The post How to build an easy-to-hit beginner set of golf clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post How to build an easy-to-hit beginner set of golf clubs appeared first on Golf.

For beginner golfers, having a proper set of clubs from the start is one of the easiest ways to quickly see improvement, but with so many choices in the market, it can be a confusing process to put together a set. Whether you’re new to golf, getting back into it, or are looking to help someone else enjoy the game, consider this your quick start guide to putting together an easy-to-hit affordable set.   

If you want to make things really simple and extremely affordable there are a lot of great package sets on the market, but this guide is intended for those that are shopping piece by piece.  

Let’s get started

(This is a simple baseline for beginner golfers, and individual needs based on strength and swing speed will vary greatly)

One of the most important, yet overlooked aspects of putting together a beginner set of clubs is to make them easy to hit and have them inspire confidence when using them. This means lighter shafts and more loft — there is no quicker way to hook a new golfer than to watch them hit a solid shot that takes off down range.

Another element of instilling confidence is to eliminate the hardest to-hit clubs from the start including any fairway wood with less than 15° of loft, and any wedge over 56°. There is no need to start beginner golfers with more than 12 clubs.

What should be in the bag

Driver: Most people default to a fixed hosel driver for ease of use, but what’s better than having a mini club fitting tool in your bag? I suggest starting with a driver that has between 10-12 degrees of loft and using the hosel to your advantage to make the driver as easy to hit as possible: The ultimate guide to adjustable drivers.

Longest fairway wood: Notice how I didn’t say 3-wood? Much like the driver, I would suggest going with an adjustable hosel design and not starting with anything less than 17°-18° of loft in the standard setting. Since most golfers use the fairway wood a lot to advance the ball, the more loft the better when hitting shots from the fairway and the rough. I also highly suggest that most beginners don’t use a club longer than 42” in this part of the bag either.

Next Fairway wood / Hybrid: Look, long irons arent fun to hit even for seasoned golfers, which is why having a secondary fairway wood or a hybrid will make the game a lot more fun.

Fairway Woods

For the average beginner, the likely winner for this part of the bag is either a 7-wood around 21 degrees or a hybrid around 22 degrees. I default recommend the fairway wood because the longer shaft makes it easier to generate more speed to get the ball in the air.

Iron set: Go big or go home. When it comes to irons you want the biggest and most forgiving set of cavity back irons you can possibly buy. Cavity back irons have a lower center of gravity to help get the ball up into the air faster especially on thin shots — a common miss for golfers trying to lift the ball into the air.

Wedges: There are a lot of options when it comes to wedges and none of them are wrong, it just comes down to finding one that helps the most around the green. I suggest a sand wedge with 54°-56° as a great place to start, and just like with irons, a cavity back design is going to help.

It’s also worth considering is a chipper to help really simplify shots around the green. For all the diehards out there that say you should learn with “real clubs” — I say a chipper is a real club and can most importantly help people have more fun!

Ping ChipR

Check out Fairway Jockey for Ping’s ChipR.

Buy Now from Fairway Jockey

Putter: You want to get basics down as quickly as possible so try not to get too picky when it comes to a putter. If there is one that fits your eye for one reason or another go with it.

With that being said, if you have carte blanche I would highly suggest a 2-Ball style putter for easy alignment. Since these have been around for close to 20 years you can find lots of previous models that offer tremendous value.

Golf Balls: Look, you’re going to lose some golf balls so it’s best to start with a value-priced, low-compression two-piece ball. Also for whatever ball you are using, stick to them — this will help create consistency and build an understanding of feel which can be greatly altered by going back and forth between different balls.

Now get out there and play some golf!

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

The post How to build an easy-to-hit beginner set of golf clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 ways to hit the ball straighter than you do right now appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 ways to hit the ball straighter than you do right now appeared first on Golf.

I’ve seen enough draws turn into hooks, and fades turn into slices, during my career in teaching to know that I’d rather try to aim for a straight ball flight. It may not always turn out that way, but if you’re ok missing a little bit each way, aiming for straight is often your best bet. Here’s a few things that can help.

1. Match your grip to your body

The most important fundamental to producing a straight ball flight is a good grip. If your grip matches your unique body, your clubface will be square and eliminate most if not all curvature of your ball flight.

Grip the club so it’s in the fingers, not the palm, and so the hands fall naturally on the club when you let your arms hang down from your shoulders. You want the club secure in your hands and your wrists supple, but not squeezing so hard that you begin to lock up.

