Captaincaution's Club Champion Fitting Experience

captaincaution

@alekbabel -2022 Grandaddy!
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2013
Messages
18,271
Reaction score
14,433
Location
Cleveland, OH
Handicap
5.7
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing a Club Champion complete long game fitting at the Cleveland location. My goals for the fitting were to be fit for a new driver, fairway woods, and possibly a hybrid. When I time up with my current driver, a GBB Epic with a Fujikura Pro Green shaft in stiff, the ball goes forever, but the dispersion was crazy wide, so I really wanted to tighten that up.

I arrived about 15 minutes early and met my fitter Mike Snodgrass. While I warmed up using my 6 iron, we went over the current clubs in my bag, my fitting history with them, how I perform with them, and my goals for the fitting. During my warm up, Mike told me straight away that I had the wrong shaft in my driver, as I was swinging in the upper 90s, and my current shaft wasn't stable enough for my swing speed. To get a proper baseline, I hit my current driver a few times.
1613668217155.png
As you'll see on the dispersion chart, my gamer was all over the place. Mike wanted to lower my spin, while maintaining enough launch, to maximize my carry while increasing consistency. We tried a few shafts in my gamer before settling on the Fujijura Ventus Blue 6x. I told Mike that in the past, I have had a major mental block when it comes to XStiff shafts, as I could not get along with the feel, and I never felt I could load the shaft properly. This was not a problem with the Ventus Blue. If he would have handed me the shaft blind, I would have guessed it was a stiff flex, which proved to be good for me. After settling on the shaft, we tried a number of heads: Callaway Epic Speed and Epic Max LS, Taylormade Sim2, Cobra RAD Speed and Rad Speed XB (the peacoat color is *chefs kiss*), Mizuno ST-Z, and PING G425 LST. The ballspeed from the Cobra drivers was incredible, keeping up with the Epic Max LS, but the spin was more ideal for me with the Callaway driver, which helped the dispersion as well. We settled on the Epic Max LS. The combination with the shaft helped me deliver the clubhead more efficiently, and every shot was a draw. Love it.

1613668904492.png
1613668997343.png

1613669092193.png
 
After settling on driver, we went onto fairway woods. Mike likes to marry the shaft of the driver and the fairway wood together. Again, I hit my gamer 3 wood to get some numbers for comparison. I went into fitting thinking that I wasn't getting my fairways off the ground as easily as I would have liked, but that didn't show in my swing this time. Distance was good, with a tight little dispersion right on the target line.
1613669468157.png
Using the Ventus Blue 7x, I tested the Sim2 Max 4 wood, and yowza that was a great fairway. Hit it a few yards further than the 3 wood, again with a tight dispersion. If you had to commit to not playing a club after moving onto the next one to test, I might have stuck with the SIM2 Max. Well, in comes the 600 lb gorilla in the room, the Epic Speed. I mean my goodness, everything was high, with a nice draw. You could have placed a blanket over my first two shots. This was the one. When you know you know. We tried a 4 wood in the Epic Speed as well, but the 3 wood was going to work just fine.
1613669711695.png
 
Last edited:
At this time, Mike challenged me a bit on the setup of my bag. He asked about how often I actually hit my 5 wood, and honestly, it really wasn't that much. He thought that we could find a hybrid to gap between the 4 iron and the 3 wood, or use it instead of the 4 iron when I don't think I can swing it that well. I was having trouble elevating it, thanks covid and another baby, but he thought that if I am playing more consistently, the 4 iron could work great with my clubhead speed. I took a few swings with the 4 iron, and my 4 hybrid to get a baseline.
1613669990499.png
1613670042637.png

We plugged in the (you guessed it) Fujikura Ventus Blue 8x (tipped 1/2") into a 20 degree Mavrik Pro Hybrid, going with the pro to open the face up a little bit. Rocket. Launcher. This was the club we spent the least amount of time on, it was so good. Produced a nice high draw, my only big miss being a push that we discounted. We hit a few more with my 4 iron and 5 iron to make sure the gapping worked out, and I think it will fit in nicely. Numbers have the shaft mislabeled as S.

1613670340180.png
1613670388319.png
 
Last edited:
So after over 140 swings, we went over my build sheet and the pricing.

Final Build:
Callaway Epic Max LS 10.5 degree, set +1/N with weight full fade. Fujikura Ventus Blue 6-X, D5 swing weight
Callaway Epic Speed 3 wood, Fujikura Ventus Blue 7-X, D4 swing weight
Callaway Mavrik Pro 3 Hybrid, Fujikura Ventus Hybrid Blue 8-X, tipped 0.5 inches. D7 swing weight.

Grip: Lamkin TS1 (to match what I got in my THP Grab Bag!) 2+1 wraps.

Pricing: As we are all aware here, Club Champion pricing is higher than others. Heads coming in at MSRP for a fully built club, shaft at MSRP, grip at MSRP. Club Champion believes in PUREing shafts, and the cost of that is included for the metalwoods/hybrids. You are also paying for their quality control, as all of their measuring equipment is calibrated, so you know the club you buy will match the club you tested. Club Champion also offers a fit guarantee. With the shop being 5 minutes from my house, there is definite value there for me in case something is way off.

