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The post Can AI fit our 2 biggest gear heads? | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

On this weeks episode of the Fully Equipped Podcast Johnny Wunder and I talked about using AI chat tools to help figure out what changes they may need to make to their bag.

Johnny started off the experiment asking Google Gemini what lengths he would build a set of TaylorMade irons to compared to his set of Cobra Irons. Gemini responded not with an answer, but with a question.

“What are you trying to accomplish?”

Johnny provided Gemini with a rough outline of what he was trying to accomplish, and then the AI went and pulled his WITB info from Johnny’s Fully Fit article.

“They literally pull the what’s in the bag from GOLF.com from the Fully Fit article.” Johnny said.

From there Gemini continued to ask for more information, and Johnny uploaded swing videos, Trackman fitting reports, and anecdotes of performance. Johnny asked for a tour-style build sheet PDF as it’s final form.

“Just so you know, according to your article you’re looking to mitigate a right miss, you’re working on your swing a bit, and according to your driver fitting video with Adrian Reitveld, I see that you’re looking to aim right and kinda pull it back which is a preferred way you like to hit your ball…”

Gemini added, “I see that you like a bit of offset so I have bent the lofts of the set to match the offset you like to see… I’m actually going to make these a half a degree flat, and add two wraps of tape to the bottom hand to slow face rotation… when you send this off to TaylorMade please ask them to pay special attention to the notes at the top”

Yes. The AI left TaylorMade’s tour build team notes, and asked them to make sure they paid attention. It then continued to dive into further content on the internet including the Battle at the Beach commentary that Johnny provided on the previous episode with Bryan Laroche. This helped Gemini give Johnny some advice on what they thought was already a really good fit with his Vokey set.

“Based on your previous tournament at Battle at the Beach at Hammock Beach, I am assuming the M grind was a little troublesome because of the back ribbon. Other wedge platforms that you could look at and travel with as a second wedge would be Vokey T, Callaway T, and Wedgeworks L.” Gemini stated.

It’s possible that Google Gemini now knows Johnny Wunder better than he knows himself.

We posted a small clip of this on Instagram and some commenters had some good points to make.

@summitgolfnashville mentioned that “the issue with Ai is that it requires truthful input”, which is a big problem for three types of sportsmen: fisherman, hunters and 15 handicaps.

They couldn’t be more correct. Uploading a Trackman report is one thing, but relying on the weekend warrior to input good data could be a problem. I’d also hate to see a world where golfers with bad input end up in fitting bays trying to argue with fitters about what Gemini told them. That’s a very dangerous recipe. There’s already enough “educated” golfers walking into fitting bays as it is. I can’t imagine what will happen once they think Gemini has sorted them out.

For more musings from me and Johnny, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post This is the endless potential of Cobra’s 3DP Iron program | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post This is the endless potential of Cobra’s 3DP Iron program | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Imagine being able to pick from the best features from all your favorite irons to make the perfect one for your game.

Take the offset from one set, the blade length from another and the topline thickness from a different one.

It sounds like a dream only available to Tour players, but it might be closer than you think for the average consumer.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-host Johnny Wunder and clubfitter Bryan LaRoche of BryanGolf discussed what a game-changer Cobra’s 3DP iron program could end up being.

Wunder explains that he landed on a set of Cobra 3DP Tours because Cobra Tour Rep Ben Schomin was able to customize a set for him.

“I was really close on a set of [TaylorMade P]770s, because 770 is another great iron for me, right?” Wunder said. “The only reason I didn’t pick the 770s is because I can’t make them with offset, right? I don’t want to bend them any stronger. I can’t build offset into those things.

Cobra 3DP Tour Custom Irons

The KING 3D Printed TOUR irons utilize 3D printing technology to unlock a new realm of performance. Their one of a kind design features the most forgiving blade shape on the market, delivering the forgiveness that aspirational players need, and the sleek looks and soft feel that better players desire. 3D PRINTED STEEL CONSTRUCTION Each iron is fully 3D printed from 316 stainless steel. 3D printing provides significant advantages over traditional methods of casting and forging, unlocking more design freedom and significant performance improvements. FORGIVING PLAYERS BLADE SHAPE 3D printing has unlocked new design possibilities, enabling COBRA engineers to create a compact blade shape with the mass properties (high MOI, low CG) of a game improvement iron without sacrificing looks and soft feel that better players demand. INTERNAL LATTICE STRUCTURE COBRA took a muscle-back blade shape (similar in size and shape to the KING TOUR iron), and transformed the inside of the blade into a complex internal lattice structure to reduce the weight of the club by 33%. That discretionary weight was repositioned to optimize feel, CG position, and MOI.

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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, Cobra

“But I’m getting the same performance out of the 3DP Tours. And all I said to Ben was like, ‘Can you make these with offset?’

“He’s like, ‘yeah, I have a set with offset.’ And literally handed me a set with offset.”

Wunder used to play the Callaway Apex TCB ’24 irons, which had short blade lengths and lots of offset. Schomin told him he could even have a set of 3DP Tours printed with the same look.

It probably won’t be long before a customer can order an iron with whatever shape characteristics they want.

Will that make a fitter like LaRoche’s job harder or easier?