2. Check your ball position

Ball position is one of the most important fundamentals, and it does not get due respect. Your ball position can affect all your other fundamentals. I generally like to see a very neutral ball position when the ball is on the ground, where the ball is centered in the body for most clubs and the trail shoulder is slightly lower than the lead. If you ball position is too far forward your shoulders will tend to be open and produce pulls and slices. If your ball position is too far back, your shoulders tend to be closed producing pushes and hooks.

3. Aim correctly

Often golfers will hit a perfectly solid shot straight into trouble and not understand why. Often, they’ll think there’s a problem with their swing when, in reality, they were aimed in the wrong place.

Aiming can be a challenge because your clubface aims to the target while all the rest of your body aims parallel but not directly to the target, including your eye line. Using an alignment aid to help you learn to aim while you practice can be extremely helpful in training your eye what it looks like when you aim correctly.

4. Set your club

Setting your club on the ground, so it’s aiming at the correct place, sounds easier than it is.

You want your clubface pointing at the target, with the leading edge perpendicular to where you’re aiming. I always recommend using the markings on your grip to make sure you’re setting the club in the right spot.

5. Stay in balance

Nothing ruins a great swing faster than being off balance.

One of my favorite practice techniques is to take practice swings with your feet together. If you make unnecessary or inefficient motion you likely won’t be able to stay in balance and need to step to catch your balance.

6. Smooth tempo

An athletic golf swing will gather speed as it goes. It’s a smooth build up of speed; the feeling of even rhythm will help you avoid jerky or forced movements, and prevent one area of the body outracing the other. Keeping the sequence of your golf swing in-sync will help you hit straighter shots.

7. Find clubs that fit

The right clubs that fit you and maximize consistency and distance can make a world of difference, especially when it comes to hitting the ball straight. The lie angle of the club directly affects where the club face looks at impact — up to 10 yards for even the smallest misfitting clubs. If you want to hit the ball straight, you need clubs that fit.

8. Good pivot

As you swing through, you want to rotate so much, and transfer your weight fully to your front foot, so that your trail foot comes off the ground. When you don’t transfer your weight forward on your through-swing, your body will hang back and you’ll roll your hands, which will send the ball in every direction.

9. Body still when putting

Rolling your putts on-line is just as important as hitting the golf ball straight. The key to doing this is keeping your head and body still as you stroke.

A good general rule is to complete your stroke, pause for a second and then turn your head. While this can be difficult at first, it will result in a lot more putts that start on your intended line.

10. Hold your finish

Good golfers tend to be very good at holding their finish until the ball lands, besides the fact that it looks good and can help you to look like a golfer. If you have to step to catch yourself, it can be very difficult to hit the ball straight. If you haven’t pivoted off of your back foot, you would certainly have time to notice and correct it the moment you get to finish and take it to your next shot. I’m a big believer in good balance in your swing, and if you can hold your finish, that’s the best sign you can get.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. 

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The post Check out NFL star Kyler Murray’s mind-blowing golf gifts to his offensive linemen appeared first on Golf.

The post Check out NFL star Kyler Murray’s mind-blowing golf gifts to his offensive linemen appeared first on Golf.

In football, a quarterback’s offensive linemen are his only protection from defenders who are trained and ready to attack. Although the Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Kyler Murray, is especially evasive on foot, it’s best that he keeps his linemen happy and willing to put themselves on the line every play.

Every year since he’s been in the NFL, 24-year-old Murray has gone all out with Christmas gifts for his protectors. In 2020, he gifted each O-lineman a painting of themselves, and in 2019, he gave them personalized Phat Scooters.

For this year’s holiday season, Murray went with a golf theme for his linemen, providing gifts and an experience that any golfer would love.

The surprise, delivered Monday evening, included a full custom golf club fitting session at True Spec Golf in Scottsdale, Ariz.; ultra-custom Vessel staff bags; a True Spec Golf hat; a Black Quail shirt; a custom-made bottle of Cincoro Tequila; and a $4,000 budget to purchase the clubs each lineman got fit into. (True Spec is an affiliate of GOLF.com’s parent company, 8AM Golf.)

Check out the video here:

“I think I usually try to give the guys a good gift — something unique,” Murray told GOLF.com. “This year, being in Arizona, I think it’s fitting to do something around golf. Me and my mom kinda came up with the idea. I usually converse with my parents or close people around me about what they think would be good for those guys. That was something we came up with. And then from there it just took off.”

