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Golf Galaxy Fitting - worth it?

Nippon Shafts
Nicknacker

Nicknacker

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For my 50th birthday, my folks gave me $500 bucks towards a fitting and new driver. I've been using a Titleist TS2 for the last four years. It's been a good driver, but if I could get a few more yards without losing any accuracy, I'd be happy to plunk down $500-600 on a replacement. I wouldn't think that would be terribly difficult to do as I don't hit my drive all that long - on average, 225-230 yards (with probably 70-75% fairway accuracy). I was never fit for it, I just purchased the TS2 online after hitting a demo from the pro shop.

I was thinking about going to Golf Galaxy for a fitting. However, with a fitting and new driver costing $500-600, I want to do this right as I have no desire to replace it for another 4-5 years. That all said, would you guys recommend Golf Galaxy or finding somewhere else? I live in Tampa, so I'm sure there are other options - but it is convenient, being 20 minutes away.
 
Honestly, as long they have a trackman or GCQuad then I don’t see any issue with Golf Galaxy. That said, if you have other fitters such as CC, you might get better service there but it will also be more expensive
 
Awesome gift... I would highly recommend finding a Titleist fitter (Golf Galaxy is most likely one) and checking out the new TSR line. IF you like the TS that you just purchased online the improvements you will get w/ the fitting will blow you away. And the amount they gave you is just about right!!

Quick search on Titleist.com shows plenty of fitters (including GG) in Tampa area. Link below is to the TSR thread on here and the improvements we all saw are well documented in there. Good Luck and congrats on that gift!!

TSR Driver Thread
 
Any fitting is only as valuable as the fitter. There are quite a few things you can do as a consumer to prep for the fitting and ensure your fitting is going in a positive direction, but the final product is going to be controlled by the quality of the fitter. You can have a great fitting at a Golf Galaxy and a poor fitting at a "higher end fitting studio".
 
Well, the post by Summit (above) could not have been more accurate. I had a pretty crappy experience. It started by me taking a few drives with my current driver. He then moved me to a couple I wanted to try (Stealth and Ping 425 Max). The numbers that were being displayed were crazy - it was showing that I was pulling the heck out of the ball and getting only 168-185 yards. I normally hit my drive about 230. I knew something wasn't right, but didn't know what to say.

After hitting those two drivers, he moved me to a Titleist TSR2. Right before hitting my first drive, I noticed that the ball looked funny. Upon further investigation, the ball covering was completely split. He gave me a new ball and I started hitting at about my average, maybe a bit more (230-235). He then gave me a driver with a shaft that was a 1/2 inch shorter to see if that would do anything for me. Then about 35 min. into the fitting, I can tell he's ready to wrap it up. He starts by telling me that the first two drivers shouldn't be considered as poorly as I hit them. I was starting to find myself a bit annoyed and agitated that we were wrapping things up after 35-40 minutes, he's considering two drivers that were hit using a cracked golf ball, and he didn't do any tinkering around with different shafts.

I asked him how he can even consider the first two drivers and he tried to defend himself by saying that with my swing plane, all four that I tried would give me about the same result. He told me that I might want to try a heavier shaft sometime. Isn't a golf fitting the time that you try things like that??? As he continued to defend himself, I finally asked for a manager. The manager never really validated what I said but asked about rescheduling the fitting with him. I would have liked him to say "yeah, that was a ******** fitting and shouldn't have been done that way". He was probably just trying to protect the fitter, but I couldn't believe what I just went through.

I am currently scheduled for a fitting next Saturday with the manager. However, I don't really feel like going back into that store. Quite frankly, I'd like to just get my 100 bucks back and cut bait. Unfortunately, they already have my money so not sure if that will be possible. All in all, just an awful experience to something I was really looking forward to.
 
Nicknacker said:
Well, the post by Summit (above) could not have been more accurate. I had a pretty crappy experience. It started by me taking a few drives with my current driver. He then moved me to a couple I wanted to try (Stealth and Ping 425 Max). The numbers that were being displayed were crazy - it was showing that I was pulling the heck out of the ball and getting only 168-185 yards. I normally hit my drive about 230. I knew something wasn't right, but didn't know what to say.

After hitting those two drivers, he moved me to a Titleist TSR2. Right before hitting my first drive, I noticed that the ball looked funny. Upon further investigation, the ball covering was completely split. He gave me a new ball and I started hitting at about my average, maybe a bit more (230-235). He then gave me a driver with a shaft that was a 1/2 inch shorter to see if that would do anything for me. Then about 35 min. into the fitting, I can tell he's ready to wrap it up. He starts by telling me that the first two drivers shouldn't be considered as poorly as I hit them. I was starting to find myself a bit annoyed and agitated that we were wrapping things up after 35-40 minutes, he's considering two drivers that were hit using a cracked golf ball, and he didn't do any tinkering around with different shafts.

I asked him how he can even consider the first two drivers and he tried to defend himself by saying that with my swing plane, all four that I tried would give me about the same result. He told me that I might want to try a heavier shaft sometime. Isn't a golf fitting the time that you try things like that??? As he continued to defend himself, I finally asked for a manager. The manager never really validated what I said but asked about rescheduling the fitting with him. I would have liked him to say "yeah, that was a ******** fitting and shouldn't have been done that way". He was probably just trying to protect the fitter, but I couldn't believe what I just went through.