“That would change everything. You never are gonna strike out on a set of irons with somebody,” LaRoche said. “You’re never gonna struggle to find what you need, performance wise, and pick all the look boxes.”

That future might be here before we know it!

For more from Wunder and LaRoche, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post This is the endless potential of Cobra’s 3DP Iron program | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why this driver does so well at popular fitting house | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why this driver does so well at popular fitting house | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Fitters have gotten two full months to work with this year’s crop of new drivers, and for this popular fitting house in Florida, there’s a clear winner so far.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-host Johnny Wunder asked fitter Bryan LaRoche of BryanGolf in Fleming Island, Fla., which driver has been doing the best so far.

His answer was pretty emphatic.

“The winner? Callaway, across the board though,” LaRoche said. “Yeah, I would say this is the first year in a while, not just with Callaway but with any company where legitimately every one of their drivers is fitting players and outperforming other drivers in a way.”

LaRoche went on to say that Callaway’s Quantum line isn’t just selling well because it’s the fastest. He made it clear that his fittings focus on what is going to help the golfer shoot lower scores, whether that be through improving speed, launch conditions or dispersion.

Callaway Quantum Max Custom Driver

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He said Callaway’s Quantum Max D, Triple Diamond and Triple Diamond Max have been his top three selling heads, but then mentioned how much he loves the Qauntum Max core model.

“The core model, which is their best, I think, core model as long as I’ve been fitting for the last 8, 9, 10 years,” LaRoche said. “So maybe Epic, the first Epic core model was pretty good.”

LaRoche also mentioned how well Cobra and TaylorMade’s drivers are selling this year.

The TaylorMade drivers are an interesting case study because with all the weight options in the head, it can take a little more time to unlock them, but for someone willing to give it that time, it usually ends up paying off.

For more from Wunder and LaRoche, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Why this driver does so well at popular fitting house | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Testing Tour Edge’s new Exotics drivers with Rocco Mediate | Tour Validated appeared first on Golf.

The post Testing Tour Edge’s new Exotics drivers with Rocco Mediate | Tour Validated appeared first on Golf.

“Underrated”, “overlooked”, “sleeper”, “ready for the primetime”…

Those are all terms you may have heard when it relates to Tour Edge Golf. However, for those who follow gear actively it’s no surprise that Tour Edge consistently tops the charts when it comes to bang for your buck performance and value.

If you follow PGA Tour Champions golf at all you would know that Tour Edge is extremely active in terms of clubs in play week in and week out. Players like Bernhard Langer, Scott McCarron, Duffy Waldorf, Tim Petrovic and Tom Lehman have all been Tour Edge users fairly consistently over the past decade.

In this new installment of Tour Validated, Rocco and I had a chance to test the Tour Edge Exotics Max and LS drivers and it goes without saying that we were both surprised (not shocked) and just how quality and efficient this new lineup really is.

Launched last October, the Exotics drivers have been quietly inching their way into any serious driver conversation based on overall performance and value vs. their much larger competitors. What Rocco and I learned more than anything during the video is that both the Max and LS not only perfectly live up to their marketing, but the user experience is a 10/10 in terms of consistency, look, feel and dispersion down range.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from our Tour Validation test:

3 biggest takeaways from Tour Edge Exotics driver testing

1. Consistent launch and spin windows

Rocco hits one shot and one shot only, a draw. While that shot is optimal for extra distance, it’s also a shot that can lead players down a tricky path in terms of spin retention. If a draw isn’t spinning in a consistent window (2300-2700 RPMs) it makes reliability a fleeting endeavor.

In this particular session Rocco saw a 1 to 1 relationship with launch and spin from model to model. The Max model launched at 14-15 degrees at 2400-2800 RPMs while the LS launched at 14-15 degrees with 2100-2400 RPMs of spin and wouldn’t curve as much. That’s exactly the feedback you would expect from a Max to an LS model.

2. It’s sneaky fast

Compared to his Ping gamer, both Exotics models were 1-2 MPH faster. The question most would ask is “why isn’t it in the bag then?” To put it simply, it’s not that simple at a Tour level. Especially with someone like Rocco who judges a driver on the way it draws vs. what the math/data tells him.

What we discovered in our test was that although the Tour Edge outperformed his gamer in a bunch of categories, it came down to Rocco’s non-negotiable “window” that it must fly out of which is about a degree and half lower than the Exotics. That was it. Keep in mind that this test isn’t a fitting, it’s a test, so we no doubt knew there was still value to be found.

3. This thing is just really fun to hit

That’s been the overarching feedback I’ve seen and heard on the Exotics lineup, the user experience via sound, feel and flight is just a bunch of fun.

“That thing sounds incredible” is something I heard a few times after the fact from Rocco. Sound has always been a mark of a great driver in his eyes, and it’s always the first acid test he will put any club through. He’s not your normal Tour player in terms of fitting which makes him quite a challenge when it comes time to getting him into a new club. His swing speed and ball speed have stayed within 2-3 MPH of each other for the past 30+ years. I would estimate at his fastest Rocco probably lived in the 155-160MPH neighborhood at the peak of his powers, and now in his 60s he lives in the low 150s.

