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

[Chef23]

Ok, another update on my CC fitting.
As I've mentioned before on this thread - I absolutely love my new clubs: the Callaway Full Toe wedges, the Callaway DCB irons, and the Srixon ZX 4 hybrid. I've been hitting them at a simulator for well over a month now (we're into winter weather here in Upstate NY)
They have performed as advertised with a tighter dispersion and a little more distance (vs my prior clubs).
Not to mention I just love how they feel. I couldn't be happier with that portion of my fitting!
My only problem child was my Callaway Epic Speed 3W.
I was hitting it ok, but there just didn't seem to be enough of a yardage gap from my hybrid.
After hitting both clubs a lot recently to make sure the gap issue was real - the new 4 hybrid settled in at the 195-200 yd range when struck well (total, with carry) whereas my Epic 3W seemed to be in the 200-205 yd range.
Every once in a while, if I swung out of my shoes, and struck the ball perfectly - I might get that 3W up to 215.
But it seemed like I had to work too hard to do it, and it wasn't happening often enough.
I just wasn't 100% happy with that club.
So it was time to check out the CC "guaranteed fit" promise and find out what that really means.
So I went to CC today and explained my concerns and what I was experiencing.
And both fitters there were super helpful (it was the end of the day, no one was in getting fit - so they were both trying to help me)
We tried out a longer shaft, a head with a little less loft, a softer flex, and a few other options.
None of, which they said, they would charge me for if that's what fixed the problem.
(so they were basically willing to replace the shaft or the head and the labor to re-assemble - all for free)
Ultimately, the solution turned out to be much simpler in that all they had to do was take a little weight out of the head (I think they took out a couple of grams by replacing a heavier weight screw with a lighter one).
And OMG - what a change! It was only a couple of grams but I could feel the difference.
I immediately, and effortlessly, started smacking that 3 wood around 215-220 yds with the occasional 230 yd smash.
Problem solved!
And now I'm stoked about ALL my new clubs.
Bottom line: I spent an hour with the fitters at no charge to me. I was also impressed that they were willing to give me a different shaft or head if that fixed the problem; again at no charge to me.
They made good on their promise.
They certainly do stand behind their work and I'm certainly a 100% happy customer now.

Great story. To me that is the value of the fit and paying the premium. I had a similar experience at Cool Clubs where I wasn't thrilled with what I was fit into and after pretty much a year of trying to make them work including a reshaft they took them back and refit me into something new. You pay a premium but they stand behind what you buy.

I got fit for free at a TrueSpec probably 3 or 4 years ago when the M6 was current model and wound up buying a 3 wood which has consistently been the best club in my bag. At the time the fitter said he couldn't make a significant enough difference on any other club in my bag to recommend spending the money. He also told me if you don't love it come back and we will take care of you.

 

[BigE]

Great story. To me that is the value of the fit and paying the premium. I had a similar experience at Cool Clubs where I wasn't thrilled with what I was fit into and after pretty much a year of trying to make them work including a reshaft they took them back and refit me into something new. You pay a premium but they stand behind what you buy.

I got fit for free at a TrueSpec probably 3 or 4 years ago when the M6 was current model and wound up buying a 3 wood which has consistently been the best club in my bag. At the time the fitter said he couldn't make a significant enough difference on any other club in my bag to recommend spending the money. He also told me if you don't love it come back and we will take care of you.

That's the way to run a business and get some customer loyalty!

 

[leftshot]

I’m a big fan of comprehensive, brand-agnostic fitting. I look at it this way.

You can go the trial and error route and easily blow through several sets of clubs (and the cost of all those sets) and you’ll still never get to your optimal set.

or

You can do a comprehensive brand-agnostic fitting where the total cost for fitting and clubs might be the same or less than two sets using the trial and error method and you’ve gotten the ideal set for you that you can enjoy for many years.

It’s pretty obvious which is actually better and less expensive.

