This is the second part of the fitting journey I started with PXG. While I was unable to find a solution there, would I have more luck with Adam at Auchterlonies?
Fitting with Auchterlonies
Trust, familiarity with my game and wanting to keep the business local were my main considerations when going to see Adam. I must thank both him and Auchterlonies for the help and service they have provided, not just with this fitting, but with all the other things we've done over the last couple of years. With Adam, we are currently restricted to the manufacturer-supplied fitting systems and shafts, therefore couldn't try all the different shafts in the same head. Ping and Callaway are also introducing new fitting systems resulting in not all of their shafts being available to try in all of their heads. Ping, for example, only had one graphite shaft I could try and it was both too light and in the wrong flex. That's a bit of an own goal for both of them as neither could provide an appropriate club for me at this time.
Like most fittings elsewhere, Adam uses 7i as the core fitting club. For a large percentage of golfers, fitting clubs this way will be absolutely fine. The extra reassurance with Adam is that he has the knowledge and equipment on-site to be able to check and review your set once you receive it. So if you find your gapping isn't correct or something just feels different from your initial fitting, then he can check all of the specifications and adjust them, or send the clubs back to the manufacturer if required.
We started the process by getting data for my club before seeing if we could find any alternative, graphite shafted iron, that could match or better its performance. The initial Trackman findings proved again that my irons fit me well, and if it wasn't for my tendonitis issue then I really have no reason to change them. They hit the windows we want from a flight, carry, spin and landing angle perspective.
The Shaft Contenders
Aerotech Steelfibre i95/i110 with Mizuno JPX Forged Hot Metal Pro heads (what a mouthful). I still like the way these shafts feel and have played with them before. Unfortunately, the JPX head was a poor comparison with my P770's. Stronger lofts with the JPX resulted in more ball speed, less spin and more carry so we couldn't really tell if the Steelfibre shaft would work in the P770 head.
Recoil Dart 95 stiff in Taylormade P770/P-7CB heads. This promised to be the most interesting option to try and surprisingly I got better results with the P-7CB head than the new P770. Unfortunately, I didn't like the weight or feel of the club and it produced a wider left to right dispersion.
Ping Blueprint S head with Recoil Dart 75 reg. The Blueprint S was a club I really wanted to try, but unfortunately, only one graphite shaft option was available due to the fitting system changes mentioned earlier. It produced decent results in the studio but it didn't really get a true test.
Accra icwt i95 stiff with Miura TC-201 heads. Miura is a premium brand and was not in my mental budget ahead of this fitting, but using this head was the only way I could try the Accra shaft. Typically, it produced the closest results to my club and was a serious contender until I discovered the price!
After the studio fitting, I was able to take the three clubs away to try on the par 3 practice loop at The Duke's. It was interesting to see how they compared there against my current clubs. Again, I found the same issue with directional control with the TaylorMade and Ping clubs. The best results came from the Miura, although it had the greatest front-to-back dispersion (not the most forgiving).
Conclusion with Aucherlonies
These are all great clubs and I am appreciative of Adam letting me take them away for more testing. The Miura/Accra combination was the best of the alternatives, but not so much better than my own clubs to make me feel comfortable with their cost. My elbow felt more comfortable, but not my wallet.
The only way I can currently try a wider range of heads and shafts with Auchterlonies is if I wait until all the manufacturers finish upgrading their fitting systems and send Adam their full range of shaft options. I know that my golf is going to be much reduced over the winter months, but I still intend to practice and play when I can. As that will likely involve more range sessions off mats, finding a more forgiving shaft soon is even more pressing (too pressing to wait until Spring).
With that in mind, I discussed the option of re-shafting my heads with the Accra icwt shaft. This would be a speculative decision though and there can be no guarantee they will produce the same results as in the TC-201's. I would rather be able to try them in a P770 first before committing, but that incurs further opportunity cost on my part to have one of my clubs re-shafted.
So what do I do now?
That will be the subject of my next post......
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