The winner of my Club Champion "Summer Starts Pin High" Iron Fitting and Custom Built Set of Irons Giveaway was so impressed with his iron fitting that he added on a wedge fitting on his own dime immediately after the iron fitting was over. And he's also returning to Club Champion for a top of the bag fitting to dial in his driver and woods.
That's what you call validation.
Ben (Swinertonb on X) was fit at the Club Champion Cincinnati studio and took some great videos of his fitting to show us and give insight into what he and his fitter were testing, talking about, and accomplishing every step of the way. I've included these all in this guest review from Ben. And to spoil the surprise, Ben increased ball speed, gained carry and total distance, tightened dispersion, increased smash factor, and got his descent steeper and spin higher. Pretty much improving in every category of iron performance that's important.
Here's Ben in his own words on what he thought about his Club Champion iron fitting experience and he shares what irons wound up being best for him.
First, I would like to thank Pete Pappas for holding the contest on X and Instagram and for Club Champion for partnering with him in this contest to offer such a wonderful prize! Perhaps it speaks to my ability as a golfer that I have an iron set over a decade old and a pieced together wedge set and woods set but I think I'm still a solid golfer (7.5 handicap).
Secondly, I would like to thank Katie Casey-Johnson, Senior Manager of Marketing Operations at Club Champion. She was very proactive in reaching out in regard to scheduling the fitting. She has set an example that everyone at Club Champion follows in terms of customer service.
Finally, I want to thank the Club Champion studio located on Montgomery Road in Cincinnati and my fitter Morgan Carver. Morgan provided an unbelievable experience that I would want to do again and would recommend to anyone.
My fitting was scheduled for the afternoon of July 1st but my experience with the fitting started the evening before. My fitter Morgan called to introduce himself and explain the fitting process. In my Club Champion profile I had completed detailed information about myself and my abilities as a golfer, but Morgan was also trying to get to know me as a person.
I foolishly never called Morgan back but I did research preparing myself for the fitting. I had never done an iron fitting and wanted to properly prepare myself.
As I shared with friends and family my good fortune of winning this prize many of them asked me the question, “What clubs are you going to get?” My answer revolved around deferring to the expert fitter and having the ability to choose from any brand, and any shaft type because of the generous prize and amazing selection Club Champion offers.
I began to ponder which brands might be best for me, what type of shafts might I select, and how does the fitting process work? A simple conversation with Morgan would have been easier but instead I scoured Pete’s previous posts about Club Champion to have a better understanding.
By the next afternoon I considered myself prepared for the fitting but with emotions of excitement and nerves. The 30 minute car ride from my house to the fitting studio felt like a drive to one of the biggest golf rounds of my life. My wife was in the car with me and she could sense my nervous energy.
When we arrived at the Club Champion studio I understood why it’s called a studio. They have a beautiful and welcoming space, and golfers know this isn’t always the case for indoor facilities. Their space is bright, well lit, and displayed with every brand and shaft that is partnered with Club Champion. The hitting bay was spacious. I'm 6' 2" tall and have had issues in indoor hitting bays before especially with my follow through on full swings. At the Club Champion studio however there was so much space in the hitting bay it felt like being on the course.
The environment in the studio was also friendly for my wife as there was plenty of comfortable furniture for her to sit in and relax throughout the process. Additionally the studio offered amenities like free drinks and snacks.
For me the little things matter. And something small like having the display screen show the 18th fairway of the Old Course at St. Andrews as opposed to some generic range or AI generate image mattered. It added to an atmosphere I was even more excited about.
After the baseline swings with my 6 iron were completed Morgan put me into my first trial club, the Mizuno M15s. After a few swings Morgan could sense my nervous energy and continued to work on calming me down. He did a great job of breaking the ice and having me comfortable not only with him but also with the process. We started looking at data and building a rapport. We talked about our favorite golf courses in Cincinnati, my work, my wife’s work, and our shared interests off the course.
