golf galaxy

[TiScape]

20 hours ago, Red4282 said:

Lmao, this…. I was in the store today and some older gentleman was hitting a driver in the trackman bay as i was walking by, and i see 168 ball speed and 308 carry. I of course stopped and had to see his swing…. NO WAY. Im a 165 ball speed guy and theres no way that guy hits it by me…

Totally. He buys the driver, and after his best drive he’s at his ball ~275 yards from the tee shaking his head and saying “What the heck, I crushed that. At the store I was hitting everything 300+…” These chain stores definitely juice the numbers! 

[ChipNRun]

On 9/24/2021 at 2:07 AM, youjoon said:

My question is whether it is new normal practice at golf store after the pandemic.

 

If you walked in and try out used drivers, might not be a charge.

 

But if you walk in with a specific solution you want to try, with full Trackman, that's a fitting. This is especially true if it's a PGA pro or a highly trained fitter.

 

Also, golf shops both whiteside and greenside have the problem of people coming in, trying out clubs, and then trying to save $100 by buying that model on eBay.

 

Nothing against you, @youjoon, that's the way it is. 

 

39 minutes ago, TiScape said:

These chain stores definitely juice the numbers! 

 

Problem is that launch monitor must be properly calibrated. A few years back I had some fittings at local Galaxy.  The fitter said the shop used the base settings of the launch monitor, which slightly underestimated distance. Fitter said he didn't want to exaggerate distance gains over other aspects of club.

 

This was an encounter from several years ago - with technology changes, I'm not sure of the current situation.

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by ChipNRun

[TiScape]

15 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

 

If you walked in and try out used drivers, might not be a charge.

 

But if you walk in with a specific solution you want to try, with full Trackman, that's a fitting. This is especially true if it's a PGA pro or a highly trained fitter.

 

Also, golf shops both whiteside and greenside have the problem of people coming in, trying out clubs, and then trying to save $100 by buying that model on eBay.

 

Nothing against you, @youjoon, that's the way it is. 

 

 

Problem is that launch monitor must be properly calibrated. A few years back I had some fittings at local Galaxy.  The fitter said the shop used the base settings of the launch monitor, which slightly underestimated distance. Fitter said he didn't want to exaggerate distance gains over other aspects of club.

 

This was an encounter from several years ago - with technology changes, I'm not sure of the current situation.

 

I’m sure it’s varies by location. My info come 1st hand from someone I know that is a fitter. 

[pup142]

I have no idea how they stay open with all the online stores. Never got a great deal at Golf Galaxy and for that reason I don’t go there. To each there own I guess. I live in Florida and take my business of golf buying,fittings and repairing to local golf shops around me.

Edited September 25, 2021 by pup142

[BYK]

On 9/24/2021 at 3:07 AM, youjoon said:

Hi. everyone,

 

I went a golf galaxy in my my town and I had really bad experience today. So, I just wanted to share what I had today. I asked a "PGA professional" whether he can set up TSi3 with IZ 6 shaft for me for testing. He set it up for me withe TRACKMAN. I hit few balls and a monitor showed distance and where balls landed and it did not show launch angle and back spin. I asked him whether I could checked them and he said I have to pay fitting fee to check them. so, i went away from the store.

 

My question is whether it is new normal practice at golf store after the pandemic. As long as I remember I could check new golf equipments at any golf store with no cost in good old day. I am just so sad and I will probably not going to go to any golf store for surfing and testing new items. I am just so sad.

Curious if you actually buy anything from GG, or just use their sims to try things out to buy elsewhere?

[ELL92399]

On 9/24/2021 at 3:07 AM, youjoon said:

Hi. everyone,

 

I went a golf galaxy in my my town and I had really bad experience today. So, I just wanted to share what I had today. I asked a "PGA professional" whether he can set up TSi3 with IZ 6 shaft for me for testing. He set it up for me withe TRACKMAN. I hit few balls and a monitor showed distance and where balls landed and it did not show launch angle and back spin. I asked him whether I could checked them and he said I have to pay fitting fee to check them. so, i went away from the store.

 

My question is whether it is new normal practice at golf store after the pandemic. As long as I remember I could check new golf equipments at any golf store with no cost in good old day. I am just so sad and I will probably not going to go to any golf store for surfing and testing new items. I am just so sad.

How exactly is this a bad experience?

[ELL92399]

On 9/24/2021 at 1:50 PM, RoyalMustang said:

Don't trust those numbers anyways; I am pretty sure they are juiced when trying to sell you a club. 

 

I had a "fitting" for $50 at the PGATSS. I had a mis-hit and the guy said "wow, you mis-hit that and still carried 290..."  

