Club Champion, worth it?

[Tanner25]

High capper here, 60 b'day coming up next year and considering a treat. Is the Club Champion fitting worth it? For the average hacker, is it fine just to get fit at the local big box store where the price of a fitting is included? How about buying clubs through Club Champion? Cheers, Tanner

[arbeck]

I think the fitting is worth it. They have way more heads and shafts than you will ever find at your big box store or local golf shop and you can hit any combination of them. However, depending on what you get fit for, buying the individual heads, shafts, and grips for clubs can get expensive in a hurry.

 

If I was worried about price and wasn't that concerned about getting the exact perfect shaft, I'd pick the five or so heads I want to hit and only hit them with the shafts available from the OEM. That way when you finish your fitting you will always have a result that you can order directly from the OEM. You're paying for the fitting either way, so it doesn't bother me not to buy the clubs there.

[johnnythunders]

I do my own fitting, buy occasionally I will check with a well respected fitter. Irent time at a golf galaxy on their launc monitor and try some clubs against my gamer. Has worked for me, then if I want to switch I buy on here or eBay. I also use our local driving range which is windmill golf center, they carry all the Oem fitter carts and try them outside. I think testing outside is critical especially hitting to various targets with wind, with turf interaction. Just hitting into a screen is not the complete answer.

 

Club champion had a new store in my area and they were offering 1/2 off in the spring for fittings. Tried all their high end shafts and all the new clubs. Nothing they had could top my driver and shaft that I fitted. Hybrids were better, irons were better, wedges and putter not. But there prices are crazy so no way.

 

If you want the ultimate best fitting go to Toronto Canada or Orlando Florida and get fit at TXG with Ian Fraser. Watch their YouTube videos, guy is the best.

[getitdaily]

Just did a driver fitting there this past weekend. Fyi - their driver/shaft adapters add about 3 swingweight points to every club. I would assume the iron adapters would do the same. The clubs you hit and the clubs you buy will feel different.

 

For me, 3 swingweight points is huge. I am not sure how good the fitting will be since you won't truly hit the same feel.as what you'll get.

 

On the positive side, you'll get to try any head/ shaft combination out there (newer equipment). You can at least get an idea of what heads you like and what shafts think feel good.

[WarEagleGolf]

If this is true the fitter sucks. They took the weights out of the g400 to drop that SW back down, and I've watched them weight out the clubs while trying them to confirm.

 

They aren't all good, but if your local one gets a lot of good reviews (mine does, and from me as well) then worth a shot. Dont have to buy anything from them. But as I've found, seems what I do buy from them, is solid. And they will change, update, tweak, whatever you need down stream. Way better than the guy at the local big box.

[mason82]

I went to CC to get fit for irons this spring. It was interesting and insightful , and I bought the irons from them. Unfortunately The irons sucked, and I sold them. It was an expensive experiment.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

Ask around... call a few nice golf clubs in the area, talk to the pros, and see who they recommend for fittings.

[dixiethunder]

I enjoyed the process of getting fit but ended up not liking what I was fit into. If you wait until November they start running their 50% fitting promotion so you could do a full bag for $175. I agree that I wouldn't buy clubs from them but its a fun few hours to get hit all the newest toys.

[AKHx03]

My son recently went in for a complete bag fitting and his fitter was awesome. I appreciate that he didn’t try to fit him into (sell) something new if it wasn’t any better than what my son already had. He ended up getting a G400 3W, wedges, and Hazrdous Yellow driver shaft.

[md1m]

No.

[chrisf60526]

I did not like my fitting. My fitter was nice but very distracted. I think there are better options out there

[hd.softail]

I think the fitting is worth it. They have way more heads and shafts than you will ever find at your big box store or local golf shop and you can hit any combination of them. However, depending on what you get fit for, buying the individual heads, shafts, and grips for clubs can get expensive in a hurry.

 

If I was worried about price and wasn't that concerned about getting the exact perfect shaft, I'd pick the five or so heads I want to hit and only hit them with the shafts available from the OEM. That way when you finish your fitting you will always have a result that you can order directly from the OEM. You're paying for the fitting either way, so it doesn't bother me not to buy the clubs there.

