Is there a way to demo irons without having to pay for a fitting?

[Jester959]

Looking into buying a new set of irons but budget is ~1K and not wanting to pay for a fitting. Leaning towards the used route but having a hard time picking the right ones just based on reviews etc. 

[lefthack]

Try being lefty. 🤣

 

Can't you try clubs out at Dicks or somewhere. Not a fitting, just hit some clubs they have?

 

I bought my irons on a whim and love them. 

[swagee]

18 minutes ago, Jester959 said:

Looking into buying a new set of irons but budget is ~1K and not wanting to pay for a fitting. Leaning towards the used route but having a hard time picking the right ones just based on reviews etc. 

 

It depends on where u live, but Golf Galaxy and PGA Superstore let u try clubs for free. Just walk in and ask, they'll set u up with clubs and a monitor. 

Cheers

[setter02]

Do you have a base idea of your specs and shafts that work?  If not, then why wouldn't you go for a fitting and then find the right used set with a $1k budget.

[95124hacker]

Pre COVID, the correct answer was: manufacturers’ demo days. Hopefully they return when things go back to normal.

[bbfifas]

OP, more info about your game.  Handicap, current irons, misses, what your looking for blades or GI?  

 

Obviously a fitting is great but in this day and age sometimes not a reality with Covid or accessibility withou demo days or big stores.  I would suggest some more info and people can steer you in the right direction.  Another suggestions is a company like Sub 70, ben hogan, new level, you can demo clubs for cheap.  I think sub 70 was $20 to demo and you get a 6 and 9 iron which is nice.   

[third-times-a-charm]

Ya...just walk into a big store like golf galaxy, edwin watts, PGA TSS, etc.

 

I've never paid for a 'fitting' in my life.

[Volnut]

Edwin Watts or Golf Galaxy/Dicks have bays with launch monitors. You can hit there at no cost. Club and shaft selection varies by store. The "fitting" is very dependant on the store/employee. Some are more knowledgeable than others. Granted, it's not a demo day or a Club Champion type experience but you get what you pay for. 

[dmeeksDC]

Also Second Swing if you live near one. The one in the DC area (Columbia, Maryland) has a lot of nice, spacious hitting bays. 

[MattM97]

If I'm dropping 1k on irons I'm going to pay for a fitting. A lot of places also wave a fitting fee if you spend over x amount of money. 

[Itsjustagame]

While you can hit balls at many of the places listed in earlier responses this has never been very helpful for me.

Hitting off mats into a net that's 30 feet away isn't really golf.

Have you ever felt like every putter they have in the putter area works great in the store?

Plus the nearest store like this is over an hour away for me.

I get a rough idea of what I want then buy it and play it for a several weeks on the course.

If it doesn't work I sell it and try again.

Some expense involved so I don't change all that often.

 

[Jim E]

MattM97 is right. I know that pga superstore, golf galaxy, and 2nd swing fit for free with purchase. By me golf galaxy was reluctant to let me try clubs without paying for a fitting. 2nd swing I couldn’t just hit clubs. Had to schedule a fitting. This is probably because of COVID. PGA ss was by far the best. I went and tried clubs there almost every weekend for a couple months to narrow down my selection.

[3PuttLefty]

I have gone used a few club fitters but most recently used PGaSS.  It would have been $49 for “tour van” fitting but I ended up purchasing irons.  Even if you end up not making purchase and pay the $49 to me its worth the investment...obviously means you didnt like the feel/numbers of the irons.  Well worth paying that and not making a rush decision on buying new clubs.  
  Although I have gone to pgass several Times with intentiond of purchasing a new driver, spent 1/2+ hour plus trying out different clubs and walking out with nothing at no cost.  And it was the PGAss employee who talked mE out of making the purchase!  There wasnt much improvement on the numbers or the feel. 

[sm_watts]

I get what you're talking about with not  having a big store nearby.  I have to drive about 300 miles for any of the places that these guys are listing.  Fortunately, each of our local courses have some demo clubs that can at least give you an idea of what head design fits your eye and works with your swing, how heavy of a shaft works for you, and relative stiffness.  That can at least get people in the right direction, then it's all about playing the guessing game on ebay.  I rarely buy anything on a buy-it-now unless it's a smoking deal.  I go with auctions, so I know that if I don't like it after a few rounds, someone else out there is willing to pay roughly the same amount that I paid for it when I re-sell it.

[cleverprimate24]

If you're paying $1,000 for irons, imo it's worth the extra $100 or $150 to get fitted.

 

Heads are relatively easy to figure out on your own, but deciphering shaft and lie angle isn't something you can optimize without a trained eye and GCQuad/ Trackman data. 

 

You could always go to a fitting to find your shaft, lie angle, preferred head style, and then look for a used set that matches this or order Sub 70 or one of the DTC brands with your newly learned specs. 

