First Time Club Fitting - Advice on club selections

Hi all, first time poster but please don't hold it against me! Apologies for the wall of text but wanted to give you the full story rather than... What do i put in the bag?

Quick Background
I'm nearing 40 and have owned a set of clubs going on 15-20 years that I bought on special as a package deal of the shelf which I generally only ever played in the odd annual golf day or social play. I never got a handicap before and at a guess I would say I would have hit around 140 of the stick on a Par 72, 18 hole course. Yup a true born hacker!

Anyway for one reason or another I played another social event and the golf bug bit me bad. I found myself researching all things golf, watching all things golf, reading reviews and tips, listing to podcasts you name it! Anyway after joining at my local club and getting my handicap (36.4 by the way) it just made things even more addictive as I am very competitive by nature and love improving and competing (even against myself).

My lovely wife bought me a set of 3 golf lessons as a gift and after my first lesson I asked the pro if it was worth getting a new set of clubs. His response basically went something like "to be honest, I would prefer you take away some things from our lesson and improve on your mechanics first, then when you are starting to hit the ball a little more consistently come and see me and Ill be happy to". I'm glad I listened, as even though I'm still not great I have dropped my handicap to 29 over a half dozen rounds and can confidently strike a ball without tossing a coin as to whether it will slice, hook or shank which was never fun!

So on to why I am here.

Old Clubs (Super Scott)

• Driver - 360cc Titanium Head with Graphite Shaft
• 3W - 5W
• 3I -9I
• PW, SW
• Putter

Custom Fitting
Going into this I was always going to get an entire new set and put my old one to rest. The technology has just come so far and my old set was never custom fit for me so I had no confidence out on the course. These days you can have SO many different combinations its hard to know which 14 clubs to select. I find it hard to hit my woods consistently and also my long irons, particularly my 3 iron.

First fitting was for my irons and all I can say is WOW! I hit a heap of shots with my old irons for a benchmark, then after some initial measurements including swing speed the pro recommended a few shafts and we tried out the new Ping G, Mizuno JPX 900 (forged), Calloway Steelhead XRs. The Mizunos won hands down on performance and looks for me and was outhitting my old 6 iron by 15m+ on average and the dispersion was also much tighter. Loved them on the simulator and on the practice fairway. I was like a kid in a candy store.

I didn't have enough time for a full fitting for woods / drivers etc so this is where I left it. However I did ask what he would recommend putting in the bag and he offered a few different options and this is where I am now stuck so to speak. Im sure he will point me in the right direction but what would most people recommend?

Im considering (depending on the gaps in the clubs):

• Driver
• 3W
• 5W-3H?
• 4H
• 5-9 Iron
• PW, GW, SW
• Putter

Hybrid vs Wood vs Long Iron
Extremely tough choice here for a newish golfer these days. I would be happy with the best of both worlds so to speak but there is only so many clubs we can have. 5 wood vs 3 hybrid? How low to go back into your irons for hybrids... 4 / 5 Iron? Hmmmm.

Wedges
Now this one is also a bit tricky, I didn't hit any of the Mizuno Wedges and when I asked about which wedges I should be considering the pro said the Mizuno Wedges were actually very nice and recommended sticking with them for irons & wedges. I was originally considering say a MD3 or Vokey but now Im not sure. Would most golfers have different wedges based on their feel / personal preference etc? I was just thinking if Im spending money on a new set I would want to make sure I walk away with the right choice.

A round of applause for those that stuck with me, for the rest:

CONCLUSION (TL;DR)

• High Handicapper on the improve, what to put in the bag for a new set?
• Woods Vs Hybrids
• Hybrids Vs Long Irons
• Wedges (stick to the same as irons, Mizuno JPX 900 or go with something altogether different like MD3 / Vokey.

Love to here your thoughts and recommendations.

Congrats on your fitting! I've heard a few people say good things about the JPX-900s.

Wedges
I don't know how many clubs you have in your iron set, but I have a GW that matches my irons because I use it for full swings. My SW and LW are separate (MD3s) because I don't use them for full swings as much. I would recommend using wedges that match your set as long as you're going to use them for full swings since you'll get more forgiveness from the cavity back style than a blade style.

Woods vs Hybrids vs Long irons
It comes down to how well you hit the types of clubs and the distance gaps that you have. How well did you hit your irons in your fitting?

I don't have as much trouble with long irons as some people so I've bounced between 3i/2h/Callaway Heavenwood and I've settled (for now) with 2h because I like to use it around the green as well.

Welcome to THP, congrats on getting the hdcp dropped and for getting lessons and a fitting.

