Sir Scoop-A-Lot
Head Pro
First impressions on a place always make a huge impact on me, they always have. I first went into Golf Studio’s in December last year. They hadn’t been open long and some of the areas hadn’t quite been finished completely although they were nearly there. The building itself is remarkable and was actually an old pump house in 1800’s. I have been back once since then for a lesson and things were shaping up nicely however I was very impressed when I arrived today and saw the final transformation.
Upon arriving I was greeted by Laurence and Tom. Both were very welcoming and were easy to speak to. Tom organised me a coffee (always a sucker for a cuppa joe) and Laurence took straight to looking at my current clubs (Specs listed below*) (TMBs). Laurence talked me through their process whilst he got to work and informed me that they have a 4 stage process, Current Position, Testing Stage, Final Stage and Fine Tuning.
He started off by checking the balance of my clubs, the true loft & lie and shaft weights whilst talking to me about my game. I told him about how my longer shots always fade right and how the harder I try to hit the ball the further right it will go and so to compensate I aim left and every now and then it actually goes straight and I’m in the thick stuff. I also explained that the part of my game that I dislike the most is my short game, wedges and I just do not get along if it’s anything under a full swing.
Now being a 28 handicapper talking about your game is always a sensitive subject especially when talking to a Pro, however Laurence made me feel very comfortable and assured me that many golfers have the same issues and that with the right club, shaft and a loft that is actually what it claims to be all of these issues can be resolved.
Once all of the balancing and loft checking was complete we moved over to their GC2 System.
Now we were here Laurence asked me what my favourite clubs were and would there be any that I definitely couldn’t part with. Now without a shadow of a doubt my most comfortable club is my 7i followed by my 6i. I also stated that as HID had just purchased my nice new TM RBZ Stage 2 5h I should probably keep it if I wanted to sleep in my room anymore.
He then asked me what my least favourite club(s) were. Again I can safely say this is either of my wedges or for longer shots anything lower (numerically) than my 6i. He said he though that may be the case as during the balancing process he noticed that both my 7i and 6i are very similar whereas my other irons are vastly different therefore causing a different effect to my swing than the 7i and 6i. So he asked me to hit a few shots with my PW to get warmed up. After a few shots he turned on the GC2 System. Now this is where the fun begins!
First I hit a few balls with my PW. Not really any bad shots to speak of so I was quite impressed with myself. Then I moved on to my 6i. A couple of bad shots to start, veering left and right but once I get into a bit of a rhythm I hit a couple of good shots straight down the middle. I then do the same with my 7i. Once I am happy that I have 2-3 good shots with each of these clubs we remove the bad ones so as to have ‘my best shots’ to compare to and Laurence talks me through the options that he thinks will best suit my game.
As you all know there are a lot of different styles of clubs out there and without being pointed in the right direction you could be trying clubs for days. After all I had come to the fitting with an idea of what I had wanted and with regards to a new set of irons what I wanted to spend, although I had said £500 as a rough idea I was open to options depending on the amount of improvement I would see and so I was very happy when Laurence said he felt that either the Callaway X2 Hot (CX2) , Cobra Bio Cell (CBC) or United SBB1 (US) irons would be the best options for me and my budget and that whichever of the three I would choose later on he would recommend a steel shaft as I get a lot of flex in my graphite shafts and through this I am losing power, which steel shaft though was still to be seen.
We started off with the CX2 with a KBS VR steel shaft and he asked me to hit a few balls, before I did this he placed some reflective dots which allow the GC2 HMT (http://www.foresightsports.com/en/products/hmt-head-measurment-technology) System to gather data such as club head speed and launch angle. I was pleased to see that the club felt a little heavier and therefore I found it a little easier to maintain my balance and still keep power through the swing. After about 5 balls Laurence talked me through some of the stats that he was able to collect such as the club head speed being between 83-87 and that the balls total distance was averaged to 167 yards. In comparison to my TMBs 81-82 and total distance average of 160 yards, so already an extra 7 yards and much more consistent. I couldn’t believe that I was able to hit a 6i so well. I still had a couple of wayward shots but even though they weren’t dead on target they still had a better carry than my own TMBs. We then tried a different shaft. This time a Shimada VWS90, he informed me it was a bespoke Japanese shaft, which to me translated to it cost a fortune and I hope I don’t like it! I hit a few more balls and boom! I was hitting them consistently more central and had a much better carry than the shaft before of an average total distance of 182 yards! I turned to Laurence and said ‘trust me to look good with what I am sure is the most expensive shaft in the house’. Not wanting to stop there Laurence tried another shaft the Pro X 95 although it didn’t feel very comfortable and I ended up hitting the ball a little full and catching more ground and getting an average of 160 yards.
