With the golf season in full swing, it’s time to update you on our year-long, custom-club-fitting research project. Previously, we outlined the parameters of the study. We require each participant to play multiple rounds with their current driver and the brand-new one that was custom-fit at Club Champion. The hook is that we’re following them each step of the way. More to the point, the Arccos Caddie shot-tracking system, which includes sensors on the clubs, is being used to gather valuable data on every on-course shot.
We’ll continue to collect data throughout the season, but early returns are positive. One player, Alex Caron (Age: 37/Handicap index: 10.0), has tallied 5.5 rounds with his old gamer and 9.5 rounds with the new, custom-fit one. Caron, a lawyer who specializes in class action litigation, antitrust cases, etc., bought his current driver after a 10-minute fitting on the range with a club company rep.
During the initial fitting for the new driver at Club Champion, Caron learned that his gamer was in the “optimal” zone for several baseline readings. “I thought we’d have our work cut out to beat it,” said Jimmy Leuck, a Master Club Fitter and Builder at Club Champion. Beat it, they did, with the newest model from the same club brand that Caron had been playing. During the fitting, Leuck used the TrackMan launch monitor to compile comparative numbers for several head-and-shaft combinations. For further verification, he powered up the monitor on the day Caron picked up his new custom-fit driver (below).
From the numbers above, it’s clear the new club delivers indoors on the simulator. But, how would it fare on the golf course in real-game conditions? In a word, fantastically. “I’m loving the driver. It’s been awesome from the very first shot,” said Caron, who played Division 1 college soccer and didn’t get serious about golf until after graduation. “I can go at it and trust it for longer drives and I’ve become pretty comfortable working it both ways. I’m more confident with it, which is saying something because my old driver was often my favorite club.”
Alex Caron at Club Champion
Boastful? Nah, just the facts. Alex appreciates what the new driver can do for him. “I think the lighter shaft and maybe the [shaft] puring process allow me to square it up more consistently. Plus, there’s a bit of extra speed across different points on the clubface and the head seems to be more forgiving,” he said. “In the first two rounds, I hit every fairway on three of the four nines, and a couple of ones that missed were just off the edge. That’s unheard of for me.”
The on-course stats collected by the shot-tracking system confirm that he’s driving it much longer, with added control.
Take note of the Strokes Gained category. With the new driver, Caron’s better off by 0.4-strokes per shot. That’s a four-stroke improvement (assuming 10 drives per round).
Not surprisingly, the handicap index is trending downward. After starting the season at a 10.0 index, he was 8.1 on the latest revision. “The club’s the total package. I’m feeling great confidence because of the improved distance and accuracy,” said Caron. “Keeping it in play has really helped me score consistently. Having no fear of giant misses, and trusting the workability, make it so much more enjoyable to play with.
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