PGA Pro Drivers

[Pnwpingi210]

On 7/27/2025 at 4:37 PM, bladehunter said:

At any speed. Straight is hard. Driver is hardest club to hit in a way.  They may also be poorly fit and need to fix their delivery per the fitter at golf  galaxy that just fit Zach Blair. 🤣.  They handed him a club and told him it would lower his spin. He pipes one. And they claim it’s “ user error “ when it raises spin. Then the pudgy fitter tells the camera he needs to work on his swing and

gain some speed. 
 

this friends is what good players have to deal with at most fittings.  This is why most of us fit ourselves by trial and error.  
 

 

I had a fitter tell me he wouldn’t fit me into a x stiff iron shaft if I couldn’t hit a 7 iron(33-34 solid cbs) 190 yards….. no joke

[virtuoso]

On 7/27/2025 at 4:37 PM, bladehunter said:

At any speed. Straight is hard. Driver is hardest club to hit in a way.  They may also be poorly fit and need to fix their delivery per the fitter at golf  galaxy that just fit Zach Blair. 🤣.  They handed him a club and told him it would lower his spin. He pipes one. And they claim it’s “ user error “ when it raises spin. Then the pudgy fitter tells the camera he needs to work on his swing and

gain some speed. 
 

this friends is what good players have to deal with at most fittings.  This is why most of us fit ourselves by trial and error.  
 

 

Clearly the fitter is not savvy or experienced enough to know he’s getting punked. So, by all means, let’s get some tour douchbag in there with his camera crew and make fun of the guy in front of his family and his employer….and the rest of the world.

 

But why though? 
 

Oh, just for a laugh.

 

Later edit: please read later responses further down for my mea culpa.

Edited August 1 by virtuoso

[rsballer10]

9 hours ago, PedronNiall said:

Agreed, mostly annoying. I do feel badly for the average player stepping onto many of them, though, because even if they don't keep a handicap they know these courses are supposed to be "easy" and end up down on themselves for playing mostly bogey golf places that many better players couldn't do much with either because aside from being short they're absurdly penal.

I think it's course dependent, but I mostly agree. Unless a public course has enough land to make a 7000+ yard track tipped (most don't) they tend to resort to alternative methods to make a course challenging. 

 

Quote

Made me curious to look and ratings "must be" updated every decade, or at the five year mark for new courses, and also "must be" after any significant changes. A lot of weighting is given to length, but they do rate the holes individually and have formulas to account for hazards and the like, so it still seems strange certain courses fall where they do IMO,

After reading the thread I'm pretty convinced that there aren't really significant 'errors' in course ratings. The way I'm reading the surveyor/course rater's description is that ratings are mostly quantitatively driven, so even if one course were to play 'easier' than it's rating, there's probably other courses that play 'harder' and it all offsets. 

 

Quote

but not like the RoG and associated items are supposed to be fully fair, just consistent.

Yep.

 

Quote

Haven't fully dug into the details but it seems wide fairways can also contribute to a relatively lower difficulty rating even if there's a lot of pitch or undulation to them from a quick glance.

The issue, at least anecdotally, seems to be certain courses seem inclined to "pinch" landing areas to negate the courses lack of length. Combined with standard men's tees that almost always seem to be up, you've got a combo that forces decent players to lay up excessively.  Courses with much more consistent fairway widths seem much less sensitive to where the tee markers get placed that day.

 

One absurd example - there was a 240 yard par 4. It's 'drive-able' per se, if you're tee shot holds the green. If not, hazards left/right/behind green. Creek @ ~130 because tees were up. The choices were (1) lay up with gap wedge or (2) attempt to drive the green, or put an iron near the front apron...but also it's not a straight shot to the green. I hit a 2 yard draw into the junk off the tee 🙂 the course map shows rough where there is actually just overgrown brush.

 

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Clearly the fitter is not savvy or experienced enough to know he’s getting punked. So, by all means, let’s get some tour douchbag in there with his camera crew and make fun of the guy in front of his family and his employer….and the rest of the world.

