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By
Steve Pike, PGA.com Senior Writer
05.20.2004
03:41 pm (ET)
CARLSBAD, Calif. (PGA.com) -- The Acushnet Company, which has been at the forefront of custom club fitting the past several years, this month is launching a new custom club program that allows consumers to custom order a base set of Titleist irons -- 3-PW, 4-PW or 5-PW -- with long irons from the next set up in the Titleist Performance Spectrum. For example, said Chris McGinley, Vice President of Golf Club Marketing for Titleist, a consumer can order Titleist 690MB blades and get 690CB long irons; if a consumer orders the new Titleist Forged Stainless 704 CB irons, he or she can order the new 804 OS long irons. "It's not what I would call a mixed set initiative like the market has come to define it -- I call it more of an optional long iron initiative," McGinley said. McGinley said Titleist's club engineering and club-fitting research shows that even some professional, better amateur, and serious golfers need help with their long irons. "Typically these players experience a loss of what we call 'playable trajectory' in the 2, 3 or 4 iron," McGinley said. "The program is based purely on ball flight and playable trajectory. The goal of the program is to provide optional long irons that create the required long-game yardage gaps at playable trajectories. "Our research and testing shows the optimal performance break point between the different Titleist iron models in terms of the loft and offset progression to be between the 4 and 5 irons. If a player can't achieve a playable trajectory with a 5 iron, he or she is playing (or is considering) the wrong base set of irons," McGinley added. "We have not come across a situation where a serious or better player loses playable trajectory in the 5 iron if they have been properly fit into the correct base set of irons. This is the reason our program only allows optional 2, 3, or 4 irons." Titleist does not currently have a so-called ''hybrid'' club on the market but has one -- 503H -- that has been used on the PGA Tour. McGinley said Titleist is looking to launch a hybrid club as early as next January. Copyright 2004 by PGA.com. All rights reserved.
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