It didn’t take long for me to become more calm and comfortable again. And I started to think of Morgan not just as my fitter but also as a guy I would want to hang out with or be part of a foursome on the golf course! All my nerves were gone and I was focused on having fun and finding the best clubs for my golf swing!
After trying the Mizunos Morgan dove into the comparative numbers between my clubs and the Mizunos. He highlighted and explained the numbers from Trackman data he was most interested in based on my swing. Modern technology is going to make me hit the ball farther and more accurately but there are nuances as to how that can be done. I never used an iron or shaft that increased my swing speed or dramatically changed my spin rate. My measurements were focused on smash factor, height of the ball, and rollout.
Smash factor, as Morgan explained, is the efficiency of how our swing hits the golf ball. My baseline smash factor was about 1.25 and the goal was to find a club and shaft combination that would raise it closer to 1.40. I thought this goal would be difficult since shaft testing alone didn't really increase my swing speed but did do enough to raise the efficiency closer to the 1.40 number we were targeting.
Anecdotally, I've never hit the ball as far as I would like but I never recognized I didn’t hit the ball that high. The higher the ball the more control and subsequent less rollout, so having the ability to hit the ball higher and roll less is a great weapon to have when hitting into greens. By focusing my fitting on these components I anticipate my 7.5 handicap to drop when my new fitted clubs come in!
Before attempting other brands Morgan wanted to use a lie fitting board and tape on the bottom of my face to get a better idea of my lie and see if he would have to change the angle much in the fitting. I had never hit off such a board before but I was pleased how it went.
After the lie board I tried different shafts of weights and types including graphite (with no success) and almost every brand of iron within the realm of my profile for success. I hit Srixon, Titleist, Miura, Mclearen, Callaway, Taylormade, and Ping irons. My only frustration with the experience was the studio did not have the Taylormade 790s available to hit and I think they may have fit well with my swing.
I was exhausted after nearly 200 swings in the 90 minutes of fitting and the numbers were very close between the Mizunos I had first tried and the Ping G440s I had hit last. Based on personal preference and bias the Pings felt a little better so I wanted to give the Mizunos a second run, and despite fatigue I hit them well again.
In the end I deferred to Morgan - which would he choose? His recommendation was simple; in the short term I would hit the Pings better but I had a higher ceiling with the Mizunos. I came in with a simple goal, to get fitted with a set that would make me the best golfer possible and the higher ceiling steered me to the Mizuno M15s!
I also wanted to complete the bottom of my bag with wedges and the Mizuno set was 4-Gap so I was going to add two sand wedges as well. To be fitted for sand wedges Morgan had me hit three-quarter swings with some wedges. Due to sheer exhaustion after hitting irons for nearly 2 straight hours I started shanking wedges! Morgan proved not only to be a master fitter but also a competent instructor as he cued some fundamentals in my wedge game to get enough baseline wedge swings to fit me into some Vokey wedges as well. I chose 54 and 58 degree wedges to keep the degree differences the same from the gap wedge at the end of the iron set.
Nearly 2 hours and 200 swings later I was exhausted but thrilled from the experience and excited for the Mizuno M15 irons and Vokey wedges coming my way! Not only did I get to customize the iron faces and shafts, but also the grips and ferrules on the clubs as well! There are many other club fitters out there and I will be going back to Club Champion to complete the top of my bag this winter!
Thanks Ben for an incredibly insightful and in-depth review. It sounds like you learned a lot in addition to getting dialed in. And yes the Club Champion fitting process is definitely exhaustive as you know from all the swings you made! Can't wait to hear how you like your new irons and wedges after you get them in!
Like we've been doing all year we'll continue with guest reviews here on my blog anytime any of you would like to share your opinions and thoughts on gear, equipment, fittings. Your unique perspectives are always enjoyed by all.
Cheers to continued great golf for all of us as we swing into summer!
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