We have been fielding increased calls and emails from our loyal customers regarding the new high-end club-fitting chain, Club Champion Golf. Club Champion is a national chain (70 +/- locations) which recently opened a new location here in Richmond. First and foremost, we appreciate everyone’s concerns regarding our new competition, and we are extremely humbled as the overall consensus has been supporting local versus this new national chain.  

We do not plan on changing anything regarding our current customer service philosophy or pricing, and thought it would be best to better clarify our operation vs this new national chain. All of the information below remains unchanged (as does our pricing) and can be found in more detail on our website.  

• We charge a fitting fee per session which we then discount, depending upon your purchase amount. During most fitting sessions our customers are so pleased with the process that we end up fitting for other equipment, if requested and if time allows. Our fitting fee structure is not based on just a specific type of equipment i.e. iron only fitting with our fitting rates still being less than their current promotional rates.
• As always, our fittings include a free follow-up fitting. Once you have had a chance to “break in” your new custom clubs, simply set up your complimentary follow-up fitting where we can “tweak” and/or adjust them as needed. During the complimentary follow-up fitting, we generally spend additional time fitting you for other equipment if needed/requested. This philosophy allows us to have an on-going relationship with our customers to help them along as their game improves. We have been providing this service from the start and this is a primary reason why customers have been coming back to us for over 20 years. Hodson Golf absolutely does not take the one-and-done approach.
• We fit outdoors, primarily on grass (mid-December and we are still on grass!), utilizing a state-of-the-art launch monitor to track/analyze actual ball flight. During inclement weather, we do offer both covered bays and an indoor/outdoor bay, but full visual ball flight is always utilized. Sorry, call us old school, but we are not fans of hitting off of artificial mats into a simulated indoor screen.
• We are a small, local, family-owned business and I personally have been fitting for over 20 years. I am third generation in the golf industry, with my grandfather having starting it all back in the 20’s (Bert Hodson – 1931 Ryder Cup Player). I have PGA Tour repair experience and we complete all of our custom repairs out of our full blown Tour Trailer that saw many years of action on the PGA Tour. Pictured far right of photo is my son Drew who is our rising 4th generation club-maker!
• We strive to put you into the best equipment, at the best value, with our prices being competitive to any “big box” or national chain. Although we have an extensive selection of exotic/boutique components and shafts that you may have never heard of (many not even offered by our competitors) we don’t push these items just to inflate the sale price. We also do not keep loads of stock on hand that we would feel obligated to unload onto customers, just to “clear it out.” We are brand agnostic fitters and strive to put you into the best equipment at the best price for YOUR game, regardless of the brand.
• Our lead fitter Robert, who began his career as a PGA Golf Professional back in 1992, brings his instructional expertise to the fitting process, which is invaluable. In short, during your fitting with us, you will be working with some seriously experienced and qualified professionals, not just hourly paid employees (often an unofficial “lesson” comes with your fitting).
• Although the Club Champion outfit as a whole (70 +/- locations) has been listed as a Golf Digest top 100 clubfitting operation, I personally have received this honorable designation since they first started this list back in 2010.

In summary, I just wanted to clarify the questions and concerns that we have been asked over the last few weeks. Personally, I think it’s great that Club Champion Golf is advertising and heavily promoting the benefits of custom fitting, which we wholeheartedly support for golfers of all skill levels. As always, we thank our customers for their continued support and will continue to do our best to provide the best service and equipment to each and every golfer we serve.

We are excited to announce that we will soon have the latest 2020 shaft release from Graphite Design – The Tour AD XC series. I have attached a PDF spec sheet for all you gear-heads out there.

touradxcseries

With the exceptional success we have had over the years fitting our “spinny” customers into the Tour AD BB (Blue Bullet), we are thrilled that there is now an even better/improved option. The new XC series can best be described as a modernized BB which has a similar bend profile but incorporates the latest shaft ingredients to include Torayca M40x and T1100G out of Japan. This beast will now produce even less spin and launch but with more response and feel at impact. Please contact us to schedule some time on the launch monitor to see just how good these shafts are to get you a more penetrating ball flight (with added roll).