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About carrx
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- Birthday 11/30/1972
Personal Information
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Your Location
Long Beach, CA
Your Golf Game
- Index: 4
- Plays: Righty
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carrx's Achievements
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I've been playing my Ping i15 (9.0 degrees, UST Mamiya S shaft) for going on 6 years now, and it's been a great club. I'm thinking of upgrading to newer technology, and would love some feedback/input on possible shaft/head combinations that I might be looking for. Swing speed is 110-115 mph, "typical" carry currently is about 250 yds. I am looking for something low spin, medium/high trajectory. I can hit just about any club, but aesthetically gravitate to Titleist and Ping. I've never done any type of shaft upgrade when purchasing, and really fell into the i15 by accident. I was fitted at Callaway in Carlsbad several years ago, and simply selected the most attractive "lower spin" driver available at the time. Some of you players out there have any suggestions? Thanks!
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Tried to compress the pics, sorry they're huge. I've played with my Edel twice now (not counting 3 or 4 sessions on the practice green). I haven't made every putt, but the fit, feel and control have been an immediate and pronounced improvement versus my prior menagerie of putters. I'm consistently hitting putts on the line in intend (unless I manually pull or push them off line - which I can tell). My speed is dramatically improved, and I have been extraordinarily steady on all my 4-8 foot clean up putts. I suspected I would really benefit from a properly fit putter, but thus far I am extremely pleased.
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Sweet, thanks for the validation!
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"My hosel is ridiculous" sounds like it should be on a T-shirt. How do you like the Pixl insert?
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GD, how are you liking the Pixl insert? Good feel?
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Yup, that's the one. Different hosel, but same putterhead. I will post pics when she arrives.
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Not...likely.
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Had the fitting done yesterday with Matt Mora from Urban Golf in LA. Myself and my buddy Andrew (aka "The Soss") scheduled back to back with him. First, the studio. It's a hip place, very small facility (converted house, maybe 1100 square feet) right on Sepulveda in LA (just south of Olympic). There's a small parking lot adjacent to the property, with only 3 spots available. One of their guys happily took my keys and played valet (my car moved twice during my two hours there). The staff were extremely present, positive and outgoing. Urban Golf is a very interesting concept. A full service golf training facility, including equipment custom equipment fitting, personal instruction, even bio-mechanical training (one of their guys is a Titleist Performance Institute certified personal trainer, they were working with a client on foot and hip rotation when we arrived). The $165 fitting fee is not an Edel specific charge. That's their hourly rate for private fitting, and given the context of the studio, makes sense (as much I didn't want to pay that). They would fit me for a driver, or irons, or anything else that I desired..$165 is the hourly rate. The putter fitting section was in the back of the facility, a relatively small turf area (indoors), about 20' x 15'. It shares space with a hitting bay with a fancy HD video display showing the 7th hole at Pebble, complete with waves crashing up on to the rocks. They played good music (modern stuff), with surround sound speakers throughout the room. Racked on the wall next to the putting green they have some demo samples of OEM putters - Gauge Designs, Piretti, Miura, Scotty Cameron, Ping, etc. It was neat to be able to swing these putters and knock around some putts, since usually I'd only see or hear of them through chat rooms or on ebay. Matt Mora is the certified fitter. I found him to be smart, helpful and certainly knowledgeable. We talked a bit about his background, and I felt very comfortable that he knew and understood his craft, and that he really enjoyed the art, and the science of it all. As far as the fitting, it went much as advertised previously on this thread. Matt set up a 4 foot putt, with the laser in place of the hole. My current gamer (Ping Anser Milled) was consistently aimed high and right on the green screen back drop. Matt took me through several iterations, and gradually (over about 30 minutes) found an optimal setup. After reading through this thread previously, I was very conscious to keep my mind open -- traditionally, I've always gravitated to the "anser" style putter, but I didn't want to let my own aesthetic bias interfere with the results. As it turned out, the model that best fit me was actually my favorite visually too, which only helped me appreciate the whole experience that much more (don't actually recall the model name, it's the anser style putter with the concave flange (angled inward). Matt also tried different markings and sight lines, finally settling on a single sight line on the top of the blade (not the back flange). Matt explained the difference between a "linear" and a "radial" stroke, and gave some details about how each type of stroke may benefit from a particular type of setup. My stroke is apparently a linear stroke (defined by Matt as using the same backswing distance, regardless of the length of putt). I'll defer to his expertise on that, but when we finally settled on a model and setup, I felt very comfortable addressing the ball. With the correct setup, I could definitely feel the difference in my aim, especially from the 4 foot section. We extended to 6 feet and the results were similarly consistent. Then I hit putts to the string, which was set about 15 feet from the starting point. Matt played with counterweights and head weights, and the differences in my stroke quality were immediate. Of note, the putting area is relatively small (as stated earlier, only about 20' long), and the fake green rolled pretty fast, which actually made it hard to take a full stroke and keep the ball in line with the string (as opposed to blasting it to the back rail of the mat). If I had a complaint, I would have preferred a larger area, so I could line up and putt some longer putts. Outside would be optimal, but overall I still feel comfortable that my objective was accomplished. Ultimately Matt and I agreed on the optimal setup (more weight in the hands, slightly less in the head), and while I was waiting for him to set up for my buddy's fitting, I proceeded to bang 5 straight 6 footers into one of the holes on the practice mat. As some of the earlier posters noted, the feel on the test putter was less than ideal, I look forward to finally rolling my putter when it does arrive. When it came time to order the putter, I confess I really didn't have a plan in mind for stamping, colors, etc. I knew I wanted the Pixl insert, but on some of the other details, I really found myself struggling to make a firm decision. I would definitely recommend folks look over the Edel site, and that they get really familiar and comfortable with what stamping/color combos they want before they actually do the fitting. This is one area of the process where I thought the facility was lacking. The "menu" was just an ipad with a link to Edel's website gallery. There was no way to look at each putter model, and to really see how the "satin" looked versus the "black oxide" model. So a lot of that was simply instinct, and hopefully works out. All in all, I had a very good experience - and I came away from UGP impressed with their approach, and concept. The fitting ended up costing me the full $165 (after the hour, I was fine paying Matt - felt he did a very thorough job, and I have a soft spot for a guy trying to make a living selling service). Matt did knock 10% off the order price on the putter. The total tally for the putter was $445, less 10%, plus tax, it worked out to about $450. So I ended up paying about $600 for the whole venture. Pricey, absolutely. Interestingly, after the fitting (and while Andrew was ordering his putter), I was hitting putts with my Anser, and after having seen my visual bias, i was actually able to aim my current putter a bit better. Hopefully it will help me this weekend on my scheduled 3 day golf bender in Pismo. I will be looking forward to seeing that Edel box when it arrives at the office. Sorry if this is too long for you guys, but I'm sure there are several of you out there like me, who really would like to understand what to expect before committing the resources to this.
