Club Champion vs. TaylorMade Kingdom Club Fitting Experience

[picadoris]

I wanted to write this post because this is the information that I was looking for when I recently went to get fitted for clubs. Forgive me in advance for the lack of brevity.

 

I live around Atlanta, GA. I was disappointed to see a lack of independent fitters outside of big corporations in Atlanta. The most common options around here are True Spec, Golf Tec, Club Champion, or you can make the drive out to Lake Oconee for the TaylorMade Kingdom experience.

 

After doing enough online research, I narrowed my options down to Club Champion and the TaylorMade Kingdom at Reynolds. I’d heard all of the normal issues with Club Champion regarding cost of the builds. But the variety of shaft and brand options was enticing. The Kingdom experience looked awesome but I was hesitant about sticking with only one brand. I booked the Club Champion fitting for a Thursday and the Kingdom fitting for the following Saturday. It was a bit expensive to book two fittings but hey, I’ve never bought new clubs and I’ll be using these things for the next 7-10 years hopefully.

 

The Club Champion fitting was everything you’d expect it to be. The fitter was knowledgeable, nice, and attentive. He didn’t try to stick me with any overpriced shaft combinations or get me into anything I didn’t want to test. We hit into a screen off mats with Trackman data.

 

He put me through a series of irons first. After trying Mizuno, Titelist, Ping, and Srixon, We settled on the TaylorMade P790s. We found some Vokey wedges to round out the gapping at the low end of the bag. It was difficult to get a feel for wedges because I was hitting off a mat into a screen. I didn’t really get a chance to try out any different shots to see how they felt and performed. And getting an idea of bounce and grind was impossible.

 

I tried a number of different driver combinations but couldn’t find anything that outperformed my current gamer. Same for the 3-wood. I was a bit shocked because both were 8 years old off the rack clubs. We tried a number of hybrid options before swapping it out for a Titleist GT2 7-wood with the Diamana OEM shaft.

 

At the conclusion of this fitting, they showed me the estimate. They were running a special where the fitting was $100 if you bought something custom out of the fitting. He asked me if I wanted the shafts “pured” as well.  I’d read enough online to decline the puring process. I think there was even a recent video on the TaylorMade YouTube channel doing a deeper WITB dive into Tiger Woods where he said he’s never pured his shafts and even chuckled at the question.

 

After 255 shots, the final set was TaylorMade P790s 4-AW with a KBS Tour C Taper 130X X-sitff, Vokey SM10 54 (bent to 55) and Vokey SM10 60 with KBS C Taper Stiff+, and Titleist GT2 7-wood in OEM shaft and specs. I was pretty spent.

 

Total cost of $4104.55.

 

I was a bit shocked and confused at the price considering I didn’t even get a driver or 3-wood. This was 8 irons, two wedges, and a 7-wood. Upon further inspection, the cost of each individual shaft outside of the 7-wood was $120! They charged $15 per shaft for the custom spec (which I expected) and then another $105 per club for the build and installation! In what world does it cost $105 to put a shaft on a club? They justified this price by saying that the build is guaranteed to be the same specs and swing weight as it was in the fitting bay. They also charged another $15 per grip. Knowing that I was going for the fitting at The Kingdom, I elected to hold off on the purchase and just pay the fitting fee of $325 without the discount. They said they’d apply the discount if I chose to proceed with the purchase of the clubs in the next 2-3 days. It felt expensive for a set of irons that really didn’t feel that great, and no driver or 3-wood that could outperform 8-year-old clubs bought on Amazon.

 

Saturday rolled around and I make my way out to Lake Oconee for my fitting at the Kingdom. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain so we had to do the fitting from a hitting bay off mats instead of on grass. At least I could see the ball flight this time. The facility was everything you think it would be. Beautifully manicured facility surrounded by lush greenery and 5 pristine golf courses. They had putting greens, bunkers, chipping areas, and a perfect range. The fitter met me in the parking lot and took my clubs in. He looked at all my clubs and measured out the wedges and 7-iron specs to get an idea of what I’ve been gaming. I warmed up with my usual routine and off we went.

