Golf fitting and performance centers are available nationwide, and can be found generally within one of three locations: retail golf stores, independently owned fitting centers, and club manufacturers (or licensed facilities).
Critical Golf will be visiting a variety of fitting and performance centers that are open to the public to take a close look at the experience and help decide what environment is right for you.
Our experience at the Callaway Performance Center kicks off our series on golf equipment fitting centers. We flew to Callaway Golf Company Headquarters in Carlsbad, California, one of 15 Performance Centers in the United States and six locations overseas, for a morning fitting of irons and driver.
Tucked away in the little Hamlet of Huntington Beach just off the 405, in an unassuming office complex surrounded by Konica Minolta and Boeing buildings, lies Cleveland Golf headquarters, the site of our latest visit in our continuing series on golf club fitting and performance centers. Whether you select a fitting for woods (driver, fairway and hybrid), irons, wedges, or a putter the cost is the same. Zero. That’s right. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Apparently something in life is free! That’s not reason alone to drop everything that you’re doing and head on over, but it’s one on the list.
We recently paid a visit to Cool Clubs, one of the few manufacturer-agnostic fitting centers with locations nationwide, and one of only two that focuses entirely on club fitting. Our editor visited the new 2,800 square foot Cool Clubs studio located within the Mariners Point Golf Center in Foster City, California.
Our visit to GolfTEC was our first to a manufacturer-agnostic facility, one only two companies that offer such services nationwide, though with over 140 Centers available in North America, it is the largest by far. Those familiar with the GolfTEC name will most likely recognize the company as a provider of golf lessons. And it is indeed a powerhouse in the lesson business, teaching over 20% of all U.S. lessons annually, an absolutely stunning number. My visit, however, was for their Personal Club Fitting, one of the other services that they have available for players.
Founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2000, Hot Stix is one of the few brand-agnostic fitting companies with locations available nationwide. The company independently tests all of their equipment, and shares their experiences across locations to ensure that visitors benefit from the collective knowledge of its fitting staff around the country. Their client list includes over 250 Tour players (including major winners) and 35,000 amateurs, and the company is the official Golf Magazine equipment research partner.
We soak up a day at The Kingdom, TaylorMade’s top-of-the-line clubfitting experience that was, until 2005, reserved for their Tour Professionals only. With a name like The Kingdom, the expectations are lofty – and as you will see from the review by our editors, TaylorMade truly delivers a remarkable experience.
