Golf fitting questions?

So I have been playing more and more with friends over the past few years (I'm 25) and even going on trips all over the country. I love it, but my clubs are all hand-me-downs and very much not right for me and I'm convinced they're holding me back. I have Rawlings irons that were my Dad's (I'm 3-4 inches taller), graphite shafts (I'm 215, 6'3"), and a hodgepodge of drivers, hybrids, and wedges from other people.
So it's time for new clubs I think. Everyone says I should get fitted, and I'm on board. I think it will make a huge difference and there is a guy in my city that has amazing reviews (Golf Digest Top 100 Fitters). Only thing is I have to plan this pretty well in advance. I'm expecting to have to spend $1200-$1500 for an entirely new set.
These are some questions I'm hoping you guys/gals can help me with:

1. Is this price in the right ballpark?
2. I heard that the best way to get a good price is to buy used or a year-old model because they are generally the same quality - would I be able to do that if I'm buying through the fitter? How would that work?
3. I'm looking at the end of August for getting the fitting. Are labor day sales a thing? Even if they are, would I get that through a fitter?
4. What should I know about the fitting process before I go in?
5. Similarly, what should I know about the current products out there before I go in. My buddy that's an amateur said go either TM or Callaway for the Driver but irons are all about what feels best for you. Think that's legit?
6. I'm not getting fitted for a putter. Is that a ok? Same friend told me putters are really all about feel so fitting isn't really necessary.
7. Are there any other questions I should be asking/anything else I should explore?

For reference, I usually shoot high 80s to mid 90s (although 100s have happened here and there). 87 is my best this year.
Thanks all.

Sorry guys, new to the forum. was hitting back on the browser and accidentally did a double-post. Same thread was posted earlier - my bad!

1. I honestly couldn’t tell you about the pricing for a top 100 fitter

2. I think most fitters will find what fits you best, for a price, and give you all that information so that you can go buy what you want new or used. Many of them will give you a discount on the fitting if you buy clubs through them though, but they’ll be brand new clubs.

3. Labor Day sales are definitely a thing, just like most other holidays, but I’m not sure about fittings going on sale. Maybe at a place like Club Champion...

4. Don’t be nervous about the fitting, have fun with it and just swing your swing. Also, have a goal in mind for your fitting. Do you want to minimize a certain miss? Hit the ball higher/lower? Gain distance? Tighten up dispersion?

5. Go in with a completely open mind and don’t sell yourself short on any equipment, almost every company has great offerings throughout the bag right now.

6. A putter fitting is a different animal and would take a whole fitting session by itself to truly be done right. Most people haven’t gone through putter fittings and just go off feel, I’m one of those myself.

7. Like I said before, go in with an open mind. After the fitting, pick his brain a little to learn why your specs are what they are and why he’s recommending the equipment he is. It can help you out down the road. Especially if you’re going to buy the equipment yourself from somewhere else.

Double post...

Thank you! This is great stuff. Definitely going in with an open mind. Based on the reviews I've read, the fitter does exactly what you described. He takes a lot of data and explains every little minute detail - which I love! I want to learn as much as possible and I think this will be great for that.

Is this price in the right ballpark? - Yes and No. Yes if you buy everything new. No because there’s so much good used or past model equipment available that you can save a lot by not buying 2018 or 2019 editions of everything.

I heard that the best way to get a good price is to buy used or a year-old model because they are generally the same quality - would I be able to do that if I'm buying through the fitter? How would that work? - Before you start, confirm that the fitter will give you a print out of all recommended heads, shafts, grips, etc. You certainly don’t have to buy it through him but that info will help you when buying elsewhere.

I’m looking at the end of August for getting the fitting. Are labor day sales a thing? Even if they are, would I get that through a fitter? - Ask the fitter what kind of specials he has, but likely it’s just that your fitting fee gets applied towards clubs you buy through him.

What should I know about the fitting process before I go in? - Check out a local big box store or your friends golf bags and find out what you may like, may not like to try. There’s hundreds of manufacturers and although you definitely want to keep an open mind, to test every club would be exhausting. Trust the fitter!

Similarly, what should I know about the current products out there before I go in. My buddy that's an amateur said go either TM or Callaway for the Driver but irons are all about what feels best for you. Think that's legit? - No not legit.

I’m not getting fitted for a putter. Is that a ok? Same friend told me putters are really all about feel so fitting isn't really necessary. - It’s the most hit club in your bag, why wouldn’t you get fit for it?

Are there any other questions I should be asking/anything else I should explore? - Keep an open mind, and trust the fitter. Also make sure this fitter has more than 2 or 3 brands to test.

Good luck! Fittings are always fun and enlightening!



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Looking question 2: Keep in mind that going for a fitting and getting a recommendation on clubs and trying to save money do not often go together. Many (all?) fitters will have fitting carts with the newest equipment from the brands they sell. I do not think it's normal for fitters to have the previous generation clubs still available for fitting although they may have them for sale. So...I say all that to warn you that your budget is not likely high enough if you want to pay for a fitting and go with what the fitter recommends.

