What Golfers Say
Printed With Permission.
Including the Awkward Ones.
We asked people to write whatever they actually thought and we have not tidied the parts that are unflattering. Two of the notes below are from golfers who left without buying anything.
When the Middle of the Bag Was the Problem
Kenneth B., Upper ArlingtonFull bag ladder, AprilI came in convinced I needed a new driver. Three hours later I had been told my driver was fine and that the actual problem was a six, seven and eight iron that all carried within four yards of each other because the lofts had gone. They bent them, sold me a gap wedge and charged me two hundred and ten dollars in total.
I have played eleven rounds since and I have hit more greens from a hundred and sixty than in the previous two summers combined. I still do not entirely believe it.
Dorothy L., WorthingtonIron set session, JuneRhea spent about twenty minutes explaining why I did not need the number I was asking for. I wanted a 4 iron. She showed me on the screen that my 5 iron and 4 iron carried the same distance and the 4 just went lower and left.
We ended up taking the 4 out entirely, adding a second hybrid, and rebuilding the wedges. Bag is thirteen clubs now and I am fine with that.
Marcus T., DublinFull bag ladder, MarchWhat sold me was the card. I have been fitted twice before and both times I walked out with a receipt and a vague memory of some numbers on a screen. Here they printed everything, including what my old clubs measured, and handed it over before mentioning price.
Antoine R., HilliardDriver session, AugustHonest review: the session was longer than I wanted and I was tired by the end. Dane made me hit the last ten swings anyway, said if it only works fresh it is the wrong club. Annoying at the time. He was right.
The Sessions That Ended in Nothing
Priyanka S., PowellFull bag ladder, MayI booked a full fitting expecting to spend two thousand dollars on irons. They measured everything, ran the numbers, and told me my set was two years old, correctly specced, gapped within a yard of ideal, and that I should spend the money on lessons instead.
I paid the session fee and left with a card. That is either terrible business or the reason I have sent four people there since.
Gerald W., GrandviewPutter session, SeptemberWent in for a putter fitting. Tess measured my eye line, my arc, my loft at impact, and then told me the putter I already owned was almost exactly right and I mainly needed it shortened by three quarters of an inch and regripped. Total came to under fifty dollars.
Drivers, Woods and the Top of the Bag
Bill H., DelawareDriver session, JulyGained six yards of carry and lost about half my right misses. Dane kept saying the second number was the one that mattered and I did not understand why until I played a scorecard where I did not hit a single provisional.
Renata C., WestervilleWoods and hybrids, MayThey fitted my 3 wood off the mat first, which nobody had ever done. Turns out the head I loved off a tee was hopeless off the deck, which is the only place I actually use it.
Leonard F., Grove CityIron set session, FebruarySixty-eight years old, lost a lot of clubhead speed since my sixties. Was still playing stiff steel from 2003. The lighter graphite build gave me back about fourteen yards in the mid irons and a lot less soreness the day after.
The Unglamorous Half of the Business
Curtis A., New AlbanyEmergency reshaft, JuneSnapped a shaft two days before a member-guest. Silas had it pulled, rebuilt and swingweight matched to the rest of the set by the following afternoon. Charged me the posted rate and did not add a rush fee, which he easily could have.
Yolanda M., MarysvilleFollow-up, OctoberThey rang me six weeks after the build to ask whether the ladder was holding up. It was not quite — my 9 iron was going further than the card said. Turned out to be my swing, not the club, but they re-ran it for free and adjusted the card anyway.