I am currently scheduled for a fitting next Saturday with the manager. However, I don't really feel like going back into that store. Quite frankly, I'd like to just get my 100 bucks back and cut bait. Unfortunately, they already have my money so not sure if that will be possible. All in all, just an awful experience to something I was really looking forward to.
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Finding a good fitter at a big box store and/or chain can be difficult. It sounds like you got paired with someone who is there just as a job or that's what season of life they are in.
 
Nicknacker said:
For my 50th birthday, my folks gave me $500 bucks towards a fitting and new driver. I've been using a Titleist TS2 for the last four years. It's been a good driver, but if I could get a few more yards without losing any accuracy, I'd be happy to plunk down $500-600 on a replacement. I wouldn't think that would be terribly difficult to do as I don't hit my drive all that long - on average, 225-230 yards (with probably 70-75% fairway accuracy). I was never fit for it, I just purchased the TS2 online after hitting a demo from the pro shop.

I was thinking about going to Golf Galaxy for a fitting. However, with a fitting and new driver costing $500-600, I want to do this right as I have no desire to replace it for another 4-5 years. That all said, would you guys recommend Golf Galaxy or finding somewhere else? I live in Tampa, so I'm sure there are other options - but it is convenient, being 20 minutes away.
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That’s a great gift! Personally, I’ve had a great experience at True Spec where I did a full bag fitting over the course of three sessions. Long story short, when I started to get fit for the driver, we ran through several different head and shaft combinations — including the Titleist — and ultimately nothing performed better than my existing driver. The fitter just said, I can’t find anything that will show you better results on the course. No urgency to make a sale etc.
 
I've done a few fittings at a local Golf Galaxy and then one at a small shop known for good fittings. My experience at the small shop was much better than at the Golf Galaxy and a fitting like that is worth seeking out. Cost me more and that money is not applied to a subsequent purchase, but the thoroughness was exactly what I was looking for and relieved any need to do another fitting.

That said, the ones I had at GG varied largely based on who was fitting me and I did have a good experience at my driver fitting there. If you really feel uncomfortable going back there, call and talk to the manager and see if you can get a refund. If they won't allow that then go to the appointment with the manager and tell him exactly what you're looking to find out (shaft, grip, loft, etc.). That way your hour is more tailored to your needs.
 
I would add, take your own golf balls for the next fitting. That way you control the quality and brand that you normally play.
 
AlfaOcra said:
I've done a few fittings at a local Golf Galaxy and then one at a small shop known for good fittings. My experience at the small shop was much better than at the Golf Galaxy and a fitting like that is worth seeking out. Cost me more and that money is not applied to a subsequent purchase, but the thoroughness was exactly what I was looking for and relieved any need to do another fitting.

That said, the ones I had at GG varied largely based on who was fitting me and I did have a good experience at my driver fitting there. If you really feel uncomfortable going back there, call and talk to the manager and see if you can get a refund. If they won't allow that then go to the appointment with the manager and tell him exactly what you're looking to find out (shaft, grip, loft, etc.). That way your hour is more tailored to your needs.
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I’ll echo this. If you can’t get your money back try to control the fitting. Plenty of insight here to help prep you with the right questions and things to look for if needed.

Always remember that they are working for you. As you are swinging various things they hand you sometimes it’s hard to remember that.
 
Personally speaking I would not consider getting fit at Golf Galaxy. I worked there for a while and they do not train anyone how to actually fit people. Most of the people working there have very limited knowledge on actual product and instead are just people looking to stay busy

with the holidays coming up you will find places like True Spec and Club Champion have their 1/2 off fitting services

If you're near a PGA Superstore I would recommend going there vs Golf Galaxy. Their fitters are more knowledgable and some of the stores even have the PGA TOUR Van fitting service. Still not as good as Club Champion but it is a little more in depth
 
Exactly what Summit said. I would also say if you can find a fitting that can be done at a range so you can actually see ball flight, I like those better than hitting into a screen.
 
To the OP that sounds awful and I'd be furious. I would never recommend going to a big box store for a fitting. Employees aren't trained like smaller places tend to be. Its pricey but Club Champion, True spec and the like are much better options for a true fitting.
 
I have been fit at 2 places - neither experience was stellar, at one (won't name them) they pushed a very expensive driver build that was not offering me any advantage over the drives I started with, when asked about that - literally just shrugged.

The second at one of the big box stores, a year later, was actually better, but because I knew a little bit (this time), I could ask for what I wanted, but still they did not really help - the improvement was there - but I made it more substantial - on my own - months later.

Sometimes I think they see our drives, and immediately go lightest weight shaft they can find, one made of twine, accuracy goes out the window (for me).

Anyway, now the point of this is, NOW you know the drill, how it works and YOU can control things, ask any questions, ask to hit specific shafts if you want to hit them - heads too (for that matter). Note they may still try to steer you to something off the rack - don't back down they can and will order anything.
 
Just to follow up on this, in part, to be fair with GG. Even though I really felt like just getting a refund and moving on, to be honest, I didn't feel like the hassle and I did want to get fitted. Therefore, I went in this past weekend. This time I got fitted with their lead (Master?) fitter. I could tell this guy knew his stuff, understood the process, and was a really nice guy.

We took some time at the very beginning to review my needs and then he shared the process and asked if that was okay. He did a great job educating me on the numbers as we went along. I asked a ton of questions and he answered everything really well.

As others have already mentioned, one thing I learned about the process is going in with a plan and making sure you get what you're seeking.
 
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