Club Fitting Comparison?

Arddon

Anybody been fitted in Foregolf & McGuirks/Halpenny/Club Pro?

If so how did they compare in terms of:

• the fitting experience
• the knowledge of the fitter
• the end price of the clubs
• the results with the clubs...probably not entirely the fitters fault:P

I've been to Foregolf myself & the entire experience was fantastic, the only down side being that the clubs are a little more expensive, plus its €50/€100 for the experience regardless of whether you buy the clubs or not.
I've never been to McGuirks/Halpenny/Club Pro for fittings so I have no means of comparison.

The reason I ask is that I'm considering a new driver, and if I thought I could get similar expertise & product elsewhere to Fore without paying the €50 for the actual fitting, then I would probably opt for it...

OffalyMedic

Grabbing my popcorn

ShivasIrons

Arddon wrote: »

Anybody been fitted in Foregolf & McGuirks/Halpenny/Club Pro?

If so how did they compare in terms of:

• the fitting experience
• the knowledge of the fitter
• the end price of the clubs
• the results with the clubs...probably not entirely the fitters fault:P

I've been to Foregolf myself & the entire experience was fantastic, the only down side being that the clubs are a little more expensive, plus its €50/€100 for the experience regardless of whether you buy the clubs or not.
I've never been to McGuirks/Halpenny/Club Pro for fittings so I have no means of comparison.

The reason I ask is that I'm considering a new driver, and if I thought I could get similar expertise & product elsewhere to Fore without paying the €50 for the actual fitting, then I would probably opt for it...

When there is a charge for the fitting, you are paying for the expertise and time of the fitter, they should be giving an unbiased (although everybody is biased to some degree) opinion about what's needed. Also a fitter who is a teacher is preferred, as sometimes a lesson can have more benefit i.e. the driver you have suits you the most.

When there is no charge for the fitting, the goal of the fitting is to sell you something, then the motivation to sell the club with most profit can exist.

Pay for the best advice, it's cheaper in the long term.

Brendygg

I got fitted there last summer. Irons happy with, but game struggled off the tee. Driver just wasnt working, but i persisted with it.

It just wasnt working so took out a few drivers from proshop at club and tried them on course. Bought a G30 and have been cut 3 shots since iv got my tee shots going more consistent and alot further. Spin averaging fg driver 5500 and g30 3000.

Only thing that really annoyed me about there service was when I ordered a wedge at xmas, they sent out a standard set one, not the one I had ordered..took 3 weeks to arrive, but the replacement a few days. I had no fun with that wedge, ended up that the lie was off, toe away up, so just flogged it lately. Couldnt be arsed ringing them, if I was living closer to them I may have pursued it but just hassle for me atm.

In the end I suppose try it and see, irons working well but the driver didnt, which could be down to me alot too.

ShivasIrons

Brendygg wrote: »

I got fitted there last summer. Irons happy with, but game struggled off the tee. Driver just wasnt working, but i persisted with it.

One thing with driver fitting, a driver should do one of two things, it should go longer or straighter or hopefully both. This should be apparent immediately, there should be no getting used to it, after all it is meant to be better then your old driver.

If after a few games it's not performing better then your old driver, it's not working, go back to where you got it.

Irons are slightly different as there's a lot more judgement involved but again it should only take a few games to get used to them not months, if this doesn't happened again go back to where you got them from.

A fitter should be interested only in getting the best clubs for you in your hand and as a result should welcome back anyone with a problem in order to fix it for them.

Berty44

Driving was the weakest part of my game and I was really struggling with length so earlier this year I went and took a lesson with the club pro.

It was a brilliant lesson, we went up onto a tee box hitting the driver and he picked out a couple of things in my set up and one thing in my swing and he gave me a small drill to fix that. He had one of those launch monitors which gave loads of feedback on swing speed, ball spin etc. By the end of the lesson the figures on the monitor showed significant improvement. I asked him would I benefit from updating my driver ( a 2010 model ). He told me to go to the range and perfect my new swing and then in a month or two and only when I was happy with it to come talk to him. He reckoned that I would gain benefit from the 5 years change in technology.

So I practiced hard in the range and when I took the swing on to the course subsequently I definitely had more length and consistency. Six weeks later I went back to him for a club fitting. He has an indoor custom fitting facility with the screen etc. I tried 3 different clubs and the last one gave me 20 yards more that the other 2. I had been playing with a regular shaft for years but my swing speed was such that I needed a stiff shaft so for that alone it was worth it. The fitting was free if I bought I driver, which I did ( I had changed my driver a few times but not bought a NEW driver since 2005 ). He is probably motivated to sell the driver I eventually bought but they are very good.

The result, I love the club, am hitting it the best I have hit any driver in my career. I know golfers like to exaggerate but I am definitely hitting my driver 40-50 yards further than I was before I had the lesson, probably half of that down to the lesson, half down to the club I would say.

I was so happy I went and bought the 3 wood with a similar setup about 2 weeks afterwards and I am hitting that beautifully also.

Definitely worth it.

SaveOurLyric

I think its a case of getting what you pay for.

Most club pros arent fitters - they are pros, so their expertise lies elsewhere. McGuirks or Halpenny are fine if you really know what you are doing yourself - they wont be experts, but you have the facility to hit a variety of clubs and shaft combinations with a launch monitor, so certainly, better than picking up whatever looks shiniest to the eye. But club fitting is such an advanced science and requires years of training and experience that most golfers simply dont have.

So if you are serious about your golf, and really getting the best out of your game, then someone like Foregolf is the only way to go. You know that you are dealing with really knowledgeable people who truly know how to mould a golf club to fit your physique, swing, and skill level. They have the gear to really analyse what's going on as you hit the ball and optimise the synergy between you and the club. The above are fine for the twice year golfer, or society player, but your handicap will really never reach its potential if you dont go to a serous fitter.

Just my 2¢ FWIW.

Russman

I've mixed feelings on it to be honest, I wouldn't dismiss fitting entirely, but I do think there's more than a hint of self promotion about the whole fitting thing.

Sometimes I'm convinced it's essential and anything to really get that spin and launch dialled in is worth it - funnily it's usually when I'm playing badly I think this.
Other times I'm convinced that as long as the shaft/head combo are more or less in the right ballpark then that's really all anyone needs - conversely it's when I'm playing well I lean towards this !

There's a good video from Crossfield on YouTube where he hits the softest lightest shaft against the heaviest stiffest shaft in a driver and there's f--k all difference in the numbers. IIRC it's in a Taylor Made fitting centre somewhere. Food for thought.