Club Champion Fitting

[sea8tea]

Has anyone done a club fitting at Club Champion (http://clubchampiongolf.com/)? I'm curious as to whether it is worth the money.My last fitting (about 5 years) ago was done using the Taylormade MATT system which actually cost half of what Club Champion charges. I visited the Club Champion facility and it is very impressive but I wanted to get some feedback from someone that has used them.

[DavePelz4]

I was fitted at the facility in Willowbrook. Fantastic experience and more importantly results. They tweaked shafts until they maximized the limited talent they were working with.

[SDkristick]

Got fitted by club champion in philly it was amazing very informative and knowledgable

[CHARGERS]

How can u put a value on a studio that has almost every head/shaft combo available
Yes

[Dunwoody Boy]

Sea8tea,

I treated myself last year to a club champion fitting, and I came away with mixed reviews. In my opinion, if you are willing to shell out big dollars for exotic shafts and want your clubs purred, then you should do it. However, if you satisfied doing a fitting out of a standard manufacturer fitting cart, then I don't think the high fee is worth it as you can find other fitters with comparable launch monitor technology at half the price. Others might disagree with me, but that's my two cents. Good luck.

[sea8tea]

[quote name='CHARGERS' timestamp='1396660855' post='9023521']
How can u put a value on a studio that has almost every head/shaft combo available
Yes
[/quote]No doubting that!!! Like I said, the visit was very impressive! I'm just not a big fan of hitting inside. However, I know the value of a great fitting.

[JakeBarnes]

I'll be the devils advocate. Two main points:

1. They are a great place with a great facilities. Nearly any and all shaft/head combos you could ask for. If anything, it is worth it to just go and see them all and be in awe of all the stuff there.

2. They are pretty interested in getting you to walk out with the most exotic shaft/head combo possible. Will it fit you? Sure. Could a less expensive shaft/head combo do the same? sure. But you'll be told that the expensive one is exactly the one you need. If money is no option, this part doesn't matter. If it is, then I'd be aware. I have seen a few instances where people have paid extra for "custom" options where it is really a no upcharge shaft as well (e.g., Mizuno irons and KBS Tour shafts... which are a $0 upgrade through mizzy).

[gsrjc]

Yes. I got fitted at the Washington, D.C. Store. It was worth it. I'm hitting the ball so much more crisp and my misses are not big misses anymore where i am in the trees or OB.

[MK7Golf21]

I think they do an excellent job at fitting, however they dont have every shaft and head combo. They carry certain manufactures and are all listed on their website, for instance they dont carry graphite design and last time I check the website Matrix was gone as well. They had matrix when I went though.

They are very good at fitting but the con is everything is done inside. I found another place that lets you hit on trackman and they have a ton of shaft and head combos as well. Club Champion is exanding to many different places, it surprises me they dont buy facilities with a door that opens up so you can see the actual flight, would really help them out and would make them the top dog to get fitted.

[prestiege]

I wasnt thrilled when i called and asked about an iron fitting and was told they were only going off the 6 iron for lie angle, for that money it should of been a dynamic iron fitting.

They will charge you full msrp for a driver and a shaft, 399 for a 913 driver and 380 for an ad di and not tell you they can just order it from titleist with a smaller upcharge

[KaBoom21]

It was a neat experience and all, but hitting into a net w/out seeing ballflight doesn't work for me. Plus, you can't really get fit for wedges at all this way (no turf interaction). The SAM putting lab part was informative but they said they could not give me the data to keep. Not sure that was actually true or if they sensed I wasn't buying gear there and didn't want to bother.

[eagles1]

[quote name='KaBoom21' timestamp='1396707745' post='9025875']
It was a neat experience and all, but hitting into a net w/out seeing ballflight doesn't work for me. Plus, you can't really get fit for wedges at all this way (no turf interaction). [b]The SAM putting lab part was informative but they said they could not give me the data to keep. [/b]Not sure that was actually true or if they sensed I wasn't buying gear there and didn't want to bother.
[/quote]

Interesting - I rec'd mine. It was in Philly and I didn't buy anything.

[Ruleschamp]

The website says they are opening a Dallas location this summer. Anyone know specifically where it is scheduled to be located?

[GooseHook]

Nothing but great things about the MD location so far. A few guys have gone there and ended up with completely dofferent setups.

However, they are expensive and like above will charge you full retail. Use your own discretion with that.

[wundej]

Just curious if you searched?
There are topics in this forum and deal no deal.

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/757543-club-champion-philadelphia-fitting-review/

[BD14]

I did a fitting at the Houston location a few months ago. Without question it has significantly improved my game (I am a high handicapper). The fitting process is very thorough and the fitter was patient. I tried dozens of shaft/head combos for hours. Five overall thoughts:

(1) clear results. I am hitting much better and have shaved off about 7-11 strokes without actually improving my swing. It made that much of a difference for me. Whatever the price or other options, for me, club champion made a huge difference.

(2) expensive. The fitting price wasn't terrible, but I purchased a full set from club champion. Overall it was probably at least 35% more expensive than if I would have pieced the whole set together on my own. For instance, grips were about 40% more expensive than any other store. But piecing it together on my own would have made getting the shafts pured more difficult, as well as much more overall individual effort. It's a one stop shop for purchasing head/shaft combo, but then also adjusting for lie, etc. I don't have the time or know-how to piece a set together and so it made it easy for me to order through them. But I paid for it.

(3) it took a long time to get my clubs. Half came in about 10 days and the other half about a month. But, I did get to hit them all on the trackman again when they came in. A good perk to get a read on my distances.