 

I am pretty sure he added a 20mph tailwind to that one. His trackman was giving me a 114SS, whereas I had a local fitter fit me last week and I was 104-107.  

If you had already been fit and trusted the other numbers, what was the point of going into a random store to get fitted again?

[Cwing]

Retail store in business to make revenue.

 

Retail store accumulates costs associated with inventory, tools of the trade (track man, etc), sales staff, utility bills, rent, etc. 

Potential customer comes in, hits equipment on $25k or more equipment for free.
 

Potential customer then walks out the door and promptly purchases item on internet.

 

Retail store absorbs all the cost yet makes zero. 

This would not be a good business model.

 

[snagy2000]

48 minutes ago, Cwing said:

Retail store in business to make revenue.

 

Retail store accumulates costs associated with inventory, tools of the trade (track man, etc), sales staff, utility bills, rent, etc. 

Potential customer comes in, hits equipment on $25k or more equipment for free.
 

Potential customer then walks out the door and promptly purchases item on internet.

 

Retail store absorbs all the cost yet makes zero. 

This would not be a good business model.

 

Sunday morning economic classes are just awesome...I would say it's opportunity cost...If you're trying to recoup your cost of having a couple trackman/GC units, your focus is off the core business drivers and you're heading down the wrong path...

 

They make more money off soft goods than hard goods, why do you think Nike got out of a hard good business...

[dcfball88]

I end up buying a lot from GG and I was also miffed when I went into the new one by me for the first time and I couldn’t get launch and spin data anymore without a “fitting.”  The associate hung with me for a minute so I could get about 10 quick swings worth of data before he turned it back off. It’s not enough of an issue for me to stop going there, but it seemed capricious.  I wanted to see how that particular club/shaft did for me generally, I didn’t want to get fit into new clubs. I don’t mind paying for a fitting if that’s what I want (though I probably wouldn’t pay for one there- and not a knock on them I prefer to see actual ball flight). 
 

it’s a change- so people are likely to be put off by that. It’s a business decision GG has made to drive more in-store fittings and they hope more new club sales. I suppose that’s their response to the tire kickers and guys who test there and buy online - if you need launch and spin data I need to get a paid fitting out of you. No more fitting yourself for clubs in the store and buying elsewhere. Can’t fault them there, though I don’t know that that particular rule is going to drive fittings and sales. Too bad there’s no way to know if anyone, when told of the policy, goes “oh ok let me sign up for a $99 fitting and plunk down on new clubs here.”

 

And on the flip side, if you lose foot traffic because ppl like OP don’t just drop into the store anymore to hit clubs, does that have a cost? they probably have no way of tracking that so we’ll never know. Interesting stuff

[ChipNRun]

On 9/25/2021 at 3:12 PM, pup142 said:

...take my business of golf buying,fittings and repairing to local golf shops around me.

That's an advantage of living in Florida. Lots of golf outlets.

 

Lots of local shops in St. Louis area in 1980s-90s. Independent shops and regional shops with a couple of outlets outnumbered the chain shops. I was gone basically from 1978 until 2002, and when I returned things started to change. Small shops quickly dwindled due to:

• 2008 Recession. The smaller shops ended up out of business. Golf took a hit overall with less recreational $$ available. Better financed golf specialty retailers picked up the slack.
• Retirements. Lots of guys a few years older than me were cashing out anyway in the early 2000s. Due to golf merchandise consolidation, no one want to buy out their small shop.
• Big Box Bleed. WalMart, CostCo and Target dabbled in small in-house golf shops, but shifted in early 2000s. Basically cut back to few boxed sets, and consumables such as golf balls, gloves and tees. Small shop owners said this cut down on golfers dropping by a golf-specific shop for balls, and maybe hitting some demo clubs.

A shocker was what happened in Myrtle Beach, SC, the region with North, Central, and South golf zones. In 2015 and 2016 visits, a half dozen golf shops - new and used - were around our stay area. In 2018 we returned, and all of them had closed. Now you have Golf Galaxy, PGA Superstore, and a couple of custom-fit places. A couple of the resorts run fitting operations.

[RoyalMustang]

On 9/26/2021 at 7:44 AM, ELL92399 said:

If you had already been fit and trusted the other numbers, what was the point of going into a random store to get fitted again?

 

This was a fitting from last year at PGATSS: I paid $50, didn't trust the numbers and definitely didn't trust the guy trying to sell me a $375 shaft that seemed to do just as well as the stock one on my driver.  I was new to golf at the time and didn't realize that there are sales pushes masquerading as fittings, and there are actual fittings.  

