The first official start to the golf season, in my opinion, is the release of the Golf Digest Equipment Hot List. The team convenes in the fall a literally spends a couple weeks testing equipment from several manufacturers. This year, they considered 270 entries and awarded 137 medals. Here is the Link...
Use our FREE Fit Quiz to See YOUR Recommendations!
The Top Finishers Are:
Drivers (8 Gold, 6 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Fairway Woods (10 Gold, 2 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Hybrids (8 Gold, 5 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Players Irons (11 Gold, 3 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Players-Distance Irons (11 Gold, 2 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Game Improvement Irons (11 Gold, 3 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Super Game Improvement Irons (9 Gold, 2 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Wedges (12 Gold, 3 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Mallet Putters (14 Gold, 3 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Blade Putters (12 Gold, 4 Silver) SHOP NOW!
Lead times during this COVID situation are still 4-6 weeks so don't hesitate. Shop Now!
How to Select YOUR New Clubs
Aesthetics - Look, Sound and Feel
In our experience in clubfitting over the years, you have to select a club head that looks good to your eye, sounds good when you hit it in the fitting and has the feel you desire. It is pretty strange but sometimes a golfer will not be able to make solid contact with a club that supposedly matches them perfectly for a fitting perspective but the aesthetics are not right. Be sure you take a look at 3 to 5 heads to make sure that at least 3 will give you good results. It could be as simple as top line on an iron, color of a driver, finish (glossy paint or matte finish). All of these can make a difference.
Performance - Distance, Accuracy and Consistency
Now we start getting into the meat of a fitting for new clubs. The majority of the golfers we fit are looking for consistency, but whatever you do, make sure you add a little distance as well! That is not difficult in a new fitting, however, sometimes getting added distance for a customer that has been fit within the last year or so. Our goal in a fitting is to cut shot dispersion by 50% and add 5-10% more distance. The factors we look at are club length, shaft weight, shaft flex, trajectory, spin, swing weight and loft and lie. Our BGF and Fit Quiz systems make predictions based upon your swing characteristics for each of those parameters. We then test our golfers in a fitting with clubs that are assembled to those specifications. The results of the fitting do not lie...only when the aesthetics do not match to we have to change up the testing configuration.
So pick your initial choices based on aesthetics, but the final decision based on the improved performance you get!
Dan Sueltz
