Many of you may have heard about the benefits of custom fitting and some of you may have even been through a fitting with a club pro or a manufacturer.
A lot of them focus on distance and accuracy, but increasingly they also focus on distance gapping and getting the right combination of fairways and hybrids to fit into the gap between your driver and the longest iron in your bag.
Depending on your level of play, how you use them may also differ. Many better players will use the fairway wood from the tee more than from the fairway, whereas higher handicappers may be the opposite.
The same applies to hybrids plus the accuracy and forgiveness of these clubs makes them better options to long irons as they deliver the same or better performance from an easier to hit head. Who doesn't want that?
I went to visit the Titleist Fitting Centre near Edinburgh to see how my fairway and my trusty 2-iron matched up the latest Titleist 913 models.
I go to a lot of fitting sessions and I have to say that each time I am amazed and intrigued by the results. This time I was very impressed by how the lower lofted 13.5 degree Titleist 913Fd fairway hit it higher with less spin than my previous 15 degree Titleist 910Fd fairway. The faster face and deeper centre of gravity make it a better alternative from the fairway, where before I was having to trade off performance from the tee with distance from the fairway.
The bigger surprise was with my trusty 2-iron which I love. It was hardly a shock that the Titleist 913H hybrid is easier to hit, but what did surprise me was that it generated less spin than my 2-iron and that even into the wind it would longer. Add in the fact that it is longer and more versatile from the semi-rough than an iron and you can see why it has been straight in the bag. I still may use the 2-iron on a hard baked links but given the recent British summers that may be a while.
One of the key factors in the decision for the models, loft and SureFit Tour adjustable settings was the distances I wanted to hit each club and what their respective roles were. Graham was very knowledgable and offered up many suggestions for options that were very easy to try as you can swap heads, shafts and setting quickly and easily.
Therefore the next time you are looking for a fairway, hybrid or even a full set of clubs, make sure you take the advice of experts and playing with the right clubs in the right set up will get you off on the right foot.