Golf fitter and chocolate company owner Bayani Garcia finds that nothing is sweeter than club fitting.

With some practical experience and popular equipment, setting up a golf club fitting and repair shop is easier than you think.

When Bayani Garcia started fitting golf clubs in 2020, it was purely a hobby. The self-proclaimed “golf equipment junky” runs a chocolate company in the Philippines. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he was faced with several challenges. “Running a business was hard,” Garcia said. “My employees were not motivated. I wasn’t motivated. I used club building as a sort of therapy and a way to relieve some stress.”

This meant running his company by day and building and fitting clubs by night. Garcia also started the “Burly Golf Builds” Instagram page where he showcases his club-building work. Using his Mitchell Golf machines, he provides building and fitting services for his friends and family free of charge. “My friends (and friends of friends) started to come to me to get fit,” Garcia said. “A little less than a year later, I’ve been helping a lot of people get their equipment ready.”

Club Measurement is Half the Battle

“I was hanging out in my cousin’s small golf shop, and they didn’t have a CLUBLENGTH Ruler,” Garcia said. “All they had was a tape measure and they were measuring it from the ground. It was very rudimentary, and it wasn’t accurate… I need to cut shafts to an eighth of an inch, and it’s a very accurate process using the CLUBLENGTH Ruler Measuring Tool.”

While club fitting and building is just a hobby for Garcia now, he hasn’t ruled out the idea of working in the industry someday. “I’d be lying to you if I didn’t consider charging for my services,” Garcia said. “At the end of the day, it’s an expensive sport. If I really want to up my game, I want to upgrade my machine.”

Garcia isn’t alone in his desire to have the knowledge and the equipment to do his own club repairs and builds. The biggest challenge for most is where to begin. For those with little or no experience in club repair but are eager to learn, Mitchell Golf offers a 2-Day Introduction class for Club Repair and Club Alteration. This covers all the basics, including adjusting loft and lie, re-shafting, regripping, shortening or lengthening a club, determining swing weight and total weight, and more. It’s a great foundation to begin working on your own clubs. For fitters who have the fundamentals down, Mitchell Golf also offers a  5-Day Master Class: Club Repair, Club Alteration, Club Building, And Club Fitting.  This master class offers valuable training utilizing the Foresight GCQUAD monitor and simulator.

On the equipment side of things, if you are ready to take the plunge into a fully equipped workstation, A typical digital setup would look like this:

• Mitchell Golf Loft and Lie Machine — Our machines adjust ALL types of clubs. To find out which angle machine is right for you, check out our helpful video
• TourGauge Putter Machine
• Grip Station
• Shaft Cutting Machine with Ferrule Turning Fixture 
• TourGauge Swing Weight Scale
• ClubLength Ruler Kit
• DigiFlex 2.0 Frequency Meter
• Graphite Shaft Puller

If Baby Steps are a Better Option…

If a full setup seems a little daunting, there are some smaller-scale options you can do to get your club fitting face on. A good start is having a regripping station to regrip your clubs. This is always a popular choice among golf enthusiasts. As the only thing between a golfer and his or her clubs, grips are one of the first things to get noticed and replaced if necessary.

Mitchell Golf Grip Stations give you a lot of flexibility, whether you want to mount your station to the floor or to a workbench, The regripping station includes a Pro Tour Grip Vise that holds the club firmly in place when putting your grip on and it adjusts to different shafts. Patrick Gallagher, Mitchell Golf’s Director of Golf Operation, suggests the following equipment to get you going:

Re-Gripping Station Options

• ProTour Grip Vise (bench or vise mount options)
• Drip Pan
• Grip Tape dispenser 
• Build up tape dispenser

Of course, double-sided grip tape is a must, so having the Mitchell Golf tape dispenser helps keep the tape from going all over the place. You’ll also find other grip accessories like a solvent, a grip remover gun, and a grip remover tool on mitchellgolf.com that make the job of regripping a lot easier.

The most important thing in all this? Go at a level that you feel comfortable with. Remember you can always add more! If you have questions about setting up a golf fitting workshop at home or in a business, give Patrick a call at 800-437-1314 Ex1.