 

We started with Driver. He put me through all of the new TaylorMade heads in various shaft combinations. I asked to be “blinded” as best he could. I didn’t want to see the numbers and I didn’t want to know what I was hitting. I just wanted to see how they felt and how they hit the ball. The fitter could play with the numbers on his end to optimize everything. He swapped me in and out of different drivers every 3-5 shots. He’d rotate back to old driver combos I’d already tried just to make sure I wasn’t getting biased data. It was laid back and extremely helpful to do the fitting like this. I couldn’t see any numbers but he would readily give them to me if I asked. I felt distracted at the Club Champion fitting because every swing almost forces you to turn your head into the screen to see the numbers. I’m not much of a numbers guy to begin with. It’s nice having a metric to compare apples to apples. But in the end, I’d rather see the ball flight and compare that to how the shots feel.

 

We moved on to fairway woods, irons, and finally wedges. It was a lot less swings to find the right combo of head and shaft because we were just picking between a couple of heads and titrating those to the specific shafts. With only one club brand at our disposal, it was more streamlined compared to Club Champion. They had the same shafts at their disposal but had a more intimate knowledge of the specific club heads. The wedge fitting was a lot more specific as I was able to hit a variety of different shots on the range and see the flight, landing, and spin back. If it wasn’t raining, I would’ve been able to take them over to the chipping area and test them out on a variety of conditions. But so it goes.

 

In the end, after 146 shots, I was fitted into the following:

Qi35 LST driver, tipped 1”, with a Denali Black 60 6.5 shaft

Qi35 3 wood, tipped 1”, with a Denali Black 70 6.5 shaft

P-DHY 18° 2-iron, with a GD DI 85 X Shaft

P-790s 4-AW, 2° upright, standard length, with Project X Rifle 6.5 Shaft

MG4 48° Wedge, 1° upright, Project X 6.5 Rifle Shaft

MG4 54° Wedge, 1° upright, Project X 6.5 Rifle Shaft

MG4 58° Wedge, 1° upright, Project X 6.0 Rifle Shaft

I got both the 48° MG4 and the P-790 AW to test out on the course. Wasn’t sure if I wanted the specific wedge or the set wedge.

 

This set came out to $4,425.54.

 

So for $300 more, I got three more clubs, including driver. The numbers were better. Ball speed was higher. Spin rates lower on the driver and woods. Flight and gapping was perfect on the irons and wedges. It was a much more professional experience overall. I loved it.

 

I don’t say this to necessarily talk bad on Club Champion. The fitting experience itself was adequate. Communication is the biggest key. Tell the fitter what you want, what you’re looking for, and communicate how each shot felt so they get good data and feedback. But they definitely try and sneakily upcharge for services that are completely unnecessary.

 

If you have access to the TaylorMade Kingdom, Titleist TPI, Ping HQ, or some other equivalent then I’d go for it. If not, then ask around and try to find an independent fitter that can get you into something without the expensive markups. I hope this helps.

 

EDIT: 

I forgot to mention that the $4,425.54 price tag also included a $500 fitting fee for The Kingdom. So total price of the clubs was $3,925.54. 
 

The $4104.55 price tag at Club Champion included a $100 fitting fee bringing the price of the clubs to $4,004.55. 
 

So, again, the price of the clubs themselves was still much cheaper at The Kingdom especially considering I got three more clubs including driver. 

Edited May 22 by picadoris

[imagine29028]

I'm sorry, but $4k+ ???? I believe in fittings and such, but I would need to be single digit HC who is competitive or have a really great job to even consider this (I am/have neither). 

[RickyBubbs]

Your experience proves what many others have said about the big box guys. They don’t have fitters, they have salespeople that grab stuff off a wall. 255 shots is absurd in an iron and wedge fitting. Local fitters and brand-specific fitters usually have higher quality people because they don’t have 200 franchised locations (looking at you Golftec) where quality of control immediately becomes a problem. There simply aren’t that many experienced fitters out there, and the people that know their stuff ain’t working at the strip mall next to KFC. The best thing the avg Joe can do is educate themselves as much as possible before a fitting. You need to be the expert, because the big box fitter ain’t one. 

