I went through six full-bag fittings to find my perfect set. Here's why I changed some key clubs so I can finally lower my handicap to scratch.
Adam Christensen/GOLF and Wadeh Maroun
Welcome to Fully Fit 2026, GOLF’s new platform for providing you with real-golfer insights into what 2026 gear might be best suited for your game. To this end, we assembled six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and ran them through the gauntlet of six full-bag fittings (driver to putter!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, Calif. Our hope: that you might see shades of your own game in one of our panelists’ and take some learnings and inspiration from their fitting experiences. In this installment (below), Fairway Jockey President Wadeh Maroun runs you through his new bag. You may browse our other panelists’ 2026 dream bags here:
Panelist: Wadeh Maroun Role at GOLF/Fairway Jockey: President, Fairway Jockey Age: 43 Handicap: 2 Favorite non-golf hobby: Whatever my wife tells me to do
About my game
I fell in love with the game when I moved to Arizona in 2013. After being crap for four years, it finally started to click. Improvements and lower scores started to flow like champagne at the club. However, in 2023, I started noticing that I was stuck in the high 70s and low 80s and needed to make a change. That is when I truly started to learn the game of golf — things like course management and how to practice with a purpose. In that two-to-three year window, and with the help of some amazing humans (you know who you are), I got down to a 2 handicap. Now? I’m searching for scratch…
How can I explain my game? I am a creative thinker and like to get around the course in the same way. My ideal flight is a tight draw. I like to hit up on the ball and have a tennis background, which makes me fairly wristy. I love to play bump-and-run shots around the greens because it is easier for my brain to comprehend visually.
My biggest areas of opportunity are putting and distance wedge shots. When it comes to my swing mechanics, early extension is my biggest enemy.
My golf goals for 2026
This is the easiest question for me to answer: I WANT TO BE A TRUE SCRATCH GOLFER! That’s it.
My bag before Fully Fit 2026
Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Driver: Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond TD (UST Linq Power Core White 6 S) Mini Driver: TaylorMade Burner Mini (Linq Power Core Red 6 x) Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW 2021 19˚ (UST Linq Power Core Red 7-X) Utility Iron*: TaylorMade PUDI “Bomber” 2-iron (Graphite design Tour AD-VF 95-S) Irons: Srixon ZXi5 & ZXi7 combo (4-PW) (KBS $-Taper 120 S) Wedges: Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack (50, 54, 58) (True Temper Dynamic Gold S300) Putter: Ping PLD Milled Piper custom *Utility iron goes in for UW based on course/conditions
What I learned from 6 fittings in 9 days!
My body can handle a lot of golf swings. I have been around fittings and golf for a while now, and understanding how to be fit is just as big an art as knowing how to fit. Going into this, I have always been an MB/CB player, but I have noticed recently that at my age and what I want out of my swing, I was losing strokes due to having a north and south dispersion issue, meaning I was losing too much distance on my misses.
Working with all the great fitters at all of the OEMs, I made the decision that it was time to move into something that was a little more forgiving. This allows me to play tempo golf vs. swing hard golf. I know what you are thinking, “But Wadeh, isn’t this a shot to your ego?” To that I say, “Yes, but I would prefer to take shots off the scorecard. F— my ego.”
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My Fully Fit 2026 dream bag
Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Driver: Cobra OPTM-LS (Fujikura Ventus TR Red TR 6-S) Mini Driver: Cobra King Tec Mini (Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6-X) Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW 2021 19˚ (Fujikura Ventus Red 7-X) Utility Iron*: Srixon ZXiU 2-iron (Graphite Design Tour AD-VF 95-S) Irons: Titleist U505 (4i), TaylorMade P790 (5), P770 (6-P) (KBS $-Taper 120 S) Wedges: Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack 50, 54 and 58 (True Temper Dynamic Gold S300) Putter: Ping PLD Milled Piper custom *Utility iron goes in for UW based on course/conditions
Keep scrolling for details on every club.
