Some people asked in the "Talked to Mike James" thread so here is the Fall schedule to come hit all the Callaway stuff or get custom fit for free. I'm only listing the public courses. (no, you can't come to the Demo Day at River Oaks CC.; unless of course you are a member. In that case, How you doin'?) Some are muti-vendor, some are just Callaway; I don't really know which are which with the exception of the one at Wildcat. It is definetly a multi-vendor so you can compare all the major brands of golf stuff side by side. This is not a shameless promotion, I get paid the same if nobody shows or everybody shows. But for the golfers among us these things are a lot of fun. Callaway Golf FALL Demo Days Thurs Oct 4 Cinco Ranch 2-6 Friday Oct 5 Sienna Plant TBA Sat Oct 6 Blackhorse GC TBA Sat Oct 6 Meadowbrook Frms 10-2 Wed Oct 10 Games People Play (Beaumont)11-5 TFV Sat Oct 13 Wildcat GC TBA TFV The TBA's are generally 10-2 but you can call the course. The TFV is the Tour Fit Van where the the national guys show up and we use the vecter pro fitting computer to custom fit drivers (by appointment). They have all the shafts and heads in the Van and you can get your custom driver made up in 2 hours instead of waiting 2 weeks. I'll probably be at all these dates but that's not guaranteed, ask for Chuck.
OK... I'll bite... I don't know a damn thing about Golf... I'll get bashed for this, but I hate seeing the lazy dudes on the carts going from hole to hole (that's what she said - shut up, Dwight - nobody cares), so I am going to ask nicely: What is a "Fall Demo Day"? Will they tell me how to swing, how to putt, or how to get it out of the sand, or how to make it in the hole (that's what she said)??
Shadow Hawk is not on my fall schedule but just tell John Lopez what you are interested in and I'll bring it out or I'd even come out for a custom fitting session. For some reason the Houstonian is anti Callaway and does not have any of our stuff in their shop at all. You could come to the Cinco date (it will be crowded) or you can probably get by the guard at Weston Lakes on Oct 20th. I don't know about Austin....different rep over there. Demo Days are for people who are somewhat proficient at golf and want to try out different types of new golf clubs. Sometimes I have to teach a little bit to get people hitting the clubs but it's not a place for beginners to come get a free lesson. Custom fitting is really only for avid golfers with a repeating swing. I can't fit you if you don't make the same swing somewhat consistantly. Beginners of average height are fine just starting out with box sets like from Academy or one of the golf stores. I don't sell clubs, the golf courses do that. But there is usually some kind of discount on Demo Day.
Thanks for posting this, Dubious! Hey - I've always wanted to do a "free fitting", but I kinda feel obligated to buy something. Do many people get the free fitting, hit a few clubs and then not buy anything?
Nice. I work for Callaway Golf in Austin. It is just cool to see my company being mentioned in here : p Are you guys also showcasing 08 products?
I am 6 feet tall with a long wingspan but a fairly consistent swing. Do you think the custom fitting would help and how much would a set of light irons cost approximately?
Technokid - If you have the Austin dates you can post them in this thread since someone asked. I'm guessing you might work at Callaway Pre-owned though, in which case I'll be bringing you a load in a week or two. No, we can not showcase the 08 equipment until after the January Golf Show in Orlando and it won't be available to order until February. My Boss did just get back from the big company Rah Rah session for the 08 stuff. The coolest thing I've seen is the new FTI Fairway Woods (square heads!) Nobody makes you buy anything at a Demo Day, again though spending 30 minutes custom fitting someone and having them not buy would be bad form. Fitting irons is an easy process... head preference, swing speed, contact point, check for lie angle, So I wouldn't be to upset if someone went through the process and then went to callawaygolfpreowned.com and ordered some used ones to spec, but my boss and the sponsoring course doesn't get credit for them. I probably would never know if you did or didn't. Driver fitting on the Vector-pro computer is a much more involved process and is usually by appointment. We usually do our Demo Day driver fitting by eye because of the time constraints, we are looking at launch path (push or pull), launch angle, swing speed, and try to judge the spin rated by the flight pattern (boring or ballooning). Iron fitting has as much to do with swing speed as it does height/arm length ratio because a golf club bends down during the swing. The faster the swing speed the more it bends; adding length to the shaft makes it bend more , shortening the length makes it bend less. But getting the proper lie angle is THE most important factor in custom fitting because if the club is not square at impact, the face angle can point to the right or left. (too upright points left..you hit the ball more low and left, too flat aims right , you hit the ball higher and pushed) Our stuff isn't cheap and isn't for golfers on a tight budget. Check out the national website for MSRP cost on the 'shop now' button on each product type. The Callaway website is a pretty cutting edge example of what online marketing can be; plus it opens with a picture of Eva Longoria right now. http://www.callawaygolf.com/en.html Again if you are an avid golfer these Demo Day things are a lot of fun. You can hit our driver next to a Taylormade next to a Ping next to a Cleveland and really see what you like best. Buying golf clubs is like buying a car, there is a level you can spend , a lot of ego and self image involved, and a lot of brand loyalty. (plus you get to hit free balls)
I am, unfortunately, one of those players that's on a "tight budget" (thank you for phrasing it so gently). I really really want to do the free fitting, and, as you pointed out, it would be my preference to then buy pre-owned online. But, in situations like this where the sponsoring course and you guys are eating cost, I don't think I'd do that. I probably just wouldn't do the fitting (and that's why, to this day, I've never been fitted). I will certainly attend at least one of the demo days you've listed and will see what it's like to swing some of the new clubs. I'm especially interested in seeing how much distance/control I can get off of some of the new driver technology. I'm not loyal to any brand; however, the best driving results I've ever had were hitting a Taylor Made driver that a buddy of mine owned. And then there's the problem of price. I would like to get a new set of clubs, but I just can't spend the money. Dubious, if you ever have any kind of promotions, discounts or coupons that might make the Callaway equipment more affordable, please post them here!
I used to think clubs didn't make a difference. That was until I got my hands on a Nike driver a few years ago. It's made all the difference in the world in my driving game now. It's my short game that sucks. Dubious, I was fitted for some Titleist irons many years ago. The problem is my swing was HORRIBLE back then. It's better now, but nowhere near perfect. Can clubs be re-fitted?
Cast clubs can be bent 1 or 2 degrees upright or flat, but there is always some small risk of them snapping. Forged clubs, and there really aren't too many around anymore with the exception of tour blades are easlily bent. In fact they need to be periodically checked to see if they still meet specs.
I work at Callaway Golf Interactive. Preowned is a part of the business. Still... we are under the Callaway Golf.
