Every golfer knows that their golf equipment needs to be custom fit to their unique swing and physique. It is not an option, it’s a “must”. But finding the best professional to do the job can be difficult, but well worth the effort. Here are four critical requirements for your search:
- A highly skilled Professional who will take the time to get to know you, your game and your goals.
- A Professional who has the equipment necessary to analyze your swing and then test various combination of demo heads and shafts to assure optimum performance.
- A Professional who takes responsibility that their fitting instructions are precisely followed and that your custom clubs are perfectly built.
- And lastly, you want to pay a fair price, not an exorbitant price, for this service.
Despite the fact that there are numerous chains of fitting studios, big box stores, and retailers all claiming to have the necessary credentials to give a first class fitting, the reality is that very few come close. More often than not, the golfer gets “sold” rather than “fit”.
But there are venues with Professionals who have the skill, the equipment, the integrity and the passion to give you the best performing equipment for your unique swing.
Here is a check list of what to look for to assure a first class fitting:
- A Professional Coach, Teacher and/or Clubfitter who has built up a solid, trustworthy reputation within your golfing community. To earn their reputation, that Professional has put his golfers’ performance before profits.
- The Professional should have a launch monitor and swing analyzer to assess your swing characteristics.
- The Professional will have a sufficient number of demo heads and shafts to dial you in perfectly.
- The Professional will let you test the various options and compare the demo clubs to your current bag and to other brands … you should be able to actually “feel” and “see” the performance on the launch monitor.
- The Professional will not pressure you to buy anything. In fact, the Professional may discourage you from buying unless there is real performance improvement.
The following Professionals have met the test of exceptional skill and integrity and have the right equipment in their fitting studios to give you a first class fitting. They have earned the honor of being rated among the World’s Top 100 ClubFitters for 2023 … congratulations to all.
| AUSTRALIA | NSW | Jeff Mansfield | Jeff Mansfield Golf Solutions |
| VIC | Bryan Ferguson | Brian Ferguson PGA | |
| VIC | Ashley Blake | Next Level Golf | |
| WA | Greg Ashton | GolfStix | |
| AUSTRIA | Andreas Lauss | Makrogolf at Golfclub Ottenstein | |
| Florian Kepp | F K Golf | ||
| Harry Zott | HZ Fitting | ||
| CANADA | AB | Lyle Helland | Simply Golf |
| AB | Jordy McKenzie | Alberta Golf Works | |
| AB | Ron Laugher | Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club | |
| BC | Terry Stav | Golf West | |
| BC | Chris Knight | Vista Ridge Golf | |
| ON | D. Franz McFayden | Golf and Performance | |
| ON | Kurtis Sweeting | Peterbourgh Golf and Country Club | |
| ON | Nick Valiquette | Sweeting Golf | |
| QC | Pierre Lamothe | Atelier De Golf Rock-Divot at Generation Golf | |
| CZECH REP. | Jiri Votroubek | Golf 59 | |
| Milan Vantuch | Golf 59 | ||
| FINLAND | Kai “Kaippe” Tiira | Proline Golf Oy | |
| FRANCE | Olivier Chalon | C.O. Golf | |
| FRANCE | Alexandre D’Incau | AD ProClubmaker | |
| Jean-Michel Queva | Queva Clubfitting | ||
| Marc Brossard | MB Clubs | ||
| Arnaud Smaghe | Gard & Golf | ||
| Joe Perroud | Fit at Joe’s | ||
| GERMANY | Angel Martinez | Golf Planet – Oschberghof | |
| Paul Konnengen | Golf Performance Institute | ||
| Gerald Friz | Myclubmaker GmbH, Golf+IT | ||
| Joerg von der Gathen | Club.Align Golf | ||
| Richard Phillips | Richard Phillips Proshop M/S Tinnen | ||
| ITALY | Gianni Coradello | Techno Golf | |
| KENYA | Saaleem Haji | Vipingo Ridge Golf Academy | |
| MALAYSIA | Jaya “Gop” Shanker | Golf Fitter Malaysia | |
| NETHERLANDS | Peter Graham | Peter Graham Golf Center | |
| Marcel de Jager | Golfhunter | ||
| Marcel Bal | Golf Op Maat | ||
| N. IRELAND | Nigel Shaw | NS Golf Tech at Warrenpoint Golf Club | |
| PHILIPPINES | Francis Go | Custom Clubmakers International | |
| Jake Ong | Custom Clubmakers International | ||
| SCOTLAND | Ken Campbell | Ken Campbell, PGA Golf Professional | |
| SINGAPORE | Joseph Loo | XLNgolf Pte Ltd | |
| Ignatius Tan | XLNgolf Pte Ltd | ||
| SLOVENIA | Viljem Kern | Kern Golf | |
| SOUTH KOREA | Brian Choi | Tayoon Golf | |
| SPAIN | Agustin Sanchez | Golfinteligente | |
