So You Want Artisan Wedges with a Custom Fitting.

Desmond

Let's have fun here.
Albatross 2024 Club
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Artisan Wedges.

Have you thought about it?

I thought I knew something about wedges. I learned that my thoughts were wrong. Read on.

Artisan. Forged Elsewhere. Made in Fort Worth. Visited by Tiger Woods, Ben Crenshaw (beautiful handwriting), Michael Jordan (yes, that Michael Jordan), Rory, Trevino, Schwartzel, Reed, Day, Ancer, Nate (THP Nate), and more. All, I assume, own Artisan wedges.

Learned my Instructor had sent Jason Day to Artisan in January and Day had picked up a set.

But me? I wasn't bad with a wedge ...Okay, I was better 10 yrs ago with a B-Stone West Coast Design 60. That was then, this is now. I was hesitant but my club insecurity complex said "Go for it."

I made the appointment 2 months ago. Questions? I had many. There was so much I do not know and I don't mind admitting I am an idiot. I really don't know that much about the ins and outs of equipment. Oh, yes, I can say this and that and pretend I have club game ... but not when it comes to the men at Artisan. We're talking 30+ years of experience with Hogan and Nike, and if you know about Ben Hogan's rep, you know he was demanding. So after Nike left golf clubs behind, the owners of Artisan helped Nike players with their clubs until they transitioned to other brands. Then the men of Artisan, Mike Taylor (wedges) and John Hatfield (putters) transitioned the Nike "Oven" to Artisan. You have access to a great range and short game area, more than an area, it is a golfer's short game dream. And (longtime) Leonard's Golf Links is next door.

That is history, let's get to the Fitting. This morning. Took off for the 45 minutes drive to West Ft Worth from Lewisville. Arrived at 8:30 am and saw John fitting a putter for a guy who had driven from Tulsa all night and had been there since 7 am. Dedication.

I opened the door to Artisan, was greeted cordially, but the first thing they asked was to give them all of my wedges. Why not? Jamie Pipes, the Master Wedge Fitter, measured all specs while I was given a tour of the plant. Lots of CNC and other machines, very clean shop, saw Mike Taylor working and he gave me a friendly "Hello". I saw new putters draped on carts, and the new irons that are coming soon - blade, part cavity and full cavity, and many wedges. I also saw the whiteboard with names of the pros and celebrities who had purchased Artisan clubs.

But now it was time for me and Jamie to get acquainted. Jamie had worked with UST previously but was now telling me about all of the curiosities of my current Mizuno Wedges related to the data he had collected. Lengths were a little off, lofts were a bit too close, could have been from use or from me beating them into the ground - who knows? Some wedges were heavier than others, some of that was concerning, but the only consistency was that the lies angles were almost all 63. One set was Nippon 115, another set of 2 wedges were Nippon 125. What would fit? Let's find out.

We escaped outside to hot, sunny, and muggy conditions. Warmup started with PW, then SW, LW and a few other wedges with different shafts - just easy full swings. I think Jamie wanted to evaluate the shafts more than anything. So we talked about what he saw - I struggled more with the 130g Nippons and got along better with the Nippon 122g.

We changed gears and walked over to a fairway fronting several greens, and hit a series of 50, 75, and 90 yard shots before going greenside, then hitting bunker shots and finishing with more greenside for over two hours.

Let's stop here and tell you about my game - It has sucked for a month. So much that it makes you not want to pick up a club. That bad. And I take lessons. I've been working on so much that I think my head is exploding. Too much to integrate at once. Either kill me or pass the tequila.

I was hitting it fat and laying turf during a fitting ... ugh. I looked at Jamie and after a few choice words at myself, in essence said, "Okay, I'm frustrated but open. Tell me."

He didn't mind telling me. This will seem like Golf 101. Ball position was too far forward, I need to open up my feet, and I wasn't aggressive about finishing the swing, and I'd come out of the swing. Holy Fruck. Yes, I kind of knew some of it because at the last lesson we'd talked about what Jamie was discussing. Fast forward a few minutes later and we'd made most of the simple corrections. Well, not exactly simple. We added some arm rotation at the end of the swing. Same thing my instructor is beating into me. Then we added a more aggressive move with the front foot and turning the hips. Jamie's work was almost done. So yes, a lesson is included and it was everything my instructor had said. I was happy. Hope was alive. We started hitting again.

We kept on switching out shafts and Artisan heads and comparing the results to see what was working best and what Jamie was observing. We worked with the GW and SW from 75 and 90 yards. Hit 4 balls and switch out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat, Repeat.

Jamie's preliminary results - I didn't take much of a divot and the Mizuno sat too high (bouncy). The 115 and 125 Nippons were not my best fit. I had better results with the Artisan head with a C type grind that was beveled, and another that was not beveled. Shaft? He thought I did best with the Nippon 105.

We moved greenside - green was above me and he handed me a variety of wedges consisting of the Mizunos and Artisns with different shafts. But he had narrowed it down to the Nippon 105 and an Artisan 55 and 59 for greenside use. I hit balls below the green from a level lie to 3 pins, and then from uphill lies, and ball above my feet lies to all 3 pins. One of the Mizunos was a little sticky but the Artisan were not - just clean contact and good spin. Huge difference. We hit a few bunker shots to test the wedge selection and then back to greenside to finish off the fitting. I was pleased with the differences between the Mizuno and Artisan Wedges - the Artisans were a much better fit. Club hit ball, Not Club hit ground, then ball, or getting sticky. Well worth it.

