I just got back from a Callaway Tour Fit club fitting experience hosted at a club near me. I booked a one hour “full-bag” session with 28-year veteran Callaway Master club fitter and greater Boston sales rep Erin Henderson. I arrived about 15 minutes early and observed as the guys before me finished up. There were about 8+ bags full of demo gear as well as a bunch of fitting heads and shafts, I would venture pretty much the entire current model line-up. Activity at the demo was brisk, with two Callaway staffers handling scheduled appointments, as well as a steady stream of walk-up traffic.
After hitting a few warm-up shots and waiting for others to finish, Erin gave me a warm welcome, took down some details, and we were on the range. We decided to work on iron fitting as a priority. I had my Apex MB’s with me, but I established right away that I was more interested in the fitting process and what he would put me into as an open book i.e. a more forgiving cavity. He watched me hit a few with the Apex MB, and we decided to work with Apex Pro and X Forged. I expressed a general overall interest in graphite, and we had a discussion that he probably does not see me in the 105TX MMT’s that are in my MB’s, as they tend to require hitting them hard all the time and my speed is not high enough to warrant them. We plugged in MMT 95 S, and I hit about 10 balls each with Apex Pro first, and X Forged second. I had very good results with both. We were hitting off grass into a gentle breeze, and I was having great luck with the ball holding its line into the wind with both. Results interpreted by ball flight and a very experienced fitter’s eye… no tracking data. After that I hit a few with Apex just for grins.
Then we discussed if I was a hard lean on graphite or open to steel. The MMT’s in 95S were a little light, and he mentioned that they might be contributing to a couple of the floatier trajectories we were seeing playing into the breeze. His comment was that being a good ball striker and having the strength to play either capably, that steel might be a little better at keeping the flight down, and he had some ideas that might match well. After checking again if I tended to prefer a 90-95 lighter shaft or a 105-120 heavier shaft, we both agreed that I liked 110 _/- historically, and that it would be a good weight for my tempo.
He selected ProjectX IO 6.0 and we plugged it into the X-Forged as the head of choice. I could have gone either way on heads, but I was getting in a real groove with the X-Forged and he liked them as well. After about the 5th or 6th shot with X-Forged and ProjectX IO 6.0 he cut in and said that if I walked in as a blank slate, he’d stop right there. The shaft was working great, and I hit pretty much all of them dead on-line with a 2-3 yard curve. He then broke out the lie-board and sole impact tape, and I hit a few to see where I was on lie. Slightly to my surprise (but not really given my swing and divots), I was coming through at about 2-2.5* upright due to my more upright plane and bad habits about standing up at impact. He said that the build should be more like 1.5* upright so that we were not over-correcting for lie and making the clubs more prone to over-draw.
After that talked through grips (standard size for my medium hands, cord please) and set makeup. I would go with 4-P in this set.
Overall, it was a great experience. I can highly recommend a Callaway Tour Fit day if available in your area. Toward the end there were a lot of walk-ups, so we ended after my iron fitting and did not get into other areas of the bag, but I’m fine with it. I even walked away with a couple of two-ball trial packs of the latest Chrome Soft X! This session confirmed a lot of things I thought I knew, and opened my eyes in others, in particular possible lies angle adjustments. I am also very, very comfy with the idea of ProjectX IO shafts… I’ve hit them a few times and they have been great every time. I could also be pretty happy with a set of X Forged, they are great irons. Fun stuff!
Final Specs:
Callaway X-Forged 4-P, 1.5* upright
Project X IO 6.0 Standard length
Lamkin Crossline Cord
After hitting a few warm-up shots and waiting for others to finish, Erin gave me a warm welcome, took down some details, and we were on the range. We decided to work on iron fitting as a priority. I had my Apex MB’s with me, but I established right away that I was more interested in the fitting process and what he would put me into as an open book i.e. a more forgiving cavity. He watched me hit a few with the Apex MB, and we decided to work with Apex Pro and X Forged. I expressed a general overall interest in graphite, and we had a discussion that he probably does not see me in the 105TX MMT’s that are in my MB’s, as they tend to require hitting them hard all the time and my speed is not high enough to warrant them. We plugged in MMT 95 S, and I hit about 10 balls each with Apex Pro first, and X Forged second. I had very good results with both. We were hitting off grass into a gentle breeze, and I was having great luck with the ball holding its line into the wind with both. Results interpreted by ball flight and a very experienced fitter’s eye… no tracking data. After that I hit a few with Apex just for grins.
Then we discussed if I was a hard lean on graphite or open to steel. The MMT’s in 95S were a little light, and he mentioned that they might be contributing to a couple of the floatier trajectories we were seeing playing into the breeze. His comment was that being a good ball striker and having the strength to play either capably, that steel might be a little better at keeping the flight down, and he had some ideas that might match well. After checking again if I tended to prefer a 90-95 lighter shaft or a 105-120 heavier shaft, we both agreed that I liked 110 _/- historically, and that it would be a good weight for my tempo.
He selected ProjectX IO 6.0 and we plugged it into the X-Forged as the head of choice. I could have gone either way on heads, but I was getting in a real groove with the X-Forged and he liked them as well. After about the 5th or 6th shot with X-Forged and ProjectX IO 6.0 he cut in and said that if I walked in as a blank slate, he’d stop right there. The shaft was working great, and I hit pretty much all of them dead on-line with a 2-3 yard curve. He then broke out the lie-board and sole impact tape, and I hit a few to see where I was on lie. Slightly to my surprise (but not really given my swing and divots), I was coming through at about 2-2.5* upright due to my more upright plane and bad habits about standing up at impact. He said that the build should be more like 1.5* upright so that we were not over-correcting for lie and making the clubs more prone to over-draw.
After that talked through grips (standard size for my medium hands, cord please) and set makeup. I would go with 4-P in this set.
Overall, it was a great experience. I can highly recommend a Callaway Tour Fit day if available in your area. Toward the end there were a lot of walk-ups, so we ended after my iron fitting and did not get into other areas of the bag, but I’m fine with it. I even walked away with a couple of two-ball trial packs of the latest Chrome Soft X! This session confirmed a lot of things I thought I knew, and opened my eyes in others, in particular possible lies angle adjustments. I am also very, very comfy with the idea of ProjectX IO shafts… I’ve hit them a few times and they have been great every time. I could also be pretty happy with a set of X Forged, they are great irons. Fun stuff!
Final Specs:
Callaway X-Forged 4-P, 1.5* upright
Project X IO 6.0 Standard length
Lamkin Crossline Cord
I fell in love with them demo'ing X Forged, ordered them in my MB's, and by the time they arrived I had tried them in the X Forged and other heads on more occasions, and just always hit them well. I really think they're underrated. And it's interesting to me that he wanted to put you in them what sounds like based on weight and the desire to lower the flight little. I prefer to, because prairie winds will scar you for life lol, and the majority of the other guys I know who've ended up in them struggle to keep the ball down a bit. Seems to benefit them in that way. 