Based on looks, feel, sound the top of the bag will have so many options and each person will be different. For someone who struggled to hit 3w off the deck and thanks to THP trip to see UST Mamiya last year I'm now a 16.5* fw guy. I get similar distance as a 15* 3w with easier to hit off the deck.

I like a hybrid to replace my 3i because it's easier to hit and more forgiving. I have had 4h and now have a 4i that's more like a utility club. I play 5-p now with that utility club in my 4i spot bit with certain styles if clubs a set 4i would be in the bag. For wedges I prefer vokey or Cleveland and based on testing and comfortability perspective I use 4* gap starting at pw thru sw and then go 4-6* in my lw.

I would recommend hitting as many different clubs in each spot to see what works for you

First Time Club Fitting - Advice on club selections

Some good thoughts in this thread, it's hard to say exactly what you should get.

Wedges, I'm with the others, if you're going to be using them to hit a number with a full swing go with some to match the set. I've always treated my PW more like a 10 iron than a true wedge, similar for my Gap Wedge, with the exception that I play a variety of yardages with mine because I have a huge gap between that and my next club down. If you're looking for a club to use in a specific scenario (10-30 yard chip shots, out of the sand, etc) then you're probably better off finding the wedge that works best for you in that scenario, and the best way to do that is read reviews (THP has a TON of them) and try some out.

My wedge setup is pretty unique I think, I have a 60*, a 64* and a chipper. They're all for specific situations and shots and it's just the way I play my game, I find I use each of them almost every round. It's a personal choice and your game is going to be different than others.


For the top end of your bag I'd suggest looking for the numbers you want to hit and finding the clubs that get you there. If you go driver, 2h, 5w, 4h, 5 iron it doesn't matter as long as you're comfortable with each club and you know you can pull it and hit the yardage you need. I would suggest starting with the longest iron you're not comfortable hitting and work up from there. If you struggle with the 4 i, look at a 4h, 7w (I think) or something that's easy to hit for you and hits the yardage, then move up to the next spot in the bag. I wouldn't consider brand loyalty there at all, you may find a wide variety of brands to fill those spots. For me I did match my 3w and 5w, but I bought the 3w blind,because I hit the 5 w so well I went and found a matching 3w betting that it would work for me.


Good luck with your search and congrats on the dropping Handicap! Also,

don't have much to say as for which clubs (personally, I like all same for consistency but with that said...I have one wedge that does not match and it feels a hole, but your results may vary) but my thought is...go longer on number of wedges. From 220 out having a 210, 220 and 230 club to choose from is not necessarily going to shave a lot of strokes off your round* but having the correct wedge to chip in close to one-putt distance will save you many, many strokes over the course of your career.


* I am a big believe in the Pelz theory that getting the ball into the x' circle (x= distance you 1-putt) as quickly as possible, but the typical recreational golfer misses by say 10% (that is low), from 200 out, you are likely to be 20 yards off line and the next putt going in is going to be so rare you will remember any instance of it ever happening, so you will be trying to nestle your next one up close, not necessarily score, whereas from close in, if you have the correct club to get you close you will increase the frequency of sinking that next putt. The closer your chip/pitch/approach shot lands to the pin the lower your score.

It is purely a numbers game. The very best golfers in the world are going to land a 150 yard and longer shot in one putt range a very low percentage of the time. Hackers like us it will be a huge outlier, so lets start with the clubs that matter.

Your results may vary, but that is my thought on the more wedges versus more longer clubs part of the equation

Well I finished my fitting and hit a bunch of drivers, woods & hybrids.

The Epics produced the best results for me followed by the Ping G, however I went with the Epics based on performance, looks and sound. The Ping-G driver had a very distinct dull thud compared with the more titantium higher pitched "ping" that the epic had. This was just my preference, however the numbers also backed it up.

So for me (being a 29 handicapped) I ended up with:
- GBB Epic (10.5 deg) with Project X HZRDUS shaft
- GBB Epic 3 Wood (15 deg)
- GBB Epic Heavenwood (20 deg)
- Mizuno JPX900 4 Hybrid (22 deg)
- Mizuno JPX900 (Hot Metal) 5-PW
- Mizuno JPX900 (Forged) GW-SW
- Clickgear 3.5 Push Cart / Callaway Bag (14 slots + External Putter Well).

Now I just need to wait a few weeks for it... some time to say fair well to my old clubs I with a few final rounds!

Nice setup!!! Be sure post some pics in the WITB section of the forum!

That is a GREAT set-up. Enjoy the clubs and thanks for the write-up. Look forward to seeing your HC continue to drop. Stick around THP, it's fun here