 

I paid $50 for a fitting 2 weeks ago from a legit local clubmaker at the local course.  It was much more informative, and believable.  He didn't want to sell me anything. We got my numbers and swingweight dialed in as best we could, basically until the face of my club had a super tight dispersion (according to the sunscreen). Smash factor made sense: I had a couple at 1.52 but according to the ball mark from the sunscreen on the driver, could not have hit it any better.  Distance, although much shorter than on the course  due to a fairly stiff wind and range balls, is what I normally see: up to 275 carry and 305 rollout for a perfect swing, and 255-290 for a well-struck but not perfect ball.  

 

The difference wasn't in the "juiced" numbers either: we looked at launch angle and spin, trying to figure out what was going on in my swing that was causing a bit of a negative attack.  It was a bit of right leg extension. I followed up with him the other day for 10 min after working on my swing and saw my AOA get positive by 2 degrees (down to 0 and +1 consistently)  and SS pick up by 2-3 mph.  That puts me in that 107-110 wheelhouse, which is plenty to score well.

 

The best part was that he recommended I stick with my current driver and shaft.  His point was that until I get my swing super consistent with staying behind the ball and covering the ball, the driver won't change my AOA and my tendency to pull out of the swing early.  And when I do make that more positive AOA swing, I am hitting the ball flush and carrying 280, with a 13-14 degree launch and 2200 rpm spin rate, so what would $650 buy me at that point?  An extra 3 yards?  In his mind, it wasn't significant. What is significant is staying back behind the ball by driving but not extending with my right leg, and covering the ball while hitting the ball with full arm extension.  That keeps me in the fairway and flush on the face without having to swing "hard".  I have gotten to the point that if I hit 70% fairways, I am going to be in the mid 70's with average putting, and if I hit 40% or less, I am going to struggle to break 80 (last weekend I was 4/14 for fairways with 3 hazard balls and shot 84!).  It is probably why I am usually playing to either 3-5 handicap or a 12-15 handicap.  I either do it or I don't.   But learning what I have to do to come close to flushing the ball each and every swing is the key; especially for me, hitting a driver, everything happens so fast and I get out ahead of my swing, OTT and down, like I am chopping wood.  I need a smooth tempo, stay on that back foot through impact, and cover the ball.  This is all due to probably trying to "swing" too hard rather than let forces do their thing. I don't try and swing too hard with my 9-iron MP20 MMC, yet if I hit it as well as I can, it will fly about 160 with a lot of spin.  There is no reason to walk up there and try to kill a driver, but I have a tendency to do so, and bad things happen.

 

I suppose a good fitting is partially getting the right fit for the swing, but also getting advice on how you could be doing it better.  Gear can mask issues but won't fix them. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by RoyalMustang

[RoyalMustang]

On 9/25/2021 at 1:55 PM, TiScape said:

Totally. He buys the driver, and after his best drive he’s at his ball ~275 yards from the tee shaking his head and saying “What the heck, I crushed that. At the store I was hitting everything 300+…” These chain stores definitely juice the numbers! 

 

Yeah, you know it!  At these stores, we have all hit 7-irons 200+ yards I bet.  What good is a 200-yard 7-iron, really, to the mere mortal? 

Edited September 28, 2021 by RoyalMustang

[spaceman1976]

All you guys are nuts, why would he pay for additional ball data? Next time go to the pga superstore, you won’t have to pay for ball or club data. 

[Esox]

On 9/24/2021 at 2:10 PM, jah7838 said:

With Trackman going into Golf Galaxy stores, they're going to make sure people get charged for using them.  A lot of tire kickers will come in there and just bang balls in the bays without paying for use of the old CG2 monitors.  They don't want the same thing to happen with the Trackman.

A lot of "tire kickers" turn into buyers when they like the results of said kicking. Charging people to kick tires is a sure way to send them elsewhere. The Golf Galaxy near me ticked me off enough last year that I drove across town to Carls to hit some wedges, (and I got to hit them on a real range with Callaway balls) bought a couple Cleveland RTX's.  I also bought a set of T300's this year. Meanwhile my son bought a Cobra driver while he was there with me...

[jah7838]

20 minutes ago, Esox said:

A lot of "tire kickers" turn into buyers when they like the results of said kicking. Charging people to kick tires is a sure way to send them elsewhere. The Golf Galaxy near me ticked me off enough last year that I drove across town to Carls to hit some wedges, (and I got to hit them on a real range with Callaway balls) bought a couple Cleveland RTX's.  I also bought a set of T300's this year. Meanwhile my son bought a Cobra driver while he was there with me...

Some "tire kickers" turn into buyers, but many are there just to bang balls.  The local golf galaxy moved all their CG2s to the back range for guys to go back and kick said tires, so they can still get some numbers from a machine.  They're going to charge for the trackman usage, and customers won't be able to hit unsupervised.