The thought of spending nearly $1,500 on custom-fit nails can cause quite the shock.
After all, despite the fact that clubhouse players hit the most shots in a round, golfers are rarely capable of clubhouse golfers.
But a shooter mount can actually be one of the most valuable ways to quickly improve your game. Fully Equipped co-host and Fairway Rider President Wadeh Maroun recently visited Ping’s PLD Lab Custom Shooter to tune in for yourself and see what it was all about.
For starters, Wadeh and Ping Master Putter Fitter Alex Webb started with a gauge that was similar to the 36-inch model Wadeh came with. They also debuted the DS72 medium hammer head shape that was designed specifically for Viktor Hovland.
After one round of testing, Wadeh received a +1.0 putting handicap from the iPing app’s putting system, but Webb noted a few things he liked after moving on to the first model.
“Your natural tendencies are your natural tendencies,” Webb said. “One thing I like about it is that we made it a little more consistent with the axle leagues. If there are two things in the iPing that are somehow more important to me, it will always be the angle of impact and it will always be weak shaft.
“If we can marry the two of them together, then you should launch a lot of hits on your target line.”
From there, the next shooter they tried changed a few things. They went with a shorter, more standard length shaft, but with a heavier weight to recreate the feel of a longer putter. Webb also wanted to try a knucklehead, just to see what Wadeh would do with it.
After the next session, Wadeh was on a +3.5 handicap and saw huge improvements with consistency. But they weren’t down as Webb wanted to improve the lie angle on the shot, so they went with a shorter putter again.
This time, they went with a Piper H head shape with a hydraulic neck to keep Wadeh’s preferred mid-hammer shape, but increase toe flow in the head and complement the spin in his shot.
This ended up being the head that Wadeh and Webb settled on for the final build.
“The Piper H has your traditional Anser-style basket, which gives us a little bit of toe hang, which I think is great for your shot,” Webb said.
Wadeh was happy that the final head ended up being similar to what he was already using, but the shape of the hose changed.
“I can’t wait to put it in the bag and see how it goes and see if I can go from that 3 (handicap) to a scratch golfer,” Wadeh said.
will you be overhauling your bag for 2024? Find a convenient location near you at True Spec Golf.