Welcome to Fully eligible 2026GOLF’s new platform to provide you with real golfer insight into which 2026 equipment might be best for your game. To that end, we gathered six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and put them through the gauntlet of six full-bag rigs (from driver to bag!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, California.
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Last year was a banner year for GOLF’s new-look kit squad. We assembled what we think is the best team of creators, writers and producers in the industry; our content is better than ever (we hope you agree!); and growth across our device channels, particularly in video and social spaces, has been huge. I really believe you, golfer, now there is THE home base to answer any device questions you may have.
Part of that growth was becoming honest about what worked and what didn’t.
Golf media and equipment have changed dramatically in recent years. Gone are the days when the written word, indoor testing by numbers, and forum chats were the only sources of information on how and why you should buy a golf club. They remain important platforms, of course, but now device instructions are also flowing through a host of digital spaces, from YouTube and Instagram to TikTok and Reddit.
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Our previous testing platform – “ClubTest” – was a large effort powered by several golfers gathering at a host location to hit hundreds of clubs over the course of two or three days. He offered tutorials and data, but the problem was, none of that equipment was placed in the tester; it was more of a 35,000-foot view, with “best” really meaning “best for a given tester on a given day.”
Why Nothing Is ‘Best’ Anymore
When it comes to golf equipment, the word the best can and has had a negative impact on the industry. It has the best for youOf course, but not for everyone. Every creative club operates at an elite level, and to think or say that a company is better that another is not only stupid, but also a detriment to the consumer.
The biggest problem with club classification is that it says nothing about the club and only provides a tenth of its entire history. Hell, even on Tour, the fitters who work with the best players in the world are still in rebuild mode for the first four months of a new product.
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Adam Christensen/GOLF
I feel the same way about bot testing. Sure, that data can be insightful and entertaining, but at the end of the day you don’t call a robot to hit the ball for you. So why would you buy a club based on bot data? This is why club companies make both bots AND human testing before a club sees the light of day.
The truth is that every club that comes out these days is a 10 out of 10. They are all fast, forgiving, sound good, feel good, etc. The trick is to find the best of the bunch. for you.
Full disclosure: I worked at Callaway for over four years and enjoyed a good rating or “test” score from an outside agency. It was a fun atmosphere in the office when it worked in our favor. . . but we also knew it’s not that simple.
Introducing Fully Fit
With Fully Fit, we wanted to do something different. We wanted a series in which we profiled a half-dozen players who are trying to build a great bag for 2026—a set that not only performs, but also delivers the confidence golfers want.
The GOLF team, consisting of Jake Morrow, Sean Zak, Jack Hirsh, Maddi MacClurg, Wadeh Maroun and myself, went on an epic nine-day quest from Phoenix to Carlsbad to Huntington Beach, California, hitting every major club in search of the dream bag. At each stop, our team went into full gear (with the ball), with the aim of determining, performance-wise and emotionally, which clubs would make the six strikers the best versions of themselves.
Not only does this give you, the consumer, six different player profiles (aka archetypes) to relate to, but it also gives you an inside look at power and the need for adaptation.
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Adam Christensen/GOLF
Hopefully by the end of this series, which will continue through the summer, you’ll have learned something about how a club “should” land in your bag, how each OEM approaches fit, and ultimately, how to build a set that helps you hit lower scores.
We’ll take it further, though: adaptation and decision-making is a big part of this, but it’s the sequel that will really tell the story. So for this experiment, we’re including an initial 36-hole play test and three-month mid-summer check-in to get each player’s status.
Every striker had a goal going into this process, and to have the platform to monitor progress and learn if the clubs’ “stories” and “tests” will be fascinating to the player.
I guarantee there will be something at Fully Fit for everyone, and by the end of it, you’ll see that our ultimate bags will be all over the map. No single company will dominate the conversation, and there certainly won’t be any “best.”
Enjoy the show!
Ready to overhaul your bag in 2026 like our Fully Fit panelists? Find a convenient club location near you at True Spec Golf.