 

When I got fit last year I assumed Modus 120 S or Project X 6.0 would be for me. During the fitting, it was clear Project X LZ was head and shoulders above the competition for my swing.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

1 hour ago, dmeeksDC said:

Also Second Swing if you live near one. The one in the DC area (Columbia, Maryland) has a lot of nice, spacious hitting bays. 

A friend  told me recently, they have all the demo bays closed, and only the one on one fittings available, due to COVID restrictions.   Haven’t been to see myself, but that is what I was told.  

Edited February 3, 2021 by Carolina Golfer 2

[Cactus Jack]

If you can't get a fitting, at a minimum check your lie angle. You can do this by drawing a line on the back of golf ball. Do a quick google search and you'll find videos how to to perform the test. By getting close on lie angle you'll have a better chance of starting the ball online.  I would then go by "feel" for length, grips, and shaft model, and use your specs to find a used set on the bay. Also, since you're specs won't be perfect maybe consider looking for something forged so you can easily adjust them as needed. Cast clubs can be bent too, but some forged irons have a greater range of motion.  

[MtlJeff]

As others have pointed out, many big stores will fit you for free if you buy irons there. I have been fitted at Golftown here by a certified fitter and it was free

 

If you just want to play around with a bunch of irons and get real numbers with them without pressure to purchase, the only way i'm aware of is to join a private club where there are lots of demo days

 

My home club hosts every MFR at least a couple of times a year, so i typically hit all of the new stuff on a trackman

[Abe21599]

Local golf galaxy will let you. Any of the bigger stores will, at least in my area

[rkillian]

I have 3 different golf galaxy's near me. The answer there is, it depends. One will let me try anything. One of the others wants you to pay for a fitting, even to try a used set on the wall (I don't go to that one anymore). The other is further away and I've never asked to hit anything there they few times I've been in there.

[forrester_fire]

Global Golf has a "Utry" trial program.  The iron selections are a little bit limited, but they have pretty much every new Mizuno and the Srixon ZX5 and 7.  For Callaway, Taylormade, Cobra, Ping, and Titleist, they are limited to 1 - 4 models.  It also looks like you're limited to the standard shaft offering, too.

 

https://www.globalgolf.com/u-try/

Edited February 3, 2021 by forrester_fire

[Ripken08]

Fitting indoors off mats is WORTHLESS

[Cactus Jack]

8 minutes ago, Ripken08 said:

Fitting indoors off mats is WORTHLESS

 

I literally just watched a video between fitting on mats vs turf, and the results were essentially identical. I supposed a beat up driving range mat would produce different results, but a quality mat should work just fine. At least that's what the video showed. 

[ChipNRun]

Bridgestone used to let you demo clubs for basically the price of shipment.

 

Circa 2013 I got to test out the J40 DPC (Dual Pocket Cavity) model. B sent me two pairs of 5i and 9i, one shafted with Nippon NS Pro 950 in R flex, and the second in True Temper DG R300 SL (Super Lite).

 

I tested them out at a flat practice range, and then played nine with the pair to see how they fared on course. It was great doing a side-by-side with two shaft options.

 

Although the irons felt good and flew OK, I ended up getting my Calla X20 Tours reshafted instead. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by ChipNRun

[NorthStar7]

Pay for a proper fitting, then buy used. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by NorthStar7
Clarity

[Jim E]

2 hours ago, Cactus Jack said:

 

I literally just watched a video between fitting on mats vs turf, and the results were essentially identical. I supposed a beat up driving range mat would produce different results, but a quality mat should work just fine. At least that's what the video showed. 

If you always hit your shots fat then mats are worthless. Can’t get the mat to fold over the ball😂

[disco111]

Go to the driving range and look at what different guys are hitting and if you see what you would like to try, start asking questions with him and he'll most likely say, "want to try the 6 iron" and of course you say why sure, thanks. Then proceed further down the line to the next guy and so on an so forth...............😂 

[miamistomp]

7 minutes ago, disco111 said:

Go to the driving range and look at what different guys are hitting and if you see what you would like to try, start asking questions with him and he'll most likely say, "want to try the 6 iron" and of course you say why sure, thanks. Then proceed further down the line to the next guy and so on an so forth...............😂 

 Yep

 you will end up buying a set of Ping Eye 2s ...

[el h0zel]

I use the demo days at the local shops which are free. Just signed myself up for a Srixon "fitting" next week. 

 

Websites will usually have them listed...

[Pepperturbo]

At smaller LGS get to know the owner/mgr and offer a rental fee to demo a limited number of clubs.  That's what I did.  I bought my 620 series off the rack without demoing them, because I know what will and what will not fit me.  If you know that hit the big box stores.  They usually have demo irons in every set they sell.  Good luck.