Hello, All!   This  is an update on the fitting experience I’ve been dealing with at Club Champion last Fall.  I was having issues with my JPX925 Forged irons that came with C-taper lite shafts (S flex).  The longer irons just fell out of the sky because of the spin profile, and I had no functional gapping between 7, 6, and 5 irons.  I went to Club Champion for a fitting and reshaft.  If you don’t know about CC iron fittings, they ONLY fit with the 6-iron.  So that’s what we went with.  The fitter acknowledged the flat ball flight and lower spin on the original club, and used their AI system to try to find me another shaft that provided more lift and spin.  Some of the shafts that were populating through their AI system were simply nowhere close to what I intuitively would have considered, but whatever, right…go with it.  But none of the higher spin shafts, such as DG Mid, or KBS Tour Lite, or some softer-tip, higher launch/spin shafts I would have expected.  The only graphite that was tried was a 95gram Aerotech, which was attractive at face value, but the few shots I hit with it were not particularly good…so he moved off that one quickly.  Context:  my previous P790’s were shafted with DG 105 S-300’s and I had no problem flighting or stopping those irons properly.  I do realize the P790’s were lower cog, higher launching by design, but the context of me using a shaft in the 100-105 gram range is what I’m trying to convey.  I’m 61 years old, and have been using a shaft in that weight range for many years.  Ultimately, the fitter began to focus on stopping distance only, and he ended up recommending a KBS Tour 120 S-flex.  Up in weight to 115 grams.  Counter-intuitive, and I was skeptical, but went with “the numbers don’t lie” concept, paid the $$ and went with the recommended reshaft.

I received the clubs promptly, and the workmanship was solid, but they were NOT the right shaft for me.  I still had no functional gapping between the 7, 6, and 5 iron, and at D6 SW, the clubs were very bulky feeling to me.  I noticed all my irons suffered a slight loss of distance, and overall consistency.  I had to put these irons into play in two different competitive events shortly after I received them, and it was so very obvious the fitting was inappropriate that I immediately contacted my fitter, and enacted the “performance guarantee” offered by CC. Because I live a couple hours away, they indicated they’d work with me whenever I could make it back up there, even if beyond the 90 days the guarantee is offered.  So I was just able to get back there a few weeks ago, and I worked with the store manager this time, instead of my original fitter.  I was told by several others that the manager was by far the best/most experienced fitter, and that he’d get it right.

The manager wasn’t the nicest guy going…he had a little edgy look and vibe…but he did agree that he didn’t like the fit I was in.  I brought the Maltby  TS3 6-iron with KBS PGI  shaft I had made over the winter as a reference point.  He didn’t have me hit that club because he didn’t have a comp, but did indicate he thought the shaft was in the direction he was thinking.  I went through the process with him, and he did put both the PGI and TGI 80 shafts in the Mizuno head.  Ultimately, the shaft that was recommended this time was the KBS TGI 80, as the numbers were all much improved…peak height, ss, ball speed.  The stopping power was a bit less than optimal, but he suggested playing a higher spinning ball to combat that (Srixon Z-Star Diamond).  Overall, I liked the vibe of the shaft, and know it’s a better option than the KBS Tour 120.

We then began discussing the “build”, and that’s when everything started to get a little weird.  He wanted to make the irons at 37.75″ 6 iron with D5 sw.  To his credit, that was the length/weight I was hitting in the booth, and my smash factor was quite high for a 6 iron at 1.46…so I could accept the length.  What I was concerned about was the swingweight at D5, not because it would be “too heavy”,(I understand it’s a balance thing, not a weight thing, per se)…but the stock Mizuno club with steel is 38″ on the 6 iron, so these would be a much lighter graphite shaft, technically 1/4″ shorter than standard, but still at D5 SW?  How much weight would have to be added to that tip to get there!?!  That was my concern, because I know no more than 8-10 grams should be added, per Golfworks standards (which I completely abide-by in any club build).  I told him this, and he said “we can get the club to swingweight wherever we need it to be”…and I told him I’d rather have no more than 8 grams added to the tip, and I’d accept the SW wherever it played out. He didn’t seem to like that I was trying to control this of the build, and told me that the club I was demo-ing was D5, so that’s what the build would be.  I again expressed my reservations, but he must have been “hangry” or something because he was kind-of a jerk from this point on.  I asked about adding 1/4″ to help with SW, maybe a lighter grip, but he insisted on building to 37.75″ at D5, because that’s their model…to replicate my experience in the booth.  He also indicated they would be ready by the end of the week.  Whatever input I provided was simply shut-down.

I did not receive an email, text, or phone call that the clubs were ready.  I had to call a couple of times, and they said I’d be notified by email when they were ready.  To this day, I never received an any notice, but they were ready by the end of that week, though I was out of town, so  I picked them up this past Friday (2 weeks after I dropped them off)  The “build” was absolutely horrible!  The ferrules were chipped, and some were turned too much, others not enough.  The 6 iron had a groove worn into the shaft right above the hosel from the turning.  There was excess glue, showing at the ferrules on every club, there was epoxy up and down various shafts, etc.  They were really bad.  Also, they were in an open box with no spec sheet (usually CC puts in a fancy box with the spec sheet included).  The other thing I noticed was that the shaft orientations were all the same, even though they were supposed to be “pured”, so I have to wonder whether or not that was even done.  Obviously, I had to to bring them back the next day.  The manager was in another fitting when I got there, so I simply dealt with the Rep. at the counter.  He inspected them as said they were awful, and asked where I had them built…and I said right there.  He couldn’t believe someone at CC built the clubs!  He stated “these are nowhere near the standards of a Club Champion build” and said he would re-build the clubs himself, and look into who did the original build, so it wouldn’t happen again.  I wasn’t going to tell him I believed it was the manager, and they were purposefully botched, but that’s my feeling about it.   I  brought up no more than 8 grams in the tip again, and he again said the build would have to be to the fitting specs, so that was another failed attempt to get them to listen to me.  The only thing, though, is I don’t know the dry-fit SW, so who knows how much they actually have to add.  He did assure me he’d have them perfect for me and would ship them to me at no cost.

So that’s my story.  For all the fitters, club builders, and others club junkies here, I thought you might enjoy contemplating it all!  One thing I have in my back pocket is the TS3’s.  If these things don’t actually perform outside like they did in the booth, I can always sell them (they should have pretty good value with those shafts in them, assuming a clean build), and I will not hesitate to move into the TS3’s.

Thanks for listening.  Interested to read anyone’s comments.  One thing for sure, I will NEVER go back to Club Champion after I close this chapter.

Muskie