There was a time when nearly every golfer just bought clubs off the shelf in the sporting goods section of a general merchandise store. Each set had the exact same length shaft, same flex and weight. There was no customization to account for the many variables in each golfer’s swing.

Most everyone realizes today that golfers with properly fitted clubs will shoot consistently lower scores.

If you are looking to improve your game with custom built golf clubs, Sam Anderson, certified custom clubmaker at Indian Hills Custom Golf in Okemos, may be the surest bet.

Indian Hills Custom Golf, which also features a beautiful nine-hole golf course nestled along the banks of the Red Cedar River in Okemos, is well known for their custom club fitting and full-service pro shop.

“The main focus of our business has really transitioned to club making and fitting. The golf course is still very important and we love to have people out to play golf on it, but we believe golf club making is the future for us,” Anderson says.

Anderson, who joined Indian Hills as an apprentice club maker in 1993, can use his expertise to fine-tune existing golf clubs or build custom clubs from scratch.

“We do simple jobs like replacing grips and shafts to more finesses projects like bending clubs to adjust the lie angle. Our real growth the past dozen years has come from building custom clubs. Custom built isn’t just for highly skilled players either. We like to think we can help everyone play better golf,” Anderson says.

The custom club building process begins with a session with the Focaltron Golf Achiever II ®, a launch monitor device that measures nearly every aspect of a golf swing. It fits each golfer for the correct loft angle, lie angle, face angle, shaft length, shaft flex, weight and grip.

Anderson says a typical club fitting session runs from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on how in-depth the analysis is. There is a $50 fee for the fitting, which is applied toward the purchase of custom clubs.

“Modern technology is geared for creating more forgiveness in the club head, which rewards the golfer with better shots. They create bigger sweet spots on the club head by spreading the weight out more,” Anderson says. “But the launch monitor fitting insures that a golfer is fitted with the right length shaft and weight to begin with.”

Indian Hills Custom Golf, which is owned by J.C. Petersen and features league play on the course during the week, sells pre-manufactured clubs from Titleist, Mizuno, Ping, Cleveland and Cobra. The pro shop, which is open year around, features golf apparel, bags, snacks and drinks.

Both Petersen and Anderson are Class A Clubmakers, which is a professional certification awarded by the Professional Clubfitters Society. The designation is only awarded to those professionals who can pass a complex 300-question exam featuring questions on golf clubs and golf swings.

“That’s what really sets us apart. J.C. has been building clubs for over 30 years. We don’t try to fit you into a set of standardized clubs off the shelf. You can play our custom clubs and we’ll fine-tune them for free. And finally, if you don’t like them, you can bring them back; but there are so many adjustments we can make to the clubs that it seldom happens,” Anderson says.

The certified club makers at Indian Hills, which has 16 employees during peak summer months, can build all sorts of golf clubs, including drivers, fairway woods, hybrid utility clubs, irons, wedges and putters. KZG clubheads are featured with shafts available from True Temper, Graffaloy, UST and Royal Precision.

“Sometimes just one custom-made golf club in your bag can make a huge difference. In particular a driver that can allow a player to hit longer and straighter is invaluable,” Anderson adds.

As golf clubs have become longer and lighter over the years, much attention has been given to the shaft, which is only one part of the golf club that can impact the feel of a golf club.

“Everyone thinks they have to have graphite, but we still sell a lot of steel shafts. Steel shafts are generally heavier, but someone with a very quick rate of acceleration is better off with heavier clubs, even though in theory something lighter is easier to swing faster,” Anderson says.

Graphite, which was introduced into golf shafts over 30 years ago, is still the favorite for golfers who like more whippy and lighter clubs, Anderson says.

“They also break more often,” Anderson confides.

Nothing feels better in a golfer’s hands than new grips, Anderson says. Grip manufacturer Winn introduced a new grip earlier this year made of synthetic polymer compound that is drawing a lot of attention on golf courses. “They’re very lightweight,” he explains.

The downtrodden economy has impacted Indian Hills Custom Golf, just like it has nearly every business across mid-Michigan.

“Not everyone can afford to spend money on new golf clubs. We know that. People are playing with their old clubs longer. We are doing more repairs, which is good for business,” Anderson adds. “Financial consideration is obviously a part of every decision. Some people place more value on their golf games than others. We just try to give our clients lots of options.

“Golfers shouldn’t be afraid to try new things, though. We have a lot of demo clubs that we sign out for no charge. The right-sized equipment can make a huge difference.”