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Fitting for clubs, for most players, won't bring about much of a change, certainly not in the short term. Setting aside the variable of quality of the fitters themselves, playing with clubs that are the optimal fit for a player's size and fundamentals actually provides a pretty sizeable benefit. I myself was fit at the Callaway studio in Carlsbad 4 years ago. My wife bought me the fitting as a birthday present. Until that time, I had been "fitted" in a retail golf store 2 or 3 different times as I was trying to size up woods and irons. The recommendations ranged from "standard/standard" (standard length, standard lie angle) to "+1 inch, 2 degrees up" (inch longer shaft, lie angle bent 2 degrees upright). I was playing an off the rack set (standard/standard), and was playing to a 4 handicap. I did occasionally have a problem skulling short irons and wedges, especially early in rounds (in particular, GW, SW, LW from the fairway), but I was a fair player otherwise. For the driver fitting, I hit several different setups, including my own driver. From the data, I learned about the relationship to my swing speed and spin rates, and ultimately invested in a new lower spinning driver (Ping i15), a decision which added 25-50 yards to my average driving distance. For the iron fitting, I hit a range of clubs, in various setups. I did so "blind", meaning I had no knowledge of the particular setup of each club I was hitting (I could tell organically that some clubs were longer than others, but no details). After the fitting, the technician showed me the data - I was noticeably better and more consistent at +1 inch, 2 degrees upright. Spin rates were better, and shot dispersion was much closer. Since then, I've always played clubs with this setup. Am I way "better" because of it? No, my current index is 3.3, owing mostly to short game improvement, but the ease with which I can play has improved quite a bit. Your friends who go get custom fit, and who suck with their new clubs, is not a big surprise. But don't let that impugn the fitting process. It really does work, and while it may not immediately or directly translate into a major improvement, will pay big long term benefits to most players.
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LA Fitting Update - Some other posters have already referenced Urban Golf and Matt Mora. He charges $165 for the hour fitting session. I am scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I am bringing another golfer with me, and we're scheduled back to back. I attempted to negotiate a discount, he offered me $150 for the hour (each), or 10% off a purchase, if we elect to buy (I intend to). I will try to get the $150 and the 10% discount, stay tuned. Also, something else very interesting to consider: he is a certified fitter for Edel, but he also fits for other OEM putter manufacturers (Piretti, Machine, Scotty Cameron, etc). He offered to fit me using the Edel system, but will also include other OEM offerings in terms of his recommendations. I find some value in that, just giving me a better option to get the putter I really want. I will update this after the fitting tomorrow, and again when I ultimately receive the putter. Stay tuned...
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You're spot on. I'm definitely delivering a descending blow at impact. I've improved some over the past couple of years, but now I have two young ones at home, and the practice tee has largely been sacrificed. I'm fortunate to be pretty consistent, but my next driver purchase will definitely be targeting something with a lower spin rate. Good analysis!
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TST SoCal 2014 Fall Outing December 7th Empire Lakes
carrx replied to tristanhilton85's topic in Member Outings & Meetups
I'm definitely interested. Dates aren't as important (yet), but generally the later in the year, the better. Empire Lakes would be a great choice, that's not a far haul for me. I could probably scrape together 1 or 2 other guys, all legit mid cappers (10 - 12). Just let me know. -
When I went from the Titleist 975D (5600 rpm backspin - measured at Callaway fitting studio in Carlsbad) to the Ping i15 (3200 rpm (measured at Roger Dunn Santa Ana), I noticed an immediate difference in distance (20+ yards of carry). I used to hit a low "climber" that the old timers used to love watching, but my carry was maybe 230, even worse with any wind. With the improved spin rates on the i15, the same swing moves me to 250+ carry (probably 260 max). My swing speed is 110-114 measured on the store launch monitors at RD Santa Ana. I think (as posters have noted) you'll need the requisite swing speed to make the effect useful.
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Spoke with Rob Gallagher from Edel Golf. The fitting is not included in the price of the putter, and they give autonomy to the fitters to charge what they want. He did give Matt Mora a strong endorsement as a fitter, for what that's worth.