Source: VT Golf Magazine | Issue: Summer 1995 | Author: Bill Van Liew
Synopsis: This article is about the growing practice of custom fit clubs and how that has impacted both the game of golf and the golf market.
It wasn’t that many years ago when the purchase of a set of golf clubs was a relatively simple affair. Depending on the size of the shop, you could choose from between three of perhaps a dozen different sets of manufactured golf clubs. There were a few variations in clubhead design, and maybe you had to decide whether you wanted a stiff or regular shaft flex. In those days, a dynamic club fitting session consisted of setting the club on shop floor, seeing how it looked, and maybe taking n easy swing, trying to known down the shirt rack in the process.
On the other hand, there have been custom made golf clubs for as long as there have been golfers. But until recent years, the custom club was primarily made for professionals or top amateur players; the vast majority of golfers played with store bought clubs, and had very few options to consider when buying a particular set.
Today custom club making is the fastest growing segment of the golf industry, and the number of people who assemble golf clubs is rising dramatically. As a result, even in a rural area like Vermont, there are several places you can go to receive a custom club fitting. At any one of them you can pick a clubhead design, choose a shaft, and select from several club fitting options. The end result is often a set of clubs created with a lot more input from you, costing you less money than a comparable store-bought set.