I’ve also found that when it is time for the next set continuing to work with the same fitter is a huge advantage. Because of the data from the last fitting, the next fitting will go much faster, fewer swings required, and confirm some clubs don’t need changing.

 

[BigE]

I thought I'd do an update to this thread to let everyone know where I'm at with my new clubs so far.

After my purchase through Club Champion in December of 2021 I've had all winter to hit them in a local simulator (I live in Upstate NY where golf season ends in November and doesn't really get going until May)
I actually joined for the first time a "Simulator Country Club", which has given me an almost unlimited time to play, practice with, and analyze, my recent club purchase using a top end simulator.
This will hopefully let me hit me hit the floor running once I manage to get outside to play this spring (hopefully only a week or so away as I write this).
So this is basically a "Phase 2" of my thread. Where am I at now, and how am I feeling, with my new clubs after a winter of practice/play?
Then at the end of this golf season I'll post a "Phase 3" -> how did the clubs actually perform for me outside and did I see any improvements in my game or handicap?

But before I talk about how my clubs have performed all winter at the Sim, I need to address the changes/tweaks I've made to the clubs since I initially purchased them

1) Had to have my 3W tweaked as I found a bit of a gapping issue with the Hybrid. I was often hitting them about the same distance. I just wasn't getting the consistent longer distance I was expecting from my 3W (actually a 4W on a three wood length shaft.). Went to CC and we spent a good hour or so essentially doing a "refit" to see what was going on. Tried some different shafts and different heads etc. Ultimately the fix turned out to be pretty simple: a heavier screw in my Epic Speed FW Wood was replaced with a lighter one taking a couple of grams of weight out of the head. I could immediately feel the difference and have been "crushing" my 3W ever since. So I'm very happy with the change...and...very happy with how hard CC worked to make things right (at no charge to me for all their efforts).

2) Discovered I had a bit of a gapping issue with my PW between my AW and my 9 iron. For whatever reason, my AW went about 100 yds, my PW about 105, and my 9 iron around 130. Obviously a problem. So went to CC, spent some time hitting on their simulator, and ended up having them bend my PW 1.5 degrees stronger. Now hitting it about the needed 115 yds. Problem solved. Also no charge from CC for this.

3) A really big change here. Over my golf life the last 30 years (I'm now 64) I've run into some horrible stretches of the sh*nks - and almost exclusively just with my chips/pitches (wedges). They seem to come and go, out of nowhere, and without explanation (sometimes a full year or two between bouts). But when I'm in the midst of them, my golf life is horrible, and my short game shots get disastrous, almost yippy, due to my total lack of confidence. Anyways, about 6 weeks after I got my new clubs, these sh*nks reared they're ugly head in my Sim play (again only with my short game). Ughhhh! I tried everything to overcome them, and eventually with some help from a couple of golf pro's, I 've totally changed my short game chipping/pitching swing (basically more turn and less wrist action). Through that struggle, I think I also discovered I like my wedges to be heavier. In my fitting I got the new Callaway Jaws Full Toe wedges. They had the same type of graphite shaft as my irons and were a few swing weight pts heavier (my irons are D4, my wedges were D6). Went back to CC and we spent another good hour or so exploring different swing weights and lie angles with my wedges to see what might help (again, at no charge to me). Ended up adjusting my Jaws wedges a couple of degrees flatter and increased the swing weight from D6 to D8 which did feel better. But I have to admit, those sh*nks, along with me being in the midst of a short game swing change, my confidence was still pretty low. So I decided, at least for the short term, I needed to get the most player friendly wedges I could find in order to help me get out of this funk mentally. So I went out on my own and ordered a 52*, 56* and 60* Callaway Mack Daddy CB wedges. Ordered them at the lie angle I worked out with CC, but also now with even heavier 105g KBS steel shafts (versus my 80g Pattison Shafts). I think I've discovered through this latest sh*nk episode, that I do actually like the overall weight of my wedges to be heavier than my irons, not just the swing weight. Plus, the bigger face on those CB wedges, along with the more forgiving cavity back, have done wonders for my confidence. So those are the wedges I currently have in my bag. I haven't gotten rid of my Jaws Full Toe wedges, because I expect at some point when I've totally solved my short game woes - I want to go back to them. I equate that to me being ready to go from cavity back irons to blades. But right now my shaky confidence needs these more forgiving wedges. Bottom line is I currently have the CB wedges in my bag with the Jaws Full Toe on deck.

