By Steve Pike
So you want to be like Tiger and Phil?
Good luck. But you can get a little closer by doing one thing each of them does. That is, get fit for clubs — even a golf ball. And don’t let your ego get in the way. With a little bit of time and research, chances are good you will find the correct club and ball for your skill level.
Ever-evolving golf club technology has made it almost impossible to buy a bad golf club or set of clubs. That doesn’t mean, however, that every driver, iron, wedge, putter, or even golf ball, is made for every player. Understand that a two-handicap player plays a completely different game from an 18-handicap; and a PGA Tour player plays a different game from a two-handicap.
Also understand that most golf equipment companies market their clubs through PGA Tour players.
Those players validate a specific golf club and technology. Equipment companies use that validation to sell product. They want to make players — low- and high-handicap — believe that the driver or wedge that works for Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson will work for them, too.
Today’s sophisticated club and ball technology work so long as a player has the talent to make it work. For example, a player with a swing speed of 90 miles an hour doesn’t need a ball such as a Titleist Pro V1 or Bridgestone Tour B330. Those balls are made to perform for players with swing speeds in excess of 105 mph. Chances are, nobody in your Saturday foursome has that kind of speed.
“When it comes to choosing a golf club, more important than the quality is the fit,’’ said Dan Hager, a certified club fitter, PGA professional and manager of golf operations at The Links at Boynton Beach. “A good example is, if you’re a 42-regular jacket and I handed you a new 34-short that costs $800, it’s worthless to you because it doesn’t fit. You’re better off with a Penney’s Towncraft that does fit you.’’
“People unfortunately buy clubs off a rack. They’re buying hope. Then they go out and it doesn’t help their game.’’
There are 13 variables that go into a fit, Hager said, some of them minor, such as the grip. The major factors, Hager said, include a club’s shaft flex, and lie angle and length of the club.
Most major golf equipment companies offer fitting systems for drivers and irons. Titleist and Bridgestone also offer ball-fitting systems and some companies even have custom-fit putter systems. Club fitting can take as little as 15 minutes or up to two hours depending on the fitting system and how technical a player wants to get.
“If I was going to buy a set of clubs that lasts two years, I could find two hours that makes an $800 or $1,0000 investment worth it,’’ Hager said. Ú
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