My Club Champion Experience NJ

[ballplayer002003]

Hello fellow Spies, just wanted to write a review on my experience with Club Champion.

About a year ago, I accompanied my best friend to the Club Champion in DC for a full bag fitting.  He was looking at competing in the Maryland Am. and I was going to caddy for him.  This was my first experience with a Club Champion and I found it very interesting watching the process and listening to all the data being used for each decision.  After about three hours, the fitting was over, my buddy was tired and I was shocked when they told us the price for what they wanted to do.  My friend still recommended a few of his friends for a fitting and someone used him as a referral.  Once this happened, Club Champion sent my best friend an email with a verification code for a free fitting (anything except full bag), which could be gifted to someone.  In this case he gifted it to me...what are friends for!

About a month ago, I went online and booked a fitting at the DC location for a driver fitting.  My best friend was going to come along and we were going to hit up Top Golf after.  DC is about two hours away from me and about an hours drive away from him.  No big deal, I was willing to make the drive.  Long story short, he had to back out.  I still wanted the fitting, however I didn't want to go all the way to DC if I didn't have to.  So....I emailed Club Champion customer service asking if my location could be switched to Cherry Hill, NJ and within half an hour received an email from Trey that said he would take care of everything.  

I had not heard back from Trey and contacted him a few days before my scheduled fitting to make sure we were still a go, and he again replied within a few minutes with all the confirmation numbers and times.  This was impressive.  He was attentive and apologized that I had to contact him back.  Check plus for customer service center.

Now let me preface this with the only fitting I have ever really had was from various sales reps on a range during demo days.  I arrived in Cherry Hill for my driver fitting about half an hour early.  I walked in, and immediately was greeted by my fitter Mark H. who took my clubs and set them into one of the hitting bays.  We talked briefly and he asked what I was looking for out of a driver.  I explained that I wanted more forgiveness on mishits because...SHOCKING...I don't always hit the center of the club?!  Who would have imagined?!  After warming up a bit, he asked me to hit my current driver.  I have a Callaway XR16 Pro with the Diamana White Board stiff 70g shaft.  I hit about eight shots with it for a baseline and he said I was hitting it pretty well.  He then grabbed the Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero head since it was the most similar to my current head and we started going through shafts.  My average numbers are as follows:

Club Head Speed     Ball Speed    Smash Factor    Spin    Carry Distance    Total Distance

110                                 163.1                   1.48            2823        269.7 yds            290.6 yds

Now I like a heavy club, I am a former baseball player and a larger guy that wants to  be able to feel the club in my hands.  In my older years now (mid 40's) my swing speed is 110-112 mph so I am borderline X-Stiff and Stiff shafts.  We started with the X flex and a few felt ok and the numbers were decent  but not great.  We then switched to a ton of stiff shafts and finally narrowed it down to the...wait for it...wait for it...Diamana White Board DF stiff 70g newest model.  Are you seeing a pattern here?

We then started playing with the heads.  I have been looking forward to hitting the Cobra the most due to reading all the reviews about how great it is, the TS2/3, and the Epic Flash.  These were the big ones for me.  Well, first was the Flash sub zero:  it felt solid and had a loud sound to it.  I hit a few off the toe and the shots were still long and finding the fairway.  I did not get that "WOW" feel from this club.  It was nice, but I have felt better.  That being said, the numbers were amazing.   

Club Head Speed     Ball Speed    Smash Factor    Spin    Carry Distance    Total Distance

111.7                             165.5                   1.48           2545        283.6 yds               303.2 yds

Ok, now we are talking, but like I said...the "WOW" wasn't there.  Surely there were better feeling clubs.  Come on Cobra!!!

Next up was the TS3.

Club Head Speed     Ball Speed    Smash Factor    Spin    Carry Distance    Total Distance

112.4                               159                      1.41          2137          240.4 yds            277.2 yds

The spin numbers were good, smash factor was not, but almost an average of 30 yds difference...no can do!

