Eric Elliott

I am sorry that I did not respond for a while - lots of stuff going on in my world since mid-August. Nothing life threatening, just got laid off and trying to find a new job and get acclimated. Someone asked my DBM set is holding up, and someone else responded exactly as i would: "most noticeable wear was just a slight lightening of the color from a dark graphite to maybe a medium graphite" i love them. Best $350 spent on golf equipment by me, ever

Great job on these reviews. I love the format and how thorough you are. Especially helpful since I live in the area for some of them, or have heard of these courses through forums or GolfNow

I might have missed this in the post, which was excellent, but did you go with a local independent fitter or a "chain"? How much did you pay for fitting and clubs? was the cost of the fitting "included" since you purchased from them? Enjoy the new clubs!

I am super happy with them. When I am able to play with new folks, they always ask what I am playing, and comment on how solid they sound. I hit them well, and with the new driver I purchased in late January I am always in the high 80s/low 90s, where I was struggling to break 100 before. I am sure it is not just the clubs, as I am playing a lot more regularly. I also purchased a 56 degree wedge from Golfworks/Maltby, and am thinking about getting a 5 iron to match my set, as I only ordered 6 thru pitching wedge. As far as forgiveness, they feel fine. I have always been a slicer, and now my shots are more of a push rather than a slice. I have been working on taking easier swings, so I cannot really comment on distance because I am not looking for that. I normally hit an 8 iron when others are hitting a PW, but I am beating them by 10 strokes and I don't lose any balls, so I will take it. For the money (and really regardless of the money) I am super happy with them!

I went to a lot of demo days to get an idea of my specs, and then got fitted at TrueSpec (i posted a full review). I am 6'4 and not 6'7 but I was VERY pleased with the info I got from the TrueSpec fitting, and most of the demo day fittings. I then bought a set of irons that i liked the looks of from Maltby (after reading lots of reviews and blogs) for about $350 (1 inch longer, 1 up) and love them. I am waiting on my new driver whenever the Callaway B21 comes off of back-order. Get fitted from a reputable place, and try things out...you will be able to feel the difference and you won't have to spend thousands (unless you want to). I went the custom route because i wanted new clubs with new grips and I figured it would be hard to find anything used in my exact specs.

Ordered my irons based on fitting specs that I received a few weeks back - they came in on Saturday and I was able to play with them on Monday. I wanted to share pics. I also wanted to let you know that I appreciated all the posts and information I got from this forum. I look forward to seeing other Maltby pics and info in the future. I am trying to talk a golfing buddy into buying from Maltby also

03trdblack - maybe. I was still a little miffed that he would not at least let me hit it and try. He knew I was not buying from them anyway

Prices with the upgraded TrueSpec shafts:

Prices/specs if i bought only Callaway options - stock/standard shafts from Callaway:

trackman info - it says 6 iron in the label, but i was hitting 7 irons - Driver is my old Killer Bee hand me down:

