I need some recommendations from the golf board. I have been thinking about getting fitted for clubs. I've always played with standard size clubs with stiff shafts (I'm 5'6"). My swing has always been pretty flat and my ball flight low. My handicap has ranged between 8 and 13 depending on how often I was playing. Currently I'm a 13 as I don't get to play often, but I'm looking to play more.

My questions:
1. Would club fitting be a big benefit?
2. Can I get my current MP54 irons fitted or will I have to buy new ones?
3. Where would you recommend I get fitted? I live in New Braunfels, so S.A. or Austin locations preferably.

Lastly, I have about $750 to spend. I know if I play more I'll improve but I've always felt like having clubs designed for my height and swing would be beneficial. However, I don't want to spend the money if it's not really going to show a huge difference.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Got fitted at Club Champion in Dallas. Overall the fitting was a good experience but DO NOT buy the clubs from your fitter until you've shopped around.

In the end I ended up paying about $1500 for a set of clubs I could have built on the internet for about 1/2 that

Got fitted at Sellingers in Addison in December and it was the best golf decision I've ever made. My dude was awesome! He allowed me to make the decisions and asked a lot of questions and listened.

Got the Callaway XR steelhead 1 degree up. Moved me from regular shaft to stiff project x lz 6.0.

I agree with the above poster about not buying from them until you look around. I ordered mine directly from Callaway and saved $120.

Not sure why it took me so long to get fitted.

Agree with everyone above. Got fitted for a set that totaled out to $2600. Shopped around and put everything together for $1200. I've been much more accurate with my driver/3 wood. Added 10 yards to my irons. If you're already a 13 I'm not sure how many strokes it will save you vs playing more.

ABSOLUETLY get fitted. I just got fitted a couple of weeks ago at Sellinger's in Roanoke. Ended up with a set I never would have looked at, Srixon Z965s, and they are awesome. My accuracy has increased 10 fold. They cost a little more than shopping around but it was worth having them do the install vice some kid making 10.00 an hour. They are SOLID!

Those are blades. How much of the improvement do you believe is due to the adjustments in lie angle, length, shaft choice, etc vs. "I hit Z965s better than the previous head I was using"?

What changes to stock were made after your fitting? That is, how do your custom-fit Z965s differ from one someone pulls from the shelf?

My Lofts were not adjusted but my lie angle was. For me, I really like the way the ball comes of the club face and the overall feel. I am coming off of Callaway Apex Pro's and prior to that I played Miura CB301's. The Miura's were far above and beyond the Callaway's, there is no debate there. My Srixon's on similar in playability to my Miura's but my misses are WAY better with the Srixon's.

Shafts have also made a big difference, I went with the project X LZ and really, really like them. the load point is explosive. I'm still figuring them out, but my shot accuracy is improved by about 20%. in my last 3 rounds, I've missed 5 greens. 2 of those shots were just long, but on line.

Damn, dude 94% GIR is borderline unbelievable. What's your handicap?

I was at a +.5 at the end of last summer but have fallen to 5.5 because I SUCK at putting! HAHA, getting that fixed, should be back in the plus zone within a few months.

Always get fitted for your clubs. Getting the right spin rate, launch angle, land angle (especially wedges) and distances for each club is critical for consistency and accuracy. A good fitting will have you hitting all these metrics consistently with 15 yards between each club.

I recommend finding a Club pro who uses a Trackman and hitting on the kind of grass you normally play. It is my opinion that turf and indoor hitting bays don't give you the realistic output of all of the factors mentioned above.

From there, you can test different shaft options and launch/lie considerations. If you are a member of a private club, they will usually beat the big box retail prices if you do the fitting with them. I just did this with my wedges and received their cost plus 10%. If you don't have a club membership but know someone who does, they can usually arrange for you if you agree in advance to purchase from them.

A new set is never cheap but if you care for your clubs, clean the grooves, etc, they will last 5+ years even with heavy use.

Getting a good fitting will dramatically improve your game and absolutely worth it if you are a serious golfer.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies and advice. I ended up getting fitted. My fitting showed that I actually need a extra stiff shaft. So I traded the MP54's for a new set of MP18's with Project X 6.5 LZ shafts. They'll come from the factory bent 1* flat.

I'm excited about the purchase as I've never bought a new set. In the past I've always bought used sets that were a couple of years old.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the game.

Good to go!!!! Come back to the board and let us know how they worked out!

Aggie13_03 said:

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Thanks for the replies and advice. I ended up getting fitted. My fitting showed that I actually need a extra stiff shaft. So I traded the MP54's for a new set of MP18's with Project X 6.5 LZ shafts. They'll come from the factory bent 1* flat.

I'm excited about the purchase as I've never bought a new set. In the past I've always bought used sets that were a couple of years old.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the game.

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I guess this is part of what I don't understand about getting fitted. You went from a half-cavity to a true blade in part because your fitting said you needed x-stiff shafts?

I'm not picking on you. I'm just reflecting on these types of stories posted here and on WRX. It rarely seems that people go for a fitting and end up with more of a game improvement iron or even just sticking with the heads they have and instead getting lie adjustments and shaft changes.

I can't think of a time when I've seen/read someone going for a custom fitting and returning with something along the lines of, "...so we switched out the shafts on my 714 AP2s for some PX 5.5 and adjusted the lie to 1* flat and it only set me back $400." Instead, guys usually come back with reports like yours.