I learned that I was lousy at fitting myself and that it pays to pay a professional to fit you. The fitting (and mini-lesson) were more than worth the $200. Resolved many issues, plus I'm getting some great custom wedges made to demanding specs (for an additional charge)!

That was done over 2.5 hours. The next half hour was guzzling down 2 pints of water and reviewing wedge finishes, ferrules, and initials.

Results are in and we went 50, 55, 59 in Artisan Raw Blasted Finish in Nippon 105 and Tour Velvet +4, Standard length, 35.5, 35.25, 35, 63 lie angle. Delivery in about 6 weeks.

Then we scarfed down the remaining pizza that the crew had for lunch.

Worth it. Do it if you can.
 
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That sounds like one heck of a phenomenal experience! And for $200?! That's a bargain!

Plenty of beautiful options, but I sure wish one of those was left handed.
 
If I was in the area this is definitely something I would be looking at.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Awesome recap!! These are the types of fitting I love reading about on here!

Looking forward to seeing pics of the new wedges in bag!
 
dammit @Desmond. this is going to cost me some $$$. experience sounds absolutely incredible!
 
If I was anywhere near Texas I'd be scheduling this. Heck, hearing from you and @Nate about the experience makes me want to figure out how to make it work from VA. Need to find a work excuse to go to Dallas... 🤔
 
Nice write up, well done.

I use to visit the Ft Worth area 3-4 times a year. I had family who lived in Saginaw. Sadly they have all passed on. Just my broker is there now, and we do everything by phone.

If I ever get back there, I will look this place up. Sounds like it's worth the money.
 
dammit @Desmond. this is going to cost me some $$$. experience sounds absolutely incredible!

DFW is wonderful in the summer - similar to Florida. It will feel like home. You will feel like leaving to Colorado where Texans escape. It's freakin' hot here! Call us before you arrive.
 
Awesome recap!! These are the types of fitting I love reading about on here!

Looking forward to seeing pics of the new wedges in bag!

Thx. i'm also looking forward to taking those pics.

It's a weird feeling to now play wedges that you know do not fit you... lol. Will soldier on for 6 Weeks or so ...
 
Sounds like a great day! Make sure to post pics of these beauts when they come in.
 
Been wondering where you've been. I understand today was like that for me. Glad you're back - so does the fitting get credited to the clubs at all? Looking forward to seeing them in about 6 weeks!
 
Yeah, I need this for sure!
 
Great writeup! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the photos in 6 weeks.
 
Sounds like they took great care of you there and it was a memorable experience
 
Been wondering where you've been. I understand today was like that for me. Glad you're back - so does the fitting get credited to the clubs at all? Looking forward to seeing them in about 6 weeks!

They charge $200 for the fitting, and then credit you $100 towards a purchase of the wedges. When you pick up or they ship your wedges, you pay the balance at that time.

Where have I been? Traveling and working are taking a toll.
 
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Traveling for work or for pleasure? If the latter can't be too bad! I start a new job Monday, and travel is on the menu - I kind of like travel for work, but that can change day to day and location to location. So, hopefully it was for pleasure on your end. Good that some amount is credited to the wedges. I did a driver fitting (posted about it) it was less than spectacular - sadly.
 
They charge $300 for the fitting, and then credit you $100 towards a purchase of the wedges. When you pick up or they ship your wedges, you pay the balance at that time.

Where have I been? Traveling and working are taking a toll.

They went up $100 for fitting! Was $200 for me at the end of 2019. Bet they are getting a ton of action now since Covid is coming to an end.
 
That sounds so awesome. I wish I lived in Dallas so I could get fitted like that.
 
They went up $100 for fitting! Was $200 for me at the end of 2019. Bet they are getting a ton of action now since Covid is coming to an end.

Nate - I looked at the receipt again - it was $200 and $100 credited to the purchase. My eyesight became worse during Covid. It was hotter than heck out there - wore me out.
 
Nate - I looked at the receipt again - it was $200 and $100 credited to the purchase. My eyesight became worse during Covid. It was hotter than heck out there - wore me out.

Glad your experience was as good as mine. Like you said totally worth $200 if you did nothing else……but who’s really leaving HQ w/o ordering some kick ass wedges. These guys don’t miss a step.
 
Can't wait to see your wedges @Desmond. Everything I've seen from Artisan so far has looked awesome.
 
Can't wait to see your wedges @Desmond. Everything I've seen from Artisan so far has looked awesome.

Thanks, but these won't look very different from a raw blasted wedge (no sheen to these). Just the basics - Artisan logo in red, white, blue, loft in white, initials in red. Did not even think about it before the fitting and was too heat exhausted to think about it afterward.:LOL:

Like below without the sheen. BUT I did get a red, black, blue ferule that looks good. Otherwise, Basic. Note to others: Think about your design before you go - look at the Artisan Instagram Account and bookmark it.

Screen Shot 2021-06-17 at 10.38.29 AM.png
 
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They went up $100 for fitting! Was $200 for me at the end of 2019. Bet they are getting a ton of action now since Covid is coming to an end.

Checked the website today - charge is $300 now for a fitting. Still worth it to me because I learned so much during the 3 hrs, and then $100 goes to clubs. And if you are going out there, you want to buy.
 
That is a great write up, thank you for sharing that. Sounds so much fun, plus new toys to play with!
 
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