Advice on ordering custom clubs

[Tincup_19]

Was hoping someone could give some advice from their own experiences. I did an iron fitting this last weekend with club champion (first ever fitting). They were saying how the shafts they get from the shaft manufacturer are different/better than what the club companies (TM, Titleist, etc.) send you when you order from them. Also they were recommending getting the shafts “pured” when ordering them. 
 

I’ll include the build price sheet but to me it seems pretty crazy to spend that much when I’ve been able to go online and build the exact same specs on Golf Galaxy or TGW at for like $800 less. CC is basically charging the same price for just the heads as what I can order the entire site for on the mentioned retailers. Also is the pured shafts thing really worth it? Seeing a lot of difference if opinions.

Are clubs built and ordered through club champion really that much “better” or is it just price gouging on their part?

 

[jtgavigan]

Just price gouging my friend. These will be EXACTLY the same shafts you order anywhere else. On Pureing, I am on the fence. I used to get everything pured. Now, I don't. I am not sure I am good enough to tell the difference (scratch golfer). If it was really worth it, wouldn't you think all pros would do it? Some do and some don't.

The Modus 120's are made pretty darn well. And, they can be had for way less than that (can PURE them for $19.50):

https://www.golfworks.com/nippon-ns-pro-modus-3-tour-120-355-tip-iron-shafts/p/np0001/  

The crosslines are 8 bucks also:

https://www.golfworks.com/lamkin-crossline-360-golf-grip/p/lk0197v/

 

[cnosil]

17 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

Was hoping someone could give some advice from their own experiences. I did an iron fitting this last weekend with club champion (first ever fitting). They were saying how the shafts they get from the shaft manufacturer are different/better than what the club companies (TM, Titleist, etc.) send you when you order from them. Also they were recommending getting the shafts “pured” when ordering them. 
 

I’ll include the build price sheet but to me it seems pretty crazy to spend that much when I’ve been able to go online and build the exact same specs on Golf Galaxy or TGW at for like $800 less. CC is basically charging the same price for just the heads as what I can order the entire site for on the mentioned retailers. Also is the pured shafts thing really worth it? Seeing a lot of difference if opinions.

Are clubs built and ordered through club champion really that much “better” or is it just price gouging on their part?

You will get lots of Opinions on this ranging fro m you should have never gone to CC to they do a great job.   

the theory is that by obtaining the shafts separately CC will select a better weighted set of shafts than what an OEM will do.  The OEM just picks a shaft and installs and don’t deal with the tolerances that are considered acceptable from the shaft maker. 

Puring/spine aligning is another polar opposite type thing. Some players think it is great and others don’t seem too.   There is a list of players that have paid to have their names used along with Puring.   Does it make the clubs better? maybe and it wont make them worse.  Is the cost worth it? That is your call

yes, the cost of the irons from CC is expensive, a search of this site would have discussed how their business model works.  Some even say and provide examples of why their build quality is not great.   
 

the benefit would be their post purchase guarantees and follow up fitting validation.   Many people say it isn’t good or not true, but something you should ask for clarification on how it works if you go through with the CC purchase.  Buying from GG or TGW is pretty much buy the clubs and transaction complete.  
 

[DStar]

I've got an account with a distributor here in the UK and the trade price on those shafts is £26 ($35) so I think someone is having a laugh.

Edited October 25, 2021 by DStar

[fixyurdivot]

Exactly what @jtgavigansaid.  Use Fairway Jockey's on-line build site and see how that price compares.  I was fitted at TrueSpec and purchased through FJ.  Including the 10% first time customer discount, saved over $800.  As for shaft puring, my suggestion is to skip it.

Oh, and welcome to MGS!

[RickyBobby_PR]

I wouldn’t consider what you posted as custom other than maybe the grips. That is a stock shaft in mizunos 921 line.

Others touched on the add ins like pureing. IMO not necessary so that is all I will say.

The problem you are going to face is the Nippon 120 in every flex is in very limited supply and right now most manufacturers aren’t going to get another shipment until feb/mar.

If you don’t want to pay the CC price you can try to order directly from a golf shop or online from places like tgw, Carl’s golfland and so on.

