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Club Champion Fitting

Nippon Shafts
Mark_UK

Mark_UK

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Just booked a fitting with club champion (they have a pretty good deal on right now). Fancied something different to my P790’s and bought some Ping G425’s after trying my mate’s clubs. Totally ignored my own advice, no fitting and it’s been a disaster. I’ve had basic fittings before (and one more comprehensive one at the TM facility at Poppy Hills which I don’t think is there anymore). Sounds like it’s 1.5 hour process and they make you hit a 6 iron, which isn’t my most consistent club. So anyone been through a fitting with CC want to give me an idea of what to expect (other than getting another 20 yards out of each club obviously LOL).
 
I had a really good experience last summer. I did the full bag promo and ended up getting new wedges. First and foremost, if you don’t specify anything in the beginning, you’re probably going to be put into graphite. The good news with that is they have every graphite option imaginable or close to it.

The experience can vary between fitters but my guy was awesome. We got along great and we were both gear heads and we tried tons of different combinations, some just for fun once we got other equipment dialed in.

The sales pressure was very low, I had several clubs that the fitter recommended stay in my bag as is. They explain all the options to you but don’t really pressure you. Overall, it was a very very positive experience. The price tag can be tough to justify though.
 
Had a great experience with my irons and woods, the putter left a little to be desired.

Irons/Woods- I specified nothing other than saying, find the right head/shaft combo to make me a more consistent golfer. That's exactly what they did. I was more focused on irons than woods so that's where we started.

Grabbed a baseline with my gamers, then he just started handing me stuff. I'd hit two or three shots and he'd say yes or no and ask my input. We kept this up for probably 5 switches before he keyed in on the shaft that was working the best. From there it was swapping heads and then voila I was left with three head options, with one that had separated itself pretty well.

Similar with woods, I hit several of the newer heads and shaft combos, until we landed on one that was working slightly better than my current gamer but he was honest with me that the difference I'd see would be negligible and not worth the $$.

There was no high pressure sales pitch, basically sent me an email with the three heads and their price with their guarantees etc. It was a great 1.5 hours or so, I had a blast and he opened my eyes to some other options that I hadn't considered in the past.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
I had a really good experience last summer. I did the full bag promo and ended up getting new wedges. First and foremost, if you don’t specify anything in the beginning, you’re probably going to be put into graphite. The good news with that is they have every graphite option imaginable or close to it.

The experience can vary between fitters but my guy was awesome. We got along great and we were both gear heads and we tried tons of different combinations, some just for fun once we got other equipment dialed in.

The sales pressure was very low, I had several clubs that the fitter recommended stay in my bag as is. They explain all the options to you but don’t really pressure you. Overall, it was a very very positive experience. The price tag can be tough to justify though.
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Awesome. I’m going in with a completely open mind so we’ll see what they come up with. Current deal is a full fitting for $100 which I thought was pretty good. Its a 3.5 hour process though and I’m hitting my driver and hybrids well, so just plumped for irons.
 
very cool! i've done several fittings with them and it's always been great. i'm sure you already know what to expect as far as the build they'll quote you. just be communicative and it will be a great experience. have fun!
 
Mark_UK said:
Awesome. I’m going in with a completely open mind so we’ll see what they come up with. Current deal is a full fitting for $100 which I thought was pretty good. Its a 3.5 hour process though and I’m hitting my driver and hybrids well, so just plumped for irons.
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One thing I noticed with irons, and maybe I’m just not well versed enough in the process, they chase some pretty low spin numbers. With that said, the sim didn’t indicate any issues with holding a green
 