Upon entering the True Spec facility to receive their gifts and club fitting, the linemen were greeted with a row of custom golf bags made to look like NFL jerseys. Each bag was custom-made with the player’s last name and jersey number, and embroidered in a font and colorway to match their own Cardinals jerseys.

“I’ve never seen a golf bag like this before,” offensive lineman D.J. Humphries, an avid golfer, told GOLF.com. “It’s in [Murray’s] fashion though. He’s a pretty swaggy guy, so us getting bags like this, that’s in true fashion. He always takes care of us, but definitely at Christmas time… I posted an Instagram and already have DMs from other offensive linemen in the league jealous of our Christmas gift.”

From a golf club fitting perspective, offensive lineman come with a unique challenge, because, you know, they’re huge. Most of them stand around at 6-feet-5-inches or more and weigh in at 350-plus pounds; a golf club can seem quite small in relation.

Although there was a tequila tasting table and hip-hop music blasting through the speakers, True Spec fitters focused in on getting each player dialed in. As part of the normal fitting process, they concentrated on getting lie angle and grip size correct, while also making sure the clubheads and shaft flexes matched the swings of each lineman. The gift package is great and all, but the fitters were there to get them exactly what they needed to play better.

Gear

“I got put in some Miura 401 irons,” Humphries said. “They’re really fancy. I’m into all that. I also got a Titleist driver, and I was spanking it with great contact as soon as I tried it. I usually shank to the left or right, but with this one I had great lines. My fitter was helping me, twisting heads off and on, changing shafts and grips, all that.”

Between fittings, Murray, who admittedly doesn’t play golf yet himself, was taking on some of his linemen in cash games on the putting mat. Despite playing Santa for the evening, and his general lack of expertise in the sport, Murray was excited to get competitive.

“Anytime money is involved, I usually show up,” he said.

You’d expect nothing less from the 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, but let’s get back to the gifts. The fitted clubs and custom bags were probably enough, realistically, but the tequila bottles, shirts and hats put the Murray’s offering over the top.

Murray, as a former Oklahoma Sooner, got a hookup on the shirts from another former Sooner and current PGA Tour player, Abe Ancer. The shirts are made by Black Quail, which is a company that Ancer partly owns.

The tequila also came from another athlete, one who’s often regarded as the greatest of all time. Michael Jordan is a part owner and co-founder of the Cincoro Tequila company, and each custom bottle was engraved with a special note: “Appreciate the hard work this season. Let’s keep it going! –K1”

With gifts like these, it’s no wonder Murray has linemen willing to fight for him on every play. Now, to fight for the greatest gift of all: a Super Bowl ring.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2021? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below!

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The post Fully Equipped: PING’s Marty Jertson talks their new “Ballnamic” fitting system appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: PING’s Marty Jertson talks their new “Ballnamic” fitting system appeared first on Golf.

Marty Jertson, PING’s VP of Fitting and Performance, joins GOLF.com’s Andrew Tursky, to discuss their new “Ballnamic” fitting system.

The post Fully Equipped: PING’s Marty Jertson talks their new “Ballnamic” fitting system appeared first on Golf.

The post Why custom-built clubs will help you unleash your potential, according to an expert appeared first on Golf.

The post Why custom-built clubs will help you unleash your potential, according to an expert appeared first on Golf.

Nothing compares to that giddy Christmas-morning feeling when a new custom club or, even better, set of custom clubs arrives perfectly wrapped at your door. But while you’re likely to have spent some face-to-face time with your club-fitter, the folks who build these world-class weapons generally remain under the radar. To shed light on their contributions and why custom-building is more than worth the investment, we spoke to David McKee, build shop manager for leading custom-club builder Fairway Jockey.

Q: How did you reach your current position with Fairway Jockey?

David McKee: I graduated Arizona State University’s Professional Golf Management Program in 2008. I was a Class A PGA of America pro for a while, then took a job at a local custom clubmaker, where I worked for eight years before coming on board with Fairway Jockey when it moved operations to Scottsdale in 2017.

Q: You’re a builder, not a sales guy, but give us the elevator pitch for why serious players should be going to a custom builder such as Fairway Jockey for their next club or set of clubs.

Gear

DM: I like to compare the custom-club business to customizing a car. Sure, you can buy a car at the dealership, and they can do a few things to make it nicer. But if you want top-end performance and true customization, you have to go to a place geared for that — one that can add computer chips and superchargers and all that.