The point is, because of his tight parameters for shape and the fact that there isn’t a world where a driver affords him 5-6MPH more ball speed (without sacrificing shape and spin), the Tour Edge Exotics Max was the first driver I have seen that was faster and on the razor’s edge of giving him all the other “have tos” he requires. Quite impressive actually. The other drivers we have tested with him may be faster, launch higher, etc., but the tradeoffs to give him those better numbers cost him too much in terms of what he needs to see on the course and under the gun.

There is lot to learn from how Rocco evaluates equipment. He’s not a data guy, he doesn’t really care about hitting it farther, and hitting it high has never been an issue. His priorities are simple, any club he considers has to fly out of a window that is just right of the center line and slowly drift back to the left. That’s it. Consistency and reliability are demanded in every possible situation. “If I do this, the ball has to do that” is something I’ve heard him say countless times.

What’s even cooler is he doesn’t look back at the numbers to confirm this either, he looks down range the whole time. “The ball in the air will tell me if a club is good for me”.

Gear

That’s how we should all be looking at our sticks at the end of the day, building a bag of trust vs. a bag of really fun launch numbers will always lead to better play. It seems counterintuitive these days based on fitting content, how we review equipment, etc., but Rocco is over 60 years old, not long by any metric and still competes week in and week out on the Champions Tour… eyeballing everything.

So how does that have anything to do with Tour Edge and their Exotics lineup? Simple. It passed his eyeball test on the first go around and mine based on the data. To put that into perspective, Rocco may play clubs he loves that won’t make any fitter jump for joy based on the numbers, but in this case it satisfied both. That’s saying a lot actually. For as fun as Rocco is he has a healthy stubbornness when it comes to his clubs. The Tour Edge Exotics broke through all of that.

Don’t sleep on these, we were both very curious after this video shoot was done… very curious.

Want to find the best woods for your game? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Testing Tour Edge’s new Exotics drivers with Rocco Mediate | Tour Validated appeared first on Golf.

The post WATCH: Inside a TaylorMade Qi4D driver fitting with Rory McIlroy’s fitter appeared first on Golf.

The post WATCH: Inside a TaylorMade Qi4D driver fitting with Rory McIlroy’s fitter appeared first on Golf.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Episode 1 of the TaylorMade Tour fitting experience with Adrian Rietveld, I would encourage you to watch it here. The video will give you an appreciation for the level of detail Tour fitters provide to ensure that any club they put in a player’s hands is done so strategically.

Like a world-class chess player, a great fitter (like Rietveld, who fits Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, among other stars) will make strategic moves to poke and prod a player into the right setup. It’s a craft that takes years to perfect and, no, it’s not a “who knows the data” contest — it’s a listening and watching contest. Great clubs help but I’ve seen the best fitters overcome shortcomings of certain products.

After our fitting (which you can watch in the video below), I asked Adrian to give me a synopsis of what he discovered fitting me for the first time. I left The Kingdom that day thinking the process went well but it was important to me to get an honest take from the man himself. It’s not often that a fitter will sit down and journal his thoughts after the fact so this was a unique opportunity to get in AD’s head.

I hope you learn a lot from what he wrote below — it’s insightful stuff.

Inside Johnny Wunder’s TaylorMade driver fitting

by Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Senior Manager PGA Tour

As a fitter, what I learned about Johnny is that he’s incredibly athletic but also seasoned in years with deeply ingrained habits. For that reason, I deliberately avoided anything overly technical or instructional during the fitting. My role was purely to optimize the equipment to match his exact physical characteristics, swing traits and swing tendencies — no more, no less. When giving instructional advice, I only went as far as tee height. 

I made a conscious point to take Johnny as far as possible away from his typical miss. This approach immediately settled him, removing any anxiety and helping him trust the club in his hands. Johnny’s standout strengths are his exceptional ability to generate speed and — perhaps even more impressively — his capacity to repeat his swing with an extraordinarily high level of accuracy and consistency. In all honesty, that’s a club fitter’s dream: You know precisely what you’re working with. His strengths in finding speed and repeatability allowed me to understand impact and club geometry so thoroughly that we could essentially eliminate his weaknesses before the fitting even began.

TaylorMade Qi4D Custom Driver

SHAPED FOR SPEED The re-engineered head profile increases ball speed thanks to improved aerodynamics developed through advanced simulations. FACE FOR DISTANCE 60x Carbon Twist Face™ is a technological cornerstone that provides weight savings, incredible ball speed and more consistency vs. a titanium face. ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE 4° loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight. TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket™ protects ball speed and reduces spin on low-face strikes. Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation of TaylorMade driver performance. Multi-Material Construction allows engineers to strategically place mass in areas of the head where it maximizes performance, speed, and stability.

$649.99 from Fairway Jockey

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To be honest, the fitting went better than I expected. Johnny is already a strong player using top-tier equipment, and he’s had plenty of high-level fittings in the past. The competitive side of me went in believing I could uncover some marginal gains, but I knew it would depend on identifying what truly mattered to him and steering those improvements in the right direction.