The fitting I went through this past October (for free thanks to @JB and THP letting me know about a market research project they were running) was a great experience. I truly had no idea how different one head or shaft could be from another, even within a group of clubs all aimed at the same skill level golfers. In the end I got a couple of great options for when I decide to upgrade irons, probably in the used market. For driver, the fitter could only find modest improvement over my gamer and was very upfront about it. Be prepared to hit a lot of balls, probably around 150 for me in the 90 minutes I was there. And definitely be ready for sticker shock. I was fit into a set of irons that would have been just under $2000! Which is why I'm shopping for a used version with the same heads and a very similar shaft that should run around $700.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
One thing I noticed with irons, and maybe I’m just not well versed enough in the process, they chase some pretty low spin numbers. With that said, the sim didn’t indicate any issues with holding a green
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My fitter was the opposite, had me chasing more spin and launch. A lot of the modern heads are lower spinning, sure, but I don't think it is blanket company policy to go after high launch/low spin irons. I was taken out of that style and put into a much spinnier head.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
One thing I noticed with irons, and maybe I’m just not well versed enough in the process, they chase some pretty low spin numbers. With that said, the sim didn’t indicate any issues with holding a green
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That won’t be difficult for me. My spin numbers are super low anyway LOL.
 
I had a club champion fitting this winter. I was very pleased with the fitting just shocked by the iron prices. I did feel very comfortable though with max my fitter. He did a great job and I left there feeling what he fit me into was the best for my game. I read going into it that they might try to push one way or another. But I did not feel that way. If you buy through them they will guarantee a proper fit for you. But if you do that be prepared to shove a little money at your golf equipment.
 
So club champion charge a bit of a premium for gear? That sucks.
 
Mark_UK said:
So club champion charge a bit of a premium for gear? That sucks.
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Yea it was a bit pricey. My irons alone were the T150 and the total out the door for the irons was 2800 plus tax. That being said you are not required to buy from them
 
Ronnie D said:
Yea it was a bit pricey. My irons alone were the T150 and the total out the door for the irons was 2800 plus tax. That being said you are not required to buy from them
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******* hell! What were they? Gold plated?
 
Mark_UK said:
So club champion charge a bit of a premium for gear? That sucks.
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Let’s say they fit you into ZX7s. You’re going to pay whatever the price is if you were to buy them from a big box store. From there, you’ll pay the cost of the shaft they fit you into. You’ll also pay for installation and grips. The flip side is they have a really good guarantee and they are built to really tight tolerances
 
Mark_UK said:
******* hell! What were they? Gold plated?
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Well like I said your are not obligated to buy from there. You can always order from the manufacturer. That cuts the cost in half
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
Let’s say they fit you into ZX7s. You’re going to pay whatever the price is if you were to buy them from a big box store. From there, you’ll pay the cost of the shaft they fit you into. You’ll also pay for installation and grips. The flip side is they have a really good guarantee and they are built to really tight tolerances
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Is this unexpected?
What I didn't love with the changes in policy was that your cost of fitting is over and above the cost of your irons. But, your irons only include what comes from the factory - if you want funky grips and ferules or unique shafts, you pay for them separately like ordering a cheeseburger but then adding bacon and onions and guacamole.
 
RatFink said:
Is this unexpected?
What I didn't love with the changes in policy was that your cost of fitting is over and above the cost of your irons. But, your irons only include what comes from the factory - if you want funky grips and ferules or unique shafts, you pay for them separately like ordering a cheeseburger but then adding bacon and onions and guacamole.
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What do you mean by unexpected? If you’re getting shafts the aren’t available from the OEM then not at all. If you get fit into MMTs and end up paying $70/shaft, then yes
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
What do you mean by unexpected? If you’re getting shafts the aren’t available from the OEM then not at all. If you get fit into MMTs and end up paying $70/shaft, then yes
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I'm not familiar with ZX7 build options - are MMTs a no-cost option on the Srixon site that Club Champion charged for?

When I got fit, I had the full Mizuno catalogue at my disposal - "these are no-cost, these are market price" I stayed within the no-cost; and will be what I plan on doing when I get a new driver.
 
RatFink said:
I'm not familiar with ZX7 build options - are MMTs a no-cost option on the Srixon site that Club Champion charged for?