[hammergolf]

9 minutes ago, RickyBubbs said:

Your experience proves what many others have said about the big box guys. They don’t have fitters, they have salespeople that grab stuff off a wall. 255 shots is absurd in an iron and wedge fitting. Local fitters and brand-specific fitters usually have higher quality people because they don’t have 200 franchised locations (looking at you Golftec) where quality of control immediately becomes a problem. There simply aren’t that many experienced fitters out there, and the people that know their stuff ain’t working at the strip mall next to KFC. The best thing the avg Joe can do is educate themselves as much as possible before a fitting. You need to be the expert, because the big box fitter ain’t one. 

It’s like the old story about Med School. What do they call the person who finishes #1 the class? DOCTOR. What do they call the person who barely passes and finishes last in the class? DOCTOR. There are good and bad fitters in all locations and types of venues. 

[PuffyC]

None of this surprises me. As already mentioned, some “fitters” aren’t really in the club fitting business, they’re in the club selling business with the dog and pony show of a fitting just part of the process. 

 

Independents who are good and successful enough to own their own business are best but they can be difficult to find, mostly IMO because they operate to a great deal by word of mouth. If you live in a big metro area they’re out there though, you just really need to put in the leg work to find them. There’s one I’ve used who doesn’t even have a sign outside the building - you just kinda have to know it’s there. Ask the people at your club, ask the pros working the clubhouse where you play, ask your coach, search online forums, etc. You’ll burn a lot of time doing it but when you find that person who actually knows what they’re doing you’ll get much better clubs and pay far less.

[Stuart_G]

8 hours ago, hammergolf said:

It’s like the old story about Med School. What do they call the person who finishes #1 the class? DOCTOR. What do they call the person who barely passes and finishes last in the class? DOCTOR. There are good and bad fitters in all locations and types of venues. 

 

It's even worse with fitters.   You don't' have go to any school to be able to call yourself a fitter.

[picadoris]

16 hours ago, PuffyC said:

None of this surprises me. As already mentioned, some “fitters” aren’t really in the club fitting business, they’re in the club selling business with the dog and pony show of a fitting just part of the process. 

 

Independents who are good and successful enough to own their own business are best but they can be difficult to find, mostly IMO because they operate to a great deal by word of mouth. If you live in a big metro area they’re out there though, you just really need to put in the leg work to find them. There’s one I’ve used who doesn’t even have a sign outside the building - you just kinda have to know it’s there. Ask the people at your club, ask the pros working the clubhouse where you play, ask your coach, search online forums, etc. You’ll burn a lot of time doing it but when you find that person who actually knows what they’re doing you’ll get much better clubs and pay far less.

I used to be in Dallas. There were tons of great options. Sellingers. Stripe Show Fitters.

 

But I searched hard and long for a similar setup around Atlanta and couldn’t find anything on forums, reddit, etc. 

 

Thats why I went with The Kingdom at the end of it. 

[Frank Newport]

I would always rather go to a brand specific fitting with a good fitter than an agnostic fitting with a questionable fitter. I believe the major OEMs are all producing such similar equipment that someone could reasonably fit into any brand without seeing much difference. For example, the guy who fits into the 770s could play the T150, ZXI7, MP243 and I230 and not notice much of a difference in their scores. 

[Stuart_G]

On 5/21/2025 at 1:16 PM, picadoris said:

The Club Champion fitting was everything you’d expect it to be.

 

Total cost of $4104.55.

 

I was a bit shocked and confused at the price considering I didn’t even get a driver or 3-wood. 

 

You're not alone by a long shot.   

 

Most who go to Club Champion find they do a great job with the fitting - but that they would be much better off just paying for the service and then walking out the door with the results so they can do their own custom order directly from the club OEM's.

 

Edited May 23 by Stuart_G

[Ty_Guy]

When I did my first fitting, it was also at Club Champion. I knew I wasn't going to purchase that day, so I went in knowing it was going to be an in-and-out 400$ full bag experience.

 

I have to give my Club Champion fitter some credit. This was when I was about 6 months in, thought I was shooting 90 (later realizing my my written score and number of shots were quite different numbers), but was beginning to see an ability to move the ball in the direction I wanted it to go. I was coming from my Grandma's old clubs too. Lange irons from the late 1990s/early 2000s--they resemble the Ping Eye style. 