 

But why though? 
 

Oh, just for a laugh.

Yep. I can see both sides. The cynic in me enjoyed it BECAUSE of how many times I’ve walked into a big box and had a 70 year old club fitter tell me as a 35 year old ( swinging 122 with a driver ) “ nobody needs x stiff iron shafts “ and proceeds to hand  me a 105 gram S. One of these times I saw 101 mph with a 6 iron. ( was mad and in a good rhythm)  And just left. I had a pocket full of cash wanting to buy irons.  And couldn’t get proper help fitting to a set.   This story repeats often  for the outliers.     I’m now old and don’t have to worry about that anymore 🤣.   
 

the flip side is , you can do real harm to a guys meal ticket. The old Man brain that I have now sees that. All humans fake it till they make it. And that lasts until death as best as I can tell. Outing him is hypocritical.  Because Zach is doing same. He’s just faking another thing. And collecting pay from  that. 

Edited August 1 by bladehunter

[bladehunter]

9 hours ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

I had a fitter tell me he wouldn’t fit me into a x stiff iron shaft if I couldn’t hit a 7 iron(33-34 solid cbs) 190 yards….. no joke

I believe it. The real reason was -  he didn’t have any X in stock. 🤣.  

[rsballer10]

10 hours ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

I had a fitter tell me he wouldn’t fit me into a x stiff iron shaft if I couldn’t hit a 7 iron(33-34 solid cbs) 190 yards….. no joke

Did you hit a 200 yard thai spinnner off your back foot and ask where the Project X 7.0's are?

[Pnwpingi210]

3 minutes ago, rsballer10 said:

Did you hit a 200 yard thai spinnner off your back foot and ask where the Project X 7.0's are?

Nope.  I hit the px ls 6.0 he was sure was a good fit in I think a ping i230 head.  It flew about 180, with 7600 spin and 135 apex.  Dead straight though

 

pga tour super store in Palm springs

[rsballer10]

3 minutes ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

It flew about 180, with 7600 spin and 135 apex.

Indoors!? That's probably 8,000 of grass...

[virtuoso]

1 hour ago, bladehunter said:

Yep. I can see both sides. The cynic in me enjoyed it BECAUSE of how many times I’ve walked into a big box and had a 70 year old club fitter tell me as a 35 year old ( swinging 122 with a driver ) “ nobody needs x stiff iron shafts “ and proceeds to hand  me a 105 gram S. One of these times I saw 101 mph with a 6 iron. ( was mad and in a good rhythm)  And just left. I had a pocket full of cash wanting to buy irons.  And couldn’t get proper help fitting to a set.   This story repeats often  for the outliers.     I’m now old and don’t have to worry about that anymore 🤣.   
 

the flip side is , you can do real harm to a guys meal ticket. The old Man brain that I have now sees that. All humans fake it till they make it. And that lasts until death as best as I can tell. Outing him is hypocritical.  Because Zach is doing same. He’s just faking another thing. And collecting pay from  that. 

I can't see both sides.

 

The fitter was clearly a ripe target but he didn't deserve to get made fun of in front of the entire internet.

 

I wish it had been me, because i would have seen these asshats coming from a mile away. Even if i didn't recognize him, 2 swings in, I would have known I was being taken for a ride....and it would have turned out funny the other way.

 

But, I have 30 years experience. This poor kid does not have that. He's not making much money fitting at a retail account, whereas Blair has probably made 4 or 5 million dollars in purse money alone, even as a nobody on tour.......so instead of spending his free time giving a free junior clinic, him and a couple other clowns decide to humiliate one of the little guys getting started in the industry.

 

Thanks for nothing, asshat.

Edited August 1 by virtuoso

[iacas]

5 minutes ago, virtuoso said:

But, I have 30 years experience. This poor kid does not have that. He's not making much money fitting at a retail account, whereas Blair has probably made 4 or 5 million dollars in purse money alone, even as a nobody on tour…

 

Would you believe nearly $8M?

