Last Friday I was lucky enough to go through a tour fitting at the Titleist Manchester Lane facility. First let me say that this was one of the most awesome golf experinces I have had in 35 years of playing.
On arrivial I meet my fitter Troy Pullen, who was the consumate professional. After a quick discussion of my goals for the day we headed out to the range. After a quick warm up with my current set (714 AP2s, Dynamic Gold S300 1/2 inch long and 2* upright), Troy started making some recommendations about possible changes. As I was hitting he was already preparing his next choices. His perceptions of good shots was amazing. Not only did he base his choice on the trackman numbers, but the sound of the ball coming off the club head. On some of the shafts that did not work out, after two or three swings, he simply said I don't like the sound of the ball coming of the club. Lets try something else. After a couple of different shaft options, we settled on the KBS Tour stiff, standard length, lie and loft.
We then moved on to hybrids. My current club was the original TM rescue Mid TP 19* with a Matrix shaft. This club has been in my bag for years and I have never been able to find something that was better. UNTIL NOW!!! After going through numerous shaft combinations, I hit the 913 H with a UST V2 shaft 85 grams stiff. The first ball I hit with it, waived at my gammer as it passed the best ball I hit with it. I turned to Troy and simply had one word WOW. After ten more swings, I was completly sold.
The last part of our day was spent on wedges, which is the worst part of my game. I suffer from the chipping yips and was truly worried about having a wedge fitting. As we started, Troy could see I was nervous and took a few minutes to try and relax. He told me about some stories about some various players he has worked with and about his own game. We then started going through the various grinds of wedges, with full shots, half shots and chips. As we worked through all of the options, we settled on a 50* F grind, 54* S grind and 58* K grind.
As I said, this was an awesome experince and I learned a treamendous amount about my game and the clubs I use. I cant wait until my new clubs arrive which hopefully will be by the end of this week. I can't thank Troy enough and I have to thank Andy Dobson for helping me set it all up. When I am next in the market for any clubs, I will definatley be going back to Manchester Lane.
Tony