TS2

Club Head Speed     Ball Speed    Smash Factor    Spin    Carry Distance    Total Distance

110.2                               163.6                   1.49          3040        267.2 yds              287.5 yds

Now THIS had the WOW feeling.  The head was pure feeling, the shape was classic.  I loved everything about this driver...except the numbers were not as good as the Flash.  I am a bit bummed with that.

Cobra F9!!!!!!!!!

Club Head Speed     Ball Speed    Smash Factor    Spin    Carry Distance    Total Distance

110                                  159.2                   1.45          3112         250.5 yds             271.9 yds

Wait...what?  This can't be.  You were supposed to be the one!  I wanted you to be the one.  Nooooooooo.  

The Cobra's head was a bit too long looking for me, but it felt nice, and sounded nice.  Worst one of the day.  I also tried the Srixon Z785, Taylor Made M5 and M6 as well as PXG 2nd Gen.  driver.  All were nice and the numbers are not too far off from one another, but in the end I have to say Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero is the winner for me.  I had the tightest dispersion and the furthest distance with it...even though the feel was not as buttery as the TS2.  I guess I will have to just get used to that!  

Overall, I had a great experience with Club Champion.  Mark was easy to talk to and didn't judge any of my swing faults.  He didn't really pressure me into anything like others have reviewed about.  Although in true Club Champion fashion, they wanted to sell me the driver for $1100.  Comical I know, but it's just part of the game.  Just my two cents on the experience gang.  

[null]

Mark is a personal friend and also gave me a driver fitting. No surprise that he treated you well and didn't pressure you into anything. 

Great writeup! 

 

[edingc]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I don't have a Club Champion near me, but someday I may have to take a trip just for a fitting.

[MGoBlue100]

Nice writeup! Do they offer financing for those $1.1k drivers?


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[null]

16 minutes ago, MGoBlue100 said:

Nice writeup! Do they offer financing for those $1.1k drivers?


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Actually they do. And so does Golf Galaxy 

[MGoBlue100]

55 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Actually they do. And so does Golf Galaxy 

Of course they do, LOLZ.  And so it begins....

[ballplayer002003]

1 hour ago, MGoBlue100 said:

Nice writeup! Do they offer financing for those $1.1k drivers?


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lol it's actually 0% for 6 months. 

[ballplayer002003]

3 hours ago, jlukes said:

Mark is a personal friend and also gave me a driver fitting. No surprise that he treated you well and didn't pressure you into anything. 

Great writeup! 

 

He was a good guy!  The shaft he put me in was $400 but it was a newer model to the one I already have, he even made the comment of just get the head and keep your shaft so I didn't get the feeling that he was trying to upsell something to me.  He also recommended a place to eat lunch...spot on!!!!!!  

[B81Smith]

Great review. While they are the absolute best fitting the prices and how it’s all broken down could use some changing. But the guys who can barely afford to play much less new stuff aren’t their demographic. The demographic they shoot for is prob net income over 150k/year for a single guy and probably more like a family income of over 250k.

 

Edit: BTW I am not in that demographic by a long shot. I just love golf and if the big box stores are honest they’ll tell me flat out they have nothing in the store that fits me. And I’ll actually be told to go to club champion or similar for fitting.

 

I’ve had two fittings with the original club champion in Willowbrook Illinois. Location 1 of 2 at the time. So they weren’t nation wide yet but Nick Sherburne was occasionally being quoted by golf digest. Both fitting with Nick. He was nice, extremely knowledgeable and no pressure. It was awesome. I don’t believe they had their playability guarantee at that time because after about 1 month with the clubs I was really not liking the shaft choices and felt they were weak. I have this issue. When I’m not stripping it I swing slower. So I was a stiff indoors swinging at 110mph. When I’m in a round and feeling it the swing jumps to about 115mph. Then the fitted stiff felt like a whipping stick with too much load.

I got 2 tour edge clubs and each costed about 600/piece. 3 wood and hybrid. That was one trip. My first experience was about the same. I bought a shaft and had it installed to my existing head for about 600 dollars. Shaft was only 189 so you bet its expensive.