4) My very last change is really the result of that first change I made with my 3W. I started hitting that 3W so good - I began to realize how much more comfortable I was with a fairway wood in my hands vs a Hybrid (even though I've had at least one hybrid in my bag for the last 20 yrs - but I've never been 100% comfortable or confident with them). I don't know why it's taken me so long for me to realize this. So I decided to experiment. I went and ordered on my own a Callaway "pre-owned" 20* Epic Max Heavenwood (one in excellent condition) that I thought would fit perfectly between my 16.5* degree 4W and my 23* degree 5i. After receiving the club, CC at no charge to me, shorted the shaft a bit from 43 inches to 42.5 inches and put on a new grip I had purchased. I played for a few weeks at my Sim with this club, alternating between it and using my 19* Srixon Hybrid. That confirmed how much more confident I was with the FW wood in my hands. Like with my 3W, I was just crushing the Heavenwood. So I now have taken the Hybrid out of my bag and replaced it with what in essence is a 7 wood.

Here's where my bag has settled at:
Taylor Made 10.5* M6 Driver
Callaway 16.5* Epic Speed FW Wood
Callaway 20* Epic Max Heavenwood
Callaway DCB Irons AW to 5i
Callaway Mack Daddy CB Wedges (52*, 56*, 60*)
Bobby Grace F22 Sidesaddle Putter

And my Sim performance this winter with these clubs have been outstanding. I couldn't be happier. With my irons, I definitely have picked up a club in distance from my older Titleist AP2 irons and with a much better dispersion too (saw that during the fitting, and that has been confirmed with my Sim play all winter). My regular playing partner has been amazed with how well I've been hitting my new irons. I'm also hitting my FW woods much better now. I'm not hitting them farther than my old clubs, but the dispersion and misses have greatly improved (I'm convinced after all that golf is truly a game of minimizing our misses!). And as I mentioned before, with my new short game swing AND the confidence inspiring CB wedges - my short game lately has been fantastic! (with ZERO sh*nks over the last month, fingers crossed). Even my regular playing partner has commented on my short game improvement over the last month.

As further proof, as a 9 handicap, I've actually broken par a few times while playing the Sim. And I've NEVER broken par before, inside or outside, in any way. In addition, a friend and I won our Digital Country Club Member/Guest Tournament (with my partner not playing all that well...) and I just generally have been playing some of the best golf of my life - albeit indoors. So the bottom line is I'm extremely happy at the moment with my clubs and with my game through Phase 2.

And if you weren't keeping score, CC has put in at least 6 hours of their time in my estimation, from my 3W through my wedges, trying to help me fix any issues or get comfortable with any new clubs. There was never any hesitation on their part to make good on their promise to make sure I was happy. They even gave me a free putter fitting.

Now it'll be on to Phase 3 and see how all this good indoor play translates to outside. The 9.3 handicap I finished at last year was an all time low for me. I'm hoping my new equipment and my new short game swing can take me even lower. It'll be interesting to see what happens. But right now, through Phase 2 - I'm extremely happy with my equipment.

Updates will follow at the end of the year.

 

[Chef23]

Great update thanks. It is good to see CC working with you to make the gaps work. I am not surprised you needed to shorten the Heavenwood it is like a 6 wood loft if I remember correctly on a 4 wood length shaft so they tend to go farther than a traditional 7 wood.

 

[Parrot]

Enjoyed your posts. I'm glad your clubs have worked out so well for you.