What exceeded my expectations was that every parameter in which I hoped to find even small edges ended up delivering exponential improvements. I could read it in his body language and see it in the ball flight early on. We achieved such strong results so quickly that I actually had extra time to further refine things and explore multiple viable options. That’s a fantastic feeling as a fitter: You have a fixed window, and normally you’re racing to maximize it just to reach the best possible outcome. In this case, I could use the full time not only to optimize but also to give Johnny genuine choices — building his ownership and confidence when he steps onto the course.

A few key achievements stand out. First, we completely eliminated his one-directional miss. From a scientific perspective, that effectively widens the fairway and creates a much larger margin for error. That reduction in directional variability builds confidence, which in turn unlocks more speed and overall performance.

Second, we didn’t reinvent the wheel. Johnny was already comfortable with certain club parameters — like grip, length and swing weight — so I kept those familiar elements intact and focused on subtler adjustments he wouldn’t necessarily notice visually, such as lie angle, face angle and center-of-gravity location. These tweaks delivered big results without disrupting his feel.

Third — and this had perhaps the most impact — I leveraged the technology in the TaylorMade Qi4D driver (often referred to in fittings as a standout in its class). The driver delivers exceptional spin-rate consistency across the entire face. This allowed me to confidently put more loft in his hands without the penalty of excessive spin.

Johnny historically has played extremely low-loft drivers because he’s spent years trying to manage and suppress spin. For the first time, spin deviation is no longer a concern — he can rely on the head’s performance to keep things tight and predictable. That product characteristic was a huge asset in this fitting; it gave me freedom to optimize so many other variables without fear, making the entire process exceptionally rewarding. In my view, this spin consistency is likely the primary reason Johnny will choose this driver over anything else he’s tested. The speed was an added bonus.

The Final Result:

TaylorMade QI4D (Core) 8 degrees
Weight: 2X 9g back, 2X 5g forward
FCT sleeve: Set to upright at 61-degree lie angle
Swing weight: D4
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black Velo+ 6X Tipped 5/8 @45.25 EOG
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58R 2 DBL Side

Swing speed avg: 110.2
Ball speed: 163.7 MPH
Launch: 11.3 degrees
Spin: 2396 RPM
Smash: 1.48 (BS/SS) on TrackMan

Johnny’s first real test will be at Hammock Beach, in Florida, this weekend for the annual Battle at The Beach, nothing like a tournament to put a new club(s) to the test.

Want to find the best driver for your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post WATCH: Inside a TaylorMade Qi4D driver fitting with Rory McIlroy’s fitter appeared first on Golf.

The post Why fitting for a 2026 driver is so crucial | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why fitting for a 2026 driver is so crucial | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

TaylorMade became the first major OEM to drop its 2026 driver line on Thursday, and the message was speed through proper fitting.

The standout of the Qi4D driver is the quad weighting system, which offers 128 possible combinations when you factor in the 12-setting FCT hosel, without even including the custom weight kit.

With so many options to dial in the Qi4D and other drivers coming out this year, it’s more important than ever to get fit. As co-host Johnny Wunder pointed out on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, it’s also important that OEMs properly educate fitters on how to fit these new drivers.

“OEM-specific fitting and how the OEMs are related to the independent fitters is more important today for this cycle than it’s ever been,” Wunder said. “I’ll say Cobra, I’ll say TaylorMade specifically, like you really got to know how to tune that thing, Calallway too.

TaylorMade Qi4D Custom Driver

SHAPED FOR SPEED The re-engineered head profile increases ball speed thanks to improved aerodynamics developed through advanced simulations. FACE FOR DISTANCE 60x Carbon Twist Face™ is a technological cornerstone that provides weight savings, incredible ball speed and more consistency vs. a titanium face. ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE 4° loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight. TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket™ protects ball speed and reduces spin on low-face strikes. Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation of TaylorMade driver performance. Multi-Material Construction allows engineers to strategically place mass in areas of the head where it maximizes performance, speed, and stability.

$649.99 from Fairway Jockey

View Product

ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, TaylorMade

“It’s going to be who the most clever deliverer of fitting information is to the masses. Because as good as everything is, what I will say is that your ability to unlock performance through the proper fit is more important now than it’s ever been.”

It’s not realistic for golfers to think that simply by going out and buying a new driver off the rack, they are suddenly going to gain another 50 yards. But what is possible is taking that driver and optimizing every aspect for that specific player to get some serious distance and dispersion gains.

All of the drivers out there have major fitting levers that can be adjusted by the consumer, but a well-trained and educated fitter can unlock them the best.

For more from Wunder and Morrow, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to find the best driver for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Why fitting for a 2026 driver is so crucial | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post What ‘loft jacking’ gets wrong about modern irons appeared first on Golf.

The post What ‘loft jacking’ gets wrong about modern irons appeared first on Golf.

Iron lofts have quietly become one of the most misunderstood topics in modern equipment, particularly in the game-improvement category. This is why finding the right lofted set of irons for your game can be a crucial part of a fitting.

Look back a few decades and the numbers tell the story. In the 1980s, a standard 7-iron sat around 35 to 36 degrees of loft. Today, many game-improvement and players-distance irons feature a 7-iron closer to 28 to 30 degrees, sometimes even stronger.