Q: You oversee Fairway Jockey’s team of club builders. What do you look for when you’re hiring someone new?

DM: One of my favorite interview questions is, “If I give you this desk from Ikea, can you put it together?” Guys that are hesitant probably don’t have the manual dexterity or the skill set. Someone who never built a golf club but has been a carpenter or a mechanic, he’s got the skills within his hands. Still, there’s always a training process. I don’t let any new guys touch customers’ equipment until I’ve seen them fall and get back up and figure it out. Training can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to three months depending on their knowledge and skills. It takes time to learn our processes and systems, as well as OEM specs.

Q: What’s among the more difficult tasks that club builders face?

DM: Marrying up different companies’ specs. If we’re building a full set of Callaways, that’s pretty standard. But if I have, say, Callaway irons and Titleist wedges — a brand-agnostic set — their builds are different. Marrying up head weights and specs can be tricky. If we have a clubhead that’s too heavy, we might have to drill some weight out of the hosel. If we have a head that’s too light, we may need to reach out to the manufacturer to send us a different head. There’s a lot of give and take when you’re building a brand-agnostic set, because in the end it still needs to feel and perform like a unified set.

Q: What else can be challenging?

DM: OEMs are starting to play with the lengths throughout a set geared to higher handicappers. Years ago, you’d always have a ½-inch difference between clubs no matter what. They started to realize that using a little extra length in the longer irons might give those players more of a benefit. Player-development clubs these days have greater gapping in the longer irons, which flows back down to a ½-inch in the shorter irons. So, if you’re trying to make a blended set or a combo set, that can get tricky in terms of lofts, swingweights and various other things.

Gear

Q: You’ve built clubs for many Tour pros — are they your finickiest customers?

DM: Over the years, I’ve worked with several Tour players who are very specific as to feel. There was an LPGA pro who, when I handed her the club, she didn’t even have both hands on the grip before she said, “Nope, the grip’s too small.” I went back and added two wraps of tape. “Nope, grip’s too big.” There was an older pro who asked me to tip a shaft an eighth of an inch. I said, “You know, you’re probably not going to feel a difference with that.” He said, “Oh, I’ll feel it, trust me.” There are players who have that incredible level of feel.

Q: Amateurs must bring their own challenges.

DM: Nothing really surprises me anymore. Or maybe I should say that I’m not surprised that I get surprised every day. Some of the things people ask you to do, some of the garage stuff I’ve had to fix! One guy used to put yarn inside his driver to increase head weight. Another would put sand in the shaft to increase swingweight. All the guys who want to build a 50-inch driver, never mind that 48 inches is the maximum allowed. I could go on for days.

Then you have the guys who say, “If it’s not played on Tour, I’m not going to play it.” But after they go through a fitting and end up having something built that isn’t necessarily played on Tour, suddenly they’re playing the best golf of their lives. They open their mind and take advantage of our expertise.

Q: In the end, that expertise is one of Fairway Jockey’s strongest selling points, right?

DM: Yes, and also that you’re not limiting your possibilities. If I want to play my best, and I’m spending a fair amount of money to do so, why limit myself and what I’m able to achieve, or the things I have at my disposal? So, it’s also the variety of shafts and heads, the whole bespoke aspect of what we do.

Click or tap here to learn more about Fairway Jockey.

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The post 6 short game tips from the legend Roger Cleveland to improve your wedge play appeared first on Golf.

The post 6 short game tips from the legend Roger Cleveland to improve your wedge play appeared first on Golf.

Callaway Golf’s chief designer Roger Cleveland is a certified legend in the golf industry, and he’s one of the foremost authorities when it comes to wedge design and fitting. He’s worked with the game’s best players throughout the years including Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, and he’s been designing game-changing golf clubs for decades.

Basically, when Cleveland talks about the short game, it’s best to listen.

Recently, ahead of the launch of Callaway’s new Mack Daddy CB wedge, I was able to pick Cleveland’s brain about wedge play and wedge fitting. It was an absolute treat, and I even got a wedge lesson from him (more on that later). Below are six pieces of golden short game information that he shared with me that I think will also help your game.

1) Find the right grind for your swing

Whether you’re a professional golfer or new to the game, the sole of your wedge should match the way you hit the ball. As Cleveland explains, a shallow swing tends to match up with a narrow sole grind and lower bounce, while a steeper entry matches up better with a wider sole and more bounce.

