Steel to graphite with SGGT Edinburgh

[Braehead]

Some of you will have seen my thread about potentially moving to graphite shafts in my irons.  It's not been easy to get to a conclusion but an excellent session with SGGT, just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, has found an excellent solution.  I thought the fitting session was worthy of a post of it's own rather than adding to the other long thread.  It's also on my personal blog but I can't copy that link here - there are a couple of links mentioned in the post below but they are disabled in accordance with MGS rules.

 

From steel to graphite with SGGT

My current P770 irons were fitted by SGGT two years ago (link), so I contacted them about my injury concerns and made a fitting appointment. SGGT have a system that allows you to try all their shafts in all the heads they supply and their fittings use 4i/6i/8i and PW (link). Unlike many other fittings I've done (especially at a driving range), you also use premium golf balls. I do prefer seeing the actual flight of the ball rather than relying on Trackman to project it onto the screen. Some may think this is overkill, but for a golfer as pernickety and fussy about their clubs as I am, it is just fantastic. I don't believe there are any other fitters (certainly in Scotland) that can offer this level of service. It's no wonder they have several professional golfers as customers.

I have known Scott Gourlay for over 15 years, had several fittings and built up a high level of trust in the process. He has invested heavily in the facilities here at Swanston and their new UK facility at Chesterfield. He also has partnerships with Bernadus Golf Club and Goyer Golf and Country Club in the Netherlands. While the headline fitting cost may appear expensive relative to your local pro, you have to remember the service you are receiving. Not only do SGGT fit you for your clubs, but they also build them on-site too, so you can be sure they will be to your exact specifications. Also, if you make a purchase, then your fitting fee will be deducted from the price of your order.

Fitting with SGGT

My appointment today was with Scott Fraser, who is their "Lead Fitter". I've had a few fitting sessions with Scott previously (wedges, drivers) so we know each other well. He even reads this blog and quickly got a couple of comments in about my putter(s)! All friendly banter. The session was filmed for their YouTube channel and will hopefully be available there by the time you read this blog post.

Once I'd finished chatting with Scott Gourlay, Scott Fraser and I had a chat about what I was hoping to achieve today. Find a solution that would be easier on my elbow and "at least" match the performance of my current irons. I am well aware that graphite shafts are not a "cure" for my tendonitis as I know that needs rest and rehabilitation, but I hope that graphite will help prevent a reoccurrence of the issue once I've stabilised it. We discussed what I've recently tried elsewhere, looked at my approach shot data from Tangent and discussed my normal shot patterns. Tangent identifies my biggest area for improvement as approach play, with distance control being the main issue. Some of this will be club selection and course management, but some will also be from strike consistency. Scott suggested we try the new P770 head with a selection of different shafts, then try some alternative heads before considering the merits or otherwise of re-shafting my current clubs.

The session started with 6i, gathering data for my current club then trying a variety of different shafts including KBS, Steelfiber i95, Fujikura Axiom, LA Golf, Oban and Accra. The intangible aspect of "feel" is really important to me and it is something that is often talked about in other graphite shaft reviews I've read. The difference in weight with some graphite shafts can have a massive impact here. Having played KBS steel shafts for several years we thought their graphite options could be a good fit but they just didn't work for me. The Steelfiber felt familiar from playing them before, but the numbers were poor. The Fujikura Axiom and LA Golf shafts get rave reviews but didn't work for me. The shaft that felt best and produced the optimal results was the Accra TZi95. Interestingly, we tried it early in the fitting and Scott swapped it in and out. For my swing, it consistently produced the best results of all the options we tried and, importantly, the combination with the P770 head felt great too.

One of the issues I have with my current KBS Tour Lite shafts is that if I "go after it" I can be prone to hooking. The Accra TZi is stiffer in the tip section so when Scott got me to hit it as hard as I could, we didn't suffer from that same draw/hook issue. Scott had also adjusted the lie angle on the 6i to make it 2° flatter, which additionally reduces the hook tendency.

The Trackman results below speak for themselves. Strike location with the new clubs was excellent and that helped produce better ball data despite a slightly slower average swing speed. What was especially pleasing was the consistency of my carry distance which should help me with approach play confidence and club selection.  My current 6i is the white circle and the new one is red.

We then discussed alternative heads. Before the P770's, I played a variety of different forged cavity back irons and always liked them for feel. We tried a variety of different heads today but none were able to replicate or better the performance of the new TM P770. There is a subtle difference in feel between the old and new model heads too. The new one feels a touch "softer" than mine with a slightly more muted sound on contact. We stayed with the new P770 for the rest of the session.

Next, we moved to the Pitching Wedge. First, we visually compared it to the PW from my current set and then with other specialist wedges. With a fitting at SGGT you have the option to switch out the PW from the set and use a specialist wedge instead if you want to. I was very happy with the look of the P770 and saw no reason to switch it out. Starting with the standard lie angle, we quickly saw some left bias (shown below in blue), but adjusting the lie angle flatter produced, more directional consistency.

Finally, we moved to the 8 iron and things got a bit interesting here. Despite hitting the 6i and PW well, I initially struggled with the 8i. Scott took it to the workshop and found that its swing weight was two points lighter than it should have been. It seems I'm sensitive to swing weight changes! He added some lead tape to the head to bring the swing weight back up to D2 and we tried again. The target was to get 145y carry and we hit it with the first swing. Result!

Given the improvement in carry distance with the new 6 iron, I asked Scott if we could check the gapping to my 5 hybrid. The average carry with that was coming in at 184 yards, so the gapping is actually better now than it was before. Another result.

To finish the session we had a look at grip options. SGGT can blow grips on and off during the session, allowing you to try different options. This is another very useful part of the service, as grips are expensive and you don't want to get it wrong. After trying a couple of alternatives, I decided to stick with my current Lamkin Sonar Blackout grips. I switched to them earlier this year and find them to offer a good combination of soft comfort and tackiness (even when wet).

Conclusion

As promised at the start of the session, Scott and I discussed the merits of re-shafting my irons. Having assessed the cost of the re-shaft and checked eBay for the potential resale value of my old clubs, I decided to switch to the new P770's. By my "man-maths" the cost to change was very similar to the cost of the re-shaft so it was an easy decision given the improvements to performance we had seen.

The new clubs have already arrived, which gives me plenty of time to practice and get used to them over the winter, ready for the 2025 season and beyond. There was a pleasant surprise in the box too, an SGGT valuables bag with a sleeve of balls, some tees and a ball marker. That's a nice touch! My first round with the clubs was a winter league game in very cold conditions, so not a great test, but I was very happy with the result. They are certainly more gentle on my elbow and the improved feel experienced at the fitting continued onto the course. I didn't hit a single pull hook either!

This was a comprehensive fitting session and finally, I have a result. SGGT offer an iron fitting unlike anything you can do elsewhere and, if you are as fussy as me, then you should consider using SGGT the next time you are looking to change (link).

 

[Hook DeLoft]

I am really impressed by the improvement in distance consistency.  Congrats and thanks for the write up.

[Braehead]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:08 PM, Hook DeLoft said:

I am really impressed by the improvement in distance consistency.  Congrats and thanks for the write up.

Thanks - let's hope they perform as well on the course!

[MuniGolfer]

Great write up! I really wish I lived in the uk near sggt. I have watched several YouTube videos with James Robinson there, and wish I could do a fitting through them. Sounds like they will be great irons for you.