HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Been to a fantastic testing facility at a place called Pachesham Golf Centre not far from Leatherhead. They have a superb custom fitting facility stocking Wilson, Yonex, Cobra, Mizuno, TM and Ping. Having already tested Callaway to death, I wanted to hit Ping again having had a fitting with my teaching pro, and was keen to try THe Rocketbladez Tour and the JPX 825 Pro.
The guy that did the fitting was the manager of the facility and really knew his stuff. After watching me warm up (and hit the obligatory socket rocket under pressure) the first thing we did was talk about my game, my gear, what I wanted to achieve from the fitting and my game going forward and the monitor and numbers so I could understand the data. I started by hitting my six iron and to be honest the numbers were a little down on what I thought but I was really nervous and perhaps didn't put my best swings on but as I got through the batch of ten the numbers and direction improved.
First up was the I20. Using the Ping fitting chart and an impact board he gave me a green dot (2.25 upright). The numbers were up but not earth shattering. We went onto the TM and to be honest I had a real moment and hit a couple of pipes. The great thing about the fitting and the guy was there was no pressure. He suggested a 5 minute break, go out onto the range and just hit a few balls without worrying about the launch monitor to get the tempo back. The good ones weren't anything excited and if I'm honest I was underwhelmed by the Rocketbladez tour.
He wanted me to try a few other clubs and knowing I wanted a smaller head gave me the Mizuno JPX 825 Pro. What a lovely looking club and the feeling off the face with a forged face was sublime. However the distance I got and the flight wasn't what I wanted. That left the G25. I had already been recommended these by my pro. We went with the stock regular. I have to say these were awesome. The Ping 7 iron went as far as my best struck 6 iron. Smash factor up around 1.31 and club speed at 82 average. I had really wanted another model to give it a run for its money but for the second fit running the G25 won by a mile
I was going through the bag. I thought my Burner's were a matching set but the driver shaft was as wobbly as cooked spaghetti, the 3 wood was stiff and the 5 wood was also whippy. No wonder I have been struggling especially with the big dog. G25, stock shaft 10.5 degrees but closed to 10. Blew me away. Quick and easy and the fairway woods and hybrid all fell into place. Each gave me more distance, tighter dispersion, especially the driver and a better flight.
We looked at my wedges. The TM I have were actually too upright and I was coming in toe first and the face was too sharp which explained why I only take shallow divots with most irons and then big ones with the wedges. Also there really wasn't enough bounce on the 58 to be functional for bunkers. We went for a 52 with 10 degrees in the tour wedge (gorge grooves) and a 58 with a slightly wider sole to help around the green and out of sounds.
I was there for 3 1/2 hours. It was a really interesting session and I learned a few things about my swing and my gear. He has a great eye for detail and can spot swing flaws in an instant. The cost should have been £120 for the fitting but he only charged me £90. I got a good price too on the clubs and came away very happy.
So officially I have gone to the dark side and Ping. Sometimes you just have to accept that what you want and what you can handle aren't the same thing and two independent pros have come up with the same answer. G25's may not win any beauty contests but hopefully they'll be easier for me to hit, more consistent and I might get a precious few yards. Certainly in the woods I'll have no excuses now.
The facility http://www.pacheshamgolf.co.uk/ has a fantastic short game area and given the fact the short game is giving me grief I am going to book a couple of lessons and take advantage of their great short game set up. The clubs should take 5-7 days to be fitted and delivered and they then do a 30 minute hand over session to make sure you are happy with everything and are hitting it as well as possible.
All in all I am a very happy man and if you want to go for a fitting in the Surrey area this is worth looking at. Ask for a guy called Andrea Timms and he'll see you right. I can also recommend the sausage and onion baguette.
The guy that did the fitting was the manager of the facility and really knew his stuff. After watching me warm up (and hit the obligatory socket rocket under pressure) the first thing we did was talk about my game, my gear, what I wanted to achieve from the fitting and my game going forward and the monitor and numbers so I could understand the data. I started by hitting my six iron and to be honest the numbers were a little down on what I thought but I was really nervous and perhaps didn't put my best swings on but as I got through the batch of ten the numbers and direction improved.
First up was the I20. Using the Ping fitting chart and an impact board he gave me a green dot (2.25 upright). The numbers were up but not earth shattering. We went onto the TM and to be honest I had a real moment and hit a couple of pipes. The great thing about the fitting and the guy was there was no pressure. He suggested a 5 minute break, go out onto the range and just hit a few balls without worrying about the launch monitor to get the tempo back. The good ones weren't anything excited and if I'm honest I was underwhelmed by the Rocketbladez tour.
He wanted me to try a few other clubs and knowing I wanted a smaller head gave me the Mizuno JPX 825 Pro. What a lovely looking club and the feeling off the face with a forged face was sublime. However the distance I got and the flight wasn't what I wanted. That left the G25. I had already been recommended these by my pro. We went with the stock regular. I have to say these were awesome. The Ping 7 iron went as far as my best struck 6 iron. Smash factor up around 1.31 and club speed at 82 average. I had really wanted another model to give it a run for its money but for the second fit running the G25 won by a mile
I was going through the bag. I thought my Burner's were a matching set but the driver shaft was as wobbly as cooked spaghetti, the 3 wood was stiff and the 5 wood was also whippy. No wonder I have been struggling especially with the big dog. G25, stock shaft 10.5 degrees but closed to 10. Blew me away. Quick and easy and the fairway woods and hybrid all fell into place. Each gave me more distance, tighter dispersion, especially the driver and a better flight.
We looked at my wedges. The TM I have were actually too upright and I was coming in toe first and the face was too sharp which explained why I only take shallow divots with most irons and then big ones with the wedges. Also there really wasn't enough bounce on the 58 to be functional for bunkers. We went for a 52 with 10 degrees in the tour wedge (gorge grooves) and a 58 with a slightly wider sole to help around the green and out of sounds.
I was there for 3 1/2 hours. It was a really interesting session and I learned a few things about my swing and my gear. He has a great eye for detail and can spot swing flaws in an instant. The cost should have been £120 for the fitting but he only charged me £90. I got a good price too on the clubs and came away very happy.
So officially I have gone to the dark side and Ping. Sometimes you just have to accept that what you want and what you can handle aren't the same thing and two independent pros have come up with the same answer. G25's may not win any beauty contests but hopefully they'll be easier for me to hit, more consistent and I might get a precious few yards. Certainly in the woods I'll have no excuses now.
The facility http://www.pacheshamgolf.co.uk/ has a fantastic short game area and given the fact the short game is giving me grief I am going to book a couple of lessons and take advantage of their great short game set up. The clubs should take 5-7 days to be fitted and delivered and they then do a 30 minute hand over session to make sure you are happy with everything and are hitting it as well as possible.
All in all I am a very happy man and if you want to go for a fitting in the Surrey area this is worth looking at. Ask for a guy called Andrea Timms and he'll see you right. I can also recommend the sausage and onion baguette.
