Ethan
Money List Winner
Just arrived back from the fitting day at the Titleist National Fitting Centre at St. Ives Golf Club in Cambridgeshire.
Had an early start to drive up from Wokingham, but all 4 of us arrived in good time and met each other in the waiting area. Nice start with an intro to the day and a gift of a nice goody bag with a cap, golf balls, tees, Titleist mug and other bits and pieces.
We all went into the fitting area and were fitted 2 at a time. The fitting area was in a covered area with a good mat in which you could put proper tee pegs, with trackman launch monitors and bags full of shafts and clubs. I was in the second pair, and was fitted by Henry Byrne who normally works on the Tour van fitting the pros. After I demonstrated my smother hook and he took some measurements, he started me with a 913D3 10.5 with a Diamana D+ stiff shaft. That immediately provided a better flight with even a little hint of fade. An Aldila RIP stiff produced similar but not quite so good results, and a Motore F1 and Graphite Design Tour AD-D1 were also hook monsters. Then he tried an Oban Devotion stiff. That produced a lovely flight, higher, but flatter and with a nice fade, and great numbers, so I tried the Diamana again to compare head to head, but we concluded the Oban was the best fit. This was an upgrade shaft from the custom range.
Then he asked me about grips and we chose a grip (Tour Velvet ribbed, 2 extra wraps).
All 4 of us did short Q&As to Paul O'Hagan's video camera. A photographer took a load of photos during the fitting and afterwards.
Then we headed off for lunch at a pub in town. After that we went for a tour of the Titleist factory where clubs are assembled. As you might imagine, the factory floor had a load of the latest kit sitting around either waiting to be assembled or already done, and the reception area and many of the offices/workspaces had loads of desirable kit sitting around. One of the lads joked how great it would be to get a couple of minutes to do a trolley dash. Very true. At the end of the tour we came to a workshop to find Henry finishing off our chosen clubs. In that workshop we also saw a few bits and pieces including 3 gold plated Vokey wedges ready for shipment to Rory McIlroy to commemorate his PGA win.
The original plan was then to play 9 holes, but it was hosing down so we decided to head off and look at our new shineys at home. I am now the proud owner of a lovely Titleist 913 D3 with an Oban Devotion stiff shaft.
I want to thank GM, particularly Mike and Paul for running this event, not to mention for picking me, Leigh Davies from Titleist who did most of the showing us around and running the event on the day, and Henry Byrne who showed great patience in fitting someone with a swing quite unlike any he normally has to deal with. I hope the other boys enjoyed the experience as much as I did and I hope we call use our new 913s to get those handicaps down.
Had an early start to drive up from Wokingham, but all 4 of us arrived in good time and met each other in the waiting area. Nice start with an intro to the day and a gift of a nice goody bag with a cap, golf balls, tees, Titleist mug and other bits and pieces.
We all went into the fitting area and were fitted 2 at a time. The fitting area was in a covered area with a good mat in which you could put proper tee pegs, with trackman launch monitors and bags full of shafts and clubs. I was in the second pair, and was fitted by Henry Byrne who normally works on the Tour van fitting the pros. After I demonstrated my smother hook and he took some measurements, he started me with a 913D3 10.5 with a Diamana D+ stiff shaft. That immediately provided a better flight with even a little hint of fade. An Aldila RIP stiff produced similar but not quite so good results, and a Motore F1 and Graphite Design Tour AD-D1 were also hook monsters. Then he tried an Oban Devotion stiff. That produced a lovely flight, higher, but flatter and with a nice fade, and great numbers, so I tried the Diamana again to compare head to head, but we concluded the Oban was the best fit. This was an upgrade shaft from the custom range.
Then he asked me about grips and we chose a grip (Tour Velvet ribbed, 2 extra wraps).
All 4 of us did short Q&As to Paul O'Hagan's video camera. A photographer took a load of photos during the fitting and afterwards.
Then we headed off for lunch at a pub in town. After that we went for a tour of the Titleist factory where clubs are assembled. As you might imagine, the factory floor had a load of the latest kit sitting around either waiting to be assembled or already done, and the reception area and many of the offices/workspaces had loads of desirable kit sitting around. One of the lads joked how great it would be to get a couple of minutes to do a trolley dash. Very true. At the end of the tour we came to a workshop to find Henry finishing off our chosen clubs. In that workshop we also saw a few bits and pieces including 3 gold plated Vokey wedges ready for shipment to Rory McIlroy to commemorate his PGA win.
The original plan was then to play 9 holes, but it was hosing down so we decided to head off and look at our new shineys at home. I am now the proud owner of a lovely Titleist 913 D3 with an Oban Devotion stiff shaft.
I want to thank GM, particularly Mike and Paul for running this event, not to mention for picking me, Leigh Davies from Titleist who did most of the showing us around and running the event on the day, and Henry Byrne who showed great patience in fitting someone with a swing quite unlike any he normally has to deal with. I hope the other boys enjoyed the experience as much as I did and I hope we call use our new 913s to get those handicaps down.
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