20 swings with each club:

New Srixon Hybrid: Distance - 210 yds, Dispersion - 12 yds
Old X2hot Hybrid: Distance - 204 yds, Dispersion - 20 yds

New Epic 3 Wood: Distance - 216 yds, Dispersion - 11 yds
Old X2hot 3 Wood: Distance - 210 yds, Dispersion - 13 yds

In general, looks like the new clubs are working better for me for both distance and dispersion. Pretty significant with the Hybrid. Cool.

Now it might appear at first that I have a bit of a gapping issue between my Srixon Hybrid and the Epic 3 wood.
However, it should be noted that I hit 8 shots of 225+yds with my new Epic 3W. Only 2 shots that distance with my X2hot 3W.
So the potential for correct gapping is there. Not sure how my winter "rustiness" impacted the data.
Maybe as I get more used to the new club, and am not in "winter" mode, that gap problem will clean up.

Got a note from CC today that my irons should be arriving shortly. Can't wait.

 

[Stryker]

I strongly recommend checking pricing with Will at The Peoples Clubs on any custom built stuff. Even with getting a discount from Club Champion on the fitting, I would bet Will would save you money on them. He also offers a THP discount if you tell him you are a member here. When I was fit at CC a couple years ago just 2 fairway woods were going to run about $1600 for what they recommended and Will was WAY cheaper.

 

[BigE]

An update to my Club Champion fitting experience:

I picked up my new clubs on 12/3/21 (Callaway Jaws Full Toe Wedges, Callaway DCB Irons, Srixon ZX Hybrid, Callaway Epic 3W)

Last week I got in 3 hours of simulator sessions with my new clubs without the pressure of a fitter watching me. My goal was to begin to determine my yardage/gapping. I have to say the new clubs felt as good, and I was hitting them as good, as I did at my CC fitting. I was able to confirm that I have indeed picked up a full club in distance from the Titleist AP3 irons I used to play. I'm extremely happy about that!

I just now got back from yet another simulator session where a friend and I played the Old Course at St. Andrews. A strictly "for fun" outing. Yardage increase with new clubs continued to hold up and my buddy even commented on how much more accurate my shots seemed to be. He was very impressed. No wonder I'm falling in love with these clubs! I love how they look at setup. I love how they feel at impact. And I love how well I'm hitting them. The Full Toe wedges are pure magic.

So based on these first two simulator sessions (5 hours in total) - I'd say the fitting and the cost (for me) was well worth it. I think I'm experiencing a big improvement in performance across the board.

The ONLY issue I'm having is a gapping issue between my Srixon ZX 19 hybrid and my Callaway Epic 3W (actually a 4W on a 3W length shaft). I'm hitting the Hybrid in the 200-205 range and seem to be hitting the Epic about the same. Maybe a few yards further on average. That's problematic. Since I hit my driver in the 230-240 range (I'm 63 yrs old btw), I think I need to be consistently hitting my 3W in the 215-220 range. So I need to pick up another 10 yds.

I'm heading back to Club Champion on Monday to see if we can get that specific gapping figured out. For whatever reason, all my clubs have "regular flex" shafts in them except for that 3W which ended up with a stiff shaft. I'm hoping maybe all I need to do is move to a regular shaft and I'll pick up the yardage difference I need?

Story to be continued......

 

[Nick20UK]

What lofts are your Driver, 4W and Hybrid? It may be that you need a standard 3W head at around 15° instead.

 

[Chef23]

I assume from your post that you went to the CC in Rochester. I bring this up because that is one of the closest ones to me. (I’m in the Albany area)

Another option for you would be the CC in Needham, MA. It is about 2:30 from Needham to Albany.

 

[Chef23]

@BigE do you mind sharing your swing speed with the 6i?

Great story and a cool set of clubs. I definitely think there is extra value in buying somewhere that the fit is guaranteed. I have done it and never regretted it.

 

[BigE]

What lofts are your Driver, 4W and Hybrid? It may be that you need a standard 3W head at around 15° instead.

