# Scott Gourlay Custom Fit - Elmwood Golf Club Facility



## farfaeforfar (Jan 18, 2015)

Thought I would post up a review of my custom fit session with Scott Gourlay at his new Elmwood Facility on the outskirts of Cupar, Fife. My particular fitting was on the 16[SUP]th[/SUP] so it happened to be a dry but horribly cold day, -1c and with windchill around -3 or -4. The Elmwood facility is really good and itâ€™s a shame itâ€™s just a little far from home as I would really like to use it more.

After the introductions and discussing what I was hoping to achieve from the morning we both agreed to keep the shutter down until later in the session and round off hitting balls onto the range should I settle on something.  A lot to be said for Scott as he comes across really well and helps you settle into things.

I canâ€™t go into the whole process as I know Iâ€™d miss something. So to summarise I hit my TA3 6 iron a number of times to get a base line and see what was happening on trackman. It showed what I knew was happening already, basically overly high flight, too much spin.

Scott prepared a couple of heads and shaft combos for me to try. Each time I tried a particular combination it would show an improvement in all the figures on trackman. This continued until I settled on a particular head and then worked through the shafts. What impressed me most was each time a suggestion was made, tried and tested you could see a definite improvement. Nothing huge, just gradual steps of improvement. Like honing in on a target, making sure that you donâ€™t head down one direction only to find its wrong.

I managed to settle on the new Srixon 745â€™s 3-PW. I really liked the 545â€™s but felt the 745â€™s feel  was very nearly as good but were just a little more foregiving on off centre hits. Just to be clear if you can consistently hit good clean shots the 545â€™s are the bees. If you want a little room for manoeuvre the 745â€™s are the way ahead. Distances were very similar on both heads, the 745â€™s better on the mi***** than the 545â€™s. Iâ€™m not posting any figures as I donâ€™t want to get anything wrong. Unfortuantely my phone died completely that morning so I couldnâ€™t get any photos either of the 745 with project X  5.5 combo I went for.

The same process followed for the 3 wood and Driver as per the irons. This is where things became a little more err, complicated. My swing showed itâ€™s limits (read where I know the lessons are really needed) and after 1.5hrs swinging irons I think my swing had gone a little which didn't help. That said I hit the new Srixon fairway wood pretty well and I felt I could get a lot more from it than I was achieving. The new Srixon fairway was every bit as impressive as the new irons. It has a really nice punch, or zip from the face! Its trajectory was really pleasant also (when we moved on to the range I got to see what trackman had been showing me on screen). I hit a few drivers too, again the new Srixon driver felt good but I just couldn't get it to go but the same results were being seen with the Cleveland head I tried along with the Taylormade R15. So again highlighting a few lessons on hitting woods/drivers wouldn't go amiss plus I do think the time hitting irons in the cold had sapped me a little also.

I called it a day after I hit the Srixon 745 iron/shaft combo and 3 wood on the range to see I liked the flight etc. The driver and new Gap/Sand wedges will wait until March or April. As truth be told I blew my budget on the irons and 3 wood! I also want to do the find my distance session  with the new irons too. So this gives me some time to fit a lesson or two in to work on the wood/driver swing.

Hopefully I havenâ€™t bored anyone too much and have given a decent overview of the service received. Itâ€™s what I had expected a custom fit to be and a whole lot more to be honest. Iâ€™d recommend Scottâ€™s custom fit without a second thought and will be using him again to sort out the last few clubs for the bag for 2015 and beyond. Key point here from my side is I know I canâ€™t afford to change clubs again for a couple of years at a minimum so Iâ€™m confident this investment will see me through my playing return in 2015 and beyond.


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## patricks148 (Jan 18, 2015)

Ive thought about going down to see Scott, esp after tommo got the Srixon Irons, which look nice, the fact you say the heads all gave the same distance has renewed that interest.


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## farfaeforfar (Jan 18, 2015)

Have to clarify something. In my late night ramblings, I got the model numbers the wrong way round! Should have went to sleep and posted the review this morning!. I ended up with the 545's in 3-PW, slightly oversize irons. Not the 745. Same theory applies. The 745's I was hitting the same distance as the 545's. However on the off strikes I lost more distance with the 745 than the 545. Now knowing I'm not going to be single digit player I thought it more sensible to get the more forgiving head of the 545's. However I still stand by the feel I had off both sets were superb. Obviously reflecting the 745's were a touch nicer being all forged but not enough to swing it in the end. Scott did say I should maybe look at splitting the set. 3-5 in 545 and 6-PW in 745 but I just felt the 545's overall offered me the best for my game and where it is. 

Sorry if that's confused matters but hopefully makes sense.


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## groundskeeperwilly (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi farfaeforfar!
Glad you've got sorted out! When do you pick up the new sticks? Now I'd be really keen to meet up for a range session to see the Srixons!


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## farfaeforfar (Jan 19, 2015)

groundskeeperwilly said:



			Hi farfaeforfar!
Glad you've got sorted out! When do you pick up the new sticks? Now I'd be really keen to meet up for a range session to see the Srixons!
		
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Hi Groundskeeperwilly,

Should get them between 10-15 days time. I'm away in February a couple of times so that may delay delivery unfortunately. When I've got them I'll give you a shout and we can let you see the shiny new sticks


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## Tommo21 (Jan 26, 2015)

farfaeforfar said:



			Hi Groundskeeperwilly,

Should get them between 10-15 days time. I'm away in February a couple of times so that may delay delivery unfortunately. When I've got them I'll give you a shout and we can let you see the shiny new sticks 

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I'll be surprised if Scott takes that time, unless he's real busy which could be the case.  Good choice, great irons.


