We Tried It: Fairway Jockey

There’s plenty of cool gear within the golf tools world that doesn’t at all times match neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You continue to wish to know the way it performs. In our We Tried It sequence, we put gear to the take a look at and allow you to know if it really works as marketed.

What We Tried

Fairway Jockey—A web based possibility for golfers who need custom-built equipment however like the choice to order off-menu.

Product Professional

Chris Nickel. I’m a tinkerer by nature. I prefer to construct issues, break them aside after which construct them once more. Golf golf equipment, steak fajitas … actually something goes. Past that, I’ve a penchant for lesser-known, and infrequently hard-to-find, tools manufacturers.

A Phrase About Fairway Jockey

Golfers have quite a few choices with regards to buying new tools. Large-box retailers (Golf Galaxy, PGA TOUR Superstore, DICK’S), native green-grass accounts and DTC (direct-to-consumer) choices every have clear advantages with few drawbacks. The first upside is comfort however the associated fee for that’s usually a one-size-fits-most choice of product. Some areas supply becoming providers, the standard of which regularly varies greater than the wait time on the native DMV. 

Extra discerning customers may work with a neighborhood mother and pop fitter or at a brand-sponsored demo day.

Firms like TrueSpec, Membership Champion and TXG supply soup-to-nuts, in-person becoming, and custom-building providers. In need of alternatives afforded to elite professionals, that is what most would take into account the most suitable choice for golfers who’re keen to pay a premium for custom-fit tools constructed to tour-level specs.

However what concerning the golfer who is aware of what she or he desires and simply wants somebody to construct it? 

Enter Fairway Jockey. In response to the corporate, it has the biggest choice of premium aftermarket merchandise on the earth. Past that, its larger brother, True Spec, has the back-end success and construct a store that permits Fairway Jockey such a strong menu of choices.

Put otherwise, Fairway Jockey is for the golfer who has the measurements and simply wants the tailor.

Fairway Jockey Ordering Course of

It’s easy. The web site is about as much as facilitate a clear, simple course of. It’s effectively organized and took me all of 4 minutes and 28 seconds to construct and order a {custom} set of irons. It’s not fairly Amazon Prime fast but it surely’s no extra concerned than ordering takeout from Qdoba. 

Furthermore,  in case you have a request that isn’t a part of the usual kind (i.e., additional wraps below solely the underside hand of a midsize grip), it’s straightforward sufficient so as to add below the “Product Notes” part. To not belabor the purpose, however even a card-carrying Luddite may navigate the method with none missteps.

That is additionally the place Fairway Jockey’s telephone session/becoming possibility performs a task. To be clear, it’s extra of a consultation than a fitting. Except you could have significant club-specific knowledge (swing pace, launch, spin, path), there’s solely a lot the particular person on the opposite finish of the road can do. Like former IBM programmer George Fueschel mentioned, “Rubbish in, rubbish out.” 

My recommendation could be to current both loads of knowledge or particular setups (membership, shaft, flex, size) which have labored effectively beforehand. That approach the fitter may also help discover potential choices that could be useful. In my case, I had all the things found out aside from the shaft. Due to my Zorro-esque transition and tempo,  I want a shaft with a stiff butt part. Sometimes, Dynamic Gold X100 (130 grams) or the marginally lighter Dynamic Gold 120 X100 yield pretty optimum outcomes for me. My query was, “Is there anything within the 120-gram vary you may recommend?” After some further dialogue, we landed on Nippon Modus 120X. For the report, Tony Finau makes use of the identical shaft,  albeit mine is one flex softer. 

And The Outcomes …

A few weeks after inserting my order, the 48″x6″x6″ field that all of us like to see on the porch, arrived. However earlier than that, I used to be routinely up to date on the construct course of and supply schedule. By the way, Fairway Jockey does have a live cam of the build shop, although they may wish to replace the estimated turnaround time which nonetheless refers to April 2022.