So lets compare cost.
Shaft upgrade. Direct from Callaway is $350 for the driver and fairway, $150 for the hybrid. From Club Champion, the shaft is $415 for the driver and fairway, $265 for the hybrid.
The grip I want isn't available from Callaway, so I would have to procure and install it myself. Grip is $14 at Club Champion. Taxes are the same at 8%.

Plot twist that wasn't expected! Club Champion is able to offer me a 15% discount on the heads because of my club membership.

Trade-in: Callaway has offered me a 50% trade in bonus to purchase new Epic clubs through Callaway. Club Champion offers trades through 2nd swing, but I have found that going to 2nd swing directly with a 10% bonus they are offering would work out better if not going through Callaway.
Callaway Trade: $540 2nd Swing Trade: $410

I've priced multiple ways: Direct through Callaway for all clubs, Club Champion for all clubs, Buy Driver and Fairway from Callaway with a stock/no upcharge X flex shaft, have Club Champion build them to my specs. Every combination that is worth pursuing. In the end, the best price is to buy direct from Callaway. The next best option is buy everything through Club Champion and trade through 2nd Swing at a 13% premium. I am leaning towards going with Club Champion, for the assurance that what I order and receive will be what I tested, as well as the fit guarantee. Take into account that with the new Club Champion rewards program, I would be eligible for free trackman time, as well as discounted fitting in the next year, which adds value to the proposition.

On my way out, we quickly discussed golf balls. The fitting took place using ProV1x balls. I played ChromeSoft last season, and for Christmas I was gifted a bunch of ProV1, so I am planning on playing them. Mike thought the ProV1 would be fine for me, with a little lower spin even than the ChromeSoft. I told him I guess I will just try them on the course, since I won't just be throwing them away!

I feel that the fitting I had yesterday was excellent, and I would definitely pay again for the service. There is definitely some sticker shock when looking at the final product, but I hope that after going through the costs, you can see there is definitely some value to be had there.
 
Last edited:
Looking forward to your final thoughts CC. Good stuff so far.
 
Looks like you picked up some yards and tighter dispersion. Good stuff.
 
The dispersion on driver... 👀

Great stuff here though. I had to cancel my CC long game fitting due to weather and have decided to wait until I get at least a few rounds under my belt this year before rescheduling. Hoping to find anywhere near as much luck as you did. CC is probably the most expensive game in town but you know that what you're fitted into is exactly what you're getting when you buy from them, which is pretty flippin awesome. Can't wait to hear how all of this works out on the course for you.
 
Great stuff! (y)
Have you considered now that you have the exact specs from the sheet, sending those exact numbers to Callaway & having them build it?
 
Great report. I haven't bought from Club Champion but when I bought from Cool Clubs and had an issue they stood behind it and swapped out the shafts at no cost for something that was a better fit.
 
helluva write-up, and those numbers are delicious. well done! if the dollars aren't that much higher, i'd go with cc instead of callaway for the peace of mind and ability to tweak if things aren't working exactly as desired.
 
Great Write up!
Looks like you had a Fruitful Fitting and gained in all of the areas you hoped to.
 
Great stuff! (y)
Have you considered now that you have the exact specs from the sheet, sending those exact numbers to Callaway & having them build it?
Appreciate the question, thanks for reading.
I have considered it, but think that I can get tighter qc and fewer issues with swingweighting out of Club Champion. The grips I would like are not available from Callaway either, so that would complicate things for me. The extra money will be made up by the trackman time I'll be getting.
 
Great write up. I feel the exact same way with x flex. I have never had one but your results make me curious.
 
Plot twist that wasn't expected! Club Champion is able to offer me a 15% discount on the heads because of my club membership.

I am leaning towards going with Club Champion, for the assurance that what I order and receive will be what I tested, as well as the fit guarantee. Take into account that with the new Club Champion rewards program, I would be eligible for free trackman time, as well as discounted fitting in the next year, which adds value to the proposition.


I'd buy thru CC if I lived 5 minutes away with all this going on!! Nice write-up @captaincaution , enjoyed it.
 
Aaaaand all clubs have been ordered! 🤑🤑🤑
 
Did you order through CC?
Yes. I felt the minor extra cost benefited the benefits.

Now I wait 2-4 weeks, and for the snow to melt!
 
Yes. I felt the minor extra cost benefited the benefits.

Now I wait 2-4 weeks, and for the snow to melt!

Good call. I understand you pay for the fitting but I also like giving the business there. If they never sell clubs they may not survive. I know the fitting costs aren't cheap but there is a big investment to be able to do the fitting.
 
I'd love to go through that same fitting, but have no CC in my area.

Thanks for sharing !
 
I went to Cleveland a couple of years ago and had a good experience there. Mike might have been the guy I worked with. I ended up not buying anything because everything I already had was already a decent fit for me at the time.

Now that my iron game has progressed a bit and I feel I'm off to a good start this year maybe I should consider doing one again here in Columbus to see how the irons stack up for me now.
 
Nice write-ups, looks like great experience and congrats on the purchase. Looking forward to hearing how they perform.
 
My clubs are at the store. I repeat: MY CLUBS ARE AT THE STORE!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Back
Top