Club Champion...is it even an option for a guy on a budget?

I plan on visiting the local store this week but figured Id ask here about anyone who has done a driver fitting there. Im considering getting a gift certificate there for Christmas, but Im not sure if Im gonna be out of my budget for a new driver. Do they even offer older model driver heads where it would be possible that the fitting and new driver is in the $400 range?

You can always get your fitting and then by your driver elsewhere....

Get fit there, get your specs and info.

Use it to find a deal on the driver ?

Im definitely gonna keep my options open for buying it elsewhere. I was just wondering if they only offer the newest driver models. Am I going to have to drop the $150 on a fitting and then an additional $400-500 bucks on that new model driver? Or do they still offer something like an M2 or a G400?

They only have new models

My experiences with the downtown Chicago and Willowbrook CCs have been less than stellar in every regard. It’s normally not my style to share negativity on a public forum, but I’ve never gotten the kind of premium level fitting experience I expected from CC.

Club Champion, True Spec and maybe Golf Tec are pushing PGA superstore out of business and even mom pop shops. I do agree Club champion is extremely pricey but you are paying for the upgrade shafts, the possibility of puring a shaft (highly debatable). You are getting Trackman numbers which don't lie. That being said I have gone to only Club champion and the only thing I purchased was a shaft for my current driver head.

So you think that CC is pushing PGA Tour SS out of business???

I find that amusing.

Every driver they sell is $1k, they are a joke IMO.

Golf Galaxy is in trouble but PGA is going nowhere but up.

If you want to buy an older driver id say now is the best time to get fit then. All the newest models will be out in 2 months so you can hit the current new 2019 models before the 2020 drivers are available. That way the 2019 drivers will be on sale very shortly

My experience with Club Champion in Atlanta was terrible. I wouldn’t step foot back in any of their facilities. I have posted my rants about them before and won’t go in to it.

Just be careful.

Thanks for everyone's replies. Looks like its not really an option right now.

Club Champion is definitely not the place you want to go if you have a budget. Yes, they can get you stock offerings but if you only have <$350 you're willing to spend after the fitting you won't find anything. Getting fit for say G410 doesn't necessarily mean G400 with shaft X is going to work the same. You're better off just going to a GG or something similar and pay for one of their basic fittings to see which stock model is working best.

Club Champion fitting experiences will all differ due to the actual person that is fitting you.  I was lucky enough to have someone very knowledgeable help me out and it made the world of difference.

l went into Club Champion last week for a driver, fairway and 3 iron fitting (shafts only) and had amazing results.  It was BY FAR the most extensive/in-depth fitting I've ever had and I feel like I came out with the absolute best shafts for my clubs that I could possibly play.  I am extremely happy with them.  I had no intentions of buying anything from them because I know they are WAY over-priced and I am a club junkie and love to piece together and build my own clubs. 

When the fitting was complete, we went over the prices for everything and the grand total was $1,273 (shafts only).  This does include him building the clubs to my exact specs as well.  But that price is OUTRAGEOUS.

Within hours of searching the internet and posting in WRX BST, I bought everything that I was fitted for (shafts, adapters, grips) and only spent $326. 

They do not pressure you to buy from them (because they have to know it is insane).  Leave with the spec sheet and do what me and a lot of other people do.  If you don't build clubs yourself, take them to a trusted club-builder and pay them to do it.  I doubt it would be more than $75 (max).

Good luck

Interesting. So you took your existing driver, TM M1 for example, and just tried a bunch of shafts and adjusted lofts and weight placements? Ive got an M1 now, and its not that I dont like it. I could certainly continue to game it if I was confident that it was optimized for me.

I did the full bag fitting at Club Champion for $175 last January - awesome deal and highly recommended. I was a college student at the time on a budget, so in short my answer is YES it is totally worth it.

Sure they make their money off of selling clubs, but they (or at least my fitter) understood what my situation was and didn't treat me any differently and he understood. The fitting was by far the best and most in-depth that I have had. It was great. I understood what my fitting was, got all of my numbers and info and then looked for deals on the Classifieds, eBay, Facebook, etc. and over the span of a few months I found everything I was fit for, for probably 1/3 of their price. I shot my first two rounds under par (69 and 70 on par 72) this year so I would say it worked out!