 

Great advice here. To this I would add -

 

Do your testing and research ahead of the visit so you have narrowed down your options, you will run out of time fast. Know what heads and shafts you want to try.

 

Call the Club Champion location ahead of time to confirm they have the exact heads and shafts you want to try. I was surprised during my CC fitting they didn't have a couple popular iron shafts I wanted to try available. My guess is they do this on purpose...

 

Be up front with your CC fitter. Tell them you want to get fitted into something you can order from a retailer first and then challenge them to beat that combo with their exotic offer. I did this during my fitting. I ended up with Titleist irons that I can buy anywhere for a $1,000 less but the driver is all CC because their combo blew away the best OEM offer I could hit; and we got real custom with regard to shaft length, tipping and swingweight on the driver.

 

My only real gripe about CC (and I've been there 3 times now), is they always go right to the exotic/expense upgrade shafts. I wish they did it the opposite, I think it would help their reputation if the fitter started with the more basic/cheaper shaft always and said honestly to the customer, "ok here's the "cheap/oem" option, and we've now maximized your numbers with that. Now hit these upgraded options and let's see if the numbers show there's value in upgrading..." Personally, I think they'd sell more clubs at fittings if they used this approach.

 

That said for the well prepared visitor, CC is an awesome and fun experience. As someone who has golfed 40+ years, we are lucky to have a company like that around.

[boycer]

I enjoy going there and hitting the exotic/new stuff. I like looking at the numbers. I like to not just look at the longest, but the most accurate numbers.

 

The fitter is honest enough to tell me what you have cant be beaten and you dont need to buy anything.

 

I dont usually hit off a mat very well. I wish I could hit off grass and see the flight. Wish they had stock offerings also. I think it is fun and I enjoy getting fit.

[Davidv]

Save your money.

[JohnKHawk]

Nope - Had a buddy go for full fitting. He still plays the same after upgrading most of his bag to recommended specs. I would say if you have a repeatable swing it may be worth a shot. But if you're a high handicapper with a swing that is ever changing then you may not see as much of the improvements you are hoping for

[gbartko]

The fitting is probably worth the money but i personally wouldn’t buy the clubs from them.

[Soccerrick10]

I’ve been trying to find a solution to my loss of distance since I’m turning 64 AND losing lots of weight. I went to them to find a direction with my irons. I didn’t like the fitter. He clearly wasn’t listening to my wants and could have gotten the same recommendation from my local golf store.

 

The bottom line for me was that it wasn’t worth it when they took the cost of a set of P790’s to over $1900!

 

I have found that right now I don’t have a consistent enough swing to be buying new gear. So, I would have been better off spending the money on some lessons which is what I’m doing now.

 

I’d say my recommendation is to go hit at a location with lots of selections until you know what you like best. Then get to a location where you can compare a narrow choice with numbers to support your decision.

 

For me, it’s a better feeling having put the work in first. I can’t process lots of choices of heads then shafts with only minor differences in performance when I have more variability in m swing.

[bblack_91240]

My cousin went to them and spent like $3k on 718 AP2s with C Tapers and 3 Vokey SM6s. Crazy expensive! They overcharged for heads, shafts, grips, and puring on top of it. Ended up going somewhere else and got fitted for something completely different with different specs. Now he’s left with his overpriced AP2s lol I would never buy from them. It’s cheaper to buy used and test. No one ever carries C Taper 130Xs or X Flex anything for that matter for me to try anyway!

[tgg27]

I have been twice. I like that they have more shaft options than even the best stocked fitting carts. Buying from them is another story. You basically are paying full retail for a set of irons, for example, and then they throw away the shafts and install shafts that you pay $200+ for. There is no credit given for the stock shaft. At least if you buy from OEM, they only charge an upcharge for exotic shafts rather than the full retail of the club plus the full retail of the shaft. They say the value added is the expertise in building the clubs but I end up swing weighting all my own clubs anyway.

[orangebang]

I don't like CC. I went to the one in Chicago, and wasted my time.

 

The guy wasn't any better than any other guy that knows what he's doing at the local chain golf store.

