How Custom are YOUR Clubs?
True custom-built golf clubs are not the same as the clubs you buy in golf stores.
About 2 weeks ago, Roy Nix – the founder of the Assn. of Golf Club Fitting Professionals (AGCP) – did a radio show to promote his new Kindle book "Cracker Jack Clubfitter." During the show, he mentioned that a full set of OEM irons is typically built in just a few minutes.
After listening to that, I wondered if that is in fact true, and confirmed this by talking with a number of other members of the AGCP – who in some cases have actually be in factories where clubs have been put together. To be conservative, let's say that a typical set of OEM irons is built in about 15 to maybe 30 minutes – from taking shafts and aligning them to be cut, to the time when the heads are epoxied onto the shafts.
Custom Club Fitters are just not that fast – thank goodness for golfers! I would say it typically takes me from 45 minutes to 1 hour from start to finish to build a golf club – in this case including the time it takes for me to grip the club.
What happens in that hour of time (for each club)? – a lot. Here is a typical summary – for a set of irons built with parallel-tip iron shafts:
1. From a custom club fitting, we identify the right club flex, golf shaft, club MOI/Swingweight, club lengths for the golfer. And typically we build a test club after the fitting to confirm the fitting results – and if not make final modifications to the test club.
2. From the test club (s) we know the specifications to use for building the final set of irons. We start out by measuring the lofts, lies, and weights of all of the iron heads. We adjust lofts and lies to be sure they are at the specs we desire for the set of clubs.
3. Not every parallel tip iron shaft – for example a particular "R" flex shaft – has the same butt flex and flex profile; tolerances are not perfect. Many of us AGCP fitters take the shafts we will use to build a set, and use a process called "Iron Flex Matching" that we learned from Keith Chatham (AGCP Master Club Fitter). This process allows us to deterimine which shaft will work best in which iron head – and sometimes which shafts should not be used in a set.
4. For every set of clubs you will need to add some weight to the head to achieve the proper club MOI/Swingweight based on the custom fitting results. We use a process called "Blueprinting" – initially developed by Dana Upshaw (AGCP Master Club Fitter) and taught to use by Keith Chatham again – to determine club total headweights needed so that all clubs can be built to Precise (not Close) MOI/Swingweight and Shaft Flex values.
5. Once we have the "blueprint" for the iron set, we do the final build – tip trimming the shafts to get to the right flex, and sometimes making small adjustments to head weight so that individual club MOI or swingweights are Precise.
6. We also make sure that all shafts are oriented in the FLO – Flat Line Oscillation – plane relative to the club target line. This also helps to optimize the performance of each individual golf club.
7. Finally after heads and shafts are epoxied together we shine ferrules, install grips on the clubs, and measure final club specifications to ensure that they are built to the specs desired. And when I say "install grips" this is not minor – getting the right size and type of grip for the player is important, and sometimes adjustments have to be made (adding build up tape to the shaft for example) to get the right grip size.
So – 15 to 30 minutes for a set of golf clubs (are they custom?) – or 1 hour per club for a set of clubs that match what you need to play your best golf. Which do YOU deserve?
Any Questions for the Custom Club Fitter? – we welcome all questions you might have related to custom club fitting and how it can help you play your best golf – and will provide answers to your questions promptly.
The Fit Is IT!!
Tony
