There is so much talk today about being FIT for golf equipment. With the advent of Trackman, Flightscope, and even motion capture, today’s golfer scoffs at the idea of buying a set of golf clubs ‘off the rack’. I get this. I understand it. I am employed by a golf equipment manufacturer that believes in the value of equipment being fit properly to the average player. But, I want to talk about that process.

For 12 years I’ve worked for Srixon and Cleveland Golf. For the last ten, I’ve worked on the professional tours with the best players in the world, ensuring their equipment, our equipment, is perfectly suited to them. It is a wonderful pursuit and work I thoroughly enjoy. These days I spend the majority of my time in golf player development, working to find great young talent to represent our brands, and then do the things needed to help them on their journey to play at the highest level.

In this work, I’ve learned a great deal about golf equipment fitting. Each experience working with one of the game’s best has been an opportunity to learn about how the highly skilled define their optimal, or more simply, what’s perfect for them when it comes to their equipment.

There is this catchy phrase you’ll hear every week on the PGA Tour --’that’s optimal’. Meaning that’s the best a club can perform for a given player. But my question is, who defines that? Who, other than the player himself, gets to decide if a driver is optimal? Sure, there are paramaters we look at, but at the day’s end, the player must decide if a particular club fits HOW HE PLAYS THE GAME. Some guys want to see it spin more, some guys want to hit it super low, some want to only be able to move it left to right. Why am I ranting on about optimal?

I want you to find your optimal. Decide how you want a driver to fly, decide what’s important to you, the player, in an iron set, or a wedge set. Own your bag, define your optimal. The best fitters in the world, listen. Their expertise is in guiding you to the place YOU want to go. A fitted set of clubs won’t stay in your bag if they don’t fit how YOU play golf. That’s why I spend countless hours watching our young people play golf--trying to understand how they use their equipment when tournament play starts. Paint that picture for your fitter, tell him what shots you need to be able to hit with a certain club, and be honest with him and yourself in the testing.

There is no wrong way to play this wonderful game.

I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts, insights, and experiences in professional golf with you, here in this space.

Michael Jolly
Srixon/Cleveland Golf