[bladehunter]

6 minutes ago, virtuoso said:

I can't see both sides.

 

The fitter was clearly a ripe target but he didn't deserve to get made fun of in front of the entire internet.

 

I wish it had been me, because i would have seen these asshats coming from a mile away. Even if i didn't recognize him, 2 swings in, I would have known I was being taken for a ride....and it would have turned out funny the other way.

 

But, I have 30 years experience. This poor kid does not have that. He's not making much money fitting at a retail account, whereas Blair has probably made 4 or 5 million dollars in purse money alone, even as a nobody on tour.......so instead of spending his free time giving a free junior clinic, him and a couple other clowns decide to humiliate one of the little guys getting started in the industry.

 

Thanks for nothing, asshat.

I get it man. I do.  My fire should  be directed at the big box retailers ineptitude they mask as all encompassing wisdom.  He’s just the poor salesman charged with barking for the carnival crowd.  In my extreme youth I did this for another industry. ( sales). 3 years of it and I just couldn’t lie anymore.  It’s soul sucking.  The lie isn’t willful at first. They don’t give you the tools or info to know you’re lying.  But some of us get too smart to believe the pitch after a while.  
 

so yep. Definitely see your point. The young guy selling isn’t the real target or shouldn’t be. . 

[virtuoso]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

Would you believe nearly $8M?

And there you have it. But, by all means, let's not give anything back to young people that are getting started in the industry. Lets just crush them for giggles and post it up so the entire internet can laugh with us.

[MK7Golf21]

I remember seeing Blair at the 2015 memorial, I'm pretty sure he was a rookie on tour but the only reason I remember him is because he was paired with Tiger. He actually beat him that day but Tiger wasn't fully healthy. 

[virtuoso]

2 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

I get it man. I do.  My fire should  be directed at the big box retailers ineptitude they mask as all encompassing wisdom.  He’s just the poor salesman charged with barking for the carnival crowd.  In my extreme youth I did this for another industry. ( sales). 3 years of it and I just couldn’t lie anymore.  It’s soul sucking.  The lie isn’t willful at first. They don’t give you the tools or info to know you’re lying.  But some of us get too smart to believe the pitch after a while.  
 

so yep. Definitely see your point. The young guy selling isn’t the real target or shouldn’t be. . 

I think you're confused. You seem to think that the prank was done as a symbolic populist protest because of some existential crisis happening in the retail golf industry of fitters not being experienced enough to recommend a stiff enough shaft for people with your other worldly clubhead speed. Its not that. They just wanted to make fun of someone because they are Douchebags....and they wanted to make sure everyone saw it.

[MK7Golf21]

1 hour ago, bladehunter said:

Yep. I can see both sides. The cynic in me enjoyed it BECAUSE of how many times I’ve walked into a big box and had a 70 year old club fitter tell me as a 35 year old ( swinging 122 with a driver ) “ nobody needs x stiff iron shafts “ and proceeds to hand  me a 105 gram S. One of these times I saw 101 mph with a 6 iron. ( was mad and in a good rhythm)  And just left. I had a pocket full of cash wanting to buy irons.  And couldn’t get proper help fitting to a set.   This story repeats often  for the outliers.     I’m now old and don’t have to worry about that anymore 🤣.   
 

the flip side is , you can do real harm to a guys meal ticket. The old Man brain that I have now sees that. All humans fake it till they make it. And that lasts until death as best as I can tell. Outing him is hypocritical.  Because Zach is doing same. He’s just faking another thing. And collecting pay from  that. 

 

I remember one time I asked to hit a x100 in some blade at a big box store ?(pga tour superstore). The guy almost wouldn't let me hit it, lol. I get where they are coming from though, most golfers who don't know much probably want the most stiff shaft available for ego.