 

We hit over 200 iron shots alone. Partially due to my own inconsistency and partially to establish a baseline. Looking back, their system seems to require 7-10 "good" shots for their A.I. system/fitter to recommend another shaft and head combo. This led to way too many shots. I was exhausted. We moved to putters for a bit of a exertion break before returning to the bay for drivers and woods. He saw a handful of swings and said to just stick with what I had for driver and FW. I was still charged for the "full bag fitting" after it was said and done.

 

I understand that I was a "hard" fit at the time due to my skill. You can't effectively fit a severe down and in driver path, but a fitting system that looks at a quicker three shots before moving on to the next club combo is a much better approach.

 

18 months later I returned for just a driver fitting with a different fitter. The process was a bit more enjoyable, but I still disagree of their system requiring ten swings per club so they have eight good data points in a setup that I told them from swing two that I didn't get along with the feel. I'm under the assumption their fitters are heavily guided to follow the computer's recommendations and are somewhat handcuffed to gather data needed for the computer to make a recommendation.

 

You have to applaud Club Champion's selection. It can be a double edged sword as choices get more difficult with more options. Though I do know, I would never choose a full bag fitting in one session again unless it was at a more focused environment like Taylormade's Kingdom.

 

It can feel silly buying and selling multiple $100+ shafts just to try them out myself when I could just go to a fitting. Club Champion is the only shop in town, so I'm sure I'll return like an abused partner in a bad relationship, hoping that this time I will be able to communicate my way to a better experience.

 

Demo days at the club have been great though!

Edited May 23 by Ty_Guy

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, Ty_Guy said:

I understand that I was a "hard" fit at the time due to my skill. You can't effectively fit a severe down and in driver path,

 

I know you're trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that's really not true - as long as your expectations (and the fitters) are realistic.

 

Even for someone at that level, after a short warm up, 3 shots should be plenty.   You're correct in your instinct about not really needing all those swings at any level.   However sometimes the problem can be convincing the person being fit that it's enough.   You also want them to feel confident in the end results and that is what can frequently push the shot count up in some cases near the end of the fitting.

 

But regardless, a full bag fitting in one session will always be pushing any am - no matter what shape they and their swing might be in.  I understand the appeal - but the results will never be as good compared to being able to break it up over two or three sessions.

 

1 hour ago, Ty_Guy said:

I'm under the assumption their fitters are heavily guided to follow the computer's recommendations and are somewhat handcuffed to gather data needed for the computer to make a recommendation.

 

That's actually a bit disturbing if true.  I would never trust the results of a system that did not or could not include or properly factor in the subjective influences of the different choices.   In many cases they are actually way more important than the objective data.

[MK7Golf21]

I've done many fittings over the years, Club Champion, Taylormade etc. Maybe it's just my experience at this point but I never really get fit anymore unless it was a free part of buying the clubs. I know what I like, I know my lie angle, know my length so at this point I just buy what I want. I don't need some fitter telling me about a unicorn shaft for my particular swing which is what people expect to happen. 

 

I do however think it would be helpful to hit the club/shaft combo I'm thinking of buying first and not into a net. Seeing the actual flight, that's all I need. There was a range near me that was tied to a golf shop, they had fitting carts and would let you take any combo out into one of the stalls with like 15 balls or so. That was the best way for me to determine what I liked. 

[HGLucky13]

2 hours ago, MK7Golf21 said:

I've done many fittings over the years, Club Champion, Taylormade etc. Maybe it's just my experience at this point but I never really get fit anymore unless it was a free part of buying the clubs. I know what I like, I know my lie angle, know my length so at this point I just buy what I want. I don't need some fitter telling me about a unicorn shaft for my particular swing which is what people expect to happen. 

 

I do however think it would be helpful to hit the club/shaft combo I'm thinking of buying first and not into a net. Seeing the actual flight, that's all I need. There was a range near me that was tied to a golf shop, they had fitting carts and would let you take any combo out into one of the stalls with like 15 balls or so. That was the best way for me to determine what I liked. 