| Angel Martinez | Golf Planet – Mallorca | ||
| Juan Carlos Garcia Diaz | Golf Planet – Oviedo | ||
| Mateo Noel | Fit & Golf | ||
| SWEDEN | Johanna Pyk-Jargard | Johanna’s Golf Shop | |
| Marten Nord | Vassunda Golf | ||
| Tony Guelli | Golf Performance Sweden | ||
| SWITZERLAND | Giuseppe “Pepe” Naula | Pepe’s Golf-Clinic | |
| Norbert Studer | R&L Golf | ||
| Willi Vogt | R&L Golf | ||
| UNITED STATES | CA | Hector Avila | Advanced Golf Performance Studio |
| CA | Jim Perez | Advanced Golf Performance, Bluff Pointe Golf Course | |
| CA | Chad Dietz | Foreward Golf | |
| CA | Dan Rogers | Foreward Golf | |
| CA | Brad Whalen | KZG Performance Center | |
| CA | Phil Moore | Phil Moore Golf | |
| CA | Aaron Peterson | Santa Cruz Golf Shop at Pasatiempo Golf Course | |
| CA | Calvin Carpenter | Henry Brunton Golf Academy | |
| CO | Bryan “Buddy” Beem | Buddy Beem Custom Clubs | |
| CO | Jon Hensey | Hensey Sports @ Golf Colorado 265 | |
| FL | Rick Cicero | Pin High’s Future | |
| FL | Steve Williams | Pin High’s Future | |
| FL | Mike D’Orazio | Mike’s Honest Golf, PGA Natl. | |
| FL | Mike Riso | Mike Riso Golf | |
| GA | Nick Prokosa | Wedges and Woods | |
| GA | Richard Guzzo | Southern Landings Golf Academy | |
| IA | Chris Larson | The Clubhouse Indoor Golf | |
| IN | Jim Smiley | Tee Off Golf 2 Driving Range | |
| MA | Phil Cornetta | Phil Cornetta Golf School | |
| MA | Steve Thompson | Tour Quality Clubs | |
| MT | Dudley Beard | Beard Golf Performance | |
| NC | Kelly York | Kelly’s Custom Golf | |
| NC | Curtis Eudy | Leatherman Golf Learning Center | |
| ND | Andrew Baumann | Golf Etc. – Bismarck | |
| ND | Matt Rueb | Golf Etc. – Bismarck | |
| NJ | Bernie Dunne | Bernie Dunne Custom Clubs | |
| NJ | Tim Mosel | Tim Mosel’s Golf | |
| NJ | Brian Madden | Green2Tee Golf Academy at Total Turf Experience | |
| OH | Dave Freed | DV Golf | |
| PA | Nick Biondi | Nick Biondi Golf | |
| PA | Jerry Hintze | The Clubmaker | |
| PA | Rick Musselman | Musselman’s Golf | |
| PA | Tim Musselman | Musselman’s Golf | |
| PR | Hector “Blanco” Matos | Play Better Golf | |
| SC | Dale Ketola | Grande Dunes Golf Performance Center | |
| TX | Bobby Dean | Barton Creek Fitting Studio | |
| VA | Jon Eisman | Eisman Golf Academy | |
| WA | Sean Lanyi | 18 Shots Golf Academy | |
| WI | Scott Hauser | Northland Golf & Ski | |
| WI | Dave Enos | Northland Golf & Ski | |
CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION AS THE WORLD’S TOP 100 CLUBFITTER
An independent panel of industry experts have set the criteria necessary to be considered one of the World’s Top 100 Professional ClubFitters. The panel includes: Clay Long, renowned club designer and personal fitter for Jack Nicklaus; Gene Parente, President of Golf Laboratories, Inc., the premier golf equipment testing facility and producer of robot testing utilized by virtually every equipment manufacturer; J.J. King, President and founder of KZG, the #1 Custom ProLine; and Dr. Christian Reichardt, doctor of sports medicine and author of “Pain Free Golf”.
A 120-point system based on the criteria was generated to objectively evaluate each applicant. They include:
1-30 points: A sincere commitment to help every golfer play their best and have earned an outstanding reputation in their community for doing so.
1-10 points: An ability to converse with the golfer to assess the golfer’s goals, understand any disabilities.
1-10 points: The ability to educate the golfer through each step of the fitting process.
1–10 points: Number of years as a professional coach, teachers and fitter
1-10 points: Regular attendance at schools and seminars to maintain knowledge and raise the bar for their profession
1-10 points: Knowledge of golf club head specifications and shaft profiles, including design features and manufacturing processes
1-10 points: Knowledge of interpreting analysis data and use of launch monitors, frequency analyzers and videos during their fittings
1-10 points: Maintains a wide selection of heads and shafts and ability to select the optimum combination for any given golfer
1-10 points: Assumes responsibility for the build of the custom clubs; checks that fitting instructions are adhered to precisely and double checks all specifications before handing clubs to the golfer
1-10 points: A high level of integrity, placing the golfer’s performance as their primary goal rather than profits. They do not sell over the internet or the phone, but rather believe that every golfer deserves to have a personalized face-to-face fitting to guarantee maximum performance for the golfer.