That shift has sparked plenty of debate. Is it simply a marketing tactic designed to make golfers feel like they are hitting the ball farther? Or is there a legitimate performance reason behind what some refer to as “loft jacking”?

The answer is a little of both. And once you understand how modern irons are designed and who they are designed for, the trend starts to make sense.

How modern iron design changed the equation

To understand why lofts have changed, you first need to understand how game-improvement irons have evolved.

Over the last two decades, R&D teams have gained the ability to manipulate center of gravity in ways that were not possible in the past. Multi-material construction, hollow bodies and dense materials like tungsten allow engineers to move mass lower and farther from the face.

That CG placement directly influences launch, spin and forgiveness.

When you look at the players these irons target, a few swing tendencies show up consistently. Many amateur golfers strike the ball thin, swing steeply or come across the ball with a path that creates excess launch and spin. Left unchecked, those tendencies lead to shots that balloon, lose speed and come up short.

The solution is to add mass where players tend to miss the ball most, usually low on the face, while reducing static loft to keep launch and spin in a playable window.

Stronger lofts are not there just to inflate distance numbers. They exist to offset the high-launch characteristics created by modern CG placement.

When strong lofts work against the player

That said, stronger lofts are not the right solution for everyone.

Gear

Take a mid- to high-handicap player with above-average clubhead speed, a steep attack angle and an inconsistent path. Pair that swing with a modern 6-iron that sits at 30 degrees of loft and features today’s low CG designs, and the result can actually be too much launch with spin numbers closer to a pitching wedge.

Lower loft is one of the most effective ways to reduce launch and spin, but only if the player needs it.Most golfers struggle to control dynamic loft at impact. That is where modern iron technology helps. The goal is not to turn players into tour pros. It is to make the game more playable and enjoyable.

Not every high handicapper needs less loft

This is where the conversation often gets oversimplified.

While many higher-handicap players create too much launch and spin, plenty struggle with the opposite problem. We see it daily during fittings.

A golfer comes in playing a game-improvement iron and launches the ball low with spin rates a couple thousand RPMs below ideal. Shots fall out of the air and run 20 yards or more past the green. That can stem from slower clubhead speed, a shallow attack angle or difficulty controlling loft at impact.

Gear

For that player, strong lofts can actively hurt performance.

This is why many manufacturers now offer high-launch versions of their game-improvement irons. Adding a few degrees of loft can dramatically improve peak height, carry distance and stopping power without sacrificing forgiveness.

Forgiveness is more than dispersion

When golfers talk about forgiveness, they usually focus on left and right dispersion. Hooks and slices are easier to spot, so they get the most attention.

Distance consistency matters just as much.

Having the proper loft throughout the set helps produce predictable carry numbers, tighter front-to-back dispersion and more confidence when attacking greens. Two golfers with the same handicap can require very different loft packages to achieve those results.

The bottom line

True Spec Golf Club Fitting

With 70,000+ clubhead and shaft combos, True Spec Golf will custom fit and build you a precise set of clubs.

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Loft is no less important than shaft, length or lie angle. Buying irons straight off the rack and assuming they will perform the same for you as they do for someone else is a gamble, especially given how wide the range of modern lofts has become.

This is where a proper fitting matters. Working with a fitter, like us at True Spec Golf, who understands how today’s technology interacts with your swing allows you to dial in launch, spin and distance instead of guessing.

The goal is not to chase distance. It is to build a set that produces repeatable numbers and helps you hit more greens. Sometimes that means stronger lofts. Other times, it means exactly the opposite.

Want to find the right irons for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post What ‘loft jacking’ gets wrong about modern irons appeared first on Golf.

The post This overlooked fitting variable can help (or hurt) your swing goals appeared first on Golf.

The post This overlooked fitting variable can help (or hurt) your swing goals appeared first on Golf.

Any good club fitting should begin with conversation.

Before a single club is pulled from the rack or a ball is struck, the fitter needs context. How has your golf been lately? How does your current equipment feel and perform? How often have you been playing, and how much do you expect to play going forward? What, if anything, are you actively working on in your swing?

Those questions are not filler. They help establish the session’s goals.

Of all the queries, one stands out as especially important: What are you trying to do with your swing right now?

Why swing intention matters in a fitting

In my role as a Master Fitter with True Spec Golf, I place a high priority on understanding a player’s swing intentions. Two delivery dynamics come up more than any others during these early conversations: club path and angle of attack.

Some golfers are happy with where those numbers live. Others are actively trying to change them. Either way, most players today have at least a working awareness of their path and angle of attack (AoA), and that awareness matters in a fitting environment.

If a player’s swing intentions are at odds with the lie angles of their clubs, good contact becomes difficult to achieve. As we all know, quality contact is the foundation of every good golf shot.

The most common case: Flattening an over-the-top move

The first scenario I see, and by far the most common, is the player fighting an over-the-top move in transition. For a variety of reasons, this golfer is likely receiving instruction aimed at flattening the swing plane and neutralizing their path. “Feel like you’re swinging to first base” is a familiar cue.

For this player, lie angle matters. A lot.