We then did the same process with the CBC 6i. Again I hit about 5 balls and we went through the stats a club head speed of approx. 78 and a total distance average of 155 yards. It was weird as although the club felt a little more comfortable it wasn’t getting the same results that the CX2’s were. We tried the both of the first two shafts we did with the CX2 and the results just weren’t quite there with total distances averaging at 160 yards.
I then was given the US I took my position the same as I had with the other two clubs and commented that it looked to have a very small head in comparison to the other two. I hit 2 balls with it and they were both appalling with average distance of 130 yards. Laurence took the club from me and jollily said that if you think it’s too small you won’t hit it right, it’s all in the head with that one. So we took it off the table.
So after a few balls with the 3 types of club we had looked at I had decided that I liked the CX2s and Laurence asked me to try one more club. I hit a few balls and he asked what I thought and I said ‘to be honest I still prefer the CX2 with the Shimada shaft’. He then informed me it was the CX2 with a Shimada shaft. He did this to show me that sometimes when he is fitting someone that they make up their mind about what they want before they even finish the fitting. Fortunately for me it actually shone out from the others as the clear cut winner. We then stopped for another coffee before moving onto the hybrid, wedges, driver and putter.
When it came to the wedges I had a choice of either the Callaway Mack Daddy 2’s (CMDs) Cobra Trusty Rustys or some Vega wedges, Laurence said that seeing my swing style and shot result from my wedge earlier that he would recommend the CMDs and offered me a try. After just 3 swings, full, medium and slight I was sold. We spoke about how on my current wedges the heel of my club is very deep and therefore occasionally causes me to catch the ground on my downswing right before contact and causes me to thin the ball. He explained that with the CMDs they have a very slight base and allow the club to get under the ball easier and that they would give it a ‘C’ grind to allow a much cleaner contact. I hit a 52 and a 58 degree CMD and had a great range of distances with them both. Laurence then recommended that I keep the PW from the CX2s and then add the 52 and 58 degree CMDs to allow me to have access to all the shots I could need around a green. I was quite happy with this and so we moved on.
I then looked at my bag to the TM 5h that I didn’t want to get rid of at the beginning of the session and asked the question, ‘so do you think there is something that would suit me better in my longer game?’. And yes there was. I tried the matching CX2 4h to the irons that had worked so well for me. This time though we used the Aldila Tour Blue shaft and I owned it. It was comfortable and sleek and made me feel like I wanted to put it in my bag. Laurence explained to me that with the distances I was getting on the CX2 6i (180 yards) that he would recommend the 4h as the next club as the gap was minimal and wouldn’t necessarily need another club in between and I wouldn’t hit anything higher consistently enough. With my own TM5h I hit 170 yards average and with the CX2 4h I was hitting an average of 190 yards. So I decided I had seen enough here and we moved on.
Upon arriving I was greeted by Laurence and Tom. Both were very welcoming and were easy to speak to. Tom organised me a coffee (always a sucker for a cuppa joe) and Laurence took straight to looking at my current clubs (Specs listed below*) (TMBs). Laurence talked me through their process whilst he got to work and informed me that they have a 4 stage process, Current Position, Testing Stage, Final Stage and Fine Tuning.
He started off by checking the balance of my clubs, the true loft & lie and shaft weights whilst talking to me about my game. I told him about how my longer shots always fade right and how the harder I try to hit the ball the further right it will go and so to compensate I aim left and every now and then it actually goes straight and I’m in the thick stuff. I also explained that the part of my game that I dislike the most is my short game, wedges and I just do not get along if it’s anything under a full swing.
Now being a 28 handicapper talking about your game is always a sensitive subject especially when talking to a Pro, however Laurence made me feel very comfortable and assured me that many golfers have the same issues and that with the right club, shaft and a loft that is actually what it claims to be all of these issues can be resolved.
Once all of the balancing and loft checking was complete we moved over to their GC2 System.
Now we were here Laurence asked me what my favourite clubs were and would there be any that I definitely couldn’t part with. Now without a shadow of a doubt my most comfortable club is my 7i followed by my 6i. I also stated that as HID had just purchased my nice new TM RBZ Stage 2 5h I should probably keep it if I wanted to sleep in my room anymore.
He then asked me what my least favourite club(s) were. Again I can safely say this is either of my wedges or for longer shots anything lower (numerically) than my 6i. He said he though that may be the case as during the balancing process he noticed that both my 7i and 6i are very similar whereas my other irons are vastly different therefore causing a different effect to my swing than the 7i and 6i. So he asked me to hit a few shots with my PW to get warmed up. After a few shots he turned on the GC2 System. Now this is where the fun begins!
First I hit a few balls with my PW. Not really any bad shots to speak of so I was quite impressed with myself. Then I moved on to my 6i. A couple of bad shots to start, veering left and right but once I get into a bit of a rhythm I hit a couple of good shots straight down the middle. I then do the same with my 7i. Once I am happy that I have 2-3 good shots with each of these clubs we remove the bad ones so as to have ‘my best shots’ to compare to and Laurence talks me through the options that he thinks will best suit my game.