I completely understand your question. When I went in for my fitting that was my initial plan. I liked my heads but knew I needed a different shaft. As I was going through the fitting I hit multiple heads to see the difference in numbers. I went ahead and changed heads because of my overall shot dispersion.

For me, it just came down to the numbers, I was more consistent with a different head. In comparison. I hit the Apex Pro with the same shaft as the Srixon Z965, the ball speed, spin rate, launch angle etc were all improved. So I bit the bullet and pulled the trigger. So far, best golf decision I've made yet!

How do the fitters act when you tell them you aren't buying from them after they spent time fitting you? Or do you just tell them their pricing
Is too high?

How was the pricing at Sellinger's?

Were they willing to share all the info from the fitting with you?

I read some complaints about one place where someone paid full price for a fitting ($275, I think) and they wouldn't give him details about what they spec'd out for him. I think this was the place over by Tribute (definitely not Sellinger's).

No offense taken, I understand what you're saying.

For me the new club felt better and I hit it really good. Now maybe some of that is due to having the correct shaft, or newer technology, or possibly it was just in my head (though the Trackman numbers did show a huge improvement).

The other reason I pulled the trigger is that I've never bought a new set of irons. I've always gone to Golf Galaxy or wherever and found some used ones that I hit decent. So it was somewhat of an emotional purchase but one I'm happy about. There was also no pressure to purchase these at all. So I have no regret like some people do when they drive a new car off the lot.

Oh and I don't know that the MP18 SC is considered a true blade I'd say it's closer to the MP54 than it is a blade, but I could be wrong, I'm not an expert on clubs.

I guess time will tell how well I hit it on the course.

Aggie13_03 said:

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No offense taken, I understand what you're saying.

For me the new club felt better and I hit it really good. Now maybe some of that is due to having the correct shaft, or newer technology, or possibly it was just in my head (though the Trackman numbers did show a huge improvement).

The other reason I pulled the trigger is that I've never bought a new set of irons. I've always gone to Golf Galaxy or wherever and found some used ones that I hit decent. So it was somewhat of an emotional purchase but one I'm happy about. There was also no pressure to purchase these at all. So I have no regret like some people do when they drive a new car off the lot.

Oh and I don't know that the MP18 SC is considered a true blade I'd say it's closer to the MP54 than it is a blade, but I could be wrong, I'm not an expert on clubs.

I guess time will tell how well I hit it on the course.

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So, you got the SC? I think part of the confusion, you said you got the MP-18 (without the "SC" descriptor) which indicates the blades.

I have a blended set MP-18 and the MMC. Pretty happy with them.

I thought the pricing overall was pretty fair. I was a little bit more but I really like the piece of mind knowing that Jon was building my clubs vs. someone in a factory somewhere. I never even thought about asking for the details, after my fitting was over there is no way I would let anyone other than Jon build my set.

I will say this, they didn't try and up-sale me on anything, no additional services, though we did talk about it. (shaft purring etc) All in all I feel like I got exactly what I paid for even though it was a little more. I know that if PGS PGA Superstore had built my irons coming in to get adjustments would be extra, at Sellingers it's not.

Overall, phenomenal experience. Highly recommend them.

Going to see if they've got room for me tomorrow.

Yeah, I didn't realize I forgot to include the SC.

I was fitted at club champion year before last, bought some of my clubs from them. Broke a shaft late last year took club back they put on new shaft. Didn't cost anything.

Well Sellingers is booked tomorrow. We decided to close the plant tomorrow for Good Friday so I suddenly have some availability. Would be nice to get it knocked out tomorrow if I can.

I got fitted at the Sellinger's in Roanoke. Ask for Jon, tell him Ross sent you and I'm sure you'll get exactly what your looking for.

Art is actually going to take care of the fitting himself. Booked for a week from Saturday. Can't wait!

AWESOME, Art is a great guy! Tell him I said Hi! Ross "The Navy Guy"! He's the reason I ended up the Z965's. Your really going to enjoy it.

Best place(s) in Houston? I'm on the southeast side....Clear Lake/Friendswood. Are the GolfTec's any good?

Thanks

How did your fitting with Art go?

Coming up this Saturday morning.

Ahh, OK. Thought it was this past Saturday. Let us know how it goes!

Im interested in this as well. I've heard mixed reviews on GolfTEC fittings.

b_rad said:

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Best place(s) in Houston? I'm on the southeast side....Clear Lake/Friendswood. Are the GolfTec's any good?

Thanks

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Not sure of any good ones down there. I use Impact Precision off Cypresswood/45. They're top notch.

What's the cost of a fitting?

Flexbone said:

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What's the cost of a fitting?

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Depends where. At Impact in Spring a full bag fitting is $350.

Wow I didn't realize it cost that much. I guess if a person is ready to pull the trigger finding a demo day where the rep could fit you for a set you were ready to buy.

My HS freshman son is going to be fit again next friday and our club pro had one of the assistant pros spend 2 hours with him on track man a few days ago to identify all his gaps prior to the fitting. I guess that's why my dues are so high!!

The first time he got fit 2 years ago it made a huge difference in his game. Each time he's started to reach for the ball as he's grown they've refit him and I think anyone, at any level, would benefit from being fit.