 

There are more options, but it's not like they let you try every one of them. For the most part, unless you go in telling them what you want, they'll try around 5 different shafts and fit you into one of those for flex and weight.

 

If you're not that consistent with driver, you're better off just buying and selling clubs and giving them extended practice time on your home course. Then you'll see if you like the ball flight and carry/roll.

 

I've been to an actual Titleist fitting center (TPI in San Diego) and an official TM hub (Orange County, CA) and those are much better than CC based on my experience. The only problem is they obviously only have their own equipment/heads.

[jschwarb]

I can't get past swinging off mats into a screen, no matter how good everything else is. I went to a reputable local fitter -- outdoors -- a couple years ago and was torn between two different models of irons. "Go to the front of the range and hit a few balls from the rough with each," he said. Bingo, decision made.

[Skeeterfire]

Depends on fitter, but I had a great one at C.C., and it has totally been worth it. I’ll go back in a heartbeat.

 

 

[Glaze22]

The fitting was worth every cent I paid!!!!

 

I did not and will not buy the clubs from them!!!!

[payerasjl]

I went to True Spec. I was super hesitant to drop the cash for the full fitting, but very glad i did.

 

found some awesome shafts for my irons and benefited greatly from proper wedge grinds.

 

would recommend to anyone if you play often and love golf.

[jayhubbard]

I went to CC to get fit for irons this spring. It was interesting and insightful , and I bought the irons from them. Unfortunately The irons sucked, and I sold them. It was an expensive experiment.

 

Did you speak with your fitter about the frustration with the irons afterwards? Club Champion has a Perfect Fit Guarantee that says if you don't see the results you saw in the hitting bay we will fix or replace them within 90 days.

[jayhubbard]

I can't get past swinging off mats into a screen, no matter how good everything else is. I went to a reputable local fitter -- outdoors -- a couple years ago and was torn between two different models of irons. "Go to the front of the range and hit a few balls from the rough with each," he said. Bingo, decision made.

 

The great thing about mats is the turf condition won't (vary soft, hard, or firm). The hitting bay takes the moving variables out of the equation: wind, humidity, temperature, and turf condition. A golfer hits their clubs side-by-side with any potential new club models with all things being equal. Also, Club Champion will allow a customer to take the head and shaft combinations they are interested in to their local range for final verification.

[sm_watts]

I would say another factor is how much you tinker with clubs. If you already try a bunch of stuff and cheat on your gamers, or if you're a regular eBay revolving door, you probably have a pretty good idea of what works best for you. If you're playing the same clubs you bought when you were approaching 50 and haven't tried a new driver since the G5 was the bomb, you will probably benefit greatly. I am more of the first example and my CC driver fitting just confirmed what I had already figured out through MANY eBay experiments, which I would argue is more fun in the long run.

I guess in summary I would say that if you like eBay and experimenting, skip the CC experience. But if you're the kind of person that wants to get right to the point and not mess around with things and get it right the first time, it might well be worth your time and money.

[bear87]

Our family has worked with the CC in Willowbrook since they were EJL Custom Golf. It has always been a positive experience, especially in DRIVER fittings. Last time in: "hey, nothing is working better than your current set up" so they didn't push product and never have to us. One thing to note--if you ever have an issue with a club they built for you, they'll fix it fast. We've had hosels loosen, shafts break, clubheads crack--they've always taken care of us.

[propman]

Our family has worked with the CC in Willowbrook since they were EJL Custom Golf. It has always been a positive experience, especially in DRIVER fittings. Last time in: "hey, nothing is working better than your current set up" so they didn't push product and never have to us. One thing to note--if you ever have an issue with a club they built for you, they'll fix it fast. We've had hosels loosen, shafts break, clubheads crack--they've always taken care of us.

 

Just curious, who is the best fitter in Willowbrook, in your opinion ?

[Green Valley]

I went to True Spec. I was super hesitant to drop the cash for the full fitting, but very glad i did.

 

found some awesome shafts for my irons and benefited greatly from proper wedge grinds.

 

would recommend to anyone if you play often and love golf.

 

compared to cool clubs and or club champion. I am actually debating on true spec or cool clubs right now