Fitting - is it worth it?

[Klimski]

I had a fitting this morning that has left me confused and frustrated.
My first objective was finding the graphite shaft that suits me best. That was the easy bit - UST Recoil DART 90 was great.
Second objective was the actual irons. I thought I wanted more forgiveness.
I was mostly looking to confirm which of the JPX Hot Metal range to get, but all of them reminded me of my old Ping G425 irons. The balls were mostly bludgeoned a long way and a long way from where I wanted them to end up. What felt like a slight cut would’ve been 25 yards right of the green. What felt like a slightly pulled straight one would’ve been 10 yards left and 20 yards past.
I tried the Ping i500 with similar results.
By far the best for consistent distance and staying straight were the new Mizuno M-13. Night and day different to anything else except the Ping i240 but the shafts in those were too light.
But the M-13 are £1400 for 5-P.
A mid-handicap social golfer paying £1400 for 6 irons just seems ridiculous.
Having got used to nice, forged bladey irons that don’t go ridiculous distances, I can’t go back to battering game improvement irons. But the ones that suit me are at crazy prices new. And hard to find in my specs on the used market.

I’d look at DtC but none of them that I’ve seen seem to offer decent graphite shafts.

Am I right in concluding that you'd be paying 1400 without them having the actual shafts you like? That's even more ridiculous... How about having your current irons reshafted with the Ust dart shafts?

You could search golfclubs4 cash using Ust dart as a search word?

 

[Imurg]

If you like the M-13 it may be worth seeking out Mizuno Pro 243 or 223
Similar everything just moved on a bit each time..
You may not find the Dart with them but they did come with the Recoil 95 which might not be too dissimilar...
And I'm a semi-serious lowish handicapper and I ain't paying 1400 notes either....

 

[RichA]

Am I right in concluding that you'd be paying 1400 without them having the actual shafts you like? That's even more ridiculous... How about having your current irons reshafted with the Ust dart shafts?

And, I think (not sure) that PXG offer that shaft as an option on their irons.

Sorry no. That was the exact shaft I liked in the Mizuno. It was the Ping i240 that only came with the lighter shaft.

I looked into having a previous set reshafted with Recoils (not even new ones) and it was pretty steep.

 

[RichA]

If you like the M-13 it may be worth seeking out Mizuno Pro 243 or 223
Similar everything just moved on a bit each time..
You may not find the Dart with them but they did come with the Recoil 95 which might not be too dissimilar...
And I'm a semi-serious lowish handicapper and I ain't paying 1400 notes either....

Yeah. I loved the 223 when I tested them a few years ago. It was testing those that I first tried the Recoils. The 223s were such a similar feel to my old MP-60s, which I guess is what was going on today.
It was that fitting where I got the quote to put Recoils into the MP-60s. It was £560. I said no.

 

[Klimski]

Yeah, it's all very expensive. In the EU a Ust recoil 90 shaft retails for €67, so reshafting a full set is going to cost a lot, added to that, new grips and the labour...

 

[RichA]

Yeah, it's all very expensive. In the EU a Ust recoil 90 shaft retails for €67, so reshafting a full set is going to cost a lot, added to that, new grips and the labour...

Very few irons I like on the used market with the shafts I want. Those that are about are in the ~£700 range.
And club buying always feeling like a gamble anyway, I’m left thinking that I might just take a punt on one of the DTC offerings that have a fairly simple forged CB and offer Recoil shafts.

 

[Burnsey]

New Vokey wedges are out, so I've booked a fitting next month.

£25 with the same Titleist fitter I've seen for a couple of years, which comes off any order made. Last time I saw him, hethought I'd benefit from matching my iron shafts in mt wedges, but to wait until the SM11 released.

I's a good value hour in a quality environment.

 

[Jason.H]

New Vokey wedges are out, so I've booked a fitting next month.

£25 with the same Titleist fitter I've seen for a couple of years, which comes off any order made. Last time I saw him, hethought I'd benefit from matching my iron shafts in mt wedges, but to wait until the SM11 released.

I's a good value hour in a quality environment.

Hopefully a great experience and lots to learn. I’ve always thought that wedge fittings could be valuable but in the uk the ground conditions changes with the seasons.
Never splashed out on vokeys so it will be interesting to hear how your fitting goes.

 

[Burnsey]

Hopefully a great experience and lots to learn. I’ve always thought that wedge fittings could be valuable but in the uk the ground conditions changes with the seasons.
Never splashed out on vokeys so it will be interesting to hear how your fitting goes.

