3 Hybrid or 5 Wood?

[Sixft9]

Good question! I've wondered the same. I currently have a 3W and a 2H. Only about 15 yards of difference between the 2. So, no room currently for a 5W. I've thought about replacing the 2H and 3 iron with a 5W and 3H.

[Pcmart03]

Right now, I carry both, mostly because I don't know what to do with the last spot in my bag. Either the 5W or 3H fills the gap between my 3W and 5H. A lob wedge would just get me in trouble, so I'm telling myself I there's enough of a difference in ball flight to justify the duplication.

[Golf Dawg]

My 3h is my “toy cannon,” the go-to when the 3w is iffy. That said, I used/loved a 5w in the past, but haven’t investment, yet…

[bobl99]

I carried a 5 wood and 3hb for a loung time but recently took the 5 wood out of the bag. The hybrid is my go to club mainly because I hit it better. The 5 wood was not as consistent. 

[Djgolf24]

5 Wood!

[Yeager]

I personally think the 5 wood is a more versatile club. It imparts more spin to attack greens and has the distance that I am looking for on longer par 5's.

[ElmMan]

5W all day....however, I found that I hit my 5 wood better than my 3 wood (more consistently and almost as long). If you find this to be the case, you might keep both the 3H and the 5W and get rid of the 3W. You will have to notice your yardages and fill in the gaps. I also can say that I prefer a hybrid from the rough or tricky shots that are not in the fairway much more than my 5W. Sometimes, the 5W will slide under certain lies that the hybrid hits better.

[NewYear_NewClubs]

I've been struggling to hit my 5 wood recently.  It used to be my go-to fairway finder but the yips came out of nowhere and can't find my stroke.

I just ordered a 3H (19 degree) and will be putting it into play this weekend so we'll see how it goes.

[CrazyGolfNut]

I do not hit hybrids very well so I vote for a fairway wood.

[MacTourney]

Hybrid = circular file.

Five Wood = rent fully paid.

Edited May 25, 2023 by MacTourney

[Micah T]

I can’t do anything with a hybrid besides hook it. 5 wood recently kicked my 2 iron out of the bag, as the 2 iron was really a tee-shot only club for me. 5 wood is much more versatile for me.

[Donn lost in San Diego]

I play now where there is no deep grass rough, so I don't need hybrid.  It has hardpan, scrub, twings on bare dirt under trees, some swamp, but no deep rough.  I hit a Adams Speedline Low Profile 3 wood off the deck, or a Mizuno 3 driving iron.  I will put in my 3 or 5 hybrids when on course that has deep grass.

[Golf Fever]

On 5/19/2023 at 7:14 AM, SteveGH7 said:

I have a 16.5 3w and then switched my 5 wood for a super hybrid and love it.  You can also look at the Cleveland hy-wood which has a similar length to a 5w but head like a hybrid.

Love the Cleveland XL Hy-Wood.  Never been able to hit a fairway wood.  But I can hit the hy-wood off the tee or turf.  It's essentially a counterbalanced 3h with a shaft length half inch shorter than a 5w.  Fills the gap between my driver and 4h better than a standard 3h.  I tried 2h but not enough swing speed to get the launch I needed.  Also find the club very forgiving with the large head. 

[haller]

Really depends on preference. I’d say that most people find hybrids easier to hit but I absolutely love my 5 wood. Currently rocking 3W 5W 4H. Like having the hybrid for iffy lies.

[satcomm302]

On 5/19/2023 at 11:59 AM, Jake from StateFarm said:

Ive got both, but the 5 wood sits in the closet.  

(Trees should be banned on golf courses!) 
 

Same with me; although, I just put my 5-wood back in the bag to see how it behaves after several months in time-out.
 

Me and trees have a love/hate relationship. You should come play our course. We have one 45-foot “Lone Pine” on our links-style 27 holes that sits about 200 yards from our tees and strategically positioned on the left-center portion of the fairway (slight dogleg right hole). If you hit it on your tee shot, you have to buy the first round after the round (yes, I’ve hit it…more than once)!

[Brian A]

5 wood all day. Had a 3H and made the switch, little more distance and forgiving.

[Djgolf24]

5 wood all day and every day

[Fred Mitchell]

The Callaway UW is kind of a tweener. 

[Rosey31]

I have never hit hybrids very well and normally play 3i. I currently use a T200 Utility iron in my set up. I tried a 5w for a few rounds and found that is was way to close to my 3w as far as distance went. The T200 3i set up works great with my game and set up. 

[aguybadatgolf]

The feedback here has been great, thank you all! I recently discovered that the 3W I had been playing is a 3+ wood, 13.5 degree. Should have payed more attention . I bought a 15 degree just to test out the yardages and see if I can hit it better. With my 19 degree 3H I’m pretty happy with my gapping now. I also want to note that for whatever reason I hit my hybrid much better thanI can a fairway wood. Is there a 3W replacement I might get along with better? I just seem to miss right a lot with woods. 

[LinksgolfFever]

I was a driver 2i, 3i for a long time.  I tried the hybrid route but after 2 years and a few different manufacturers I went  3wood, 5wood and have been more consistent than I had been with the hybrid.  

[Luke Bilbrough]

On 5/18/2023 at 11:31 PM, aguybadatgolf said:

I currently have a 3w and a 3H. I’ve heard a lot of positives about adding a 5W but I feel it would be similar in yardages to my 3H. Curious what people have to say. 
 

thanks! 