(4) the fitting was entirely inside, hitting off a mat with a Trackman. Trackman was awesome, but I would have liked to see my ball flight play out. Only having indoor hitting is a negative to me. I almost went to a fitter that does it outdoors with a Trackman, but chose club champion instead because...

(5) sheer volume of shafts and heads. They have it all (almost). I was drawn by the fact I could test out everything, even clubs that were released just days earlier.

The cost was high, but I got the results I was looking for.

[sea8tea]

Thanks everyone for your candid feedback/input!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels apprehensive about hitting into a net as opposed to seeing the ball flight (and the turf interaction particularly with wedges). The last fitting I did was indoors (Taylormade MATT) but after getting the specs the club pro build a demo iron based on the data and we went to the range so that I could hit the club and see the ball flight.

[MK7Golf21]

[quote name='BD14' timestamp='1396767746' post='9030467']
I did a fitting at the Houston location a few months ago. Without question it has significantly improved my game (I am a high handicapper). The fitting process is very thorough and the fitter was patient. I tried dozens of shaft/head combos for hours. Five overall thoughts:

(1) clear results. I am hitting much better and have shaved off about 7-11 strokes without actually improving my swing. It made that much of a difference for me. Whatever the price or other options, for me, club champion made a huge difference.

(2) expensive. The fitting price wasn't terrible, but I purchased a full set from club champion. Overall it was probably at least 35% more expensive than if I would have pieced the whole set together on my own. For instance, grips were about 40% more expensive than any other store. But piecing it together on my own would have made getting the shafts pured more difficult, as well as much more overall individual effort. It's a one stop shop for purchasing head/shaft combo, but then also adjusting for lie, etc. I don't have the time or know-how to piece a set together and so it made it easy for me to order through them. But I paid for it.

(3) it took a long time to get my clubs. Half came in about 10 days and the other half about a month. But, I did get to hit them all on the trackman again when they came in. A good perk to get a read on my distances.

(4) the fitting was entirely inside, hitting off a mat with a Trackman. Trackman was awesome, but I would have liked to see my ball flight play out. Only having indoor hitting is a negative to me. I almost went to a fitter that does it outdoors with a Trackman, but chose club champion instead because...

(5) sheer volume of shafts and heads. They have it all (almost). I was drawn by the fact I could test out everything, even clubs that were released just days earlier.

The cost was high, but I got the results I was looking for.
[/quote]

dropping 7-11 strokes from a fitting??? What were you hitting before, 1950's blades with wooden shafts? A high handicapper, only way they are going to drop 7-11 strokes is with lessons, not new clubs. They could be play anything GI off the shelf and be ok, swing is just too inconsistent to really help that much.I bet if does make you feel better to tell yourself you are dropping 7-11 strokes by spending tons of money on a fitting but its just not believable. Come back to me at the end of the season and see if you still dropped 7-11 strokes. Money would been better spent on lessons over a few months to drop that 7-11 strokes, then get a master fitting session.

[caeleric]

i'll try to keep this brief. i have done a wedge and putter fitting here in orlando, and i am scheduled to do a long-game fitting. my experience has been positive, though the process is not without its limitations and areas for potential improvement.

the putter fitting was very informative, as i learned a lot about my stroke. but i have some setup issues that are leading to some issues with my stroke, so the fitter told me that i'm better served taking a quick putting lesson than trying to fit to something that is fundamentally flawed, which i very much appreciated. that said, the s.a.m. system did suggest a counter-balanced, blade-style putter with a larger grip, less loft, and less toe hang. we are retrofitting my current gamer to all the recommended specs except the toe hang. then i will demo what the fitter recommended against the retrofitted putter, and make a decision on whether to buy anything. i was a little disappointed by the relatively small selection of putters to demo, and that the putting green was so small. granted, they are more focused on s.a.m. numbers than they are on how many putts you make.

the wedge fitting was less than informative. i came away feeling like they are just not set up to do a true wedge fitting. no chipping green, nowhere to pitch or hit sand shots, no way to test different wedge shafts, etc. and on top of all that, i was told that trackman isn't very reliable with wedges since the ball gets up too high too quickly, so we couldn't even test distance gapping. my next course of action will be to go to my instructor and have him fit me for wedges at his course.

my long game session will be next week, and i'm really excited because i've always been an off-the-rack guy, and never known whether my equipment was helping me or holding me back.

as far as the price from them being different than what you can get if you order directly from the manufacturer, i'm ok with this because club champion uses the components to build a club exactly for you. so you are paying component prices, plus labor, and maybe shipping. when you buy from the manufacturer, you're assuming their assembly-line workers will do just as good a job as club champion's master club builders. i'm not prepared to make that assumption, and i'm ok to pay a premium for the extra comfort.

[caeleric]

just a quick follow-up to my above post. i did the long game fitting today. it was very informative, but the sticker shock for the total work was pretty alarming. about $1,800 for a driver, a fairway wood, two shafts for hybrid heads i have, grips for everything, and labor. that's about double what it would cost me for the same equipment off the rack, although the shafts were premium. so i'm kinda changing my tune from above where i said i was ok to pay more. i'm still ok paying more, but not 100% more!

it's nice to know what shafts worked best for me if i ever want to upgrade what's in my current equipment, or if i want to buy the components myself. was it worth $200 to get this info? i think so, plus the added benefit of having some hard trackman data. the most humbling piece of info is how jacked up my swing is, and that i need to re-evaluate my skill level!