I wanted to write down my thoughts from my fitting experience with TrueSpec as soon as possible before i forget things. I have been very happy to find this forum/site and wanted to share my experiences in the hopes of adding to the wealth of info here. My friend bought a "2 for 1" special from TrueSpec on Black Friday - full bag fitting for $350 (i paid him half, so $175 for me). I have been to multiple demo days in the past month, trying out different clubs from different manufacturers (Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade) and those seemed to always only push one model of club (Callaway Mavrik Max, Titleist Tsi2/3, TaylorMade P790 Ti) so I was anxious to try a brand agnostic fitting to see how brands compared. I am looking to purchase a new iron set, a new driver, and possibly a hybrid. Setting up the appointment was fairly easy - they had many openings during the week, either at 9 am or 2pm, as they said that a full bag fitting should take about 3 hours (mine only took around 2). I was disappointed in the call center approach, and spoke to people in "headquarters" when i called, and they had very little info about the location of the fitting, whether it was indoor or outdoor only, and other general info about the Orlando shop. I tried to call back and get info when I thought the weather might be an issue, and was told that "it'll be fine and someone will call on the day of the fitting to check in with you", but that never happened. As it turned out, the weather was not an issue, other than a bit breezy, and luckily the wind was at our backs. I did not read the email closely, but i was supposed to park at the ChampionsGate pro shop, and get a shuttle to the facility (I completely missed that). The TrueSpec location is part of the Leadbetter Golf Academy at ChampionsGate, and they have a building with multiple hitting bays, a fitness center and meeting rooms on the other side of the driving range from the pro shop. Since i did not read the instructions, i used GPS for the address, and just kept driving around until i found the Leadbetter building. There was no signage for TrueSpec other than a small logo on the fitting room. I found out later that TrueSpec was new to the Academy, that they had another fitter who was there part time, and they were trying to partner up to provide a more custom experience. I felt bad for not reading and being lost, but oh well...i made it. Ryne met me and told me head out by the table on the range and warm up, while he was getting the TrackMan equipment and laptop set up. The range was super nice, lots of buckets of balls. No issues there. I wanted to compare my old irons and driver, and wanted to hit a few hybrids as well - not really as a comparison, just to try some out. Ryne measured my 7-iron (an inch long, flat lie angle) and then tracked a few shots with the 7-iron and driver. As i was hitting and warming up, he did the normal interview questions - what is your miss, what are you looking to gain, what have you tried. I asked about grips, told him i was a push to the right slicer, that i wanted to feel more confident with my driver, wanted irons fit for me, or at least the specs. After watching me hit both clubs, he went to the fitting room and came back with a handful of 7-iron heads and a handful of shafts and away we went. We tried Callaway B21, Mavrik, Mavrik Max, TaylorMade (not sure of model, that one did not work well), Wilson D7, and Titleist (not sure of model again because i was not interested in Titleist much due to a previous demo where i was not impressed). Callaway became the "leader in the clubhouse" pretty quick. Thankfully i had read some previous reviews, so i knew to take my time, take breaks, bring some Gatorade and snacks. Hitting a ton of 7-irons is hard work!!! if you do a fitting, be sure you are rested, and bring some snacks. As we were getting close to a head decision, he started trying different shaft combinations. I asked questions about lie angles and shafts and club lengths. I am tall - 6 foot 4 - so i knew i would need longer shaft and most fitters at demo days had pegged me at 2-up on lie angle, and that is where Ryne was putting me too. I swing slow and easy, so I am between a Senior Flex and a "soft" regular flex, so we kept trying different options. I will receive the recommendations tomorrow and will post those with the data, but we ended up on the B21 head with a Senior Flex in graphite. I kept getting breaks because he kept going back to get something else, which was much needed. He wanted 5 decent shots with each combination, so it was a bit tough for a while. If it had been a hot day, i would have had to take a lot of breaks. Surprisingly, the Titleists were a good combination, but not quite as good as the B21s. Then it was on to the drivers. I had already tried the TaylorMade Sim Max D (the slice/push rears its head again) and he brought that out, along with the B21 driver, Mavrik Max, Titleist TS2, and maybe something else that i never got to (no loss there though). I hit the Taylor Made first, and it felt as good as I remembered from the previous demo. He said it was very close to probably maxing out, and I agreed, but then he said to try the B21. I hit it perfect and so easily and he said something like "wow, you hit those on a string" and "great shots". There was very little that could be gained from my slow swing speed and need for draw bias, so then it was on to getting the right shafts and getting the right loft. We started with a 10 degree loft (maybe 10.5?) and after a few hits he said he would go get the 9 degree in the Sim Max D and the B21. The 9 degree in the B21 was the winner, with the second or third shaft (once again, i will get those specs tomorrow via email - I hope!). I did not ask too many pointed questions about the setups, i just hit what he handed me and tried to rest between shifts. I kept asking about Ping, and he said "you cannot get it". I did not ask why, and then brought it up again. He said that the new driver was coming out soon, so I could not order the Ping through TrueSpec. Before the fitting i had wanted to try the 410 SFT, but that was a non-starter for him, and i was hitting the B21 well, so i just shrugged that off. We then moved to hybrids just to see. He brought out a 4 in Mavrik or Mavrik Max, and a 4 in the B21. Once again the B21 was the winner. I hit both well, but the B21 helped me be more confident. We headed back to the room, closed out the day, and i was off. I will share the specs and recommendations and numbers when i get them. If you have questions or comments, i would love to hear them. I would recommend a TrueSpec fitting, and I would recommend going to a location that has outdoor hitting options. I wish that I had more of an "anything that you want to try is fine" experience (see the Ping comments) but I feel like it was time well spent, and am anxious to see the numbers, specs and price quotes. He said at the end "I know you are not buying here, and that is fine..." Look up Ryne Cole and TrueSpec if you are wanting to get fit in the Orlando area!

I don't have Maltby's YET!! I am looking for advice on buying a set of irons, a driver and maybe upgrading my hybrids. I have always used "hand me down" clubs from my dad, who plays around with shafts, grips, amateur club building, etc. I remember seeing Austad's and Golfsmith catalogs when growing up and visiting him, once i grew up and moved out. After looking at a ton of articles and things found on the web, i plan to visit multiple demo days in the area, and plan to get a full fitting at PGA Superstore and another local store (or two). Based on the price, I am seriously considering Maltbys, but want to know how to compare what I find at fittings and retailers to these clubs. I really like the looks and reviews on the Maltby KE4 S because I am not good enough (in my opinion) to play with a players club, as my handicap is in the low 20s and I don't "shape" shots. I just want consistent new clubs that don't cost $1500. Any advice on how to order based on recommendations and specs that I might obtain from club fittings? Any questions to ask when i go to demo days and fittings? Any things to look for when looking at Callaways, Pings, Taylor Made, Titleist? (those are the demo days i have on my calendar in the next few weeks) Any other things to consider? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated - and i promise to take a ton of pics to post here when I finally pull the trigger and order clubs after Christmas!

How long have you been playing golf? What’s your handicap or normal score? I have been playing for about 30 years, my dad started playing when i was 10, and he took me a few times. No official handicap, it's around 21. I would like to shoot around 90, usually between 90 and 100 What do you love about golf? I like the camaraderie and laughing with friends and my dad What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies? I have been researching new clubs and club fitting, and the forums came up via internet search Where are you from? What is your home course? I live in Clermont, FL, west of Orlando. My "home course" would probably be Kings Ridge in Clermont What are the best and worst things about golf in your region? Best things - I can play year round. Worst things - it is very HOT in summer, and most of the courses are flat and similar What do you do for a living? I am a software/IT engineer How’d you pick your user name? it is my first and last name together