I recently switched from a 3HY to a 5W.  I personally like the 5W off the tee a lot more and find myself hitting it more often than I was hitting my 3HY.  That being said a 3HY is better out of the rough than a 5W but how often do you need to hack a 230 Yard shot out of the rough.  I debated for so long switching to a 5W and I can say I am glad I did.

[ctg44]

On 5/18/2023 at 10:31 PM, aguybadatgolf said:

I currently have a 3w and a 3H. I’ve heard a lot of positives about adding a 5W but I feel it would be similar in yardages to my 3H. Curious what people have to say. 
 

thanks! 

We did not buy it, but both my son and I tried the Paradym triple diamond 5 wood with a Kali 70X shaft yesterday and it was great.  We could spin it and cut / draw it if needed, or just go after it and hit high bombs.  My wife was pissed because we were hitting that 225, which is longer than her driver...ok, not really mad at us, but more shaking her head at how long we were able to hit it.  That said, I can hit my wife's Callaway Super Hybrid (19*) about the same distance, and hers has a regular flex Recoil shaft in it and is way too short for me, so maybe there's no reason for us to spend $300 on a 5W...but it was so effortless it was sure tempting.

[BMart519]

On 6/20/2023 at 9:22 AM, aguybadatgolf said:

The feedback here has been great, thank you all! I recently discovered that the 3W I had been playing is a 3+ wood, 13.5 degree. Should have payed more attention . I bought a 15 degree just to test out the yardages and see if I can hit it better. With my 19 degree 3H I’m pretty happy with my gapping now. I also want to note that for whatever reason I hit my hybrid much better than I can a fairway wood. Is there a 3W replacement I might get along with better? I just seem to miss right a lot with woods. 

I really struggle with the length of fairway woods, the misses are significantly worse than a hybrid for a gain of 10-20 yards on a shot 220+ it just doesn't offset the top or bad heel shot with a wood. If your miss is right/slice, the natural draw bias of most hybrids is going to benefit you as well as the shorter shaft and more upright lie angle. 

There are 17 deg hybrids and a few 16 deg models (CBX 119, Callaway Super hybrid, Mizuno CLK, srixon, and the old cleveland launcher halo), or at least adjustable ones that can be turned down to 15.5 which will provide 90% of the benefit of a 3w while being easier to use off the turf and likely more accurate right to left. Look to try and demo some 2 hybrids and see if you can find one that works. I play the majority of rounds with 3H as my first club below driver. It goes 220-230 and up to 250 if I pure it off the tee with some runout. 

[Fred Mitchell]

Its common to hear discussion about driver length but rarely do I hear the same conversation about Fairway Wood length. A little searching around can find a bargain used or new shaft to experiment with if you do not want to cut down the original shaft and sometimes an inch or so off a FW or Hybrid can make a difference, if you dont believe me ask my Ping 425 7 wood. 

[aguybadatgolf]

1 hour ago, BMart519 said:

I really struggle with the length of fairway woods, the misses are significantly worse than a hybrid for a gain of 10-20 yards on a shot 220+ it just doesn't offset the top or bad heel shot with a wood. If your miss is right/slice, the natural draw bias of most hybrids is going to benefit you as well as the shorter shaft and more upright lie angle. 

There are 17 deg hybrids and a few 16 deg models (CBX 119, Callaway Super hybrid, Mizuno CLK, srixon, and the old cleveland launcher halo), or at least adjustable ones that can be turned down to 15.5 which will provide 90% of the benefit of a 3w while being easier to use off the turf and likely more accurate right to left. Look to try and demo some 2 hybrids and see if you can find one that works. I play the majority of rounds with 3H as my first club below driver. It goes 220-230 and up to 250 if I pure it off the tee with some runout. 

Strangely I hit a draw as my stock shot but get along well with hybrids. 

My bag has changed a lot from when I first made this post. I found a good deal on some new irons but they stop a a 6i so I did some testing and with the new lofts a 23 degree hybrid fit in perfect. I can also hold greens better because it flies higher than the other long irons I tested. I have a 3W I now only put in the bag for off the tee situations that don’t suit my draw or when I only want to hit it 250-260 off the tee. I still can’t hit it from the fairway so in that case I go to my 3H. Pretty happy with the set up right now even if it’s a little unconventional I’m hitting more GIR on par 5s than ever before.

[Jmatczak87]

I recently took out my 2 hybrid and replaced it with a 5 wood and I’m very happy with the decision, definitely gets more height on my shot, if I was playing more of a links style course I may consider putting the 2 hybrid in for that round

[RonnieB]

I am a data nerd and I have been going back and forth with this same struggle. I have hit each club 300 times at the range and find both are useful. 3H I get a better rollout when playing and it is a fantastic club in the rough. 5W I get a higher ball flight with a softer landing. The distance is so close it is a wash, but both are useful for my game. 

[Wesleyb22]

I took my 3 wood out of the bag last year and it gave me room to add a 4 hybrid and crank it down to a 3.5 of sorts. The gap between that and my 5 wood is about 10 yards. Long distance, high handicap player... I needed gapping, not top of the bag distance. Personally I love this setup. Gives me the right club every time from 220-250 and it depends on what flight I'm looking for between the two off the tee. Unconventional, but a different perspective from an oddball of the group.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Wesleyb22

[mbrodeur86]

On 5/19/2023 at 7:38 AM, Gino5778 said:

I personally like the 3H better than the 5W.  For me the same distance but with the 3H I think it's easier to hit.  I also like the 3H out of the rough better as well. 

Exact same reason for me. For whatever reason I can't hit my fairway Woods out of the rough. Switched the 5 for a 3 hybrid and much better. At 1 point I had a 2 hybrid instead of a 3 wood. That worked well too