The 1 club I can’t live without
I was introduced to the Callaway utility-wood concept nearly three years ago, with the OG. At the time, I was searching for a club that could fill that 240-yard gap in my bag. I tried 5-woods, I tried hybrids and when none of these worked, I fell to my knees screaming at the golf gods, “WHY IS THIS SO HARD??? JUST GIVE ME THE PERFECT BLEND OF 5-WOOD AND HYBRID PLEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSEEE.” That is when I was gifted a UW, and since that day three years ago, nothing can beat the UW. That thing is so DUMB in the best way. It’s perfect.
Now to the rest of my bag!
Golf ball
Titleist 2025 Pro V1
Titleist Pro V1 Golf Balls
The Greatest Combination of Speed, Spin and Feel
Pro V1 golf balls are the optimal premium performance choice for most players and the most played model in golf.
Why Play Pro V1?
Pro V1 is recommended to players who are looking for mid-trajectory flight, very low long game spin and maximum short game spin, with softer feel.
Comparison to Pro V1x
Due to its unique dimple pattern, Pro V1 has a lower flight than Pro V1x. A softer gradient core produces a softer feel and slightly less spin than Pro V1x.
Why it’s in my bag: I mean, it’s a Pro V1. Self-explanatory. It’s like London gold. But in all seriousness, it is the perfect ball for me. Distance off the tee, spin and feel around the greens. I am a high-launch, high-spin player, and the other major balls were either too much spin or not enough for the window I am looking for.
Why it’s in my bag: When working with Perry Dickey out in Carlsbad, the big thing I was looking for was removing the right miss. My miss with driver was to set up for a draw and push fade, but because I was already set up to the right, the push fade over-exaggerates on the course. After a couple of swings and some adjustments, Perry had this thing dialed and performing. It is fast and straight.
1 key data point: Ball speed! Getting to 165 is a lot for me, and it is getting there with ease.
Mini Driver
Wadeh Maroun
Head: Cobra King Tec Mini Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6-X Loft: 13.5˚ Future Fit 33 Setting: G4 Front weight: 12g Back weight: 2g Length: 43.75” Tipping: .5” Swingweight: D0
Why it’s in my bag: I have been using a mini driver instead of a 3-wood for two years. Both of those years, I was exclusively using the TaylorMade Burner Mini. You could not pay to get it out of my bag. The Cobra is the first to rival it and honestly compete in numbers and performance. Looks-wise, they are very similar, and they use the same weighting system, front and back. The extra pop and ball speed is why I am moving into the Cobra.
1 key data point: Ball speed was up consistently with the Cobra King Tec.
The Apex UW is designed for serious, avid golfers seeking the perfect blend of a fairway wood’s power and a hybrid’s versatility. Engineered with Tour feedback and loaded with performance technologies, it delivers a higher, more neutral ball flight with the control all players demand.
TUNGSTEN SPEED WAVE
A dynamic, 41g+ tungsten wave structure positions mass low and forward, enhancing ball speed and launch—particularly on low-face strikes where players tend to lose distance.
STEP SOLE DESIGN
A redesigned sole with a stepped geometry reduces turf interaction, helping to maintain swing speed through impact and promoting more consistent contact across different lies.
TRIAXIAL CARBON CROWN
The lightweight carbon construction allows for strategic weight redistribution, creating a more forgiving clubhead while refining launch and spin for greater shot-making control.
TOUR-INSPIRED SHAPING
Designed with input from the world’s best, the compact, refined shape and neutral face angle inspire confidence at address and deliver workability from tee to turf.
Why it’s in my bag: This has been in my bag for three years now, and it is my most trusted club in there. I use it for 240-yard distances, mostly hitting into greens on par 5s. The new 2025 UW is great. I just have so much confidence in this club; I didn’t feel the need to make a switch.
1 key data point: The north and south dispersion is so tight that a fitter from a different OEM, who will not be named, said, “If anyone tries to tell you they can beat this club, they are lying to you.”
Why it’s in my bag: Living in Arizona, you play a lot of desert golf, which usually means tight and hard fairways. I have this in my bag for when I am playing tight courses where I need 240+ off the tee and I know it is going to go straight. I do not use this a lot as it’s very much the “15th” club and used on a course-by-course basis.
1 key data point: Ball speed was the highest out of any of the driving irons I hit. I also love the mirror on the back, which removes the bulk through an optical illusion.
