So I decided to finally do the smart thing & get fitted for clubs. One of the best places locally (if not THE best) is Windmill Golf Center. I scheduled a time with Scott Galayde (I know Mike Dean & other THPers have taken lessons from him). A super guy & all around great dude! I also decided to get a full bag fitting, although I was mainly interested in driver & wedges (& told him that), but it seemed like the best deal to go through the bag.
They use Trackman data at Windmill Golf Center, and Scott walked me through what the different numbers meant. As far as fitting goes – and especially for the driver – he was focusing on carry distance, launch angle, smash factor, and spin rate. And of course ball path and dispersion. Scott said picking clubs came down to three factors: looks, feel (which he said is mostly sound) and the numbers/how the ball flies. I told him I don’t really care what it looks/feels like, as long as it works better for me, so I was wide open to suggestions.
We started with my current driver: Cobra Amp Cell. I knew this club had way too much spin to get optimal distance, so I was looking forward to seeing what he suggested.
We tried a Ping G400, Cobra F8+, and Callaway Rogue, with some success, but nothing too exciting (which surprised me). Then he brought out a Srixon Z585 9.5 degree driver with a Hazardous Red 5.5 shaft. Two things were immediately obvious – even without looking at the Trackman data: (1) The ball was going dead straight. The dispersion on this driver was night and day better for me than the others; (2) it was going farther too.
Trackman numbers:
launch smash
Driver: carry spin angle factor
Cobra Amp Cell: 184 4644 13.6 1.35
Srixon Z585: 206 2437 12.6 1.42
Ping G400: 197 2872 11.4 1.43
Callaway Rogue: 189 2421 11.4 1.47
Cobra F8+: 180 3938 13.6 1.41
I was surprised about the F8+, because I had hit it really well in a free Cobra fitting in April. But the consistency of the Srixon was definitely much better, and my 3 longest drives were with it too (max carry was 216). I don’t have a great screen shot of the dispersion, but it wasn’t close. I was also surprised that while the smash factor of the Rogue was higher than any driver, it didn’t translate into more carry distance for me.
I had expected that my new driver was going to be a Rogue or F8, but the Srixon was the clear winner for me & will be in the bag within 2 weeks.
After hitting so many drivers, I started to regret my decision to do a full bag fitting, because I was definitely feeling the strain. At least I had several breaks while Scott retrieved different club/shaft combos. Still, I was worried that I’d be too tired to make decent swings as we progressed. We tried a few irons, but the Srixon Z355’s were doing OK, head-to-head, so we moved on to wedges.
Based solely on the feedback from THPers, I was thinking that the Cleveland CBX wedges would be a good fit for me. The first wedges he brought out were indeed the CBX, and then he started to tell me how good he thought they were. We went into the grass & weren’t getting Trackman data for the wedges, but from the first swing, these just felt amazing. Ball after ball went exactly where I aimed & sat down quickly on the green. It didn’t matter if I was hitting from deep rough or tight lies, the sole just went through the grass with no problems. All while Scott was saying how he loves the versatility of the sole design, how easy they are to open up, how you don’t have to worry about “high bounce vs low bounce”, etc. All music to my ears, and about what I expected after following the THP review threads for the CBX wedges.
Scott looked at the divots & pointed out how consistent they were (both depth & direction-wise, everything looked great). He asked me if I used my wedges as full swing clubs, and I said only the 48* AW. (Whenever I swing the 56 or 60 full, they tend to go straight up & not very far. I know that’s a problem with my swing mechanics & not the fault of the club, but that’s just been my experience). We discussed that the CBX’s might help in that regard too – they should be easier to hit full & be more consistent too. After taking some full swings, I had to agree – certainly they work much better than my current gamers for full swings. They were also extremely easy to open up & hit high launching, soft pitches. There really wasn’t anything I didn’t love about these wedges.
The best story of the fitting was one Scott told me about a local HS golf coach who is a teaching pro and a lifelong & staunch Titleist guy, who wouldn’t be caught dead playing anything else. Scott eventually talked him into trying the CBX wedges. After the first swing he started chuckling. After the second swing he was laughing out loud. He turned away & started walking back to the shop & Scott said “where are you going?” This guy replied “I’ve seen enough. I’m getting some.”
I did try a few other wedges, but nothing felt as good to me as the CBX. So, I ordered 48*, 56* 60* with graphite shafts, all bent 1 degree flat per Scott's suggestion (he said most people get their wedges flat because they typically stand closer to the ball on the finesse shots).
We didn’t do much with fairway woods, since the F7’s are doing well, and since I’m not going to replace them this year (and since, by this time, I was pretty worn out). We moved on to hybrids.
When I first got the Callaway XR 4h & 5h, I was so impressed with how well they worked. I have never been able to hit hybrids very well anyway, so I was psyched to hit these as well as I did – at first. This year they have been hit & miss for me. Again, more my fault than the clubs. Anyway, Scott brought out a few different samples (Ping G400 4h, Srixon Z H85) but I was inconsistent with them (again, getting tired didn’t help too much since we were 2.5 hours into the fitting by now).
Then Scott told me to use the XR 5h again, but choke down on the grip so about 1-1.5 inches was showing on the end of the grip. Immediately, I was hitting the ball straight & far with little perceived effort. This little fix changed the ball flight from an average carry of less than 150 & spraying it right & left, to dead straight and 165. His comment? “Problem solved. Keep those hybrids.”
All in all, this was an eye-opening experience for me. The three big take-home lessons for me:
1) Get fit by someone who knows what they’re doing.
2) Take some lessons from someone who knows what they’re doing. I’ll be signing up for lessons from Scott soon. I know that I’m losing distance more from technique more than anything else, so that’s next on my “To Do” list.
