Our weekly blog covers a wide range of topics.
From the latest equipment releases to focusing on particular brands and trends, we see in the golf equipment industry.
We’ve also recently focused on golfers who haven’t yet experienced a custom-fitting session. We’ve created guides to help you prepare for getting the most out of your fitting session and to understand some of the key data produced by launch monitors, which help your fitter hone in on the perfect setup for your game.
While each blog will have a session concentrated towards the benefits of custom-fitting, for this week’s edition, we thought we would do something a little different.
Nine By Nine Golf sat down with lead fitter Mark Ostrom to get his opinion on a variety of topics connected to custom fitting and, in his own words, explain why every golfer can benefit from being custom-fitted for their next set of golf clubs.
Mark only took up golf at the age of 18, but quickly reduced his handicap to gain entry into the PGA training program five years later.
While Mark was undergoing his training, he worked as an assistant professional at Bognor Regis Golf Club in West Sussex, where he developed an interest in the world of custom-fitting.
Mark graduated as a fully qualified professional in 2023 and soon after qualifying, joined the team at Nine By Nine Golf, where he already carried out hundreds of fittings for a wide range of players.
We begin our conversation by gaining a deeper understanding from Mark about his formative years, during which he worked to qualify as a professional, and how his interest in custom-fitting was developed.
Nine By Nine Golf (NBNG): Can you tell us how you first became involved in club fitting and how your journey has evolved over the years?
Mark Ostrom (MA): I first learnt about club fitting properly whilst starting my PGA course 5 years ago. I had previously been fitted myself several times and found it interesting, but didn’t know much about it. Once I started to learn about the details of how to fit, I was hooked! Since then, I have developed my knowledge and learnt about all parts of the bag to a fuller extent. Initially, with all the possible numbers to look at, I would only be looking at some numbers, whereas now I feel more confident with all the possible data our GC quad can give us. I have also, over the years, developed a better understanding of how different clubs can / do affect how people swing a club, rather than just fitting into some good ball flight numbers. This allows a better fit that is more aligned to the customer's golfing “DNA” instead of just fitting to the best numbers on a given day. Experiences with brands such as Titleist and TaylorMade through Nine by Nine golf have also allowed me to learn from other fitters and share ideas. For example, a day at the Titleist Performance Centre at Woburn with a Titleist fitter, to get a better understanding of driver fittings, etc.
NBNG - What’s changed the most in club fitting technology or methodology since you started?
MA - Although I have only been in the industry a few years, there has been a trend of consumers having a better understanding of what they are looking for with new golf clubs and knowing their numbers better. More readily available content about fitting on YouTube, etc. This creates more interest in fitting from the general golfing public and means most will understand that being custom fit is better than buying off the shelf. Methodologically, the only thing I’ve noticed is a better appreciation and understanding of the importance of the golf shaft in the fitting. More and more people are aware it’s not as simple as “reg or stiff”, etc.
NBNG - Is there a particular moment or success story in your career that stands out?
MA - There have been a few customers you hear from that have made nice gains and handicap drops - one example would be a customer who won an event at his club a couple of months after collecting his clubs, which won him a trip to Portugal. In addition to having a few lower-level tour players trust us with their bag setups, who return every year to have everything checked, etc., it's a nice level of trust to have from players at that level.
NBNG - What are the most common mistakes you see golfers make when buying off-the-shelf clubs?
MA - A really common one I see is a customer who has been fitted into irons that have lightweight graphite shafts (which is good for them), and then they buy off-the-shelf Vokeys or other wedges with the stock shaft, including wedges they plan to hit full shots with. The typical stock wedge shaft is a heavy steel shaft, which, of course, isn’t a great complement to the lightweight graphite shaft they have in their irons. The other big one is grip size; all stock clubs have a standard grip size, which for most people would be too small or too big. With irons, people assume that flex is the most important thing for the shaft and ignore the weight. So they pick stiff, but could pick a 90g or 120g shaft range, which makes a massive difference to the shaft, so they could end up with the completely wrong shaft, even if it is the “best flex"
NBNG - Are there any myths or misconceptions about golf equipment that you'd love to debunk?
MA - The main one is the idea that custom fitting is only relevant or useful for better players, and swing inconsistencies make higher handicaps pointless to fit because each day is different, etc. People's swings are more consistent than they think; it’s just that the margin for error from a hook to a slice is much smaller. There is always a pattern, and new equipment will make a difference to that pattern. So any level of golfer will benefit from having something that allows them to deliver the club more consistently, which a custom fitting will (hopefully) do!
NBNG - In your experience, how much performance is typically being left on the table due to poor equipment choices?
MA - It depends on how poor the choice is. It’s a hard thing to quantify, but if you are a golfer using off-the-rack clubs or older second-hand clubs, etc, that are not fitted, you are more than likely losing either yardage, or dispersion or both. How that is then quantified into an amount of shots you could gain is hard to tell.
NBNG - In your own words, why should every golfer consider a proper club fitting?
MA - The simple reason is that it is usually an enjoyable experience that, even without purchasing any new clubs, will teach you plenty about your tendencies, where you’re bad shots/misses come from and how far you hit your clubs. Lots of useful info just from the fitting! I would also say that 99% of customers see a performance gain from new equipment, however big or small. So this then gives you at least the choice of whether you want to upgrade to get that performance gain or not. There’s no requirement to buy anything, so nothing ventured, nothing gained!
NBNG - What kinds of results or changes do you commonly see after someone goes through a fitting session?
MA - It varies a lot based on what needs to be changed - for example, in an iron fitting, distance is the most important thing for some, whereas others want more height/spin and don’t need more distance. Typically, there is a gain in the metric they are looking to improve, and there is an improvement in the consistency of those numbers as a simplified version.
NBNG - You mentioned earlier the perception that better players benefit the most from club fitting. Do higher handicappers benefit just as much from custom fitting as low handicappers?
MA - The simple answer is yes; higher-handicap golfers benefit just as much from custom fitting. Sometimes, there is more gain, as low handicappers can adapt/adjust to make anything work, whereas higher handicaps don’t have that skill. I would usually see more gain during a fitting with a mid-high handicap than I would with a lower handicap. A lot of time with the better player it’s incremental gains, such as better spin and descent on long irons for more control, and better gapping in short irons. Small gains, but at that level, it can make a big difference.
NBNG - Moving on to a slightly different topic. Are there any new trends in club design or fitting that golfers should be aware of?
MA - With drivers, as the speed that the ball can come off the face out of the middle has been capped for a while, all the improvements recently have been in increasing ball speed away from the middle, and more forgiveness. So don’t expect a 5-year-old driver to be “slower” than the latest tech on a centre strike - the performance gains now are across the face.
NBNG - Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone booking their first custom fitting?
MA - Don’t be worried about your performance on the day - how you are hitting it, etc. On a good day or a bad day, a good custom fitting can show you the best way to improve your game with equipment, regardless. And don’t be nervous about your performance - the fitter you see on the day is there to impress you, and show their Knowledge. Not the other way around!
Our heartfelt thanks to Mark for taking the time to talk to us.
Five key insights we can take away from what Mark had to say are:
- Custom fitting benefits all skill levels
- Mis-matched or off-the-shelf equipment leads to missed performance
- Golfers are becoming more educated, understanding more how custom-fitted clubs can benefit their game.
- Fitting is more than just numbers - an experienced fitter like Mark relies just as heavily on the feedback he receives from each golfer as the launch monitor data.
- Driver technology is focused on improving off-centre hits to close the performance gap to perfect contact.
If you’re ready to take your game to the next step, book a custom-fitting with Mark today by visiting the Nine By Nine Golf website.