*Utility iron goes in for UW based on course/conditions
Irons
Wadeh Maroun
Set composition: Titleist U505 (4i), TaylorMade P790 (5i), P770 (6-P) Shafts: KBS $Taper 120 S Length: Standard (37″ 7-iron) Lie: 1˚ flat (61.5˚ 7-iron lie) Loft progression: 22/22/27/31/35/39/43
TaylorMade P770 Custom Irons
SOLID FORGED FEEL
Improved for a more solid feel like never before. The 2024 P•770 has been strategically tuned using a player’s forged construction and modal analysis to create a notable improvement and the best feeling P•770 to date.
MODERN PLAYERS IRON
TaylorMade’s FLTD CG™ coupled with precision milled face and grooves, deliver the launch and spin modern players demand. Designed with forgiving, high launching long irons and lower launching, high spinning scoring irons for accuracy and control.
CONSISTENCY
Consistent ball striking and accurate shot making from a forged iron construction designed with meticulous mass optimization and an updated tungsten weight design for more forgiving long irons.
REFINED SHAPING
Refined shaping for a cleaner look and improved turf interaction. The 2024 P•770 has a thinner topline visual balanced with a confidence inspiring, compact head shape. A newly modified leading edge design helps deliver consistent shot making and crisp turf interaction.
Why they’re in my bag: The journey to more forgiveness and less doubt led me to these beautiful irons. Everything about these takes all the guesswork out. In the couple of rounds I have played with them, I can feel the strokes coming down.
1 key data point: North and south dispersion only had a 3-yard standard deviation.
Wedges
Wadeh Maroun
Heads: Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack Lofts/grinds: 50-Mid, 54-Mid, 58-Low Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 Length: -0.5” (34.5” on 58-degree) Lie: Standard (64˚ on 58-degree)
Cleveland RTZ Custom Wedge
All-new RTZ Wedges are made with Z-Alloy, a completely new steel formula that enables a zero-compromise design approach for incredible feel, better durability, and more consistency for our best performing tour Wedges yet. Plus, there’s an all-new ADAPT grind featuring full-face grooves, to give RTZ Wedges more versatility than ever before.
Z-Alloy
Z-Alloy is a brand-new steel with better feel. It’s softer, lighter, and remarkably durable. It gives RTZ Wedges superior feel, better forgiveness, and more consistency. On RTZ Tour Rack Wedges, Z-Alloy’s rust-resistant properties ensure longer-lasting, like-new performance.
HydraZip
HydraZip is a unique system of face blasts and laser-milled lines formulated to maximize spin performance under wet conditions. This technology is dynamically configured by loft groupings, which helps balance spin across lofts, while maximizing spin in adverse conditions.
ZipCore
This low-density core technology replaces heavier material in the heel and hosel area with a lightweight, low-density, vibration-dampening material. This proprietary core allows us to shift the Center of Gravity closer to where you strike the ball, while simultaneously adding MOI.
UltiZip
UltiZip’s sharper grooves cut through grass and debris at contact, while deeper grooves help make space for grass, sand, dirt, or water to clear the impact zone, giving RTZ Wedges stronger, more consistent spin from the fairway, rough, or bunker.
Why they’re in my bag: They look and feel amazing. I haven’t had a lot of time with them on course, but out of all the wedges I was able to test before making this decision, these felt the best. The spin around the greens and the ability to flight and play full wedges with confidence is why they are staying in the bag.
This mid-mallet, preferred design of FedExCup champ Viktor Hovland, is a face-balanced, straight-stroke-type model distinguished by a wide top rail and ball-width cavity created by its clean heel-and-toe ballasts. Now available in a Patina finish with a smooth face milling for firmer feel. This putter also comes with a limited edition black/orange headcover and grip.
Quality and precision
A solid block of forged, 303 stainless steel requires more than four hours of milling time; precisely shaping every surface and radius to achieve the high quality and premium look expected in a precision-milled putter.
Why it’s in my bag:Why it’s in my bag: I am on a journey to find THE ONE. I have had this PLD for just over a year now and as of right now it feels right to be in this putter (I think). I know that I like a mallet/mid mallet but I feel like I leave a lot of putts out there that I need to convert. This is one of the putters that I think can really get me there — I hope.