How can you tell which group you’re in? Throw a few balls down in the fairway from about 30 yards or so and take aim at the pin. Did you take a divot or not? If you didn’t take a divot, or took a small divot, you’re probably a shallow swinger. If you took a healthy-sized divot, you’re probably steep.

Wedges

If you’re steep and don’t have the time or desire to improve your technique (hey, no judgments here), then absolutely find a wide sole wedge for more forgiveness. It will help reduce the amount of dig and make wedge shots a bit easer for you. If you want to shallow out your swing, however, Cleveland has some helpful advice below.

2) Don’t stop at the ball, slide through it

As Cleveland explains, the “big swing” should be different than your swing from 30-40 yards and in. With a full iron swing, Cleveland says you want to impact the ball first with forward shaft lean. On a pitch shot, however, he says your club should impact the ground first with the sole of the club and then slide through the ball.

Also, do not “stop” at impact!

“You can hit an inch behind the ball, that’s actually what you want to do,” Cleveland said. “You want to hit behind the ball and let it slide through the ball. Don’t stop! When you stop, you get more narrow. When you get more narrow, you kind of crunch down and get steeper. It’s all the things you don’t want in a pitch. You want to keep your width in a pitch and you want to keep your rotation in a pitch…one of the best thoughts that I have is you want to keep your width.”

When attempting to create more width in your short game shots, think about Jason Day or Steve Stricker. Cleveland says they are two of the best at creating width.

3) To shallow out your swing, try this drill

I myself struggle from getting too steep with my wedge shots and tend to dig the leading edge into the ground when I miss it. This can cause all sorts of problems such as chunks and bladed shots over the green. Not good. For people like me, Cleveland suggests this drill.

Simply slide your trail foot backwards about 1-1.5 feet, hit a few pitch shots and let your body react naturally. As I experienced, the stance forces you to get more shallow; if you’re too steep, you’ll lose your balance.

This is a great drill to feel what a shallow wedge technique is like. If you’re still getting steep and taking divots, try rotating your arms a bit more and “exposing the loft” to engage the bounce, suggests Cleveland. Basically, instead of shutting the face down, try to keep it more open; this will help you use the sole instead of the leading edge.

4) Find the right weight for you

If you don’t have the right tools in your bag, then improving your technique is going to be that much more difficult. For Cleveland, he says he often sees amateur golfers with wedges that aren’t the proper weight for them. For instance, ladies or juniors will have hand-me-down clubs that are too heavy, and it “looks like they’re chopping wood,” says Cleveland.

With wedges that are too heavy, it could cause the player to get too wristy and steep; as discussed previously, getting steep is often the cause of many problems.

A proper wedge fitting is the best way to find the right weight for you. If a fitter isn’t available nearby, try at least to find the same weight shaft for your wedges that you use in your irons, or even lighter, says Cleveland.

5) If it works, don’t stray too far from your gamer

Wedge fitting is great, but if you have a wedge that works already then don’t stray too far off course. Make sure the new wedge has a sole grind, bounce and loft that’s close to your old wedge. Cleveland says that he always asks to see the player’s current gamer wedge during a wedge fitting; if it works, then he wants to get close to that sole grind with the new wedge.

“You probably can’t go very far away from your gamer if it is truly working very well for you,” Cleveland says. “You can go 1 or 2 degrees max away from it, and usually that’s it.”

If you’re having any issues at all, however, or are simply curious to give something different a try, then by all means experiment. Remember, having an open mind when it comes to equipment isn’t such a bad thing.

6) High-lofted wedges aren’t for everyone

Most pro golfers these days use 60-degree wedges, or even higher, so most amateur golfers blindly follow suit. The problem is, as Cleveland says, that 60-degree wedges aren’t for everybody.

“It mostly goes to the person’s physical ability,” Cleveland says. “If they’re strong, I might want to look at a 60-degree wedge. If they’re a little older, or not so strong, then I might look at a 56- or 58-degree maximum. If the person is older, like me, I would say 56 should be your highest loft.”

If you tend to struggle with your lob wedge, don’t feel pressure to keep it in the bag. You only get 14 clubs to play with, so don’t waste a slot on a club that causes frustration and poor shots.

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The post In the market for custom-built clubs? Fairway Jockey provides a professional — and personal — touch appeared first on Golf.

The post In the market for custom-built clubs? Fairway Jockey provides a professional — and personal — touch appeared first on Golf.

There are a thousand variations of “two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world” expressions.

