Some golfers buy clubs by going into a store, hitting a few different brands into a net, and choosing the one they like best at the time. But more serious golfers prefer to have clubs custom fit to their swing, for better results on the course.
Callaway Golf is making that process easier with its OptiFit Fitting System.
The OptiFit cart groups 24 driver heads, 24 iron heads, 29 driver shafts and 29 iron shafts that all interchange with the use of a proprietary torque wrench. Fitters insert the desired shaft into the head and fasten it into a sleeve on the tip of the shaft. The whole thing takes less than a minute and the system gives golfers as many as 1,396 different combinations for finding the right fit.
Sound easy? It's not, primarily because Callaway's driver heads are not bore-through designs. So to make a club that has this capability and still function exactly like a production club is no small feat.
"These clubs feel and fit and play just like production golf clubs. So the fitting experience really is reflective of what you'll buy. But that was the difficulty -- the engineering," said Jeff Colton, Callaway's senior vice president of research and development.
"It's challenging because you're moving weight in multiple places and you have to offset that movement in other places, to be sure you keep the center of gravity in the same spot. Also, when you move certain chunks of weight in certain places you might affect the sound, or the feel. All that had to be optimized and taken into consideration in the design of the OptiFit cart heads."
Likewise, Colton says, the iron heads need adjustments to the hosels to allow the interchangeable system to work right.
Then, there's the issue of making sure the OptiFit clubheads, especially the irons, are sturdy enough to withstand the beating they take during testing.
"Durability is a key issue as well, because you're going to have multiple exchanges of different shafts, different people hitting, obviously making a lot of contact with the ground which is a little different from the driver, so that was a key design feature, making sure we did really durable design."
The result: A system that makes it easy for clubfitters to try different options; golfers to feel confident about their club purchases; and finished clubs that feel and perform just like the OptiFit version.
Of course, having a custom fit system like OptiFit does not just help golfers but is a bonus for Callaway. The company does not have to build as many clubs and supply its retailers with a lot of production clubs. And on tour, the system reaps a lot of benefits as it reduces time needed to create new clubs for their tour staff.
"Tour players burn through golf clubs," Colton said. "You spend three hours building them a driver and they hit one shot: 'Next.' You've just wasted a head, a shaft and that labor time -- all the opportunity cost as well."
Plus, Colton said, for pros and amateurs alike, the system reduces the number of variables in trying different combinations.
"OptiFit says 'OK, you've got one head, and the head stays the same through the entire process.' So you're truly measuring the effects of the shaft and how it responds to the player," he said. "That's the beauty of it, you're isolating variables in the process which makes it a much better fit."
OptiFit has been around for about a year, but this month the company introduced an expanded version of the system. Previously, golfers could only be fit for drivers. In the 2007 system, seven different shaft makers -- Aldila, Fujikara, Grafalloy, Graphite Design, True Temper-Royal Precision, United Sports Technologies and Mitsubishi Rayon -- are represented.
"We have our standard offerings in the cart but there are five to six key shaft manufacturers who grab the majority of volume in the marketplace. So we track the trends, what's popular on tour, what's popular in the chat rooms and make sure the offerings are current with contemporary shafts of interest," Colton said.
And someday soon, golfers may just be able to walk away from the OptiFit cart with a club, rather than wait the week or two that it takes for a custom-built club to be delivered to their doorstep. That's because the ruling bodies of golf are considering a change to the rules that would make adjustable clubs, like those in OptiFit's system where the shaft can easily be removed, legal.
"Currently these (OptiFit) clubs are nonconforming, meaning they are adjustable and there is a rule against adjustability," Colton said. "That rule is under review and it's entirely possible that the ruling bodies allow this type of configuration to be conforming going forward. So you could go get OptiFit and theoretically if you could pay the pro enough you could walk away with the club, take his demo, and play with it, play a round of golf with it.
"The ruling bodies are rationalizing the rule change from the sense that now the average golfer can get the same experience and the type of variety that the tour pro gets every week. So it's about enhancing the fitting process and enabling better technology for the average player."
Between the nearly 600 carts with the 2006 drivers-only system and the 500 or so that are currently being shipped, the OptiFit system will be available at more than 1,000 on-course and off-course golf facilities in the U.S.
For information on the OptiFit system, see www.callawaygolf.com/ en.cg.CustomFitting.OptifitSystem.html.