Fairway Jockey guarantees to construct your golf equipment to “tour-level” spec tolerances. That’s advantageous however, absent quantifiable metrics, it’s a nebulous speaking level. To that finish, Fairway Jockey defines “tour -level specs as:

• Size inside 1/16”
• Loft and lie inside +/- 0.5 diploma
• CPM inside +/- 2
• Swingweight inside +/- half level

Within the remaining evaluation, customers wish to know whether or not any good or service met the said expectations. We will argue whether or not some tolerances needs to be tighter—personally, I’d prefer to see swing weight nearer than +/- one-half level. If the goal swing weight is D2, meaning your 7-iron could possibly be as heavy as  D2.5 and your 8-iron as mild as D1.5. Technically, it meets the said tolerance which remains to be significantly better than commonplace manufacturing tolerances. 

However sooner or later, it’s cheap to think about whether or not a minuscule distinction in spec tolerance has any influence on efficiency. It’s a distinction with none actual distinction.

I measured my set utilizing a Mitchell ruler and Mitchell loft/lie machine. As well as, I used a GolfWorks swingweight scale to evaluate each swingweight and complete weight. I additionally measured CPM with out the grips put in utilizing a five-inch butt clamp. 

Fairway Jockey Construct Rating

Size 10/10: I really eliminated the grips to see precisely what the reduce size was, provided that the cap dimension on every grip can fluctuate barely. Every iron was effectively inside the 1/16” goal and to the bare eye, it was spot on.

Loft/Lie 9/10: The one cause I knocked this down a degree was a few the golf equipment deviated by greater than the said tolerance on my machine. The first upside with loft/lie is {that a}) it’s tremendous straightforward to repair and b) it’s best to test it no less than twice a 12 months in case you have delicate, cast irons. So no biggie.

Swingweight 9/10: Utilizing my analog scale, I discovered that a number of golf equipment exceeded the +/- half level tolerance by roughly an extra half level. That mentioned, with no digital scale, I’d recommend that my measurements have been inside an anticipated error vary. 

CPM 9/10: First off, 2 CPM is roughly ⅕ of a flex. So, once more, if one iron is +2 CPM from goal and the following is -2 CPM from goal, that’s practically ½ of a flex. It’d sound like I’m nitpicking however, given the capabilities of high-end construct outlets, that is the one spec that I’d wish to see as near excellent as attainable. Some will contend that +/- 2 CPM is fairly excellent. And if that have been the complete CPM vary all through a set of irons, I’d agree. 

Complete 37/40:  That’s stable work and I are usually a bit robust to please. By any measure, it’s a rating that ought to give golfers loads of confidence in what Fairway Jockey presents. Put otherwise, I’d suggest Fairway Jockey’s providers with none reservation. 

Let’s Discuss Value

Fairway Jockey guarantees the “lowest aftermarket retail costs” Once more, given the variability in aftermarket pricing, absent clear boundaries, it’d depart some would-be customers guessing. Based mostly on my fast comparability procuring, Fairway Jockey is available in roughly 15 p.c lower than opponents. Fairway Jockey does supply inline retail product as effectively. I solely point out this as a result of in the event you construct a {custom} set of golf equipment utilizing elements that the producer presents at no-upcharge, it may well seem as if Fairway Jockey overcharges for a similar piece of apparatus that you could order immediately from the corporate or a big-box retailer. 

To make clear, Fairway Jockey presents the identical retail pricing on inventory golf equipment as every other retail outlet. However that isn’t the true directive behind the model. 

Last Ideas

For the precise golfer, Fairway Jockey presents a transparent profit. That golfer is the tinkerer who has a transparent image of what he/she desires. It’s for the participant who’s keen to pay a little bit additional to have the ability to get exactly what they want, significantly when the producer doesn’t supply the specified mixture of elements.

Past that,  it’s truthful to remember that some specs are straightforward to change whereas others aren’t. Firms like Miura, Mizuno, Proto Idea and Titleist supply heads in a number of weights which makes it simpler for builders to hit goal swingweights and CPM requests. Shaft manufacturers comparable to Nippon (and the tour-issued model of True Mood shafts) have strict manufacturing tolerances as effectively. 

A few of you could be questioning whether or not Fairway Jockey cannibalizes some portion of potential True Spec gross sales. It does. However the larger image is, effectively, the larger image. A sure proportion of golfers who’re fitted by boutique manufacturers (Membership Champion, TXG, TrueSpec) don’t in the end buy from that location.

So the place do these golfers go? The reply is the impetus and marketing strategy for Fairway Jockey.

As at all times, inform us what you assume.

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