For golfers, one of the most common is “those who buy clubs off-the-rack, and those who get custom-tailored.” Plenty of players are content with stock, standard clubs, but more serious sticks demand, well, serious sticks that are truly made-to-measure.

Increasingly, that latter group is turning to Fairway Jockey, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based online boutique retailer of custom-club builds as well as aftermarket shafts and components. The company’s momentum in the past year has seen traffic to its site soar by 800 percent. Much of this growth can be attributed to the fact that Fairway Jockey, founded in 2017, is the only outfit of its kind where consumers can consult with a club-fitter before ordering, with all equipment still offered at MAP (minimum advertised pricing ) — that, and the fact that Fairway Jockey employs only master builders to piece together its bespoke clubs.

Fairway Jockey’s builders undergo rigorous training before they earn their wings and start work in the company’s state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot shop. Before being hired, they’ve met equipment companies’ manifold qualifications; they have built, and continue to build, clubs for elite Tour pros. Custom-building is their full-time job, not a side hustle.

The awareness of custom-fitting’s benefits has been on the rise for some time, as have sales of custom-fit clubs; lately, however, there has been a trend toward getting fit and then heading elsewhere to have the clubs actually built. This can be a wise move — after all, a racecar driver rarely makes the best mechanic, right? Just because someone can determine the specs for the perfect set doesn’t mean he or she is equipped to build them perfectly, too.

So, where to turn? Definitely not to tiny outfits that implore you to “CALL FOR PRICING!” These gray-market operators try to compete on cost by finagling discounts on services that aren’t up to snuff (or aren’t even performed despite their promises) done by underqualified builders and lacking rigorous quality control. Going to the manufacturers themselves to fulfill an order is an option but still carries potential pitfalls, never mind that, unlike Fairway Jockey, they generally stock only a limited variety of custom aftermarket shafts.

There’s a difference between assembly-line and personalized-craftsmanship business models. An OEM might build upward of a thousand sets a day, while Fairway Jockey might build 10. Instead of clubs being passed through many sets of hands, at Fairway Jockey there’s one person following your clubs throughout the day or several days of the process, from grip to clubhead.

As a result, in a Fairway Jockey build nothing ever gets lost in translation, nothing is assumed to have been done that maybe wasn’t, no technical specs fall through the cracks during a handoff from one task to the next. Impeccable attention to detail means super-tight tolerances, with precise swingweights, lofts and lies, so every club performs exactly as it was intended to.

That’s something every kind of golfer wants, and deserves.

Click or tap here to learn more about Fairway Jockey.

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The post Money Game: Inside the expensive world of custom clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post Money Game: Inside the expensive world of custom clubs appeared first on Golf.

For the better part of 20 years, I’ve been locked in a low-stakes, high-bragging match against Peter Grossman, whose desire to beat me knows no bounds.

We call it the Grossman-Sullivan Open, or G.S.O. for short, and as long as we’ve played it we’ve talked about creating a trophy. During the stay-at-home pandemic, with Peter and me isolated in different parts of Delray Beach, Fla., I dropped off a blade-style putter with “GSO Champion” lasered into the insert and our initials on each bumper.

Like our match, the putter is one of a kind. I had it made by National Custom Works, which uses 3D printing to create one-off putters: Every aspect of the G.S.O. putter was customized for Peter (even though I plan to win it back soon). 

The trend toward customized wedges, putters, even irons and woods has been growing for years. TaylorMade and Callaway have created custom shops to personalize and modify their clubs, while smaller producers have leveraged social media to become the golf equivalent of boutique winemakers: expensive, sought-after and elusive. 

Enthusiasm drives a business where price is no object. “In the last two years, our custom business has just about doubled,” says Brian Bazzel, VP of global product creation at TaylorMade. Its most popular customization is the Spider X putter, with billions of combinations of shaft, lie and color. It costs about 20 percent more than the off-the-rack version. 

Alas, customization takes as many forms as a golfer’s imagination and budget allow. These days, every serious player gets fit for clubs, but the truly obsessed pony up for sticks made by legendary craftsmen Don White, who built Jack Nicklaus’ irons at MacGregor, or Mike Taylor, who created Tiger Woods’ sticks at Nike.

White’s irons start at $400 a head and go up to $650 for muscleback blades that require him to grind a single head for seven hours. But that price is just for the head — not for the shaft, ferrule, grip or someone to build the club. 