Driver is 10.5 (with a 45.5 inch R shaft). 4w is 16 degrees (with a 43 inch S shaft). Hybrid is 19 degree (with a 40 R inch shaft).
You may be right on the 3W. That'll be part of what I check out with my fitter on Monday.
Although my experience in the past is that at my age (63), the extra little launch I get with the 4w loft gives me better distance than the 3W with 15 degree loft.
I'm also thinking, as I mentioned before, that perhaps an R flex might help?
Or heck, I'm finding I really love the Srixon ZX hybrid - maybe I should consider taking the FW Wood out of the bag altogether and get another Srixon Hybrid at 15 degrees.
It'll be an interesting problem to solve.

 

[BigE]

@BigE do you mind sharing your swing speed with the 6i?

Great story and a cool set of clubs. I definitely think there is extra value in buying somewhere that the fit is guaranteed. I have done it and never regretted it.

I can't remember my 6i speed.
I'll ask when I go back to my fitter on Monday.
I know my driver speed is in 90-95 mph range.
I would assume that translates to a 6i speed of somewhere in the 70-75 mph range?

 

[nicklongdrive]

It's been about 4 years since I bought my last set of clubs (and I typically like to do a fitting every 3-5 years to see if there's any technology worth upgrading to)
And with my both my parents passing over the last year (sad, but there were many blessings too, as both were over 90 and were ready, and wanted, to go) - I received a nice little inheritance.
So I'm going to let my parents final gift to me be a new set of golf clubs (with my wife's blessing of course!)
But I will only buy if the numbers warrant it. If there are tangible improvements to be had.

So I went into a local Club Champion last Monday to get a full bag fitting (less the putter). It's a few miles down the road from me and opened up just a few years ago. Convenient.
(My last fitting I traveled 3+ hours to Toronto to go see the TXG guys. Not an option now with Covid and Canadian border hassles.)
My swing is in good shape as the weather here in Upstate NY has been unusually warm. I probably played my last round this past Thursday (shot a 79...)
The fitter I was scheduled with has gotten a lot of good reviews from a lot of different sources - so I'm comfortable he knows what he's doing.
And Cub Champion has a deal right now where they'll take 50% off the fitting fee if you end up purchasing $500 or more of new equipment.
I didn't bother with the putter fitting since I've usually found most fitters have no idea what to do with sidesaddle putters (and they certainly don't have any inventory to allow testing different lengths/weights).

So here's what happened:

After initial introductions, I gave John (my fitter) a brief overview of my game and what I thought I was looking for.
In essence, I told him I'm a 9 handicapper "who doesn't like to work the ball". My goal is always to hit the ball straight with the appropriate distance and good dispersion.
So I wanted to focus on big game improvement clubs. Stuff that would be easy to hit and forgiving.
Especially with my irons and approach shots which I think are the weakest part of my game.
I was thinking of irons like the Titleist T300, Mizuno JPX 921, Taylor Made Sim Max, Apex DCB's - those kind of big and forgiving clubs.
Given my age (63) I also wanted to make sure "R" flex club shafts were still appropriate for my swing speed.
I told him I didn't have any particular budget in mind - but the cost of any clubs would be evaluated with how much I thought they would help my score or my enjoyment of the game.
I was perfectly ok not buying a single club if that's where the data led.
He said his personal goal as a fitter was to find some combination that improved the numbers on every club in my bag and then let me weigh the improvement with the cost.
My current set makeup is: TM M6 Driver, Old Callaway XHot 3W, XHot 3 & 4 Hybrids, Titleist AP3 Irons (AW-6i), Mizuno S18 Wedges (54 & 60 degree).
He understood and so we began.

