My dream finally came true and it didn't disappoint. (I apologized in advance for my longggg story but need to share with my fellow TT members)
Earlier this year I reached out to a rep at Manchester Lane and made my appointment for June 2nd (yesterday). Of course I was counting down the days and also getting tips from friends who have gone. I wasn't doing the full bag, just the irons/hybrid and thanks to Hotsauce aka Josh G. who convinced me to do the wedges as well. So set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. and was ready to go. It was about 2 and 1/2 hours away.
Here's a recap:
1) This middle is in the middle of no where. I was told you'll be going through neighborhoods but don't be alarm, just follow the road so I did.
2) Don't show up early b/c they will not let you in. I showed up 20 minutes early and needed to wait by the security gate. The security guard was super nice and told me just to wait here until they call him. So I backed my car up next to his car and there I was watching them mowing the grass. It was beautiful.
3) About 5 minutes later, the security guy came out and told me to proceed to the building and someone will greet me. Drove down and sure enough someone came out and I believe his name was Alex. He introduced himself and brought me inside. He gave me a brief tour of the facility which was very cool and was lucky enough to see their robot in action testing golf balls. That was a lot of fun to watch.
4) Went to the players lounge to get ready. While I'm putting my golf shoes on, I'm just admiring the display they have. They have everything in there to check out while sitting on a nice leather couch; tons of FJ gloves & shoes, all the new Titleist clubs, Scotty putters and Vokey SM6.. I mean anything new that came out, it was there for you to check out.
5) I was introduced to my fitting professional, Chris (not sure if i can leave his last name). From the get go, I was stoked. Seemed like a great guy and knew this was going to be a fun day.
6) He brought me out to the area and it was unreal. It was as green as it could be and just perfect. I wish EVERY driving range in America looked like this. I was just pumped. Everything was ready to go, clubs and all. And one other thing that blew me away, the amount of shafts available. I had NO idea there were that many. There must've been 7-9 carts FULL of different types of shaft. Just amazing.
He provided a few rules in regards to divots, etc. which i totally respected. Then we started talking about what I was looking for while he was checking out my old clubs. I definitely went in with an open mind (best thing to do IMO) and just told him I was looking for consistency, extra yardage and something I can be confidence with. Before I started, he asked me, ProV1 or V1x... SAY WHAT?!?! To be fitted with the ball I love playing, damn this is gonna be a good day....
7) I started off with my old 7 AP1 714 iron. Hit about 10-12 shots. Then he handed me a 716 AP1 iron. For about 2 hours, I'm hitting irons and the 816 hybrid while trying multiple shafts (10-12 different shafts) to get the right numbers on the Trackman and most importantly something I'll be confidence with. Kept going back and forth and you know, I loved it. He even had me try out graphite shafts which I'm not a fan of but like I said, i went in with an open mind and tried it out. Long story short I found my clubs and got what I was looking for.
I will add this. I asked about the C16 irons so he was nice enough to grab one for me to try out. I had hit these before and told him how much I loved it. Hit about 2-3 shots and we both laughed. The numbers were just unreal; numbers improved and just the perfect club. He's like, "are you sure you don't wanna..." If I wasn't married w/ no kids, no questions those would've been the clubs to buy...
And now back to reality....
8) The last 1/2 hour we went over to the short game area which is located behind the building. Again, BLOWN.AWAY. I'm telling you, I could stay there for hours just hitting wedge shots. I mean, it's about 100 yards long give or take, one small green surrounded by a few bunkers and the conditions were just purrrrreeee!!! I was looking for help between 50-75 yards. Chris knew exactly where to go and off I went with the SM6.. Yes, i was drooling every time I hit a shot. The feel of the SM6 is just amazing. Soft and almost like you're not hitting the ball and it just glides so nice on the grass... Such a fantastic club and to be able to hit the ProV1s while I'm there is just an added bonus..
9) When i was done, we went back to the Player's lounge and Chris went over my specs and new set up. Totally different than my current one and this is exactly the reason why I wanted to go.. Shook Chris's hand and gave me a nice little gift bag with a few goodies.
In conclusion, this is a MUST DO. They treat you with first class from the start, no question about it. I can't thank Chris enough for taking the time and going over everything with me. There were times I didn't quite understand what he was talking about in regards to numbers so he took the time and explained it to me. He made recommendations, we talked about it and went from there. A fun day and the place is simply amazing. Worth every penny and will do it again when I need new clubs.
And as an added bonus, Mike D. was kind enough to make his way over to say hello and to see how I was doing. It was great to see him and then offered to take me to the Acushnet HQ for a quick tour. It was pretty cool to walk around and check out all the products on display; between Titleist, FJ, Scotty and Vokey, it was awesome to see. But the best part was seeing some of the memorabilia that people had out. As Hotsauce aka Josh G. said, "it's like heaven for golf nerds"..
After the tour, I was able to sneak in a great lunch with Mike D., Abby and Rick V. It was great to see them and catch up. Truly a remarkable team of people.
Definitely a great day was had and thanks again to Alex and Chris from Manchester Lane and Abby, Rick V. and Mike D. for taking the time out of their busy day to have lunch with me.
I'm sure I'm missing out some stuff but if anyone has any questions about my day, feel free to PM me. Be happy to answer.
Cheers!
PS: only took 2 pics; 1 of Manchester Lane and 1 of the HQ. I really wanted to focus on my day and not worry about pics. Glad I did and recommend doing the same.