Agreed with the condition changes, but as I've had Vokey's for quite a few years consistently, it's (for me) more about dialling in the shaft to blend with my irons than bounce and grind, as I have experimented with those for years.

Will report back...

 

[Bazz]

I've just had a look at what Taylormade are charging at their new place...£500!

 

[Burnsey]

I've just had a look at what Taylormade are charging at their new place...£500!

I once had a Titleist 'day' and came away happy, but with a bag full of Titleist equipment.

The lesson I learnt was to segment it down into driver, fairways, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter and use independent fitters like SGGT, where you can try all available stock in terms of heads and shafts.

Manufacturer days at golf clubs are usually free and specific fittings are £25 ish. Independent sessions can be £50-£200.

 

[Bazz]

I once had a Titleist 'day' and came away happy, but with a bag full of Titleist equipment.

The lesson I learnt was to segment it down into driver, fairways, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter and use independent fitters like SGGT, where you can try all available stock in terms of heads and shafts.

Manufacturer days at golf clubs are usually free and specific fittings are £25 ish. Independent sessions can be £50-£200.

I had a driver one at Clubhouse golf, that was £50, and then a separate one for irons which cost the same, but money off the clubs.
That £500 I saw was for irons only too. They must be the best of the best for that price.

 

[Crazyface]

I had a "fitting" at my nearest AG. Nice fella. After a few hits with my own 7 iron, I tried a few other manufacturers. TM, Mizuno, Callaway, Ping. But the model of head was chosen by the fella. I just trusted him. The Pings were a revelation. Q440? I think. Yes I know, I should know. Great stats, OMG he got me into thinking about them. I was more about dispersion, which the Pings were the best, but also the longest by 10 yards (why yards? but that's another discussion). Before you all jump in, I walked away. I said I wanted to try some of the other heads. We didn't get time to try the Cobras. Annoyingly they don't do Cleveland. Why not?
I do have a question though, for those that know about Pings. My lie angle was plus one (minus one I forget), but apparently Pings standard now is this and is the BLUE DOT ones. Can anyone confirm, or was this smelly stuff?

 

[Imurg]

I had a "fitting" at my nearest AG. Nice fella. After a few hits with my own 7 iron, I tried a few other manufacturers. TM, Mizuno, Callaway, Ping. But the model of head was chosen by the fella. I just trusted him. The Pings were a revelation. Q440? I think. Yes I know, I should know. Great stats, OMG he got me into thinking about them. I was more about dispersion, which the Pings were the best, but also the longest by 10 yards (why yards? but that's another discussion). Before you all jump in, I walked away. I said I wanted to try some of the other heads. We didn't get time to try the Cobras. Annoyingly they don't do Cleveland. Why not?
I do have a question though, for those that know about Pings. My lie angle was plus one (minus one I forget), but apparently Pings standard now is this and is the BLUE DOT ones. Can anyone confirm, or was this smelly stuff?

Black dot is still " standard" but Blue is the most often purchased and is slowly becoming the standard on the shelf lie angle...

 

[Crazyface]

Black dot is still " standard" but Blue is the most often purchased and is slowly becoming the standard on the shelf lie angle...

So he was telling the truth. Well he did sound genuine. I'm going back this week for another go at some more stuff. Well, as I said to him, I'm not just podding out £850 having not tried what is actually available. He was ok with that. Plus I had my eye on a driver on offer, so I'm going to test that v my current one.

 

[kp17]

Only ever had one fitting at the Titleist centre cragielaw, whole experience was brilliant.

 

[anotherdouble]

I once had a Titleist 'day' and came away happy, but with a bag full of Titleist equipment.

The lesson I learnt was to segment it down into driver, fairways, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter and use independent fitters like SGGT, where you can try all available stock in terms of heads and shafts.

Manufacturer days at golf clubs are usually free and specific fittings are £25 ish. Independent sessions can be £50-£200.

Titleist at Woburn now do an individual segment fitting ie wedge, irons, hybrid etc for £200

 

[Burnsey]

Titleist at Woburn now do an individual segment fitting ie wedge, irons, hybrid etc for £200

Adds up for a full bag mind.

I'm a Titleist fanboy, but doing it all again, I'd stick to a specific independent fitting centre (not a retail store) simply for the variety of club selection.

 

[anotherdouble]

Adds up for a full bag mind.

I'm a Titleist fanboy, but doing it all again, I'd stick to a specific independent fitting centre (not a retail store) simply for the variety of club selection.

Full bag still £500. Where as before you couldn’t for example just go for a wedge fitting unless you paid for a full bag fitting