You can try independent club builders if they have the shaft in stock

[Tincup_19]

37 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Exactly what @jtgavigansaid.  Use Fairway Jockey's on-line build site and see how that price compares.  I was fitted at TrueSpec and purchased through FJ.  Including the 10% first time customer discount, saved over $800.  As for shaft puring, my suggestion is to skip it.

Oh, and welcome to MGS!

Hi, thanks for the recommendation on fairway jockey. Never heard of them before. I'll get in touch with them. It looks like when going through the build they only have 1, 2, 3 degrees difference in lie angles and mine ended up being 1.5 degree upright for the set I got fitted for. Hopefully they can accommodate the half degree difference. 

[Tincup_19]

29 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

I wouldn’t consider what you posted as custom other than maybe the grips. That is a stock shaft in mizunos 921 line.

Others touched on the add ins like pureing. IMO not necessary so that is all I will say.

The problem you are going to face is the Nippon 120 in every flex is in very limited supply and right now most manufacturers aren’t going to get another shipment until feb/mar.

If you don’t want to pay the CC price you can try to order directly from a golf shop or online from places like tgw, Carl’s golfland and so on.

You can try independent club builders if they have the shaft in stock

My bad, I guess i should have just said fit for clubs. i forgot to post the back side of that build price that had different lie angle from what is standard on this set. 

[Tincup_19]

45 minutes ago, DStar said:

I've got an account with a distributor here in the UK and the trade price on those shafts is £26 ($35) so I think someone is having a laugh.

Yes, that was my first red flag when looking around online in the states I was pretty much seeing that shaft at $37 almost everywhere. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

14 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

My bad, I guess i should have just said fit for clubs. i forgot to post the back side of that build price that had different lie angle from what is standard on this set. 

While changing lie angles may be somewhat custom that is also something any club builder will do if requested. The difference with independent club builders whether that’s CC or similar places or a truly independent builder compared to the manufacturer is that they should come with requested lie angle where as manufacturers have a tolerance that’s a ensure from 1-3*.  Also there should be no issue with one doing 1.5 vice 1 or 2

[Larryd3]

I'd also suggest giving Discount Dans a call.  Great service and good pricing.  If you can't locate them, just PM me and I will give you their contact info.  I just ordered a set of T100S irons from them and saved some $$ with my specs, etc and free shipping.  

[fixyurdivot]

And I feel bad not having included one of our very own forum members.

McGolf Custom Clubs

[Syks7]

4 hours ago, Tincup_19 said:

Was hoping someone could give some advice from their own experiences. I did an iron fitting this last weekend with club champion (first ever fitting). They were saying how the shafts they get from the shaft manufacturer are different/better than what the club companies (TM, Titleist, etc.) send you when you order from them. Also they were recommending getting the shafts “pured” when ordering them. 
 

I’ll include the build price sheet but to me it seems pretty crazy to spend that much when I’ve been able to go online and build the exact same specs on Golf Galaxy or TGW at for like $800 less. CC is basically charging the same price for just the heads as what I can order the entire site for on the mentioned retailers. Also is the pured shafts thing really worth it? Seeing a lot of difference if opinions.

Are clubs built and ordered through club champion really that much “better” or is it just price gouging on their part?

Very similar experience to me at Club Champion.  The fitting was excellent, the quoted build much less so.  I got lucky and had a great fitter who explained everything to me.  I learned more about clubs in 90 minutes than I had learned in the 10 years since I've been playing.   The number just wasn't in the cards for me so when I got home I started picking it apart and researching... $80 charge for $35 shafts, etc.  SST puring etc. 

I then went down the rabbit hole of can I build these myself... not a good idea for my first build. 

Then I started looking for local small builders and found a guy who had been at a major fitter for a long time but started building on his own.  We discussed everything and decided to just rebuild my irons to the CC spec for the time being.  It was substantially less (and would still have been much less than the quote even if I had bought the ZX5s I fitted into) even with Puring, which is easily done by hand.  If you're interested in the build process look up the guy fixyurdivot mentioned.  He has a great youtube channel with a lot of build info.

CC doesn't necessarily get better components they just have the volume to match some of the components better -- like sorting all the grips so that the ones they use in your build are all exactly the same weight.  I don't think that level of matching component weights matters as much so long as you build it properly and match the swing weight (totally different than component weight) across the set.