3) Don't do a full bag fitting if you're an old fart & not in great shape. 3 hours of hitting shots was probably too much for me. Still, it was a great experience & I highly recommend both Scott & Windmill Golf Center if you're in the NE Ohio area.
They use Trackman data at Windmill Golf Center, and Scott walked me through what the different numbers meant. As far as fitting goes – and especially for the driver – he was focusing on carry distance, launch angle, smash factor, and spin rate. And of course ball path and dispersion. Scott said picking clubs came down to three factors: looks, feel (which he said is mostly sound) and the numbers/how the ball flies. I told him I don’t really care what it looks/feels like, as long as it works better for me, so I was wide open to suggestions.
We started with my current driver: Cobra Amp Cell. I knew this club had way too much spin to get optimal distance, so I was looking forward to seeing what he suggested.
We tried a Ping G400, Cobra F8+, and Callaway Rogue, with some success, but nothing too exciting (which surprised me). Then he brought out a Srixon Z585 9.5 degree driver with a Hazardous Red 5.5 shaft. Two things were immediately obvious – even without looking at the Trackman data: (1) The ball was going dead straight. The dispersion on this driver was night and day better for me than the others; (2) it was going farther too.
Trackman numbers:
launch smash
Driver: carry spin angle factor
Cobra Amp Cell: 184 4644 13.6 1.35
Srixon Z585: 206 2437 12.6 1.42
Ping G400: 197 2872 11.4 1.43
Callaway Rogue: 189 2421 11.4 1.47
Cobra F8+: 180 3938 13.6 1.41
I was surprised about the F8+, because I had hit it really well in a free Cobra fitting in April. But the consistency of the Srixon was definitely much better, and my 3 longest drives were with it too (max carry was 216). I don’t have a great screen shot of the dispersion, but it wasn’t close. I was also surprised that while the smash factor of the Rogue was higher than any driver, it didn’t translate into more carry distance for me.
I had expected that my new driver was going to be a Rogue or F8, but the Srixon was the clear winner for me & will be in the bag within 2 weeks.
After hitting so many drivers, I started to regret my decision to do a full bag fitting, because I was definitely feeling the strain. At least I had several breaks while Scott retrieved different club/shaft combos. Still, I was worried that I’d be too tired to make decent swings as we progressed. We tried a few irons, but the Srixon Z355’s were doing OK, head-to-head, so we moved on to wedges.
Based solely on the feedback from THPers, I was thinking that the Cleveland CBX wedges would be a good fit for me. The first wedges he brought out were indeed the CBX, and then he started to tell me how good he thought they were. We went into the grass & weren’t getting Trackman data for the wedges, but from the first swing, these just felt amazing. Ball after ball went exactly where I aimed & sat down quickly on the green. It didn’t matter if I was hitting from deep rough or tight lies, the sole just went through the grass with no problems. All while Scott was saying how he loves the versatility of the sole design, how easy they are to open up, how you don’t have to worry about “high bounce vs low bounce”, etc. All music to my ears, and about what I expected after following the THP review threads for the CBX wedges.
Scott looked at the divots & pointed out how consistent they were (both depth & direction-wise, everything looked great). He asked me if I used my wedges as full swing clubs, and I said only the 48* AW. (Whenever I swing the 56 or 60 full, they tend to go straight up & not very far. I know that’s a problem with my swing mechanics & not the fault of the club, but that’s just been my experience). We discussed that the CBX’s might help in that regard too – they should be easier to hit full & be more consistent too. After taking some full swings, I had to agree – certainly they work much better than my current gamers for full swings. They were also extremely easy to open up & hit high launching, soft pitches. There really wasn’t anything I didn’t love about these wedges.
The best story of the fitting was one Scott told me about a local HS golf coach who is a teaching pro and a lifelong & staunch Titleist guy, who wouldn’t be caught dead playing anything else. Scott eventually talked him into trying the CBX wedges. After the first swing he started chuckling. After the second swing he was laughing out loud. He turned away & started walking back to the shop & Scott said “where are you going?” This guy replied “I’ve seen enough. I’m getting some.”
I did try a few other wedges, but nothing felt as good to me as the CBX. So, I ordered 48*, 56* 60* with graphite shafts, all bent 1 degree flat per Scott's suggestion (he said most people get their wedges flat because they typically stand closer to the ball on the finesse shots).
We didn’t do much with fairway woods, since the F7’s are doing well, and since I’m not going to replace them this year (and since, by this time, I was pretty worn out). We moved on to hybrids.
When I first got the Callaway XR 4h & 5h, I was so impressed with how well they worked. I have never been able to hit hybrids very well anyway, so I was psyched to hit these as well as I did – at first. This year they have been hit & miss for me. Again, more my fault than the clubs. Anyway, Scott brought out a few different samples (Ping G400 4h, Srixon Z H85) but I was inconsistent with them (again, getting tired didn’t help too much since we were 2.5 hours into the fitting by now).
Then Scott told me to use the XR 5h again, but choke down on the grip so about 1-1.5 inches was showing on the end of the grip. Immediately, I was hitting the ball straight & far with little perceived effort. This little fix changed the ball flight from an average carry of less than 150 & spraying it right & left, to dead straight and 165. His comment? “Problem solved. Keep those hybrids.”
All in all, this was an eye-opening experience for me. The three big take-home lessons for me:
1) Get fit by someone who knows what they’re doing.
2) Take some lessons from someone who knows what they’re doing. I’ll be signing up for lessons from Scott soon. I know that I’m losing distance more from technique more than anything else, so that’s next on my “To Do” list.
3) Don't do a full bag fitting if you're an old fart & not in great shape. 3 hours of hitting shots was probably too much for me. Still, it was a great experience & I highly recommend both Scott & Windmill Golf Center if you're in the NE Ohio area.