Not been out for like 2 weeks now
It's a combination of the rain (obvs) and also needing to get my old MX-5 back up and running so days like today I didn't golf even though the course was open in part to work on the car. I think also I'm becoming ever more a fairweather golfer, the thought of trudging through a boggy field just doesn't fill me with the joy it used to.
Cumberwell Park near me has been closed since the 24th of January! Not sure if it's open yet but for the networking meeting a couple of weeks back we used their new simulator setup which is very nice tbh. 8 Trackman bays inside with some pool tables, darts boards, a cafe-type bit for coffee/food etc.
Anyway, out tomorrow and also Monday, playing Chobham for the first time so that'll be fun.
I'm trying to convince myself that a driver fitting is going to be worth the money.. We are talking a minimum of £475 nowadays.
I broke my driver so it's not a case of I have a nice one and I think and upgrade is gona help.
Basically I play off 12 and I'm wondering if it's time to embrace that a fitting will give me a perfect product, at the same time I'm also completely not happy about paying that sort of money when I can buy a decent head of ebay for about £250 but will never know if the extra £300 will make me a much better player..
Can anyone convince me either way that it is or isn't worth it..
I think fittings can vary massively based on both who does it and where you do it. I've had a few fittings at my local shop, they're ok as you get to try all the different manufacturers etc but they have limited shaft selection and it's much more a case of does this model at stock work well kind of thing. I've also had a fitting at the Titleist 'National Fitting Centre' at St. Ives (cambridgeshire, not the other one
) and it was very different, obviously on the one hand it's only titleist stuff but all the shafts and also he was more willing to try stuff out, the outcome of that was a GT3 so not the more forgiving GT2 and a 9-degree head lofted up to 10.5 degree, not a setting that I think my local shop would've ever considered but it works really well for me.
I did end up with the GT3 (and I love it!) but after the Titleist fitting did go back to my local shop, they were happy to setup a GT3 as spec'd by Titleist and then I could compare it to things like the G440 and Elyte, even based off the Titleist fitting tried the LST/Triple Diamond, so was nice to verify and check against similar heads from other brands but ultimately the Titleist only fitting was top notch.
But then unless you know specifically you want a Titleist you can't really go for a Titleist fitting
If you're looking at getting a new driver though I'd say get fit, for the most part it's free (AG is just free, the Titleist was free on an offer and local shop 'charge' £25 but it's waived if you buy a club in the next week or something) and it gets you the chance to see and feel the different clubs in the flesh.
I got fit and it was the best driver they had in on the day that suited my game on that day.
My game has changed so driver fitting is no longer suited. Watch videos of rick shields using old Vs new drivers and there's barely anything in them. Maybe get fit for a driver and buy the old model with similar shaft?
Rick also tested Wilson's new driver Vs pings new and I think the distance was the same.
The issue with Rick's videos, at least the last ones I watched, is he just hits balls, and he's a decent or more specifically consistent ball striker so they do kinda just do the same thing no matter what head it is, and even age to an extent. The 'COR' basically determines distance and that's been capped since forever ago, where modern drivers have improved is in consistency/forgiveness across the face and that won't be shown in how Rick does his reviews. There's a few YT channels that specifically try to show off-centre hits, different swing speeds, etc etc to try to give a better idea but also you kinda need to either know your swing or try them on a monitor.
Also been looking at putters, I'm using a Wilson infiniti blade but as much as I hate the head over that falls off all the time I am pretty consistent with it.
I know right, those bloody head covers. I've got a Wilson Blade (Windy City so the bladiest of blades) and the Buckingham mallet, both head covers fall off constant and it's so infuriating, I'm shocked I haven't lost one yet but I have at times had to run back up the fairway to pick it up.
But they are good putters though, especially for the price, I pretty much exclusively use the Buckingham these days as although I love the blade and on a good day it's amazing on the off days which is 364 days of the year the mallet is just more forgiving.