Club length considerations aside, I pay close attention to lie angles throughout the bag. This is not limited to irons and wedges. With today’s adjustable hosels, hybrids, fairway woods and even drivers should be evaluated as well.

If a player is working to flatten their swing and move their path more in-to-out, I do not want their equipment fighting that intention. Generally speaking, I am not going to put that player into anything more upright than standard. In most cases, I will go slightly flat.

There are two benefits here. First, flatter lie angles can encourage the desired motion from both a visual and feel standpoint. Second, as the player’s path moves closer to neutral, overly upright lie angles will no longer contribute to heel-side turf contact that leads to poor strikes and frustration.

The less common case: When a good draw goes too far

The second example shows up less often and is typically found among better players or those with higher clubhead speed.

This golfer already hits a draw, sometimes a strong one, but does not have the control they want. They are working to “swing left,” stabilize the clubface and produce a ball that starts left and curves right for the right-handed player.

Often, this player has used flat lie angles for years. As they change how they deliver the club, something shifts. Suddenly, the toe is interacting with the turf. Contact feels inconsistent, and ball flight suffers.

In this case, slightly more upright lie angles can help. They support the player’s new swing intention while also restoring centered contact.

True Spec Golf Club Fitting

With 70,000+ clubhead and shaft combos, True Spec Golf will custom fit and build you a precise set of clubs.

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Lie angle as a fitting tool, not just a spec

Lie angle should not be treated as a static measurement or a box to check during a fitting. It is a dynamic variable that needs to align with how a player delivers the club and how they intend to deliver it.

When lie angles are in tune with swing intentions, they support shot performance and improve strike quality. They can also serve as a subtle but effective tool in helping a player implement a swing change rather than fight against it.

That is why the conversation comes first. Before we talk numbers, we need to talk intent. Come into your local True Spec Golf today to have those conversations and build a set of clubs that matches your swing intentions.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post This overlooked fitting variable can help (or hurt) your swing goals appeared first on Golf.

The post Why the best club fittings start with asking the right questions appeared first on Golf.

The post Why the best club fittings start with asking the right questions appeared first on Golf.

Before setting off on any endeavor, it helps to define your goals. Club fitting is no different.

As a master fitter at True Spec Golf, one of the first questions I ask is simple: What would you like a new set of clubs to do that your current clubs do not? That answer helps establish a clear path for the fitting process and determines how your new set should be built.

Not surprisingly, the most common goals golfers mention are accuracy, distance and consistency. In a perfect world, a properly fit club delivers all three. In reality, there are often tradeoffs.

Distance vs. accuracy: choosing the right tradeoff

One driver might produce the most distance but struggle with dispersion. Another may be forgiving and consistent, but give up a few yards. Whether a club helps or hurts your game depends on what you need most.

Take the player with high swing speed who already carries it 300-plus but sprays it off the tee. For that golfer, sacrificing a few yards to improve accuracy can be a net gain. More fairways lead to better approach shots, which create more scoring opportunities.

Now consider the opposite player. Someone who hits it straight but lacks speed. If a driver can add 10 yards without sacrificing accuracy, that can mean a full club less into the green. Greens in regulation and proximity to the hole improve dramatically, even for amateurs, when approach shots are hit with shorter clubs and wedges.

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Solving real on-course problems

This is where fitting becomes less about launch monitor numbers and more about solving real problems on the course.

Imagine a tee shot at your home club that consistently gives you trouble. There is a perfectly placed bunker that you simply cannot carry. Every now and then you sneak one past it with rollout, but you struggle to launch the ball high enough to fly the hazard.

In that case, adding loft or switching to a lighter, softer-flex shaft with a different kick point can increase launch and spin. That extra height may be the difference between laying back and confidently carrying the bunker.

Finding the right clubs between driver and irons

One of my favorite parts of the bag to fit is the space between the driver and long irons. Fairway woods, hybrids and utility irons all live here, and proper yardage gapping is critical.

Maybe you need a reliable fairway finder when your driver goes sideways mid-round. Maybe you want a club that gives you a realistic chance to reach a par 5 in two. Confidence plays a major role in determining which option works best.

Why higher-lofted fairway woods are trending

Some players prefer the larger profile of a fairway wood, and the rise of mini drivers and higher-lofted fairway metals has opened new doors for golfers who struggle with drivers or low-lofted woods.

Gear

Clubs like 7-woods and 9-woods feature shorter shafts and more loft, making them easier to swing and easier to control. Spin equals control. In most cases, it is far easier to reduce launch and spin than it is to add it.

That is why higher-lofted fairway woods can be such effective solutions, especially for players with steeper swings who struggle to launch a traditional 3-wood.

Hybrids vs. utility irons: forgiveness matters

Hybrids tend to play closer to long irons than fairway woods, but with significantly more forgiveness. A great example is Fred Couples, who carries 4-, 5- and 6-hybrids, with his longest iron being a 7-iron. If one of the greatest ball strikers in recent history sees value in replacing long irons with hybrids, it is at least worth testing during a fitting. As good as long blade irons look in the bag, the results often tell a different story. Ego can be expensive.

Driving and utility irons are typically reserved for stronger ball strikers who prioritize control and workability. They allow players to flight the ball and shape shots, but offer the least forgiveness when compared to fairways and hybrids.