When I got fit, I had the full Mizuno catalogue at my disposal - "these are no-cost, these are market price" I stayed within the no-cost; and will be what I plan on doing when I get a new driver.
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It was just an example but most OEMs have MMTs at no upcharge or a fairly small upcharge. At CC you will pay twice the upcharge BEFORE installation
 
Mark_UK said:
So club champion charge a bit of a premium for gear? That sucks.
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Basically take what you could order direct from an OEM and double it. They push shaft Pureing hard, in addition to charging you for a basic club, and adding the cost of whatever shaft, and grip, so you pay for that twice. They quoted me $113 a shaft for KBS C-Taper Lite when retail is $55. I think once they find something that sort of works, they will steer you towards the most expensive options of a shaft instead of possibly finding something of similar performance that's cheaper. I went in with TT Elevate 95 in my gamers. We found out quickly I was better in the 110-120 range, with the CTL being the fourth (and last) shaft offered. Hit that with four different heads and all were within a couple of yards of distance and dispersion. No other options in that area were offered...CTL was "it", according to the fitter. I found a used set with CLT for proof of concept and they have been working better than my original gamers. Since then I've hit several clubs with Modus 120 (not offered as an option at the fitting) and I'm getting better distance and disperson...with better overall feel than the CTL. Retail on the CTL is $55 and $35 on the Modus. I really think I was steered toward the higher cost option.
Their tech and studios are nice, and you'll very likely find something that works, but caveat emptor...
 
cjroman said:
Basically take what you could order direct from an OEM and double it. They push shaft Pureing hard, in addition to charging you for a basic club, and adding the cost of whatever shaft, and grip, so you pay for that twice. They quoted me $113 a shaft for KBS C-Taper Lite when retail is $55. I think once they find something that sort of works, they will steer you towards the most expensive options of a shaft instead of possibly finding something of similar performance that's cheaper. I went in with TT Elevate 95 in my gamers. We found out quickly I was better in the 110-120 range, with the CTL being the fourth (and last) shaft offered. Hit that with four different heads and all were within a couple of yards of distance and dispersion. No other options in that area were offered...CTL was "it", according to the fitter. I found a used set with CLT for proof of concept and they have been working better than my original gamers. Since then I've hit several clubs with Modus 120 (not offered as an option at the fitting) and I'm getting better distance and disperson...with better overall feel than the CTL. Retail on the CTL is $55 and $35 on the Modus. I really think I was steered toward the higher cost option.
Their tech and studios are nice, and you'll very likely find something that works, but caveat emptor...
Click to expand...

Probably depends on fitter and location as well. I've not been steered towards higher cost options. Last iron fitting and driver fitting wound up in cheaper options both times in the end. Driver especially it came down to two shafts getting nearly identical performance for me, but one was $100 more expensive, so my fitter just told me to go with the cheaper one and save the $100.
 
Went for my fitting this morning, so thought I’d just give my thoughts. It’s very shaft centric. As someone who feels the club head is by way the most important part of the club, the fitter at club champion wanted to get the shaft dialed in first. I probably tried 15 or so different shafts in a Titleist T-150 head. They make you hit a 6 iron, which is the longest iron in my bag. Then after the shaft has been dialed in, it’s time to try heads. I wanted a players looking club with minimal top line and offset, but with some forgiveness. After trying a good half a dozen heads, the T-150 was offering the best ball speed. I ended up being fit into T-150 heads with LA golf A series shafts. Now here’s the kicker……. $2500!!!!!I wouldn’t mind paying that, but I didn’t see that much difference between any of the combos or even my current Pings. What I did learn is that my standard lie pings are actually 3 degrees flat, so get your lies checked everyone!!!!
Not convinced the T-150 irons are right for me, I feel I need a tad more help. And the LA golf shafts aren’t offered as an option on pretty much any site, so I feel after spending 90 minutes at CC this morning, I’m no nearer in knowing what irons are right for me, other than I’m defitely going back to graphite shafts of some sort.
 
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