How many putters have you owned in all the time you have played golf? Or are you one of those lucky people who can putt with just about anything? I am certainly not one of those lucky ones. As someone who has played golf for 50 years, once to an elite level now to a moderate level, putting has almost always been my nemesis.
In those 50 years, I have probably owned around 40-50 putters. They have varied from wooden shafted blade putters (yes, I’m THAT old), to carbon shafted mallets and just about everything in between. There is probably few putter manufacturers that I have not tried, with the exception of some recent ones like PXG, LAB and SIK.
To be fair, I’ve always known subconsciously that it’s not the putter that’s the problem, but the idiot who is holding it. If you are a golf addict like me, you would do anything to improve your game. With that in mind, after all these years, I decided to go for a putter fitting. All my other clubs have been fitted for me, why not the putter?
Some Sense at Last
I wouldn’t say there was any specific lightbulb moment that brought me to this decision. Just a growing sense of frustration that frequent putter purchases have not abated. I played golf recently with my friend Tony Howard, who just happened to be putting great, again… This led to us chatting about his visit last year to a new facility in Hillington, just outside Glasgow, to get fitted for his putter. That facility is Club Champion, the leading club fitting company in the USA but relatively unknown in Scotland. It was on Tony’s recommendation that I booked a fitting online via their website.
My fitting was carried out by Joe Hughes, Club Champion’s Scotland Manager. When I arrived, Joe took me through to the putting area and explained the process we would go through and what he hoped to achieve by the end of an hour.
Can I putt better?
The putting green
Joe had me warm up by hitting several putts with my current putter, an Odyssey DFX Rossie mallet. He wasn’t really watching what I was doing as he was setting up his equipment. After about 5 minutes, he asked about my putting woes, where my misses were and my thoughts on why I was here. I had a wide variety of issues. Leaving putts short but on line, missing left and right and occasionally knocking it 6 foot past. The full range of putting woes! No consistency then?
Once the laptop and tracking system was set up and calibrated, Joe had me hit seven putts with my putter. It was fascinating to see the computer readout and I started to understand why I missed so many putts that I thought I should make.
Some of my initial stats
The initial findings were that I putted with the face slightly closed. I thought it was square to the target, but it wasn’t. That 1.8% closed doesn’t seem that much but it means that you will miss most 6 footers left. Joe went on to say that it wasn’t just me at fault but the it might also be the putter.
1.8% closed, not great is it?
Once Joe had all the stats, he had me try some of the putters he had available. The only thing that the stats confirmed that was in my favour was that it was the mallet type putter that suited me best. Phew, my last 8 putters were all mallets. I felt less of an idiot then, well just a wee bit less of one.
Data talks, Opinion walks
Joe then had me try three mallet putters from various manufacturers. For those in the know, I tried a Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5, a Ping Ally Blue 4 PLD Milled, and a LAB Golf Mezz 1 Max. I have to say that the LAB putter set of my OCD alarm right away. The grip is offset to the shaft and there is only a very small alignment mark on the head. It just didn’t fit my eye although I putted okay with it. That one was discounted quickly.
That left the Scotty Cameron and the Ping. To be honest, I putted well with both of them. Alignment was no longer the issue so it was down to aesthetics. After a bit of thought, and a few more putts, I decided that on looks alone, the Ping was the one for me. Now, will the stats back up my choice?
What a difference!
Using the Ping on the tracking system, all of a sudden my alignment and stroke was perfect, no deviation! My overall consistency was high and I must have holed 12 -15 fifteen footers in 18 putts. To say I was surprised would be an understatement, I was stunned.
Mr Perfection…
All of a sudden, the stats were telling me that this putter was perfect for me. Everything about my Odyssey DFX Rossie putter, apart from being a mallet was wrong for me. No wonder I struggled with it. The lie, loft and weight of the Ping were completely different to the Rossie. Not only that, the stats also told me I needed a 35 inch putter, not a 34 inch. WOW!
What Should I Do?
Having owned all these putters over the years and spent a small fortune on them, I now had a choice to make. Should I pay the fee for the fitting and not order the Ping? Or should I bite the bullet and order the custom fitted Ping?
I ordered the putter. I won’t tell you what it cost as my wife will read this article. Suffice to say that I now have no excuses to putt poorly and the cost is a small percentage of what I have spent on putters over the years.
In Our Opinion
We found the putter fitting session with Club Champion to be excellent. Everything from the online booking through to the final fitting result was top notch. Yes the fitting cost is not cheap, £75 for an hour is not cheap but we think it is a reasonable cost to sort out your putting problems.
If you order a putter from them, there is a discount on the fitting cost at that point. Can you place a price on the confidence in knowing that your putter is perfect for you? We don’t think so. Time will tell as there is a 2 to 3 week wait for the putter to be built
Thank you to Joe Hughes for my putter fitting. Joe was excellent. He was informative, understanding and a good listener. We highly recommend using Club Champion for not just a putter fitting, but for all your club fitting.
Plenty of heads and shafts to choose from
Club Champion can fit you for a new driver, woods, irons and wedges as well as your putter and they guarantee to find the best clubs, optimised for your swing.
Ps I didn’t receive any discount or goods for this article. I asked Joe in advance if he was happy for me to write about my experience, and he was. This is my honest opinion on my putter fitting with Club Champion.
At a Glance
- Three fitting locations in the UK
- Hundreds of locations in the US and Canada
- Fantastic service and simple online booking for fittings
- For more info, go to the UK website here
- Access the US website here
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