“Right now, we make about 150 heads a month, at the most,” says Patrick Boyd, who cofounded National Custom Works with White. “It takes time.” 

Boyd says many aficionados start with “short sets” — five or six irons that can be gapped to cover different distances. 

Barry Doyle, who lives outside Denver, has several short sets gapped at 6 degrees, but also a four-club set at 10 degrees — 24, 34, 44, 54. His desire to play with fewer clubs arose out of a four-club match he played at Ballyneal years ago. “It dawned on me how creative you can be,” he says. “I could have 14 clubs or 4 clubs, and I’m going to shoot 81.”

Features

Jeff Halverson, a scratch golfer who owns an architectural consultancy in Flagstaff, Ariz., describes himself as “a degenerate golf junkie.” He has irons crafted by Don White, but he also has a rare set of blades made by Mike Taylor, the Tiger Woods whisperer whose new company, Artisan, is based in Fort Worth, Texas. After letting that slip, Halverson won’t say more. “The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club,” he jokes.

Taylor is more nonchalant about it. “I’ve made some irons for customers I have relationships with,” he says from his shop. “I’ve just asked people, Let’s not go post these things up there on the internet, because I’ll get 14 million emails that I don’t have a response for.”

Taylor’s wedges — which Patrick Reed used to win the Masters in 2018 — are not the subject of such secrecy. At $300 each (with the cost occasionally topping $400 for stamp-happy wedge geeks), they’re reasonably priced — at least given how much custom work goes into them. 

“We have golfers at our facility for two to three hours,” Taylor says of a typical wedge fitting. “We look at a lot of approach-shot scenarios. We’ve changed people’s games.”

Another niche of the wedge game is one-of-a-kind models. Anthony Taranto, one of Callaway’s master craftsmen, creates wildly designed wedges that get auctioned for charity. Some sets have fetched $5,000, says Dave Neville, senior director of brand management. “You’d be surprised how many people say, ‘I can’t wait to put them in play.’ ”

Putters are another obsession altogether. 

Halverson has an affinity for longneck putters, and has dozens of them. Al Vikmanis, the putter maker at National Custom Works, says that with 3D printing he was able to make Halverson the longest longneck in his collection and still keep the center of gravity where it should be. Vikmanis’s putters have gone for as much as $2,500, depending on their complexity.

Somewhat easier on the wallet are the sticks made in Callaway’s Odyssey division, which has a custom putter shop where players can tweak Sean Toulon’s designs. The cost is between $400 and $650. “These are for hardcore putter collectors who want something no one else has,” Neville says. 

Perhaps the most sought-after putter-maker since Scotty Cameron is Tyson Lamb, a 31-year-old scratch golfer from Plano, Texas, who is building a workshop in Plano that will double as a hangout. His handiwork collects anywhere from about $1,400 up to $5,000.

For a Lamb putter, everyone waits — even Wayne Gretzy, whose “Allendale flowneck” model took six months to build. 

The clubs are cool, but what’s especially priceless for custom-club aficionados is the access. “You’re one D.M. away from the person building the clubs,” says Halverson. “To listen to Mike Taylor talk about working with Tiger — it’s fun to be able to share in those stories.”

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The post 10 essential rules for getting a competitive junior golfer fit for clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 essential rules for getting a competitive junior golfer fit for clubs appeared first on Golf.

Young players can benefit from a clubfitting every bit as much as fully-grown golfers, perhaps even more so. But you’ll get way more out of the fitting if you know what factors to take into consideration. We asked Tim Briand, director of fitting and sales of True Spec (which, like GOLF.com, is operated by 8AM Golf), for his advice on how your up-and-comer can get the most out of his or her fitting.

1. GO THE WHOLE NINE YARDS TO START…

“The first time you get fit, you should get fitted for everything. The difference between a full-bag fitting and just an iron fitting is $150. For a junior, it can be less. There’s not a huge disparity between looking at everything in the bag and certain categories.”

2. …WHICH DOESN’T MEAN YOU’LL END UP WITH 14 NEW CLUBS

“A qualified, professional clubfitter is going to be honest with the client. If he believes everything needs to be replaced, that there are huge gains to be made in each category, he’ll tell you so. But if I only found a kid three yards of distance in irons and the consistency pattern wasn’t considerably tighter, I’d say, ‘I get it, these irons don’t fit that well, but even the best-fitting irons don’t move the needle that much. So, let’s focus on a different aspect of the bag.’”

