I am a long time time lurker here. I'm not sure if I've ever posted anything here. But I'd like to give something back (however minor) to this forum for all the articles and forum posts I've enjoyed. Every time I've had a question, this forum (and one other one) has provided me with answers and plenty of reading for all things "golf".
I started golfing when I was 8 or so and continued up until I was in my late teens. Others hobbies, namely sports cars and women, took up more of my time. So golf was pushed to the wayside. I'm early 40s now, and decided to take up golf again. My wife is a true gem (I'll call her IQ from here on out..a nickname). She loves and encourages all of our sports car activities and has learned, almost obsessively, the in and outs of every sport that I take interest in. IQ knows more about baseball and football than many men I know, and LOVES watching the games live or on TV with me. My friends are green with envy. I'm truly fortunate! So I knew it would be no big deal to get her involved with golf; she already watched on TV, knew the rules, who the pros were, etc. So we got some cheap clubs and began practicing. IQ asked for a putting green in the living room which I gladly obliged. She was doing drills and working on her swing daily..perhaps even more diligent than I. My friends occasionally joke (or are they?) that she has a nicer swing than I! It has been 2 seasons now, so we decided to finally get serious on the equipment front and get fitted for a set of custom clubs.
From extensive reading, we decided to go with Wishon equipment. I liked his philosophy and most people on forums seemed to like his stuff. He even personally answered several e-mailed questions I had. Since we live in SW Ontario, our options were few. Being close to Michigan, we "interviewed" several club fitters via e-mail and phone calls and finally settled on Gary Cottrell of Golfer's Advantage. http://www.golfersadvantage.com/ After talking with Gary, we booked a date. He told us he's need us for 2 days and to show up in shape as we'd be hitting lots of golf balls.
Gary made us feel very comfortable for what ,at times, can seem like an overwhelming process. There was just so many balls to hit, so many different combinations of shafts, heads, weights, etc. There is just soooo much data. I don't think I'm stretching the truth by using the term "Data overload". Most of it didn't mean anything to us, but Gary took the time to make us understand why some data was important to us, yet other data was important to him for his craft. Overall, it was an extremely comprehensive fitting taking about 12 hours for the both of us. It was very interesting from the data and methodology standpoint. Granted, you have to find that sort of thing interesting...but I think most golfers would enjoy such a fitting and I recommend it. 3 weeks after the fitting, we drove back to get our new clubs. What did we end up with?
ME:
Driver: My driver swing speed was 88MPH. My average drive was 225 yds. Gary sought to increase my trajectory and get some height. With my new driver, my average drive improved to 240 yards. A very nice improvement IMO. The head is a 13 degree Wishon 919 THI in the new for 2015 black/red finish. The shaft is an R flex SKFiber Pure Energy in matte black. The grip (and all grips) is a Golf Pride CP2 Pro in Red/Black.
5 Wood: Wishon 929 HS with SKFiber Tour Trac 80 shaft. The length of the shaft is the same length as a 4 Wood.
4 & 5 Hybrids: Wishon 775 HS with SKFiber Hybrid Force 80 shaft.
Irons: I was expecting to end up with Wishon clubs here, but the data didn't lie. There was another club I hit better, every time. Straighter, farther and a bit higher. As a bonus of sorts, these club heads were cheaper. These are Alpha Response HIMO paired with Aerotech SteelFiber i80 shafts.
Wedges: I already have some wedges (Cleveland Niblicks) that I hit very competently, so I didn't want to mess with these. I just had them re-gripped, and one needed 1/4" trimming.
Putter: I already had a putter, Odyssey White Ice F7. I had it trimmed, re-bent and re-gripped with a fantastic Winn Pro X 1.18" grip. Fantastic grip BTW!IQ:
Driver: Her swing speed is quite slow. Afterall, she's very small (Size 0, 90 pounds). With a driver, her swing speed was 55MPH. Gary sought to make all of her clubs as light as possible while maintaining control. We ended up with a hand picked 17 degree Wishon 730 CL head. The 730 series are designed for those with club head speed is less than 80MPH and work very well for youths...which is essentially IQ's swing speed. These clubs look incredible! They are a very dark ruby red metallic..a color I've not seen before on a club. The shaft is an Alpha Platinum 55. We still might try a different shaft here. Lighter. The grip is also very lightweight...among the lightest we could find. Golf Pride Tour 25.
Fairway: 730 CL "High Fairway" 26 degrees loft. Same shaft as the driver.
Irons: This 3 club set is an all hybrid set. The irons are #5, #6/7 and #8/9 These are using Alpha Platinum 50 shafts.
Wedges: She also has a Cleveland Niblick she won't give up, so that was re-gripped. She also got the 730CL DW and PW too. Alpha Platinum 50 shafts.