 

What it does for you? If you get fitted into a perfect driver then for the next 6 years or so you shouldn’t need a fitting. You know where the ideal ball position and launch should be, you know the spin numbers to look for. Etc. meaning you can go to a demo day get a similar shaft put into a head and hit it on a launch monitor or even without one and instantly know it’s launching too high, too low, balloons too much etc plus you can tell if the shaft has the right feel you’re looking for. Overall it is invaluable and a good investment.

 

My only complaint is: I wish they had some deals with the equipment companies so they can purchase just the head or at least a discount rate for those also buying a shaft. They don’t deal in cheap shafts. Only tour quality all sorted out, etc but once you pay off the rack full price for driver plus 150 for fitting plus 300 new shaft plus 7 dollar grip plus about another 100 for them to put shaft and grip on brand new driver and they toss out old shaft and grip that were never touched then you’re looking at an 800 plus dollar driver and a 600 plus dollar fairway and a 600 plus dollar hybrid and irons.....forget about it - those will run ya 1500 on the low side and usually around 3k. So to get a bag full bag better bring about 10-15k because putters and wedges will price out like fairway woods lol.

 

 

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[ballplayer002003]

9 hours ago, B81Smith said:

Great review. While they are the absolute best fitting the prices and how it’s all broken down could use some changing. But the guys who can barely afford to play much less new stuff aren’t their demographic. The demographic they shoot for is prob net income over 150k/year for a single guy and probably more like a family income of over 250k.

I’ve had two fittings with the original club champion in Willowbrook Illinois. Location 1 of 2 at the time. So they weren’t nation wide yet but Nick Sherburne was occasionally being quoted by golf digest. Both fitting with Nick. He was nice, extremely knowledgeable and no pressure. It was awesome. I don’t believe they had their playability guarantee at that time because after about 1 month with the clubs I was really not liking the shaft choices and felt they were weak. I have this issue. When I’m not stripping it I swing slower. So I was a stiff indoors swinging at 110mph. When I’m in a round and feeling it the swing jumps to about 115mph. Then the fitted stiff felt like a whipping stick with too much load.
I got 2 tour edge clubs and each costed about 600/piece. 3 wood and hybrid. That was one trip. My first experience was about the same. I bought a shaft and had it installed to my existing head for about 600 dollars. Shaft was only 189 so you bet its expensive.

What it does for you? If you get fitted into a perfect driver then for the next 6 years or so you shouldn’t need a fitting. You know where the ideal ball position and launch should be, you know the spin numbers to look for. Etc. meaning you can go to a demo day get a similar shaft put into a head and hit it on a launch monitor or even without one and instantly know it’s launching too high, too low, balloons too much etc plus you can tell if the shaft has the right feel you’re looking for. Overall it is invaluable and a good investment.

My only complaint is: I wish they had some deals with the equipment companies so they can purchase just the head or at least a discount rate for those also buying a shaft. They don’t deal in cheap shafts. Only tour quality all sorted out, etc but once you pay off the rack full price for driver plus 150 for fitting plus 300 new shaft plus 7 dollar grip plus about another 100 for them to put shaft and grip on brand new driver and they toss out old shaft and grip that were never touched then you’re looking at an 800 plus dollar driver and a 600 plus dollar fairway and a 600 plus dollar hybrid and irons.....forget about it - those will run ya 1500 on the low side and usually around 3k. So to get a bag full bag better bring about 10-15k because putters and wedges will price out like fairway woods lol.


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all that and nothing will work for a bad swing.  I wish I would have asked them to some stock shafts instead of their traditional high end ones.  I am a teacher so I def. DO NOT fall into the 150k per year figure. 

[cnosil]

all that and nothing will work for a bad swing.  I wish I would have asked them to some stock shafts instead of their traditional high end ones.  I am a teacher so I def. DO NOT fall into the 150k per year figure. 

I guess it depends on the fitter. When i did my fitting most of the shafts I tested were either stock for the manufacturer or reasonably priced. We did try a few higher end shafts but they didn’t work as well.

[ballplayer002003]

So I am having my pro order the sub zero in 9* with the Hzdus smoke, if I don't like that shaft then I will just switch out to my white board.  We shall see what happens.