Is a custom-fit driver right for you? Find out as our exclusive, season-long club fitting study tracks amateur golfers

In “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the classic novel by Roald Dahl and immortalized on the silver screen by Gene Wilder, five Golden Tickets were hidden in chocolate-bar wrappers. As we know, things didn’t go too well for a few of the lucky winners. Is there a Golden Ticket in golf equipment? For some people, it might be a free, full-bag fitting through Club Champion, the industry’s largest premium custom fitter. Turns out, a few Average Joes just redeemed theirs.

First, a little background. Golfweek is conducting an ongoing club fitting study. Earlier in the year, we selected applicants after they completed a thorough screening process. Last month, the participants experienced the free fitting sessions at Club Champion’s corporate headquarters in Willowbrook, IL. They each received a custom-fit driver, at no charge, built to their exact specs. Here’s the catch: They must play golf with the fitted clubs while we follow them throughout the season, and not just one-round-and-done. Playing several rounds with their current drivers and, subsequently, a similar number with the custom-fit club is a more objective examination. We’ll post updates on their journeys along the way. Which, in the name of science and data research, is why we’ve outfitted their existing sets with the Arccos Caddie shot-tracking system. Lightweight sensors that screw into the end of the grip will record every shot and provide access to stats, including average driving distance, fairways hit and strokes gained.

We’re excited to compare performance, with real golfers, between brand-new custom-fit drivers and ones that were custom-fit a few years ago or not at all.

A quick look at our living laboratory reveals that players range in age from 33 to 72 and their handicap indexes are +1.7 to 18.1. Several panelists are married and some have children (or grandchildren). Each participant lives in the greater Chicago area. Professionally, they work in insurance, legal, healthcare, and more. They share a passion for the game, desire to improve and recognize that fitting could play a role in the “pursuit of better.”

The top club brands are all represented by testers’ current driver models. Yet, only a couple of players were fit into a driver made by the same company as their existing one. “I was open to anything the fitter suggested. I’m not brand-loyal,” said Cully Johnson (Age: 42/Handicap index: +1.7), a national science lab employee who plays guitar in an indie rock band. “I just want what performs, and the clear winner was a company that I wasn’t thinking about beforehand.”

First-time fittee, Fred Steinbach (72/18.1), offered this take: “What a difference the custom-fit driver made in ball speed [increase of 3.6 mph] and total distance [22 yards].” Steinbach, who’s retired from a family-owned TV sales and service business and later the development director with a nonprofit, said, “The new club also allowed me to put a higher percentage in the fairway [while hitting into the simulator]. All good!”

Aaron Salo (44/13.2), whose most-recent fitting was in 2018, said, “It was very interesting to see in the data (and sometimes feel) how the different shafts affect ball flight.” Salo, an exec with a wine, beer and spirits company, added, “The best shaft for me produced playable, good results on swings that typically cause the ball to go way left with my current club.”

It’s worth pointing out that Club Champion’s driver fittings follow a methodical, data-driven process to maximize a golfer’s full-swing efficiency. The club fitter has each player try multiple shafts using one clubhead. Once they’ve determined the best-performing shaft, they’ll test various clubheads until the best one is selected. To determine if either combination improves performance, the fitter might also marry the best head with the second-best shaft or vice versa.

The point is that both higher and lower handicappers can see benefits. “Like many people, I was hoping for some miracle,” said Dale Ramsburg (51/2.7), a banking industry salesperson. “But as the fitter said beforehand, ‘As a 3-handicap, we probably won’t see drastically-different results. We’re just looking for modest improvement.’ That’s exactly what happened. With the custom-fit club, the [3-degrees] lower launch, [700 rpm] less spin and much lower flight equated to similar carry but 10 more yards of roll and total distance.”

Another fitting newbie, Phil Utterback (39/10.0), is a believer. “It’ll be virtually impossible to buy anything off the rack after seeing the difference in performance,” said Utterback, who works at an accounting firm. “The fitted driver straightened me out and I picked up some yardage as well.”

Without question, these Golden Ticket winners are off to a better start than the ones in Wonka’s chocolate factory.