 

[Tincup_19]

35 minutes ago, Syks7 said:

Very similar experience to me at Club Champion.  The fitting was excellent, the quoted build much less so.  I got lucky and had a great fitter who explained everything to me.  I learned more about clubs in 90 minutes than I had learned in the 10 years since I've been playing.   The number just wasn't in the cards for me so when I got home I started picking it apart and researching... $80 charge for $35 shafts, etc.  SST puring etc. 

I then went down the rabbit hole of can I build these myself... not a good idea for my first build. 

Then I started looking for local small builders and found a guy who had been at a major fitter for a long time but started building on his own.  We discussed everything and decided to just rebuild my irons to the CC spec for the time being.  It was substantially less (and would still have been much less than the quote even if I had bought the ZX5s I fitted into) even with Puring, which is easily done by hand.  If you're interested in the build process look up the guy fixyurdivot mentioned.  He has a great youtube channel with a lot of build info.

CC doesn't necessarily get better components they just have the volume to match some of the components better -- like sorting all the grips so that the ones they use in your build are all exactly the same weight.  I don't think that level of matching component weights matters as much so long as you build it properly and match the swing weight (totally different than component weight) across the set.

 

when you went this route were you able to buy just the ZX5 heads? or were you able to order them with the shaft you were fitted for and then had them pulled a apart and rebuilt? 

[Syks7]

25 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

when you went this route were you able to buy just the ZX5 heads? or were you able to order them with the shaft you were fitted for and then had them pulled a apart and rebuilt? 

I didn't end up buying the ZX5s.  Just ended up re-using my RSI 2 heads with the CC specs.  If you if you can order it with the shaft you want in the length you need that's not a bad option.  But, I would go to a reputable builder to have them pull it apart and put it back together.  Nothing against the big box guys, but I don't think they have the time to put the care into it when Joe Schmoe is hounding them to add 3 inches to his driver because he read that 48" will give him 30 more yards.  (A, no joke situation that I heard while buying some grips the other day --  I hope to be no where near a tee when he takes a cut with that thing.)

[RickyBobby_PR]

45 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

when you went this route were you able to buy just the ZX5 heads? or were you able to order them with the shaft you were fitted for and then had them pulled a apart and rebuilt? 

The average consumer can’t just buy heads. Those are limited to authorized fitters. 

[dlow206]

26 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The average consumer can’t just buy heads. Those are limited to authorized fitters. 

Yes, almost impossible to get heads only from the major OEMs. I've tried to convince some club building shops that had heads only to sell me heads, but they wouldn't budge at all. 

Once in a while, there are brand new heads only available on ebay, but thats pretty rare as well. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

Yes, almost impossible to get heads only from the major OEMs. I've tried to convince some club building shops that had heads only to sell me heads, but they wouldn't budge at all. 

Once in a while, there are brand new heads only available on ebay, but thats pretty rare as well. 

I’ve tried that too and they can’t because of whatever deal they have with the manufacturer. I’ve tried both iron and wood heads

[Tincup_19]

On 10/25/2021 at 12:14 PM, Larryd3 said:

I'd also suggest giving Discount Dans a call.  Great service and good pricing.  If you can't locate them, just PM me and I will give you their contact info.  I just ordered a set of T100S irons from them and saved some $$ with my specs, etc and free shipping.  

Did you place your order in person there or via email? They're pricing was almost too good to be true I was curious if that was the same experience for you? 

[RickyBobby_PR]

19 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

Did you place your order in person there or via email? They're pricing was almost too good to be true I was curious if that was the same experience for you? 

Yiu can email them or call them/ ive ordered multiple clubs from them over the phone 

[Tincup_19]

5 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yiu can email them or call them/ ive ordered multiple clubs from them over the phone 

Did the specs and everything you submitted with them check out once you got the clubs? 

[RickyBobby_PR]

11 minutes ago, Tincup_19 said:

Did the specs and everything you submitted with them check out once you got the clubs? 

I don’t usually check my specs unless I notice something is off when hitting them. Discount Dans is a pro shop and not club builder. All my clubs shipped from the manufacturer 

[Larryd3]

17 hours ago, Tincup_19 said:

Did you place your order in person there or via email? They're pricing was almost too good to be true I was curious if that was the same experience for you? 

I've done orders with them both ways.  They are great at returning emails and very prompt over the phone.  I highly recommend them.