CARLSBAD—This Northern San Diego coastal city arguably is the West Coast headquarters for golf companies.
TopGolf/Callaway has been headquartered here for years in a business park. It shares Carlsbad with TaylorMade’s headquarters, while Titleist has its club operations here. During our stay in Carlsbad, my ACES colleagues suggested we reach out and connect with the manufacturers. Jeff Newton from Callaway responded so we spent a morning at its headquarters building in the club fitting area.
It includes the manufacturing facility where the clubs are customized for the Callaway pros. That is visible through windows next to the putter fitting green. Fittings take place in two other video-equipped hitting bays that are located on top of each (first floor where we were and the second floor immediately above—the rooms share some supplies such as the grip display).
A couple of miles away is the driving range for their staff pros where clubs are dialed in. Conveniently, the Palomar Airport is nearby so Jon Rahm can fly in from Scottsdale, spend a couple of hours on the range with the Callaway staff and then jet back home. Presumably Xander Schauffele, who lives in the San Diego area, arrives by car, but I did not confirm that notion. The Rahm comment came directly from the Callaway staffer.
Newton had arranged for a fitting for my bride, the avid golfer in our family. She plays weekly year-round and often squeezes in a second round on the nine-hole Pleasanton Fairways at the Alameda County Fair. She’s self-taught and her original iron set that are 25-plus years old plus a driver that she hits great and is 20 years old (it’s the only one she hit at a retailer and compared with others before purchasing).
What was striking was how effectively the Foresight electronic tracking equipment captured the pertinent data O’Callaghan needed to plot shots and adjust the clubs. Callaway partners with the company at all its sites. They use the Shot Tracker technology that you see on broadcasts and the pros carry with them on range sessions with their staff pros.
O’Callaghan invited my wife to loosen up and then take several swings with a seven iron. As we worked our way through the session, he shared that it only took one good swing to get the data necessary for evaluation. When we were there in early March, Callaway was just introducing its Paradym clubs so she was swinging clubheads before they hit the market.
He started with the seven-iron and then worked with her driver. As previously noted, the driver is her best club. By the time he had fitted a Paradym driver, she gained 20 yards of distance with increased accuracy. It was the same for the seven-iron with much less dispersion showing on the screen as well as more distance. It was a 12-degree driver that was tweaked to 14 degrees by adjusting the shaft to give it more loft and more carry.
With various data points displayed on the screen, he explained what each point meant and how it reflected the club’s performance with her swing. He would then share how he would adjust the club or the shaft. Callaway offered three options for heads so she tried each one before they landed on the best choice for her.
The seven-iron and driver were custom fit after swings and then he did the same for fairway woods and a hybrid club. The fit ended up with the Paradym forgiveness irons on shafts that were ½ inch short than what she’s been using. He offered to take us to the putter fitting, but my wife loves a short putter that a friend custom made for my late father and she wasn’t going to give up that club. We passed.
Our session lasted the better part of two hours—typically they are 90 minutes to 2 hours. The final portion was devoted to ensuring there was proper gapping between each club in the bag (6-hybrid, 7-9 irons, and three wedges—pitching, gap and sand).
He also recommended a Callaway ball for my wife and sent her home with a box. She’s been playing Titleist ProV-1s for years, but reported that the new Callaways seemed to have more distance—she’s still using her own clubs.
O’Callaghan sent us home with a printout of the fitting prescription for her full bag and also emailed it to us. We haven’t decided whether to pull the trigger and get a full new bag of clubs. For retail customers, the fittings at headquarters (reservations are necessary) run $150, $100 of which can be used as a gift card on Callway.com with a purchase of any item from the fitting. When you make a reservation, you fill out a questionnaire that helps guide the fitter during the session.
By Tim Hunt