He had me warmup hitting my PW. Then I went to my 8i. And finally to my 6i. He said he liked to see how peoples swings held up as they progressed thru the bag.
He also said all the fitting data would be done with a 6i. The 6i is chosen because it's the first club where people's misses start to become most pronounced and easily seen.
If he can clean up the misses with a 6i - that'll easily translate through the rest of the irons. Never heard that strategy before. Interesting.
After warming up, the baseline for my 6i was established. I don't have the data with me, but my good shots were my typical 160-165 yds. Most misses were right (also typical for me).
He said I moved the club pretty well (ie...R flex was still ok)
Then we progressed thru a whole bunch of shaft and club head options. He had me hit all the game improvement irons I was interested in (with some varying shaft options).
After all the dust had settled, here are the clubs he recommended:
Driver: Keep my current TM M6. He said it fit me well and he couldn't beat its numbers. I was getting 240-250 with carry with reasonable dispersion.
Irons: Callaway Apex DCB's with a Paderson KG80 Parallel Shaft (never heard of this shaft before. My current irons have Accra shafts).
Half inch over std length (38.25 inches for the 6i). 6i also at 64 degree lie angle. D4 swing weight.
I have to admit when I hit these, the feel was great, very buttery (probably due to being forged?)
And I was absolutely crushing them. 5 swings, avg of 175-180 yds (w/carry) and easily with the tightest dispersion of the day.
2nd place wasn't even close.
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Full Toe, 52 and 56 degree.

At this point (well over 100 swings), I was getting tired. We could see it as we started to work with gapping a 3w and hybrids to these potentially new Callaway Irons.
So we decided I'd come back this next Monday to to finish the fitting.
I actually like this as it gives me a week to reflect on the recommended changes and research those shafts I know nothing about.
I think my plan when I go back would be to start off the session hitting my current 6i again versus the Apex DCB's and see if the numbers hold up from last week.
Confirm the big 15 yd pickup in distance and much improved dispersion is real.
If the numbers hold up, and if I want to buy, then we'd move on to some 3w and Hybrid combinations.

Of course, the downside to all this is the cost.
New Callaway DCB's are $185/ea x 7 irons = $1,295.
The Paderson Shafts are $135/ea x 7 irons = $945.
Puring of the shafts offered at $35/club (I'll have to do some research on this)
So over $2k for the new irons alone.
But man, the improved performance and feel was fantastic.
And Club Champion does in essence offer a 0 percent interest loan. Can be paid over 18 months with the 1st payment starting when the clubs are first received. Relieves the price sting a bit.
They also guarantee their work. If I don't like the results on the course, bring the clubs back and they'll work with me to make it right at no cost.
In fact, that's what one of their fitters was doing with someone in the next bay. Apparently his swing had changed dramatically since his fitting (don't know if for the worst or better thru lessons...)
They also offered to let me come in and use the simulators at no cost to work on the gapping between my irons. Also a nice perk.

I'll see how goes on Monday.
Any feedback is welcome.

Sounds like you ended up with a solid fitting but that's far too expensive for those irons. You better go ahead and order those elsewhere and have them built at another shop if you like them. CC wanted to charge me $800 more for the EXACT same set of P770s as a local shop, actually absurd.

 

[Chef23]

I can't remember my 6i speed.
I'll ask when I go back to my fitter on Monday.
I know my driver speed is in 90-95 mph range.
I would assume that translates to a 6i speed of somewhere in the 70-75 mph range?

How far are you carrying your 6i now? I am right around 78-81 mph depending on how loose my body is that day and I am in the 160-163 carry distance. My driver SS is in the same range with shorter carry distance but I know that is a swing flaw given that I hit down on the driver.

 

[BigE]

How far are you carrying your 6i now? I am right around 78-81 mph depending on how loose my body is that day and I am in the 160-163 carry distance. My driver SS is in the same range with shorter carry distance but I know that is a swing flaw given that I hit down on the driver.

My 6i with roll (I tend to think in terms of total distance, not carry) - is now about 175 with the DCB's (used to be 165 with my AP3's).
I hit my shots pretty high, so I'm thinking the carry is around 170, maybe a little less.
I'll check out the pure carry distance when I get back on the simulator Monday.