Modern Golf, Richmond BC - SkiBum's Fitting Experience

SkiBumGolfer

Tremendous slouch
Albatross 2024 Club
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After contemplating it for a long time, the combination of some indecision about a few clubs (namely hybrids and fairways), a weak Canadian dollar, and the approaching holidays (gotta treat myself somehow!) caused me to finally set up a full bag fitting at Modern Golf in Richmond, BC (just outside of Vancouver). Modern Golf is a fitting center very much like Club Champion - they have Trackman bays and a very large number of different shafts and clubheads across all major manufacturers (and several smaller manufacturers). They baseline measure your whole set to start, and go from there in looking to improve your setup for your particular swing. And they also build custom clubs to exacting specifications, if you choose to buy after your fitting, offering SST shaft puring on every single club they build (I happen to feel this is unnecessary, but it still shows a dedication to precision that I appreciate).
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I will be attending the fitting tomorrow afternoon, and I plan on reporting back with a full report of my results, as well as pictures and impressions of the facility. I am pretty darn happy with several things about my setup right now (driver/shaft, irons), but unsure on some other thing so it will be a good learning experience. The price in CAD is $325, but due to the exchange rate right now, the cost will be under $240 for me. And it's possible I may find some unexpected improvements as well! The next post will contain my full fitting report.

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The "shaft wall"

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Trackman bay​
 
So I just finished eating dinner and finally got a chance to write this up. In the briefest terms, I had a BLAST and learned a ton about my swing and how my clubs fit and don't fit it. Modern Golf has a great staff (Andy and Ryan helped me out) who are dedicated to helping you with your game, and who are also awesome to talk to about the game and life in general. The facility is brand new and has all the latest tech and every head and shaft you could think of on the magical "shaft wall". Keep reading for the detailed scoop!

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The shaft wall is a striking visual upon entering

Upon showing up, I was greeted by Ryan who got me checked in and started doing the "blueprinting" process on my set. This entails measuring the length, lie, and loft of every club in the bag, along with frequency testing and swingweighting. While we were entering the basic data, we started chatting about everything from golf courses in Bellingham to Adele concerts that sell out in 3 minutes. Great guy to chat with! Andy, the manager, stepped in to start doing the detailed measurements after finishing up with another customer. Andy is an Aussie living in Canada who used to work for TaylorMade and knows a TON about golf gear - when he opens his mouth, you listen, because he's just full of knowledge on golf gear and fitting. The blueprinting process takes a good bit of time, but it's great information both for comparison to new equipment and as a guideline for any modifications that may need to be made to your current set (more on that later). Sidenote - both Andy and Ryan were admiring my PX custom shafts from #TheHandCraftedExperience, and absolutely loved the look of both the painted and unpainted ones. They were definitely jealous! :act-up:

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The blueprinting station

After the blueprinting process, we stepped into the hitting bay to get things really started. I started by warming up with a 7 iron, just to get loose. The fitting bay is outfitted with very high quality turf matting that feels much more like a real fairway or tee box than your typical mat, and actually allows a tee to be placed in it for longer clubs. However, it admittedly still takes a little getting used to. Starting off in earnest, we got some data with my Z-Star 6 iron, and after a few shots, Andy noticed that I was getting very solid numbers, but when I hit it fat I had a tendency for a diving hook. He used a vertical line test on the ball (using a marker) to check the lie on my 6 iron, and it turns out that my lie angle was a little too upright, which was contributing to that hook on fat shots. After making a note to modify lies 1* flatter based on the blueprint, they had a few 6 irons for me to try out.

First was a Mizuno JPX 850 Forged with Aerotech Steelfiber i95 stiff. Really got some great ball speeds and a little more distance out of it, but we didn't love the dispersion so it was onto the next with the Callaway Apex Pro 2016 with KBS Tour regular (I think). Didn't hit this particularly well - the head size is notably smaller, and I didn't get the same forgiveness. So we shifted back to the JPX with a Shimada (again, I think) shaft, and it didn't quite give us the ball speeds like the Steelfiber. Lastly, Andy wanted to try the UST Recoil 95 stiff, thinking it might give us the ball speed of the Steelfiber with better dispersion - and he was right. This was noticeably the best combo I hit - gained 3-4 yards on average with slightly less spin over my Z-Stars. And boy do the JPX 850 Forged heads feel amazing!

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The high quality Trackman fitting room, with yours truly modeling!

Next we moved to hybrids and fairways. Hitting my J40 3 hybrid, Andrew and Ryan really thought I was getting a nice flight with good consistency, but figured I might be able to get a little more distance by lowering the flight a touch. We tried the TM M1 19* hybrid with Accra CS1 M4 stiff to lower it and introduce a little more stability. Was roasting this combo immediately, picking up 10+ yards vs my J40 3h. This led to discussing the 3h vs 5w question, as I was hitting my 5w (quite well I might add). Andrew felt that if I switched to a "longer" set of hybrids in distance, I could catch up to my 5w distance and get a little more consistency due to the shorter length and more "iron like" qualities of the M1 hybrid. Definitely worth considering, as I was getting the same great distance as my 5w but with a little better consistency and a more penetrating flight. Moving to the 3W (one of my best clubs), I put on a bit of a clinic with it and they loved the numbers - "driver-like", was the comment. I was swinging in the low to mid 90's swing speed with around 2000 rpms spin - driverlike, indeed! We tried the TM M1 3W with the same Accra shaft, but abandoned the idea pretty quickly as it was clear the M1 wasn't coming close.

