Going for a custom fitting for a brand new set of clubs is one of the most exciting things a golfer can do. The prospect of being expertly guided into some of the best irons or best drivers that will improve your golf game is surely one to relish, and in the main it is. There are some excellent club fitters out there providing a brilliant service to golfers. Manufacturers pride themselves on helping you to improve your game with their equipment to garner as many brand loyal fans as possible, hence why they offer so many compelling options which, if fitted correctly, can offer incredibly high levels of performance and in turn very happy golfers.
However, whilst certainly not widespread, things are not always what they seem in the custom fitting bay. As in everyday life, some unscrupulous individuals may be manipulating you out of your hard-earned money. We spoke anonymously to a custom fitter who has seen some of these methods firsthand. If nothing else, hopefully bringing these underhand techniques to your attention will make you a little more diligent during your next club fitting.
Money Talks
“I once hired a guy in his early thirties with lots of experience as a custom fitter to join our team at a very high-profile and reputable venue. Once we had conducted some training covering elements such as our various launch monitors, welcome procedures, and ordering processes, the day came for his first appointment. Just prior to heading into the session he turned to me and said: “What do we need to sell today?” This was met with a fairly blank expression from me, and answered with “Whatever works best for the player obviously!”
To cut a long story short, his previous workplace used to supply him with a list of what excess stock they were holding and needed to shift as a priority. Not only that but he would also be incentivised to sell this excess product by the lure of significant extra commission. Unfortunately, as I came to learn, this practice was far from uncommon, and even more remarkably, he would be encouraged to ‘manipulate’ the session data to ensure that his clients would come out requiring a ‘standard’ specification that just so happened to be available on the shop floor to take away there and then, thus clearing stock backlogs and cutting down on the administration process of ordering a new product in custom specifications.”
To be clear, simply coming out as a ‘standard’ spec in a fitting is not necessarily a red flag in…
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