Fairway Jockey: An Old “New” Way to Buy Golf Clubs

Due to our good pal the Worldwide Net, the purveyance of golf gear is simpler, faster and extra handy than ever.

Level, click on, carried out.

However all that comfort comes at a price. Attempt before you purchase? Nope. Private service? Hardly.

Customized match? That will get a little bit difficult.

There are all the time holes on this imperfect world we inhabit. And there are all the time entrepreneurial-minded folks trying to fill these holes. The oldsters behind an organization referred to as Fairway Jockey assume they’ll fill at the very least a few these holes. Moreover, they consider they’ll offer you some compelling, and maybe even revolutionary, golf membership shopping for choices.

And perhaps even customized suit you over the telephone.

Over the telephone? Absolutely that is insanity, proper?

Maybe. However to cite that double-digit handicapper and occasional playwright Billy Shakespeare:

“Although this be insanity, but there’s a methodology in’t.”

Fairway Jockey: A New Twist on an Previous Take

Let’s begin with a basic reality: the best possible solution to get fitted is in-person, hitting actual golf balls with head and shaft choices and a launch monitor. In an ideal world, it’s brand-agnostic and run by an skilled, educated fitter.

There’s one other basic reality, nonetheless.

“There are individuals who will purchase golf golf equipment off the rack and that’s OK,” says Fairway Jockey’s Scott Krueger, a club-fitting veteran of greater than 20 years. “However my agency perception is being match at any stage is healthier than not being match in any respect.”

There’s appreciable gravitas behind Fairway Jockey. Sure, it’s an online golf equipment seller. However Fairway Jockey can also be a part of the 8AM golf empire. That empire consists of Golf Journal, the Nicklaus Corporations and Miura Golf, amongst others. Most pertinent to this dialogue, nonetheless, is True Spec Golf.

True Spec touts itself because the No. 1 brand-agnostic membership fitter on the planet with greater than 25 places within the U.S., and extra services in Europe and Australia. Fairway Jockey shares its Scottsdale, Ariz., headquarters with True Spec and makes use of the identical services for membership constructing.

In accordance with Fairway Jockey, it has the most important number of premium aftermarket merchandise on the planet. True Spec has the back-end achievement and construct store and that permits them to have this large number of choices.

By way of its company connections, Fairway Jockey has the chops to offer you a Tour-level construct. And if you understand your specs or have only in the near past been fitted elsewhere, Fairway Jockey can do the construct for you and, it claims, can flip it round faster at a aggressive, or higher than aggressive, value.

However that, buddies, is a good distance from becoming you over the telephone.

Which is the place Krueger is available in.

Dialing For Drivers

Once more, no sane individual would argue that one of the simplest ways to get fitted doesn’t embody hitting actual balls with actual golf equipment in entrance of an actual launch monitor. However that doesn’t imply different choices don’t have advantage.

Even when it’s over the telephone.

“We’ve got the assets to develop what I name the right blueprint or prescription of what the golf membership ought to seem like in relation to your swing DNA,” Krueger insists. Earlier than becoming a member of Fairway Jockey, Krueger spent 20 years as a fitter with Scorching Stix. Previous to that he was the PGA TOUR rep for Rifle Shafts and hung out as a membership skilled.

“If the client is on the lookout for a driver, the very first thing I wish to know is what he’s at present utilizing,” explains Krueger. “I’ll additionally ask while you’re not taking part in nicely, what’s your miss? What shaft do you’ve gotten? What’s your adapter setting? Have you ever ever been match earlier than and is that this the motive force you had been match for?

“These questions give me an incredible benchmark going ahead.”

A shot report with spin traits, launch angle, assault angle and swing velocity could make Kreuger’s job a lot simpler. With no shot report, Krueger goes into full detective mode.

“I’d take a look at your adapter setting and driver loft,” he says. “Should you just like the ball flight, then I’d take a look at your common miss. Should you miss left and it’s because of a swing flaw, I’d take a look at a shaft which may have a stiffer tip. I can take a look at torque. Is there one thing that may assist get the pinnacle again to sq.?

“All people makes good merchandise. However for those who don’t get the shaft proper, get the timing proper and get the pinnacle again to sq., golf could be a very difficult sport.”

Confidence Versus Band-Aids

“I don’t care what stage of golfer you’re. Confidence is essential,” says Krueger. “I’m a agency believer if the membership doesn’t look good to you aesthetically, you’re by no means going to be one hundred pc bought on the product.”

