Clubfitting and Set Makeup

Today’s PGAmagazine.com Blog moderator is PGA Professional Dennis Johnsen. Dennis is the 2008 Illinois PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year for Public Facilities, and is the PGA general manager at Pine Meadow Golf Club in Mundelein, Ill.

Much has been written in regards to the importance of clubfitting, but set makeup and its relation to the fitting process is not as widely discussed.  What is surprising is the fact that so many serious players have not spent much time considering the makeup of their new set.

At Pine Meadow Golf Club, almost as much time is spent determining the makeup of the set as is spent on fitting the clubs.  While going through the fitting process we often discuss where the golfer plays and the lengths that concern him or her, and especially the lengths of the par 3s that the golfer normally plays.

Once the fit is determined, we transition to set makeup, using what the golfer has told us about those lengths. We start with a discussion of how far the golfer hits the driver, and then talk about the longest iron the individual is comfortable hitting. We then zero in on the yardage gap between these two clubs.  We do the same at the other end of the set as well, where we find out the loft of the golfer’s pitching wedge and how far he can comfortably hit that pitching wedge.

Once we have these distances, we go to work on the gaps.  This is where the process gets interesting, because different golfers have different preferences: some players like fairway woods; some prefer hybrids. Some players like to carry only one extra wedge, while others prefer more wedges and fewer long clubs. In our experience, the course that the golfer plays most often is the most important factor in determining the best makeup, and we go to the point of making sure that the golfer has the correct clubs to play each of the par 3s on that course.

But out of all the things we do when it comes to set makeup, perhaps the most important is merely bringing the subject up during the fitting process, causing golfers to think about what clubs they need. We have found that after a couple of weeks, a golfer will actually return to the shop and order extra clubs so that he has the capability to change the set makeup when playing other courses.