Successful Launch For Club Champion Club Fitters At N.J. Location
After several months of planning and preparation, Club Champion, a custom club-fitter and NJSGA partner, opened its 11th store and first in the metropolitan area.
On Monday, April 13, Club Champion opened the new store at 417 Route 17 South in Hackensack, N.J. Other Club Champion locations exist in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago area (three stores), Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
On the first day, store general manager Eric Bramble noted that club-fitting lessons were booked solid for two weeks, thanks to an NJSGA-launched E-Blast that targeted NJSGA member golfers and offered them a discount. NJSGA members can save 50 percent on a full bag fitting (now $175); save 33 percent on driver or iron fitting (now $100), and save 25 percent on putter fitting (now $75).
“This is an exciting day for Club Champion. We are pleased to partner with Club Champion, which offers a unique service to New Jersey golfers. Club Champion has a record for outstanding service to the golf community and we look forward to a long and lasting relationship with the company,” said Frank O’Brien, NJSGA president.
Like other stores, the 3,000-square foot store has two bays for instructional purposes.
“We plan on opening 20 to 30 stores nationwide. Our whole goal is to help golfers,” said Club Champion founder Nick Sherburne, a Chicago native who was in Hackensack for the opening.
“We’re unique in the software that we offer in TrakMan Pro and the SAM (Science And Motion Center) Putt Lab. We have the ability to use high-end electronic equipment,” said Bramble, a former golf professional at Valleybrook Golf Club in Blackwood, who last worked at a Club Champion competitor store.
“Plus the fact that we have all of this top-end product at our disposal. We are not limited to manufacturer fitting carts,” said Bramble, who trained for a month at Club Champion headquarters in Chicago.
The company utilizes highly experienced fitters, along with tools like the TrackMan Pro®launch monitor and SAM PuttLab® to help measure key variables and performance characteristics as part of its detailed process.
Club Champion is a Golf Digest Top 100 club fitter and builder of premium golf clubs. Its mission is to help people enjoy the game of golf by improving their equipment to fit their game.
“With the demographics in the area as strong as they are, combined with the unique product we offer, we believe this store will be very successful,” Bramble said.
“Club Champion provides a specialized methodology to find the precise golf equipment for you and your game. The majority of golfers today do not buy golf clubs the optimum way. Instead of using the trained eye of an experienced fitter utilizing state of the art tools, they are lured by marketing,” CEO Joe Lee commented.
Dan Marino of Due Process Stable, a former NJSGA Tournament of Club Champions winner in 2007 and NJSGA Compher Cup member, visited Club Champion on its opening day after receiving the NJSGA-sponsored E-Blast.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and the timing of Club Champion’s store opening is perfect for me with the season about to open. It is very thorough. They test everything. You must have an open mind. You can’t have a favorite brand because they don’t push a certain brand,” said Marino, 47, who lives in Short Hills and works for Gotham Contracting Services in Perth Amboy.
Marino, a three handicap who has won seven club championships at Colonia and six more at Due Process Stable , will be playing in four NJSGA events this summer: The Pre-Senior May 6-7, at Hawk Pointe, the 114thAmateur, June 2-4, at Morris County, the 95thState Open, July 14-16, at Rockaway River, and the 32ndMid-Amateur, Sept. 8-10, at Arcola.
“Thanks to the club-fitting, I’m going to switch to a weaker shaft than what I’ve been playing on all my irons. The SAM PuttLab showed my attack angle was off and that my lie was upright. Once we fixed that, it made quite a difference,” Marino said.
“For the price of $175, I think all the golfers in the state should take advantage of this great offer,” he concluded.
“Our whole value proposition is in a providing tailored process to find, and then custom build the right equipment for a golfer. Golfers fit by Club Champion see a dramatic impact on their game almost immediately, ” Lee said.
Club Champion fits clubs by appointment in a vendor agnostic manner in its state of the art facility by matching shafts and club heads until the best results are achieved. Utilizing all leading brands of heads and shafts, including TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist, Ping, Nike, Mizuno, Fujikura, Accra, Mitsubishi, Aerotech, Nippon, etc., gives the customer almost unlimited choice and great performance results.