Last was driver. I started off hitting both the Vapor and the R15 pretty poorly, and to be honest it was flabbergasting me a little bit. A bunch of low duck hooks with crappy carry distance. We then tried both the GBB with an Accra and the M1 with Blueboard, but to no avail - same crap results. In looking at my Trackman data, Andrew noticed I was coming WAY up (6*) and WAY inside (5*) - so he advised that I move my ball position back a little bit and think about staying outside. Boy did that help! The distance came back and I was carrying it 230-240 again with little fades and draws. We managed to dial in the M1 with Accra ST55 - average carry of 234 with a spin rate of 2200 rpm. However, I've no desire to change from my PX shafts unless needed, so I asked Andrew what changes he would make to the adjustments on my Vapor and R15 now that my swing was working again. He dropped both down in loft a touch and opened the face on the Vapor and put the weights in the toe on the R15 - and it was like he had bought me 2 new drivers. Started hitting both great, with strikingly similar numbers to the M1 with Accra - and so we made the decision it was probably best to stick with my current setups now. He feels the R15 has more potential for big distance without much loss in forgiveness when set up correctly (which it now is), so I'm gonna run with that a little while and see how it goes.

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The prescription


After we were done, Andrew bent my irons and wedges to the correct lie angle that we determined previously, and then provided a quote for the JPX 850 Forged and M1 hybrids that were recommended from the fitting (see above). The clubs are spendy, so I'll be thinking about them as I play a little more and see how the adjustments to my irons go. I definitely agree with the recommendations though, and had a really great and informative time learning about my game and equipment. Andrew and Ryan are great fitters, and I'd highly recommend MG to anyone in the area. On the way out, Andrew surprised me with a really nice Modern Golf Players Towel to thank me for my interactions with them on Twitter and for writing this recap on here (which I mentioned I'd be writing). All in all, a great great day! A golf equipment lover's delight.

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Thanks for the sweet towel, Andy and Ryan!

Let me know if you have any questions about anything about MG and I'd be more than happy to help out!
 
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Full bag?
 
Nice man, want to go to the range before or on your way back home ? What time is your appointment at ?
 
That place sure looks legit.
 
Will they do just a driver fitting? Might have to do this one in the spring for my woods.
 
Full bag?

$325 is for the full bag , yes.

Fairways and hybrids: $150 , 1.5 hours

Irons: $150 , 1.5 hours

Driver: $150 . 1.5 hours

Putter: $100 , 1 hour

Full bag, $400 , 4 hours

The Vancouver one only offers FW and HY, Irons or full bag on the website (Which says $325)..
 
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Heard a lot of great things about MG. Really looking forward to following along SBG.

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Full bag?

Yes sir. I was most interested in irons and fwy/hybrids, but considering just those were $300 and it's $325 for the whole bag, I figured I might as well just do everything.

There is no putter fitting yet at the Richmond location, but they are trying to have it up and running within the next few months.

Will they do just a driver fitting? Might have to do this one in the spring for my woods.

They sure will, but it's $150 for driver and $150 for other woods, so for my money if I wanted both I'd just do the whole bag.
 
Nice man, want to go to the range before or on your way back home ? What time is your appointment at ?

I have some stuff to do before, but I might be able to swing after (if I have any energy left lol). Appt is 1:15pm, they say it takes 3 or so hours for the full bag minus the putter, so maybe I could meet you around 5pm - let me know if that works.
 
I have some stuff to do before, but I might be able to swing after (if I have any energy left lol). Appt is 1:15pm, they say it takes 3 or so hours for the full bag minus the putter, so maybe I could meet you around 5pm - let me know if that works.

For sure ! I go to a range in Surrey, few mins from Hwy 99 called Birdies and bucket... We can meet there!
 
Can I have your PX shaft then? :D
 
Can I have your PX shaft then? :D

Hell no. :D Believe me, the PX shaft isn't going anywhere! (either of them for that matter)

Again, I'm mainly interested in feedback on my other clubs, but the chief driver question for me is which head I should be playing, which they should be able to give me a pretty good answer on. As you know, I've been a bit of a ho lately from a driver head POV... :angel:
 
Looks like an awesome time Ski. Cant wait to see what you come up with.
 
For sure ! I go to a range in Surrey, few mins from Hwy 99 called Birdies and bucket... We can meet there!

Just sent you a PM, sounds good!
 
Sounds like it will be a game changer Ryan,excited for your review on your experiences.

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Really excited to see how you make out.
Heckuva deal on that fitting with our terrible dollar.
 
In the fitting bay now. This is SO COOL

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Looking forward to your thoughts.
 
Glad one of us finally made it out there!
Can't wait to hear about your experience and especially your results.
 
Just updated the 2nd post with my results. A great experience!
 
Very good experience indeed ! Even though you might not change your set right away, this is some good information for your next set
 
Andy is an awesome guy. Used to do fittings for TMag on Van. island, then my buddy I work with took his job as he moved to MG. Funny and professional, glad you found what you needed!

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Great recap Skibumgolfer. Loved the way they worked with you to get the most out of the custom PX shaft.
 
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Absolutely incredible SBG! Thank you for spending the time to write this all out!
 
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