So I have been to basically every fitter in the greater New England area. All the guys on all the lists. I've also traveled to several states in search of holy grail information, and I have found a lot of similarities. The number one piece of advice I could give you is to try to go to a golf store (I don't know where you are from) and hit used clubs. Forget the numbers, just what you like hitting. See if they'll swing weight them for you. Take pictures of the shaft. Little things like that help a lot in terms of shaft profile, weight, etc.

1. Way too low if you buy through the fitter. You're talking a couple hundred for the fitting and I'd expect for a full bag if you went through the fitter, at least 2K and probably more like 3K for a full bag. I will discuss below ways to lower this.

2. Depends on the fitter, and they charge you MSRP, thats their markup. You're going to find that my advice below ends with "DONT BUY THROUGH THE FITTER IF PRICE IS A PRIORITY"

3. Fitters aren't going to discount much. Now, there are guys like Will Peoples at Peoples Clubs (Builder, not fitter) who offer sales. Fairwayjockey does sales on Black Friday. But those are guys you send specs to, not fitters.

4. You don't have to know much. From where you are coming from, any fit set of clubs will be a huge upgrade.

5. My advice is that with the drivers, shaft is WAY more important than head. All the heads are good. The shaft is the timing advice that will make things feel better to you. Read through the threads, and you'll find guys who love Ping, Callaway, TM, Mizuno, Cobra, etc...Hopefully in your fitting one feels better than others and you go with that. I can tell you that plenty of scratch golfers are playing 5-8 year old drivers with "inferior" tech.

6. Your friend means well, what I'd say is my putting improved with a putter fitting, but it's not a priority most likely right now. That said, the idea a putter is only about feel is incorrect. You have a putting stroke style and there are putters that work best with that style. Google "toe hang putter" and you'll see what I mean.

7. You should ask anything that crosses your mind. You're paying for their time. What you're going to find is 99% of fitters are going to look at your numbers on a trackman or GC2 and try and see what gives you the best numbers. I tend to take a slightly different approach personally but it's only slightly different, and I say that as someone who spends way too much money on golf.

So my advice to you: First of all, you want to buy the MOST forgiving club that will produce good numbers for you. Golf is not played on a screen. You want something that will perform for you on days your swing isn't great.

And second, I would commit to no matter how good the sales pitch is, to take their recommendation and make them print it out for you with all of the specs (head, shaft, flex, swing weight, any changes to the loft/lie from standard) and then I would go online, and buy as close as you can to it (meaning, the head and the shaft should be exactly the same), and then you can take the clubs to a club repair guy if you need tweaks to the grips or swing weight. You'll pay a ton less. If he goes Callaway, callaway pre-owned is incredibly good on used clubs. Ebay is obviously great.

A club repair guy will probably cost you 100 bucks or so if you need to tweak clubs and regrip them, you'll save a ton. You just need them to check the lofts and lies definitely). And the nice thing doing it that way is you could pick a model that is a year or two older if you wanted and save a little bit there. I think once you were fit, coming back here with results we could point you to the finish line.

1.Is this price in the right ballpark?
If you figure that an average set of irons is about 900 and forged is about 1200 with drivers in the 4-500 range now, you are missing the putter, FWs, hybrids or some combination there of and wedges I would say you are a little under the range.

2.I heard that the best way to get a good price is to buy used or a year-old model because they are generally the same quality - would I be able to do that if I'm buying through the fitter? How would that work?
Typically not year old but out of the product cycle, meaning the club has been replaced by a new model then yes and because it has been replaced and usually in limited quantity and maybe not in the complete set up need, however, if you find a head style that is comparable and the fitter is a builder too, you might just save a few $$$ getting them into spec.

3.I'm looking at the end of August for getting the fitting. Are labor day sales a thing? Even if they are, would I get that through a fitter?
For the fitting doubtful, for the equipment certainly if the maker is having that sale. larger outlet will have something too however see above.

4.What should I know about the fitting process before I go in?
You should talk to the fitter or send an email asking about the process, if it makes sense to you then all's good, first and foremost YOU need to be comfortable when going into the process. Don't be afraid to ask questions, particularly during the process

5.Similarly, what should I know about the current products out there before I go in. My buddy that's an amateur said go either TM or Callaway for the Driver but irons are all about what feels best for you. Think that's legit?
The question you need to ask yourself is,,,, are you brand sensitive, meaning is there a brand you just must have or is "anything the works" the answer? Not all fitters are all encompassing with every brand. IF this fitter doesn't carry the brand you must have ask the fitter for help picking out the fit based on the fitting results.

6.I'm not getting fitted for a putter. Is that a ok? Same friend told me putters are really all about feel so fitting isn't really necessary.
politely speaking your friend is wrong, As we know the putter is the only club that is planned for use twice on each hole. Why wouldn't we get it fit too? The putter is not an ego purchase much like a driver but should be fit. The putter prices can very close to driver prices too so make sure all the tools in the bag work.

7.Are there any other questions I should be asking/anything else I should explore?
You paying for a service when getting fit. What will get for that service? A spec sheet of your current equipment? A set of info from the launch monitor used? a video of your swing for future reference? a recommendation page? Hopefully the process, fitter and you get on together and work out what you need and how to go about getting it but at the end of the day did you get something for the service.