Loft Bending - who to trust

[ChristopherMcDonald]

hey guys, I'm a (relatively) competent home builder but I lack certain expensive tools, specifically a loft/lie machine. 

Who would you guys trust to get this done in the Southern California area if I was looking to get them adjusted? Wouldn't be anything insane, just 2* weak. 

I got all the usual suspects within driving distance. My first thought is Roger Dunn near Santa Ana but PGA SuperStore is close to my job so could swing either. No Dicks/Golf Galaxy nearby so those are out. Club Champion is around but do they even offer that type of service?

Opinions welcome thanks in advance 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

Should mention the irons would be New Level 920OS, so they're forged and should take to bending find. I'm thinking of buying heads only so won't be able to have them bent prior to arrival. 

[MattM97]

I'd go to a good fitting studio or find a reputable small club builder, they generally take more pride in their work than a lot of big box store employees. 

 

I unfortunately don't know many shops in your area, I follow a few but they don't seem too close to you. 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

10 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

I'd go to a good fitting studio or find a reputable small club builder, they generally take more pride in their work than a lot of big box store employees. 

 

I unfortunately don't know many shops in your area, I follow a few but they don't seem too close to you. 

Yeah I'm located in Northern Orange County. Would be willing to drive a bit if necessary. Hear what you're saying about the pride of a smaller builder.

[jvincent]

1 hour ago, ChristopherMcDonald said:

Opinions welcome thanks in advance 

 

My two cents.

 

The best way to do this is to hit all the irons first to check the gapping.

 

Once you know the yardages for each club you can give the builder specific adjustments to each club vs "all clubs 2* weak". Some might only need 1*, some might need to go stronger, etc.

 

Ideally you'd then hit them all again to verify. I'm lucky in that I have my own bending machine so that's how I do it.

 

[MattM97]

25 minutes ago, jvincent said:

 

My two cents.

 

The best way to do this is to hit all the irons first to check the gapping.

 

Once you know the yardages for each club you can give the builder specific adjustments to each club vs "all clubs 2* weak". Some might only need 1*, some might need to go stronger, etc.

 

Ideally you'd then hit them all again to verify. I'm lucky in that I have my own bending machine so that's how I do it.

 

 

That's how I did mine, had a loft/lie fitting done. Had all my irons bent an extra 1-2° up to either 3° or 4° upright now and my 9i was bent 1° strong for gapping. Bending was done during the fitting and cost me basically what bending every club without hitting would cost. 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

Reading some of the responses I guess I should have specified my end goal. That goal is really to get some offset out of the irons. I was going to provide the builder/bender with:

 

1. What the loft spec should be stock from the manufacturer
2. What I want the loft spec to be, per each club, when adjusted

I imagine that would be enough for my purposes right? 

[snagy2000]

41 minutes ago, ChristopherMcDonald said:

Reading some of the responses I guess I should have specified my end goal. That goal is really to get some offset out of the irons. I was going to provide the builder/bender with:

 

1. What the loft spec should be stock from the manufacturer
2. What I want the loft spec to be, per each club, when adjusted

I imagine that would be enough for my purposes right? 

Yeah, that's all you need. RD or PGA Superstore should be able to do it for you. I know the PGASS by me has digital machines which help nail down the numbers better than eyeballing it. Since they're forged shouldn't be a problem, but there's always a risk. 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

1 minute ago, snagy2000 said:

Yeah, that's all you need. RD or PGA Superstore should be able to do it for you. I know the PGASS by me has digital machines which help nail down the numbers better than eyeballing it. Since they're forged shouldn't be a problem, but there's always a risk. 

Thanks, I'll definitely be looking for someone with a digital machine to get it dialed in as close as possible. Will give them a call

[MFBach]

Honestly, I only let one person bend my clubs, and he’s been a professional builder for a time. Even then, I was hesitant until I saw some of his other work. Too many bad experiences with hosel scars, bad adjustments, cracks, etc. from local golf shops, big box stores, and so on. 

 

I’d do my best to get familiar with somebody locally that had a good reputation. Maybe have them bend something you aren’t attached to and see how it goes. There aren’t many way to catastrophically damage a golf club, but bad bending habits is definitely up there. 

[Nessism]

I'm in Torrance and will let you use my bending machine and spec gauge for beer.  If you don't know how to bend, I'll show you.  It's dead easy.