Swing into Spring

“We’re the only facility in northern Indiana where you can get everything you need for golf under one roof,” says Eric Touchet, president of Touchet Performance Golf in Fort Wayne. “We serve people of all playing levels and ages, and everybody receives the highest level of customer service.”

Located off Engle Road, Touchet Performance Golf is housed in a 7,000 square foot facility that was completely renovated 18 months ago.

It includes a world-class fitting studio, full gym, men’s and women’s locker rooms, five TrackMan hitting bays and a state-of-the-art putting green that can’t be found anywhere else in this area. In the gym is a Proteus, which uses software to track a golfer’s swing.

“We’re the only golf facility in Indiana to have a Proteus,” says Touchet.

The gym is also where clients can work with licensed physical therapist Jared Bickle, who is a Titleist Performance Institute certified golf fitness and medical professional.

“Having Jared here really sets us apart from other facilities,” says Touchet. “With Jared, it’s all about the body and the movement of a golf swing and limiting injuries. He focuses on two things: Helping people who have injuries and working with people to prevent future injuries. A lot of people have back and neck problems, and playing golf can exaggerate those issues, so Jared can help people to work through that. We’ve had clients who used to struggle to play four or five-day golf trips, but after working with Jared, they were able to do so relatively pain-free. Jared’s youngest client is 12-years-old and his oldest is 90, so he helps people of all ages and all playing levels.”

The customized fitting service offered at Touchet Performance Golf is another factor that makes the business unique in its field.

“When my dad and I first opened the business 11 years ago, customized fittings for golf clubs was kind of a new thing. A lot of stores stuck with the practice of selling product off the rack. Today, there’s a big push to do customized fittings and we’re at the forefront of it while a lot of businesses are trying to catch up.”

Touchet Performance Golf has had a Top 100 fitter status in Golf Digest the last eight years and it offers all the major brands: Ping, Titleist, Srixon, TaylorMade, Callaway, PXG, Mizuno, Miura and Bettinardi, which makes putters. Touchet says all fittings are done by appointment, and afterwards he orders the components for the clubs from the manufacturer and puts them together in-house. He can also take care of club repairs, re-gripping and fine-tuning.

“This is the best time of year to get fitted for your clubs,” says Touchet. “The winter months are when new products come into the market, and waiting two to three weeks for your clubs won’t seem long since you can’t play outdoors right now.”

Touchet says the fitting process is unique to each individual and he’s proud of the fact that they never try to coerce a customer into buying something they really don’t need.

“There are all different kinds of fittings,” he says. “There’s an in-depth fitting for the serious golfer who plays a lot. For a beginning golfer, their swing isn’t going to be as consistent, so they’re going to get fit for the length of their clubs, the lie of the head and the grip size. We’re upfront with people and that’s important to us. For someone who’s only played twice in their life, we’ll never recommend spending $3,000 on golf clubs. It’s just not worth it. We let the golf clubs speak for themselves. We don’t push certain brands on customers just to make a sale. We recognize that people play golf because they enjoy it, so the process of getting everything you need to play the sport should be enjoyable, too.” 

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