If, nonetheless, your swing has a little bit hitch in its get-along, no quantity of aesthetically pleasing gear goes to assist.

“The truth is swing flaws are all the time going trump expertise,” says Krueger. “If I’m an individual who slices the ball badly, there’s solely a lot a golf membership can do. I don’t wish to create a Band-Assist. I wish to get that golfer right into a golf membership that can be extra environment friendly.”

Krueger and his team are adept at mining sufficient info from golfers. However the course of works significantly better if you perform a little homework forward of time. And you might also discover the becoming course of might require a couple of telephone conversations.

“I gained’t give a buyer only one possibility and inform them it’s going to offer all their issues,” he says. “They might have a driver head that they like. I don’t wish to take that out of their palms however I’ll recommend a few totally different shafts. I’ll inform them to go to our web site and do some analysis. Then I’ll circle again in a day or two to comply with up and refine the place we’re going.”

Severely, How Good Can a Telephone Becoming Be?

Whereas Fairway Jockey calls its over-the-phone classes a “becoming,” a extra correct description is perhaps “session.” The truth is that the extra you understand about your swing, the higher your outcomes are going to be. Everyone knows there’s no magic combination of shaft and head that’s going to offer you 20 extra yards however you may be capable to discover the middle of the face extra constantly.

“In the event that they hit it in the midst of the face, with the vitality being transferred to the golf ball, they’re in all probability going to choose up 10 to fifteen yards on simply that,” says Krueger. “After which dispersion will get tighter with much less spin. Relying on their angle of assault, it’s going to hit and launch out a little bit bit. Ten to fifteen yards is a giant acquire.”

And whereas Krueger completely agrees that it’s actually extra archer than arrow, he says we shouldn’t lose sight of the bow.

“When a golf membership is correctly match to somebody, it doesn’t matter what the archer presents of their golf swing, it’s going to yield higher outcomes,” he says.

Krueger says most of his over-the-phone fittings are for mid-handicappers, normally within the eight to 16 vary. Decrease than an eight and golfers will normally be fitted in individual whereas 20-handicappers typically don’t get fitted in any respect. Krueger says that’s a mistake on their half.

“A scratch participant swings the membership very constantly,” he explains. “His features won’t be as nice as a 22-handicapper who performs golf each two or three weeks. For that individual, expertise could make a extremely large distinction. The upper handicapper has extra room for features and that’s not a nasty factor. That’s a superb factor.”

However What If I’ve Already Been Fitted?

If you understand your specs and have gone by a becoming just lately, Fairway Jockey presents Tour-level build options. Say you’ve been fitted at Membership Champion or elsewhere. You’ll be able to enter your specs on Fairway Jockey’s web site and, inside a few days, you’ll get a name from Krueger.

“It’s wonderful how many individuals will undergo a three-hour customized becoming and the knowledge all will get misplaced within the translation,” he says. “There’s a lot info and while you begin reviewing it with them, they’ll’t keep in mind the dialog they’d with the fitter. They’ve forgotten what works and what doesn’t. That’s the place I are available to simplify issues to allow them to get the precise golf equipment and benefit from the sport extra.”

Fairway Jockey has 15 Tour-level construct stations at its facility and one builder will make your total order. The corporate claims that may guarantee your tolerances are spot on, in comparison with golf equipment that come off a ram-and-jam meeting line.

Moreover, in our supply-chain-challenged world, Fairway Jockey claims its turnaround occasions are higher than what you may count on from an OEM customized division. Relying on what you order, a customized driver shaft with a grip and tip may get out the door in 10 days whereas an iron set may take 4 to 5 weeks.

Is This A Higher Method To Purchase Golf Golf equipment?

As all the time, that relies upon. On one stage, for those who’ve been fitted and know your specs, Fairway Jockey presents you a compelling option. Should you haven’t been fitted and don’t have entry to a becoming heart, Krueger’s staff additionally supplies you with a compelling possibility. Sure, it’s extra session than becoming but it surely’s manner higher than taking a whack or two in a hitting bay and hoping for one of the best.

You too can argue the notion that getting fitted by an area fitter after which not shopping for from them is perhaps uncomfortable. However for those who pay for the becoming, the specs belong to you and you should buy your golf equipment wherever you’d like. That half is fully as much as you.

As talked about, we reside on this imperfect world that’s stuffed with holes. The query we now have for you, GolfSpies, is whether or not you assume Fairway Jockey presents a compelling possibility for purchasing customized golf golf equipment.

Is it one thing you’d think about attempting?

*We might earn a fee while you purchase by hyperlinks on our web site.