Matching iron types to performance goals

Iron fitting follows the same principle. Whether the goal is more distance, tighter dispersion or improved peak height and stopping power, different iron categories exist for a reason.

Game-improvement irons make it easier to launch the ball thanks to low centers of gravity and perimeter weighting. These design features increase MOI and help limit face twisting on off-center strikes.

Player’s-distance irons focus on added ball speed without sacrificing forgiveness. Manufacturers pack advanced materials, often dense tungsten, into more compact shapes that blend bag appeal with performance.

Players cavity-back irons offer a balance of forgiveness and workability, with thinner toplines and less offset than traditional game-improvement designs. Traditional blade irons deliver maximum control and spin but offer the least forgiveness and are best suited for elite ball strikers.

Building smarter iron sets with combos

Combo iron sets allow fitters to blend multiple iron categories into one cohesive set. Typically, that means more forgiveness in the long irons and more control in the scoring clubs, helping players maximize performance where it matters most.

Wedge fitting: where precision matters most

Wedge fitting requires more player input than any other part of the bag. Bounce, grind and loft choices depend heavily on swing type, turf interaction and course conditions.

Two key factors in wedge fitting are loft gapping and bounce variety. Proper gapping ensures consistent yardages and builds confidence on short approaches.

Bounce selection influences how the club interacts with the turf. Players who take deep divots often benefit from more bounce, while those who blade shots may need less. Carrying wedges with varying bounce profiles allows golfers to adapt to different lies, turf conditions and shot demands around the greens.

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Trust the process

Honest communication is the most important part of the fitting process. Whether the goal is squeezing out extra ball speed, tightening dispersion or gaining more control inside 100 yards, trusting an experienced fitter can turn weaknesses into strengths.

A master fitter at True Spec Golf is not just building clubs. They are helping you build a game that fits.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Why the best club fittings start with asking the right questions appeared first on Golf.

The post I tried this VIP putter fitting experience. Here’s how you can get it for free appeared first on Golf.

The post I tried this VIP putter fitting experience. Here’s how you can get it for free appeared first on Golf.

Six months later, my putting has improved leaps and bounds just from a putter fitting that opened my eyes to what types of putters I should actually be using.

And you can win the same VIP putter fitting experience I had at Bettinardi Golf for free right now.

For the entirety of this holiday season, Fairway Jockey is running a promotion where you can win a free, all-expenses-paid trip to Bettinardi’s Studio B fitting facility in Oak Brook, Ill., outside of Chicago, where you’ll get an elite custom putter fitting, your own handcrafted putter and a behind-the-scenes tour.

Between November 3 and December 29, you’ll receive one automatic entry into the giveaway, which will draw a total of four winners every two weeks. That means there are still a few chances to win this top-notch putter fitting experience. The four winners will be notified by phone or email and will receive the trip, which includes airfare and lodging. Trip coordination will begin in the first week of January, after the promotional period officially ends.

Putters

You can read more about my experience below, but I thought this would be a good time to revisit my putter fitting and how it’s helped me.

Since that fitting that saw me end up in a Bettinardi BB-28SB, a face-balanced blade putter I thought would never be a good fit, putting has gone from potentially one of the weakest parts of my game to a strength. I feared a left miss and now I can feel like I release the putter head freely and know it will start on my intended line.

As you’ll read below, Tom Sopic, Studio B’s lead hive concierge, put me through my paces hitting putts and found that the high-toe-flow putter I was using was causing me to put more hook spin on the ball than forward roll, which was causing my left miss.

Since then, I’ve felt like I’m making one or two — or more — 10+ putts a round, and I made it to the finals of my club championship. This summer was by far my best on the greens and can only lead to bigger things over the next few years as soon as I get the rest of my game in order.

Keep reading below for my experience, and be sure to enter Fairway Jockey’s Bettinardi VIP Fitting giveaway today!

I got fit for a putter at Bettinardi’s Studio B. The result shocked me

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on June 3.

As I’ve chronicled my own golf journey through gear, I’ve started to realize that I’ve fallen into some of the bad habits that we here at GOLF preach against.

Take my putting.

Not until I was fit for a putter at Bettinardi’s Studio B did I become aware of the putting stroke and putter I should be using.

Today, I’m in a putter type I could never have imagined using, but I felt and saw instant results with how easy it was to get the ball rolling end-over-end on my intended line.

For those who have been hesitant to get fit for a putter, this article is for you.

Some background on my putters

All my life, I have used a Ping Anser-style blade putter, which was the putter type that came in my first U.S. Kids’ Golf set. The first Scotty Cameron my dad cut down for me was a 2005 Studio Style Newport 2.5 with a GSS insert.

That putter has a flow neck and a ton of toe hang, which I always thought matched my stroke because I always thought about the putting stroke as an arc and opening the face going back was the easiest way to return it to square.

In 2010, the first golf club I ever bought myself was a 1999 Scotty Cameron Teryllium II Newport 2 for a $150 on eBay, and I had it refinished. This putter has a plumber’s neck, but I was going for feel and I didn’t know anything about putter fittings at the time.