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## farfaeforfar (Jan 26, 2015)

Tommo21 said:



			I'll be surprised if Scott takes that time, unless he's real busy which could be the case.  Good choice, great irons.
		
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Scott said it was more to do with availability of heads that the delay would be encountered. I'll get an update on Wednesday as I have a lesson with Pete Arnott @ Elmwood and Scott is fitting just after my lesson finishes. 

I'm really looking forward to getting to hit them.....


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## Tommo21 (Jan 26, 2015)

farfaeforfar said:



			Scott said it was more to do with availability of heads that the delay would be encountered. I'll get an update on Wednesday as I have a lesson with Pete Arnott @ Elmwood and Scott is fitting just after my lesson finishes. 

I'm really looking forward to getting to hit them.....
		
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Yeah, there is a fair demand and I like the fact Srixon are not throwing them out willy nilly. Worth waiting for.


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## farfaeforfar (Jan 27, 2015)

Tommo21 said:



			Yeah, there is a fair demand and I like the fact Srixon are not throwing them out willy nilly. Worth waiting for.
		
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Lesson cancelled at Elmwood tomorrow due to the forecast snow. So no update will be forth coming. 

I'm going to head to the range today regardless and keep the swing going in the mean time.


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## Alex1975 (Jan 27, 2015)

Good write up, beautiful irons!


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## CMAC (Jan 27, 2015)

Has Scott moved from his old place?

is the new facility more 'traditional' in fitting ie it has a range to hit balls into? that was the only thing missing from his last/current place where you hit into a sheet, i really need to see the flight and have affirmation via technology.


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## CMAC (Jan 27, 2015)

this them?


[video=youtube_share;fsYJYNaPBbA]http://youtu.be/fsYJYNaPBbA[/video]


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## farfaeforfar (Jan 27, 2015)

CMAC said:



			Has Scott moved from his old place?

is the new facility more 'traditional' in fitting ie it has a range to hit balls into? that was the only thing missing from his last/current place where you hit into a sheet, i really need to see the flight and have affirmation via technology.
		
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Not moved this is an additional facility at Elmwood. You can indeed hit into the range. By default the shutter can be down in the teaching/fitting room and then roll open to allow hitting directly onto the range. 

For me I hit a lot of shots and we watched trackmans results in the start. At the finish I hit onto the range, so I saw the flight (by eye) was very similar to trackman only along with distances of a similar nature. This considering it was minus temps and a left to right wind blowing through.

And yep the 545's are what I'll be hitting. They appeared visually very similar to my old Cleveland TA3's, just they went an extra 20+ yards (owing to correct shafts), very good feel and more forgiving. 

The 545 3 wood I hit was nice, but my swing was gone really by then. But again, strong flight, clean looking and nice feel from the face.


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## Farneyman (May 17, 2015)

How are you getting on with the new clubs?


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## farfaeforfar (May 18, 2015)

I done a reply earlier and then the site or my net connection crashed. Hopefully not this time!

I'd held off doing a review as I've been having lessons and trying to sort my swing to a point where I might not be hitting it 100% but I can get some reliability back into it. So its been near 3 months and I've hit enough balls at the range and play at the course to make some initial thoughts. I'm still very much a work in progress and also needing to get some phsycological work done. I'm lacking lots of confidence still......

*Srixon 3 Wood - 15 degrees
*It looks compact at address and I think it gives a nice look, almost retro. I find it really good when I am swinging well, it produces quite a low flight, which is in part due to the Diamana shaft so not all the club. What I do find is when I don't put a good swing on it, erm well it's not forgiving. That said I haven't hit many other 3 woods, especially with that shaft to know if its mostly the Srixon head or simply my pants swing. However I can't see me parting with it as I do like it lots. My main gripe that is tangable and not in my head or swing related is the finish on the head. After my third ball at the range the face actually pitted from the ball impact. Secondly the sole plate paint is wearing through, the leading edge back to the head weight is bearing clean metal through to scratches on the sole plate. 
*
Srixon Z545 - 3i to PW
*These are the biggest of the three irons in the Srixon Z range but I've grown to love them. They are forged with the steel face insert. As I've started to strike it better I've noticed feel on full shots isn't as great as say a completely forged head would give you (compared to my old TA3's). That said with practice you can judge where the ball has come off by the sound the club gives. A clunky sound is towards the heel, a dull thud is centre and clacky (read almost tinny) is from the toe. The mid irons, 6-8, are my favourites. Real easy to hit well and give a great ball flight to boot. I've struggled a bit with the 3 iron but again my swing is far to much a work in progress to blame the clubs. Especially as I hit it 200yds uphill into the wind at the 7th on the Centenary at Gleneagles  as my second to about 10ft. Again its my swing causing the problems. Otherwise they have been really enjoyable to get back playing golf with. Again my only small gripe is with the finish. The forging is very soft, in my opinion at least. The backs of the irons are looking well battered after only 3 months use. Minor niggle and will see how they hold up over 12 months use.

I'm back to Scott's Elmwood facility on Saturday morning for a Driver, Hybrid and Wedge fitting. I'll report back on what happens from there.

Hopefully you've gotten something from the above but I'm happy to answer any other Q's anyone has.


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## Tommo21 (May 19, 2015)

100% Use iron head covers, my srixons are like new and I was one of the first to get them over six months ago. I play around 5 times per week and not a mark.


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## Farneyman (May 19, 2015)

Cheers for the feedback. Keep us posted on how the next fitting goes...must resist...


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