That is exactly what I did.

I have had multiple great experiences over the years at the Bala Cynwyd location in Philly. Jim Yenser is incredibly knowledgeable. Totally willing to work within a budget.

I'll echo what a few others have said...

be up front that you're on a budget and likely won't be buying a club from them. You're paying for their time, not a deposit on a new driver. If you're only interested in shafts, you could take your M1 head in and ask them to fit the shaft only. The connection is the same as the current taylormade models so that shouldn't be an issueif you're on a budget, ask to only be fitted into non-exotic shafts, or at least make sure you find the one closest to what you're fitted in to. IMO you can still have a good experience if you're up front about your expectations and don't mind doing some leg work if you're fitted into something new.

I agree with gentles.  The only thing that I have to add is, make sure you bring your current driver with you (both the head and shaft).  They will have you hit it 6 or 7 times to get some baseline numbers to use so they can fit you into a shaft that works better for you.

Do you get a refund if they can’t outdo your current driver :)

I actually went in for a fitting on Friday for irons only. I thought it was a good experience, and they had $50 off for there Christmas special or something. Anyways, I went in with an open mind, and just wanting to try the PXG ST's since I really liked the look of them. We tried that head with almost every shaft they had. Once I found the right shaft to get my spin numbers right, we tried different heads. To my surprise, I got my best numbers with the Steelfiber i110 S shafts. Never would I have thought a graphite shaft would work for me, but I was wrong. The price they quoted me for the clubs PXG's was way too high. Just over 5k, but at least I know what shaft to try on my next set of irons. I ended up ordering a set of 919 Tours with that shaft just to try. I'm gonna go in for a driver fitting next week, and try all the shafts. They said I could just bring my driver in, and try and get a shaft that got me better numbers if I wanted. IMO, I think it's money well spent. At least it takes the guessing out of the game, and you know buying something else isn't going to help your swing.

To put it into perspective, I was just fitted at CC for a full bag.

I was put into the Cally Flash with a Ventus Blue then add in a MCC Plus4 grip, shaft puring & tax the price came out to $1048.05 for just the driver. Now I could go buy the driver from Cally Pre-owned for $275, Ventus for $200, grip for $10 and a shaft adaptor for $30 - skip the puring. Now we are talking $515ish.

The info is what you want and it helps if you know a club repair person. I am a certified club repair tech so I do my own work. NOBODY works on my clubs! :)

As others have said, feel free to get fit there and walk out when they sticker shock you (they will). Buy the closest spec'd gear on the bay or BST, or even check used gear at shops locally. Just remember the shafts they offer are very high end and there are MANY better/cheaper options in the same profile range available stock or for a small charge elsewhere.

If you want to pay the money for the fitting and just go in knowing you are paying for the fitting and the data and thats it - I think CC is great. I had a good fitting experience, knowledgeable fitter and at the end they emailed me a link to the full interactive Trackman report.

It is absolutely not the place to go if you are on a budget as they will charge you full retail for everything - including shafts that may be available from the OEM for no markup.

The deals they sell over the holidays IMO are definitely worth the money again - if you are going to buy elsewhere.

It's also important to know that they don't deduct any of the cost of the fitting on anything you buy. If you get a driver fitting for $100, that money is spent. If you have a...let's say...momentary loss of reasonable consciousness and decide to pay them to procure and build anything, it's not $xxxx - $100 fitting fee.

That's why the 2 times I've been to CC, I've told them I won't be buying anything (they'll still give you a quote) and I'm interested only in the data. They've had no issue with that.

I went through multiple fittings at club champion. I bought everything used on golfwrx. And pieced it together over time. Use the info they provide to help you with your driver search.

no chance your getting fit into something $400-$500, typically a driver from them would be $750-$1300.

Make a PXG fitting - they don't charge you for the fitting and there is no obligation to buy. I just did it for irons and it was awesome. They are extending Heroes pricing for Friends and Family too so you can't get a pretty decent deal.

Club Champion doesn’t try to gouge anyone. I have yet to see anyone provide the extensive product selection and service like they do. He can simply use his specs that they provide. And it can be bought elsewhere.

Lol, you’re right.