Why Custom Build?

A question that I am frequently asked by visitors to our shop and also via email is "Will Custom Built Clubs improve the way I play". Well the only answer that I can give that is totally honest is "Yes". The next time that you play take a look at the first dozen or so players you see and it will be fairly obvious that we are not all the same shape, height, age or sex. But the greater majority of these players, who's bags will be emblazoned with names like TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, Wilson, Adams etc etc, all with their matching head covers, neat sets of irons all the same length and fitted with standard grips, drivers that are far too long and putters which cost the earth, think that simply buying a brand name will instantly turn them into better players.

The handicap lists in the locker room prove that this is far from the truth, but year after year the advertising men make more and more outrageous claims and the brand groupies rush off to their nearest discount store, trade in their one year old set, at a huge loss, for the new all singing all dancing range, complete with all the latest technological advances and surprise surprise, the results are just the same.

The reason is very simple. All these clubs are mass produced, they all have the same shaft length, they all have standard grips and the shaft flex is anyones guess. You see the industry makes to a common standard which says that a 3 iron is 39 inches long and that each subsequent club in the set is half an inch shorter than its predecessor and the shaft flex will be either L, A, R, S or XS. The problem here is for example, that not every manufacturers R flex is the same and graphite flexes in a totally different way to steel. But they don't tell you that because they don't make shafts, well actually they don't make heads or grips either.

But if you are the mysterious "Mr Average" that the golf industry makes clubs for, then the world is your oyster, albeit an expensive one, for the rest however, it usually ends up as a very expensive mistake.

Some manufacturers now offer a custom fitting service, which should NOT be confused with Custom Build. Custom fitting is simply a method of making what you have already purchased more suitable for you. Ping have done this for many years, but in reality all they do to obtain the correct lie angle is to bend the head, but bending the head does not make the shaft length correct for you, it does not improve your posture and because the clubs have already been manufactured they cannot and do not alter the most important element, the shaft flex, the "engine" of every golf club.

Now bearing in mind that we all use components from the same sources, does it not then make sense to have clubs made that suit YOUR individual physical and swing characteristics, rather than buying something that has been mass produced for "Mr Average". Does it not make sense to have shafts that are the correct length and flex, grips that are the correct size for your hands and heads that will suit your own ability and at the same time be aesthetically pleasing.

For some having clubs made specifically for them produces instant results, for others there may be a need to adjust in order to obtain the maximum benefits. Your new clubs may be longer or shorter than your previous set, the shaft flex may have altered and your grips may be a different size. We will naturally discuss all of these possibilities with you and advise on how you should adapt to the changes. Practice will produce better scores.

Are Custom Built Clubs more expensive ?

You would expect the answer to be a resounding yes, with many reasons why you should expect to have to pay more for any commodity that is bespoke. Well in fact the opposite is true at Designer Golf. We decided at the outset that it should be possible to make custom built clubs available to everyone, not simply better players, or those that believe that by simply paying the highest price must provide them with the best clubs.

If you accept that there are three basic components that make up a golf club, a head, a shaft and a grip and that all of these components come from the same basic sources, all heads from Taiwan/China, Titanium shafts from one manufacturer only, Ti Sports Technologies, steel shafts from True Temper, Nippon and FM Precision, graphite shafts from all of the recognised shaft brands, PU grips from Karakal and Winn, rubber grips from Golf Pride, Lambkin etc etc etc.

Well we all use these same basic components and therefore the only difference between Designer Golf and all of the major brands, is that we do not spend millions of pounds in worldwide advertising and nor do we pay huge sums in endorsements to tour professionals. This means that we can pass these savings onto you, resulting in a much lower cost.

Oh, and of course there is one other major difference, we make clubs that fit you.