Putter: She already has a putter. An Odyssey Divine Mini T. She had it cut down, re-bent and re-gripped with a Winn Excel Medallist Pistol Grip in Black/Red/YellowSo that's it! I hope this wasn't too long or too boring. Thanks for taking the time to read and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I started golfing when I was 8 or so and continued up until I was in my late teens. Others hobbies, namely sports cars and women, took up more of my time. So golf was pushed to the wayside. I'm early 40s now, and decided to take up golf again. My wife is a true gem (I'll call her IQ from here on out..a nickname). She loves and encourages all of our sports car activities and has learned, almost obsessively, the in and outs of every sport that I take interest in. IQ knows more about baseball and football than many men I know, and LOVES watching the games live or on TV with me. My friends are green with envy. I'm truly fortunate! So I knew it would be no big deal to get her involved with golf; she already watched on TV, knew the rules, who the pros were, etc. So we got some cheap clubs and began practicing. IQ asked for a putting green in the living room which I gladly obliged. She was doing drills and working on her swing daily..perhaps even more diligent than I. My friends occasionally joke (or are they?) that she has a nicer swing than I! It has been 2 seasons now, so we decided to finally get serious on the equipment front and get fitted for a set of custom clubs.
From extensive reading, we decided to go with Wishon equipment. I liked his philosophy and most people on forums seemed to like his stuff. He even personally answered several e-mailed questions I had. Since we live in SW Ontario, our options were few. Being close to Michigan, we "interviewed" several club fitters via e-mail and phone calls and finally settled on Gary Cottrell of Golfer's Advantage. http://www.golfersadvantage.com/ After talking with Gary, we booked a date. He told us he's need us for 2 days and to show up in shape as we'd be hitting lots of golf balls.
Gary made us feel very comfortable for what ,at times, can seem like an overwhelming process. There was just so many balls to hit, so many different combinations of shafts, heads, weights, etc. There is just soooo much data. I don't think I'm stretching the truth by using the term "Data overload". Most of it didn't mean anything to us, but Gary took the time to make us understand why some data was important to us, yet other data was important to him for his craft. Overall, it was an extremely comprehensive fitting taking about 12 hours for the both of us. It was very interesting from the data and methodology standpoint. Granted, you have to find that sort of thing interesting...but I think most golfers would enjoy such a fitting and I recommend it. 3 weeks after the fitting, we drove back to get our new clubs. What did we end up with?
ME:
Driver: My driver swing speed was 88MPH. My average drive was 225 yds. Gary sought to increase my trajectory and get some height. With my new driver, my average drive improved to 240 yards. A very nice improvement IMO. The head is a 13 degree Wishon 919 THI in the new for 2015 black/red finish. The shaft is an R flex SKFiber Pure Energy in matte black. The grip (and all grips) is a Golf Pride CP2 Pro in Red/Black.
5 Wood: Wishon 929 HS with SKFiber Tour Trac 80 shaft. The length of the shaft is the same length as a 4 Wood.
4 & 5 Hybrids: Wishon 775 HS with SKFiber Hybrid Force 80 shaft.
Irons: I was expecting to end up with Wishon clubs here, but the data didn't lie. There was another club I hit better, every time. Straighter, farther and a bit higher. As a bonus of sorts, these club heads were cheaper. These are Alpha Response HIMO paired with Aerotech SteelFiber i80 shafts.
Wedges: I already have some wedges (Cleveland Niblicks) that I hit very competently, so I didn't want to mess with these. I just had them re-gripped, and one needed 1/4" trimming.
Putter: I already had a putter, Odyssey White Ice F7. I had it trimmed, re-bent and re-gripped with a fantastic Winn Pro X 1.18" grip. Fantastic grip BTW!IQ:
Driver: Her swing speed is quite slow. Afterall, she's very small (Size 0, 90 pounds). With a driver, her swing speed was 55MPH. Gary sought to make all of her clubs as light as possible while maintaining control. We ended up with a hand picked 17 degree Wishon 730 CL head. The 730 series are designed for those with club head speed is less than 80MPH and work very well for youths...which is essentially IQ's swing speed. These clubs look incredible! They are a very dark ruby red metallic..a color I've not seen before on a club. The shaft is an Alpha Platinum 55. We still might try a different shaft here. Lighter. The grip is also very lightweight...among the lightest we could find. Golf Pride Tour 25.
Fairway: 730 CL "High Fairway" 26 degrees loft. Same shaft as the driver.
Irons: This 3 club set is an all hybrid set. The irons are #5, #6/7 and #8/9 These are using Alpha Platinum 50 shafts.
Wedges: She also has a Cleveland Niblick she won't give up, so that was re-gripped. She also got the 730CL DW and PW too. Alpha Platinum 50 shafts.
Putter: She already has a putter. An Odyssey Divine Mini T. She had it cut down, re-bent and re-gripped with a Winn Excel Medallist Pistol Grip in Black/Red/YellowSo that's it! I hope this wasn't too long or too boring. Thanks for taking the time to read and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