As you all know there are a lot of different styles of clubs out there and without being pointed in the right direction you could be trying clubs for days. After all I had come to the fitting with an idea of what I had wanted and with regards to a new set of irons what I wanted to spend, although I had said £500 as a rough idea I was open to options depending on the amount of improvement I would see and so I was very happy when Laurence said he felt that either the Callaway X2 Hot (CX2) , Cobra Bio Cell (CBC) or United SBB1 (US) irons would be the best options for me and my budget and that whichever of the three I would choose later on he would recommend a steel shaft as I get a lot of flex in my graphite shafts and through this I am losing power, which steel shaft though was still to be seen.
We started off with the CX2 with a KBS VR steel shaft and he asked me to hit a few balls, before I did this he placed some reflective dots which allow the GC2 HMT (http://www.foresightsports.com/en/products/hmt-head-measurment-technology) System to gather data such as club head speed and launch angle. I was pleased to see that the club felt a little heavier and therefore I found it a little easier to maintain my balance and still keep power through the swing. After about 5 balls Laurence talked me through some of the stats that he was able to collect such as the club head speed being between 83-87 and that the balls total distance was averaged to 167 yards. In comparison to my TMBs 81-82 and total distance average of 160 yards, so already an extra 7 yards and much more consistent. I couldn’t believe that I was able to hit a 6i so well. I still had a couple of wayward shots but even though they weren’t dead on target they still had a better carry than my own TMBs. We then tried a different shaft. This time a Shimada VWS90, he informed me it was a bespoke Japanese shaft, which to me translated to it cost a fortune and I hope I don’t like it! I hit a few more balls and boom! I was hitting them consistently more central and had a much better carry than the shaft before of an average total distance of 182 yards! I turned to Laurence and said ‘trust me to look good with what I am sure is the most expensive shaft in the house’. Not wanting to stop there Laurence tried another shaft the Pro X 95 although it didn’t feel very comfortable and I ended up hitting the ball a little full and catching more ground and getting an average of 160 yards.
We then did the same process with the CBC 6i. Again I hit about 5 balls and we went through the stats a club head speed of approx. 78 and a total distance average of 155 yards. It was weird as although the club felt a little more comfortable it wasn’t getting the same results that the CX2’s were. We tried the both of the first two shafts we did with the CX2 and the results just weren’t quite there with total distances averaging at 160 yards.
I then was given the US I took my position the same as I had with the other two clubs and commented that it looked to have a very small head in comparison to the other two. I hit 2 balls with it and they were both appalling with average distance of 130 yards. Laurence took the club from me and jollily said that if you think it’s too small you won’t hit it right, it’s all in the head with that one. So we took it off the table.
So after a few balls with the 3 types of club we had looked at I had decided that I liked the CX2s and Laurence asked me to try one more club. I hit a few balls and he asked what I thought and I said ‘to be honest I still prefer the CX2 with the Shimada shaft’. He then informed me it was the CX2 with a Shimada shaft. He did this to show me that sometimes when he is fitting someone that they make up their mind about what they want before they even finish the fitting. Fortunately for me it actually shone out from the others as the clear cut winner. We then stopped for another coffee before moving onto the hybrid, wedges, driver and putter.
When it came to the wedges I had a choice of either the Callaway Mack Daddy 2’s (CMDs) Cobra Trusty Rustys or some Vega wedges, Laurence said that seeing my swing style and shot result from my wedge earlier that he would recommend the CMDs and offered me a try. After just 3 swings, full, medium and slight I was sold. We spoke about how on my current wedges the heel of my club is very deep and therefore occasionally causes me to catch the ground on my downswing right before contact and causes me to thin the ball. He explained that with the CMDs they have a very slight base and allow the club to get under the ball easier and that they would give it a ‘C’ grind to allow a much cleaner contact. I hit a 52 and a 58 degree CMD and had a great range of distances with them both. Laurence then recommended that I keep the PW from the CX2s and then add the 52 and 58 degree CMDs to allow me to have access to all the shots I could need around a green. I was quite happy with this and so we moved on.
I then looked at my bag to the TM 5h that I didn’t want to get rid of at the beginning of the session and asked the question, ‘so do you think there is something that would suit me better in my longer game?’. And yes there was. I tried the matching CX2 4h to the irons that had worked so well for me. This time though we used the Aldila Tour Blue shaft and I owned it. It was comfortable and sleek and made me feel like I wanted to put it in my bag. Laurence explained to me that with the distances I was getting on the CX2 6i (180 yards) that he would recommend the 4h as the next club as the gap was minimal and wouldn’t necessarily need another club in between and I wouldn’t hit anything higher consistently enough. With my own TM5h I hit 170 yards average and with the CX2 4h I was hitting an average of 190 yards. So I decided I had seen enough here and we moved on.
