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27Jun/11Off

Custom Fitting by ForeGolf, don’t settle for anything else

A 12 handicap golfer come to see us recently with a couple of problems. He was hitting the ball too high and even though he thought he had been "custom fitted" he was struggling with too much height and not enough consistency.

This customer had been “fitted” inside in a store where the assistant let him try lots of different clubs while hitting into a net. He hit balls with different heads and shafts to find one he liked the feel and hit of.  This was fine but our man ended up with a club that felt great but hit the ball very high and with no consistency.

In his pursuit for better feel he had been recommended a very soft regular flex shaft for both irons and woods and a forged head in his irons. The result was a great feeling club that he struggled to get consistency from. He had a number of complaints such as a very high ball flight from a very soft tipped and flex shaft.

The stickers below show the irons first with the numbers 1,2 and 3. The first sticker is his own iron strikes on the face, the next sticker is our first attempt of firming up the shaft with a Nippon 950 Stiff and but as you can see there is still a little dispersion on the face. The 3rd sticker is a Rifle Flighted 6.0 shaft which has much better, lower ball flight and is far more accurate and consistent. Our customer can still feel the shaft and head as Rifle has a great feel and flow to the shaft.

The driver was a similar story where the shaft was far too soft and the very soft tip allowed the driver head to dip under and hit the ball high and with lots of spin. In the driver section (Sticker#1) you can see how the head is again dipping under the ball and hits it very high in the face. The marks on the bottom of the sticker are is the top of the tee.

When we moved to a stiffer tip we immediately saw better consistency and the spin and flight lowered (sticker #2). We eventually decided on a Grafalloy Pro launch Blue 65 Stiff (sticker #3) which gave us the control we wanted with the feel for the player and more importantly an average of 25 yards gain in distance.

below are the impact stickers from his ForeGolf fitting.

IRONS

1-  Customer's own 6 Iron
His own irons had a shaft that was Reg Flex, too tip soft and was creating too much dispersion and lacked control. It was also making the head dip under the ball, hitting high into the face and created very high ball flight.

2 - First Test 6 Iron
This was our first attempt at controlling the clubhead with a Nippon 950 GH Stiff shaft but the tip is a little soft and the ball flight is still too high

3 - Correctly Custom Fitted 6 Iron
This is our choice of shaft for his Mizuno heads. We re-shafted them with a Rifle Flighted 6.0 Shaft. The customer can still feel the head, the flight is much lower and more accurate.

DRIVER

1- Customer's own Driver.
His own Driver had a very standard regular flex shaft that allowed the head to dip under, pronate and hit the abll very high in the face. Causing very high back spin and high ball flight.

2 - First Test Driver
This first test club has a YS-6 Stiff Shaft in it and while is is lower in the face it is still a little soft in the tip and is hitting a bit too high in the face.

3 - Correctly Custom Fitted Driver
We have chosen a Grafalloy Pro Launch Blue 65 Stiff whihc gives us the combination of solid control, lower face strikes, good feel and lower spin which gives the customer a gain of 25 yards.

This highlights the importance of being properly “FITTED” with proper ball flight and it’s one of the reasons why we were voted #1 in the World. We're seeing more and more customers who thought they had already been "custom fitted" but if there's a lesson to learn its don't settle for second best.

Get custom clubs from people who know what they are talking about and can build you clubs that will perform.

To book an appointment for a 1 hour ForeGolf custom fit analysis please telephone +353 (0)45 430660
The session is a full bag check and costs €100

20Jun/11Off

Rory McIlroy wins The US Open

I  remember first meeting a young kid from the North of Ireland in 2001 at an Irish Panel training session. We were asked by the then National Coach Howard Bennett to help with the equipment for the Irish Teams. On a cold October on the range at Citywest we met a 12 year old lad with a huge baseball hat pulled down over his eyes. His name was Rory.

He could shape the ball at will and after gathering the group of players I asked him to tell the group of 16 other young guys what he did to shape the ball so well and watched him hit low fades and high draws. He tipped up his little hat and simply said,

“Derek, I just think draw and I hit draw, I see it in my head and then I just hit the shot”.

I nodded and dismissed the group knowing full well that this was the response of natural talent and was un-teachable. I decided then and there that this kid was special.

As part of the training sessions, we encouraged the kids to understand their clubs better and wanted them to know exactly what type of shafts and specifications they were using. This would help them as they got older to manage their golf careers better as they knew exactly what their clubs did or didn’t do. We could then help them to understand and identify weaknesses in their game and produce clubs to help solve those problems. Most of the young group hadn’t a clue what loft was on their driver or what loft their SW was so it was our job to measure and note all their clubs.

Here is a copy of Rory McIlroy’s club check sheet that he filled in himself as a 12 year old 5 handicapper in Shandon Park G.C. It is remarkable that even way back then and at only 12 years old he knew exactly what clubs he was using and the lofts and shafts.

Well done to Rory, J.P, Gerry and Rosie. It’s all been worthwhile and the boys done good!!  Here’s to the first of many Majors…..

- Derek Murray

1Jun/11Off

The countdown for the ForeGolf Invitational

ForeGolf Invitational 2011 at The Old Head of Kinsale

Countdown to The ForeGolf Invitational and the list is growing ...

The ForeGolf Invitational at The Old Head of Kinsale is set for Saturday 13th August 2011. We've been tracking names since last August and everyone who sends a friend gets an auto entry to the draw to play at the event. You send us your friends, we pick up the tab for lunch and golf at The Old Head.

  • As soon as your friend steps off the tour truck, you get a point.
  • Everyone with a point goes in the draw to win a place at the event.
  • The more friends who get fitted on the tour truck, the more points you get.
  • The more points you get, the better the chance you have of playing The ForeGolf Invitational.
  • Your friend has to mention your name when they book in (or tell us it in the online pre-fit questionnaire).

All you have to do is keep passing on our name to make sure you are in with a chance.  Last year's event was a fantastic day as you can see from the photos

ForeGolf Invitational 2010

1Jun/11Off

Congratulations Colm Moriarty

While a much deserved Michael Hoey held aloft the trophy after winning The Madeira Open and a cheque for €116,660 -  it was another Irish lad that we had our eye on. We've known Colm Moriarty for about 8 years now and we've looked after his equipment since we first met him, when he represented Ireland as an amateur.

He is by far one of the nicest lads we have ever worked with and he is practically part of the family. Christine even puts his name in the pot at lunchtime when he is up having some shaft work done. I don’t think anyone was more delighted than the gang here at ForeGolf, when he shared a place for 7th spot in Madeira with a score of 283, -5 and a cheque for €18,060.

It is great to see all the time in the workshop and shaft testing starting to pay off for Colm. We hope this is the start of many good finishes for him on the way to getting his full playing schedule on The European Tour. Well done Morier, we are all very proud of you.

1Jun/11Off

All wood and no timber

Golf Digest Ireland

As you know Derek is the Equipment Editor for Golf Digest Magazine, Irelands only monthly golf magazine. It combines the best all that is golf from around the world and Ireland.

Packed with tuition from the best in the game, feature interviews with our favourite players, tournament previews, overseas travel and equipment reviews. Available from all good newsagents or sign up for a yearly subscription and get it delivered straight to your door.

We promised to give you the inside story, so here's Derek's equipment article just for you.

Click the image to read the article

GolfDigestMay11

Click to enlarge

   
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Dunsany, Co Meath,
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