Went into the Reading store around 2 on a Wed - store had no customers, both bays empty. Immediately met at the door by a GG person 'anything I can help you with?'. - Yes! - I have practically new irons (TaylorMade P790s) and driver/woods (3-months old, used 3 times) - I can't hit them at all, I wanted replace them with a more forgiving set of irons, and maybe more forgiving driver. ** So ALL I wanted to do was hit 3 or 4 balls with a 7 or 8 iron - from each of the three sets - then buy which ever set I liked the most - and trade in the P790s.
Surprisingly, he quickly blurted out: "we don't do that...we're not allowed to let you come in and just hit a bunch of balls and try every club in the store.... changing out heads and shafts BUT we have a guy who can work with you - for $100 you can work with him try different clubs, hit some balls... "
I explained (a) I just wanted stock off-the-shelf IRONS, so I don't need a fitting and (b) I've researched this and 3 or 4 brands always came up as the most forgiving: Ping G425s, Callaway Rogue and TaylorMade Sim2 and M4; I just wanted to hit 3 or 4 balls with a 7 or 8 (or whatever they had) from each set - then BUY the set I liked the most - TODAY...maybe 12-15 balls total - then BUY... again - they can't do that - stunning. As we're standing at the front of the store - being told I CAN'T try any clubs out - two high school kids walk right past us and start hitting golf balls.
I was shocked - "Really? I can't just hit a few balls with a 7 from each set?" ... after the 3rd or 4th time: "no, we're not allowed to let people just hit balls..."
I finally said 'OK, OK, OK - forget it. This is WAY too complicated. I'll go somewhere else - thanks, bye" ... I assume they're being told to not let anyone demo a club and push the $100 "fitting" whether they want/need it or not.
As I'm walking out, I hear Wait! Wait! You can hit balls...You can hit some balls..." .
Moral of the story: go to golf and ski warehouse THERE you CAN try different clubs before you drop $800+ on a set.
** Update - went to Golf and Ski Warehouse in Hudson the next day, asked to hit a few 'forgiving' clubs and he gave me a Rogue, Sim2, Stealth, M2 and Titlist 7-iron to try - and a bucket of balls... I traded in the P790s for M4's and LOVE THEM. I then did the same with driver, 3-wood and hybrid - 3-4 different drivers. They'll tape up the drivers/woods/hybrids and let you hit multiple shots NOT watching. Also has $100 in their points I didn't know about. Don't buy clubs without at least hitting a few balls first, it probably won't work out read more