Paul Jenner used to build and refurbish golf clubs as a teenager as a hobby at his family’s NSW South Coast home. Three decades later, Jenner is managing director of Australia’s premier clubfitting operation.
Jenner founded PureForm Golf in 2014 after recognising an opportunity to custom-fit golfers when tour-level technology such as TrackMan became readily available. In 2022 PureForm Golf partnered with Club Champion, which is America’s prominent name in custom clubfitting and building services. Currently with three stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the rebranded Club Champion Australia intends to expand to 10 fitting locations across the country within the next few years.
As a point of distinction, Club Champion Australia carries all the major club/putter brands as well as offering the largest selection of shafts. That is, 477 clubheads and approximately 900 shaft varieties.
“We have more than 60,000 combinations. So everything we do is based on performance,” Jenner says. “We’re not fitting someone Ping head-to-toe. If the Ping putter works, the Callaway fairway works best, and Mizuno irons, or whatever it is, we’re fully agnostic. It’s purely based on performance. We’re trying to get you the best golf clubs to improve your game.”
Club Champion’s custom-fitting process uses the latest technology: TrackMan for ball-flight data and swing analysis; SST PURE machine for shaft alignment; and SAM PuttLab for ball tracking and projection. Every club is custom-built in-house by an expert fitting team comprised of ex-tour professionals, PGA members and top-level amateurs.
At Club Champion’s Alexandria store, five minutes from Sydney Airport, a standard driver fitting takes 90 minutes and is priced at $149. (An iron fitting is $149 while a whole bag with wedges and putters is $399.) Paying a premium is worth the money given the extent to which clubfitting has changed in the past few years, according to PGA professional Jenner.
“The tech’s way better and all the companies now have better equipment. The tech’s the big thing. We’re not guessing anymore; we can be super-precise. When I get a tour pro in here, we’re talking about a metre in height or two degrees of a landing angle, 200rpm on a spin number. We’re dialling in super-tight tolerances because we’ve got the tech and it’s super accurate.
“Even down to a golf ball. I’ll change someone’s launch and flight to dial in certain numbers by changing the ball at the end of the fit. Then room testing to try to hit a certain number as well… Most golfers we see use the wrong ball. They’re hitting tour balls when they should be using a soft-compression ball that’s designed for a slower swing speed.”
As for a simple piece of advice prior to a clubfitting, Jenner says to just be yourself. Don’t try anything different than you would hitting balls at the range.
“For me, it’s just getting someone relaxed. Most golfers think they’re not good enough to get fitted, whereas it’s the other way around. You’ve been swinging the club the same for the past 30 years and your equipment doesn’t match. So we build the clubs around your golf swing. You don’t have to do anything differently.”