Putters

I kept using that putter for 13 years before a newer Teryllium version came out, this time as a wide-body blade and a high-toe flow short slant neck. I still thought my stroke matched best with a lot of toe flow so I bagged one and never thought twice about it.

I did get fit for this putter but after I already had purchased it. I got fit to the putter, rather than finding a putter that was fit for me.

But, as these things tend to go, I was wrong!

My Bettinardi putter fitting

I was excited to go to Bettinardi’s Studio B in Oak Brook, Ill., just outside of Chicago; it would be my first putter fitting at which we’d start from scratch, and I was going in with a completely open mind.

From the moment we started rolling putts, I realized something was about to change.

“Does this green have a bit of a left break?” I asked, innocently, thinking I was hitting good putts.

“It actually has more of a right break, if anything,” said Tom Sopic, Studio B’s lead hive concierge and my fitter for the day.

Using a high-tech camera system in the fitting bay and Quintic putting analysis, Sopic uncovered a huge revelation about my putting stroke.

He didn’t even need to see the video to confirm it.

“Just watching you hit a couple of putts during your warm-up, I could see that it was more of a pendulum-style stroke,” he said. “The easiest way we saw it was that your takeaway when we came to the apex of your stroke, the pocket of your putter was dead straight behind the golf ball.”

On the video screen, Tom showed me that my putter face stays almost square for most of the stroke, as opposed to opening on the way back and closing on the way through as it would for an arc. Because the face naturally wants to close on the way through, it created a hitch in my putting stroke that would mostly cause me to strike the ball on the heel and pull it.

We could also see that my eyes were about 2 to 2.5 golf-ball widths inside the heel of the putter, which was because my putter was long (36″).

“A lot of times when people are fitting into toe hang putters, they recommend your eyes fall inside the heel, which we do as well,” Sopic said. “But that distance away from it, with you being a pendulum-style putter, is going to create a lot of exaggerated arc that isn’t there naturally.”

Gear

All of this was causing my golf ball to launch with almost as much side spin as forward roll. The Quintic analysis showed my forward spin at a 51 RPM average and the side spin at 45 RPM. Ideally, Sopic said, you want three times as much forward spin as side spin. It wasn’t consistent, either, because my highest side spin was up to 75 RPM of hook spin!

The result of my putter fitting

We stayed in a blade-style putter because, while I believe a mallet putter is more forgiving, I’ve never found one I like looking at. I’ve gone to wider-blades to give me more forgiveness and that seems to do the trick.

Our winning putter was three degrees flatter (67˚) than my gamer (as the toe of my putter was still coming in high), and a half inch shorter (35.5″), which brought my eyes right over the heel of the putter. To me, it really didn’t feel that much different, which was what Sopic was going for. My spine angle didn’t change when addressing the shorter putter.

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The real shock to me was the head and neck, which was a Bettinardi BB-28 Slot Back, a nearly face-balanced putter with a single-bend shaft. I had never used any putter without a hosel before.

Interestingly, the BB-28 has an identical offset (3/4ths of a shaft) to my previous gamer, which, despite the absence of a hosel, looked completely different; however, lining up to a putt felt almost the same. That’s no coincidence, Sopic said, because right-eye dominant players, like myself, who like to use sight lines on the flange to line up their putts, tend to also prefer less offset.

But the results on the Quintic were clear. With six putts, my forward rolls averaged 60 RPMs of forward spin and just 12 RPMs of sidespin, well above the 3-to-1 minimum ratio.

The cool part of the Studio B experience was that a new putter was built to my exact specs right there for me, and I was able to go out and play with it immediately that afternoon.

I won’t lie and say there wasn’t an adjustment period, especially considering I’ve been scared of pulling short putts for the better part of six months now, but by my third round with this putter (and even the back nine that day) it was clear that this putter fit me better than any other I’d had before.

What this putter fitting really tells us

We could go on and on about how this has really changed how I think about my putting, or how it’s going to improve my game, but the reality is simple:

You need to be fit for your putter, not to your putter! There’s a difference.

It also comes down to more than just specs. Different putter shapes, faces, necks, etc., all do different things. I could bend and cut my old putter to meet the same specs as this new one, and it still wouldn’t work as well because of the toe flow.

So my suggestion: Go get fit and then buy a putter; your scores will thank you later. It will cost you only about $100 to $150 ($100 at Bettinardi’s Studio B), which really isn’t that much when you’re already spending $400-$500 on a new putter. Think of it as an investment for all the money it will end up winning you on the greens!

A few notes on the giveaway: It is available to U.S. residents only. Ground transportation not included in prize. Spend threshold will be calculated using the subtotal after any discounts have been applied and prior to tax and shipping being applied. Items or orders returned and refunded will not count towards entry. All TaylorMade, Ping, Odyssey and Scotty Cameron products are excluded from the promotion and do not count toward purchase thresholds. However, product add-ons like as shafts, grips, and ferrules will count toward all purchase thresholds.

Ready to start earning some entries? Explore Fairway Jockey’s wide array of gear here — and click here for more information on the Bettinardi giveaway.

Want to find the best putter for your game? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post I tried this VIP putter fitting experience. Here’s how you can get it for free appeared first on Golf.