Welcome to this weeks newsletter, this week we have our third and final custom fitting instalment, courtesy of Shona Wilson.
Shona is currently using PING Rhapsody irons, whilst she is very happy with these she is interested to see if there has been much improvement in the 5+ years she has owned them.
In order to make it a fair test we built all irons to be the same specifications as her current set. For the test would be trying clubs from all manufacture's, Callaway, PING, Cobra and Wilson.
To give us a starting point Shona's own clubs measured 77yds Carry and 92yds Total on average with a maximum of 86 yds Carry and 102 yds total.
First to the test was the Wilson D200 ladies iron, one of our most popular irons in the men's section but does it match up for ladies? First impressions were good, Shona liked the softie grip and look of the clubhead. When putting the iron to the test it performed well with an increase in average carry and total distances, we did note however the ball flight was a little low and the carry could be increased further with a higher flight. Average Carry 78yds, Total 93yds.
Next was the club Shona was most looking forward to trying, the PING Rhapsody. This is the updated version of Shona's current set so it was interesting to see how it would compare. Initial thoughts were good, the club felt a little bit lighter, likely due to the weight of the club being moved even throughout, rather than feeling heavier in the head. The club performed well giving an extra 6 yards carry (84yds) and 7 yards total distance (100yds) over the previous model, a good improvement! More notably Shona noticed the difference in feel, this was in part down to the chance in weighting and rubberised 'feel' pad on the back.
Third in the test was the Cobra Max iron, a slightly smaller, heavier feeling club. Interestingly, whilst it performed better than her current iron we saw a big increase in dispersion and sidespin due to the smaller head and weighting. Cobra have always been a little more 'vibrant' colourwise and this also wasn't preferred by Shona. The distances where 77yds Carry and 104yds Total.
The final club from the test was the Callaway Big Bertha iron, as preferred by Ken Riley in his testing. Although a slightly larger headed club, the dark finish masks it well and as such Shona liked the look. The product also felt good off the face although sadly couldn't compete with the PING's. Carry 77yds Total 94yds.
Overall the PING performed the best and was also one of the most competitive price wise. The PING irons come with 2 Hybrids, 7-SW Irons. The hybrids usually RRP at £149 each and with the whole set now retailing at £599.99 (Price Matched!) it is a superb offering for the money!
With this being the last of the three fittings, it has been interesting to see that not one club fits all golfers. This highlights the importance of custom fitting and also the reason we stock so many different options here in the shop.
If you are interested in changing your clubs or would like to see the difference new technology can make, give us a call and book in today!
You can book a fitting by clicking here.
Open Draw Results
1st - Brian Sheppard - £100
2nd - Phil Deare - £75
3rd - Denise Crawford - £50
Last - Gaynor Tabiner - £15
Best European - Jaquie Tillot / Victoria Gibbens / Shona Wilson - £3.33 Each
Best R.O.W - Gavin Price - £10
Best Amateur - Shona Wilson - £10
Most Birdies - Brian Sheppard - £10
Most Bogeys - Gaynor Tabinor - £10
Lowest Score of Tournament - Phil Deare / Brian Sheppard - £5 Each
Highest Score of Tournament - Gaynor Tabinor / Eric Worrall / Richard Cordy - £3.33 Each
All prizes will be credited to your shop accounts.