 

I think $4k is crazy for irons. but I have had alot of mixed views on fittings. Over the past few years I have done a metric $h!t ton of fittings. From boojie fitters like True Spec (I spent $1K on a driver shaft) to free testing days with OEM's (got fit for my current driver for free, and went out and bought it at the specs I needed at cost) and alot of quasi fittings at the big box stores.  Every time I can get a free fitting I go do it. The OEM's set up at courses around here every year to let people try their new equipment. I always go and I pay close attention to the numbers and pick the guys brains on what they see as the important info. It is always different, but over time I have been able to realize what I need for my horrible swing. A pattern starts to emerge. PGASS is pretty good about letting you try different new clubs. Not a fitting but I can pick the shaft I want to try and they turn on the monitor and leave me to just hit balls til i'm done. I also have my own launch monitor that I take to the range with me to verify numbers, but flight path and feel is always more important to me than what the monitor says. 

 

The idea of a truly custom fitting from a guy in his home workshop, testing every iron over time and truly custom fitting them to me is what I desire. But that is hard to come by so I try to do it myself. There is a local shop that will do my club work for me at a decent price. So I figure out what works best for me and then I just get them made to my specs. They are fitters also so they keep me in check if I need advice. Or I just find clubs, new or used, that fit me or are close and have them adjust to my specs.

 

 

[MK7Golf21]

1 minute ago, HGLucky13 said:

 

I think $4k is crazy for irons. but I have had alot of mixed views on fittings. Over the past few years I have done a metric $h!t ton of fittings. From boojie fitters like True Spec (I spent $1K on a driver shaft) to free testing days with OEM's (got fit for my current driver for free, and went out and bought it at the specs I needed at cost) and alot of quasi fittings at the big box stores.  Every time I can get a free fitting I go do it. The OEM's set up at courses around here every year to let people try their new equipment. I always go and I pay close attention to the numbers and pick the guys brains on what they see as the important info. It is always different, but over time I have been able to realize what I need for my horrible swing. A pattern starts to emerge. PGASS is pretty good about letting you try different new clubs. Not a fitting but I can pick the shaft I want to try and they turn on the monitor and leave me to just hit balls til i'm done. I also have my own launch monitor that I take to the range with me to verify numbers, but flight path and feel is always more important to me than what the monitor says. 

 

The idea of a truly custom fitting from a guy in his home workshop, testing every iron over time and truly custom fitting them to me is what I desire. But that is hard to come by so I try to do it myself. There is a local shop that will do my club work for me at a decent price. So I figure out what works best for me and then I just get them made to my specs. They are fitters also so they keep me in check if I need advice. Or I just find clubs, new or used, that fit me or are close and have them adjust to my specs.

 

 

 

 

yeah, some people really get into fitting. I guess I did for awhile. I learned what works for me by now so I don't put too much thought into it nowadays, I just buy or try what I want.

 

Also, you see pro's switching different driver shafts like each year to the latest and greatest. There is no one unicorn shaft for your swing. Pick a category that works best like low spin/low flight etc. and just go with it. 

[HGLucky13]

@MK7Golf21 yeah I have come to the same realization. I know what will work for me and I can narrow down a choice real quick. I do enjoy the equipment side so when a new piece comes out I like to play around with it. But I always end up in the same stuff. I think the constant changes and trying new things hurt my game, especially as a new golfer. Now that I know what works and more importantly what doesn't, I am becoming more conservative in what I put in the bag. It would be hard to get my irons, for instance, out of my bag. It would take something special to change. But I still get enjoyment out of trying all of the new stuff.

[jcm421]

 

21 hours ago, picadoris said:

I used to be in Dallas. There were tons of great options. Sellingers. Stripe Show Fitters.

 

But I searched hard and long for a similar setup around Atlanta and couldn’t find anything on forums, reddit, etc. 

 

Thats why I went with The Kingdom at the end of it. 

Since you're in the Atlanta area, have you checked out Elite Fit Golf?  He's got a great YouTube channel and has built clubs for pros.  https://www.elitefitgolf.com/

[picadoris]

@jcm421 Have not tried Elite Fit Golf. Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to look into it in the future if I need something. 

[caniac6]

If I was in Atlanta, I would check out the Mizuno Foundry. They have a lot of stock shaft and grip options, with no upcharge. I obviously can’t guarantee, but I would bet you would get a very high quality set for a lot less.