Gear

3. TAKE THE COACH’S WORD AT FACE VALUE, AND THE KID’S WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

“A competitive junior may have a miss tendency, but it doesn’t tend to imprint on them psychologically. To kids, embarrassment is a huge deal. One specific, embarrassing shot can shade their perceptions. When I ask, ‘Is there a problem shot?’, kids will skew to something in competition with their peers that caused them embarrassment. That may be disconnected from their real patterns. Their coach knows the real patterns and issues.”

4. SIGNS IT’S TIME FOR A CLUB CHECK-UP

“I’d recommend that every growth spurt, have them come back in. Also, if a junior’s shots are getting wilder — if their dispersion pattern is growing — in conjunction with hitting the ball higher with more spin, that indicates the shaft flex is getting too weak. If they’re hitting lots of shots thin and hardly any fat, and mostly down toward the toe, that means the clubs are getting too short. Remember, as they’re getting better, they should be hitting it better. If their skill set is improving but their performance isn’t, it’s probably because their equipment doesn’t match their skill set. Let performance, and the ball flight, dictate when it’s time to revisit things, and the priorities.”

5. SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF…

“Be careful of colored grips — they look cool but they use paint. That makes them heavier, which in turn makes the club’s swingweight lighter — too light.”

6. …BUT NOT THE EGO STUFF

“Everyone knows that there’s a 14-club limit, but not everyone requires 14 clubs. The speed you create correlates to the number of clubs needed. There’s no reason to spend money just to lose another headcover, right?”

7. GO WITH AN ADJUSTABLE DRIVER

“Yes, adjustable drivers are a little more money than bonded ones, but it’s a way smarter purchase for a kid. You can re-shaft a bonded driver, but as the swing is evolving, you can’t adjust loft, face angle, anything. An adjustable driver has so much value to a junior, because it allows the instructor to tweak the club as swing changes are being made.”

8. TREAD LIGHTLY AROUND MUSCLEBACK BLADES

“As they reach high-school age, I’ve seen a lot of accomplished junior golfers gravitate toward more difficult-to-hit products, with the idea that it’s going to train them to be more precise. I’d shy away from stuff that’s very penalizing. As adults, we’re far more consistent on a day-to-day basis than kids. Their physical capabilities change so much in terms of growth, rest, stress, stuff that’s going on academically. Having something with at least a little bit of perimeter weighting is a good idea.”

9. PUTTER-FITTING IS CRUCIAL, SHORT-TERM

“The most effective club in the bag to fit is always the putter, because we’re going to use that around 30 times per round, while the next-most-used club is the driver at 14. It has the most bearing on the score, and we don’t have to consider nearly as many things on a putter as on a full-length club. Are we going to have to worry about the shaft flex changing on a putter? No. Length? Maybe, but that’s easy. Yes, putters have lots of design elements to consider, but it’s not like we have to worry about the player getting too strong for the club. Why juniors don’t get fitted for the putter is beyond me.”

10. PUTTER-FITTING IS CRUCIAL, LONG-TERM

“I work with Tour players and other elite players. I’ll ask them, ‘What’s the favorite putter you’ve ever owned?’ Almost always, they’ll go back to a putter they used as a junior. Then I put them on all this fancy equipment and start to evaluate things from a fitting standpoint, going through all the options. We end up finding a club that clearly performs best. When you look at its design elements, 90 percent of the time those elements mirror the one that they used as a kid. Why? With putting, even more than the full swing, we groove mechanical patterns to compensate for whatever club we’re using. So, if you used a specific putter as a junior for a long time, you’re engraining movement patterns, and when you switch that movement out to another one, those movement patterns no longer reconcile.”

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The post Golf ball fitting is more important than you think. Here’s what you need to know appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf ball fitting is more important than you think. Here’s what you need to know appeared first on Golf.

More than ever, golfers are embracing tailor-made sticks. Having a set of irons built to your exact specifications can save you shots on the course—and pad your wallet during the weekly money game. But what about the golf ball? Considering it’s the one piece of gear used to hit every shot, the ball should get the same custom treatment as your driver. These three suggestions can help identify the ideal one for your game.

1. Start small.

Tiger Woods commences ball testing by hitting delicate chips to see how they react on the green. Distance is important, but you should follow Tiger’s lead and put a premium on touch shots. Does the ball elevate your short game? Think about how much time you spend around the green. Enough said.

Balls

Tiger Woods and the golf ball that (almost) changed it all

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