 

[PedronNiall]

21 minutes ago, virtuoso said:

This poor kid does not have that. He's not making much money fitting at a retail account

 

Kid? Guy might be "Scheffler young" and only in his 30s looking like that, but he's not some 20-something in his first job. Not like he wasn't arrogant himself thinking he could beat Blair and tossing out/going along with the "player issue" quips.

 

3 hours ago, rsballer10 said:

After reading the thread I'm pretty convinced that there aren't really significant 'errors' in course ratings. The way I'm reading the surveyor/course rater's description is that ratings are mostly quantitatively driven, so even if one course were to play 'easier' than it's rating, there's probably other courses that play 'harder' and it all offsets. 

 

Yep, agree the ratings are in keeping with what the book says the ratings should be. Don't expect that to change anytime soon, but the posts discussing using submitted scores as additional input to evaluate how accurate the rating is have merit. Probably as far as the RBs would consider going. 

 

[virtuoso]

Ok, because I went full tilt boogie on my rant...before I did my research...i need to apologize to @bladehunter, and zac blair (in absentia).

 

Upon further investigation, it looks like Nick "the fitter" was in on the act, and Zac was just having some fun getting fit for a driver that he would raffle off to one of his instagram followers. It was probably some kayfabe that was done for entertainment purposes, AND Zac mentioned that he was giving a lot of the proceeds from the raffle to a golf charity.

 

My apologies to everyone that had to sit through my hissy-fit.

 

It turns out, I'm the a-hole.

Edited August 1 by virtuoso

[bladehunter]

28 minutes ago, virtuoso said:

I think you're confused. You seem to think that the prank was done as a symbolic populist protest because of some existential crisis happening in the retail golf industry of fitters not being experienced enough to recommend a stiff enough shaft for people with your other worldly clubhead speed. Its not that. They just wanted to make fun of someone because they are Douchebags....and they wanted to make sure everyone saw it.

🤣.  Nope. I just enjoyed the irony.  This guy wasn’t a teen that knew nothing.  He’s old enough to have ears to hear the contact in his sim that day. Douchecanoe  was middling that driver. On repeat.  Why blame the swing and not the club ?  That’s why I laughed. 

[virtuoso]

Just now, bladehunter said:

🤣.  Nope. I just enjoyed the irony.  This guy wasn’t a teen that knew nothing.  He’s old enough to have ears to hear the contact in his sim that day. Douchecanoe  was middling that driver. On repeat.  Why blame the swing and not the club ?  That’s why I laughed. 

see above, my apologies

[bladehunter]

1 minute ago, virtuoso said:

Ok, because I went full tilt boogie on my rant...before I did my research...i need to apologize to @bladehunter, and zac blair (in absentia).

 

Upon further investigation, it looks like Nick "the fitter" was in on the act, and Zac was just having some fun getting fit for a driver that he would raffle off to one of his instagram followers. It was probably some kayfabe that was done for entertainment purposes, AND Zac mentioned that he was giving a lot of the proceeds form the raffle to a golf charity.

 

My apologies to everyone that had to sit through my hissy-fit.

🤣. Read this ^ last. I didn’t know that either. I thought it was real.  No worries man.  My distrust of all humans is my deal.  

[rsballer10]

2 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

🤣. Read this ^ last. I didn’t know that either. I thought it was real.  No worries man.  My distrust of all humans is my deal.  

I've seen the video referenced in quite a few articles, and they all wrote the story as if it were an organic interaction. My distrust of AI written articles exceeds your distrust of all humans.

[virtuoso]

4 minutes ago, rsballer10 said:

I've seen the video referenced in quite a few articles, and they all wrote the story as if it were an organic interaction. My distrust of AI written articles exceeds your distrust of all humans.

On zac's instagram account, it looks it may have started that way but then they let him in on the joke, had Nick explain the driver specs to be raffled on camera, and i think Zac gave Nick a VIP pass to the tournament for being a good sport.

Edited August 1 by virtuoso