Unofficial Review: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Fairway Woods

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Callaway Triple Diamond Fairway Woods - Unofficial MGS Forum Review by Ben Joest

 

Introduction

Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.

Like the screen name suggests, my name is Ben Joest. I reside just up the hill from gentle flowing waters of the Little Miami River in South Lebanon, Ohio. I have a lovely wife and 3 children aged 10, 8, & 4. My 2 oldest have taken an interest in the game and have joined me for a few trips to the driving range as well as a couple of walking rounds at one of the local munis.

The impetus for this review is my desire for more distance and consistency in my long clubs. My handicap this season is currently sitting at 6.2. My short term goal is to break par and I have a long goal of being scratch. 
 

I have been gaming a PXG 0211 15 degree 3 wood with a fixed head and riptide stiff shaft, as well as a PXG 0211 19 degree 3 hybrid with a fixed head and a riptide stiff shaft. These are definitely PXGs value option, they are fairly easy to hit but they aren’t especially long and there is no adjustability. 
 

I have procured a 3+ wood that is 13.5 degrees with a Kali x-stiff shaft.

I have also grabbed a 5 wood that is 18 degrees with a HZRDUS stiff shaft.

The first thing that had to happen was switching the stock standard grips with Golf Pride midsize MCC +4 grips

Those familiar with my work will know that swinging a standard gripped club to me feels like strangling a pencil. My initial plan for testing these clubs will involve side by side comparisons between the PXGs and the Paradyms, using a combination of top tracer range and my Rapsodo MLM, as well as actual rounds played on the course. I am excited to see what these woods can bring to my game and can’t wait to get started!

First Impressions (5 out of 5)

As these were clubs that I sought out and bought, rather than volunteering to test, my first impressions are tied to a couple of  YouTube videos by Michael Newton and the guys from 2nd Swing.  He was evaluating the Paradym fairway woods, the Taylor Made Stealth 2 fairway woods and the Ping G430 fairway woods.

This was followed up by a testing video from 2nd Swing that compared the Paradym 3 wood to the Triple Diamond 3 wood.

Without psychically seeing or touching the clubs, I found them to be visually appealing and, as I am as susceptible to the power of suggestion as the next guy, impressed by the results they were seeing on their launch monitors. As an aside, I find Michael Newton’s club reviews to be succinct and thorough, even if he is annoyingly handsome and charming.

At any rate, the YouTube videos did their job and got me out to the local Golf Galaxy, to inspect these majestic clubs for myself. First sight/handling did not disappoint and was everything I had hoped for.

I have included Callaway's marketing materials from their website for informational purposes:

INTRODUCING PARADYM TRIPLE DIAMOND FAIRWAY WOODS

UP TO 7 YARDS LONGER WITH BATWING TECHNOLOGY

A total Paradym shift in distance, the Triple Diamond model is our most compact fairway wood shape with a deeper face at address. This offering is best suited for stronger players who are looking for a penetrating ball flight with lower spin.

 

SPEED & STABILITY

FROM JAILBREAK WITH BATWING TECHNOLOGY

The A.I. Designed Jailbreak Batwing structure is pushed to the perimeter to stiffen the body, while allowing the face to flex for high ball speeds. *

*Up To 7 Yards Longer claim based on player testing of Rogue ST Max 3 wood vs. Paradym 3 wood.

 

OPTIMAL LAUNCH WITH ENHANCED SPEED

FROM THE TUNGSTEN SPEED CARTRIDGE

By incorporating up to 21g of high-density tungsten, we can push the center of gravity (CG) low and forward. The result is optimal launch and spin, with enhanced speed for maximum distance.

OPTIMIZED SPEED, LAUNCH, AND SPIN

FROM NEW A.I. DESIGNED HIGH-STRENGTH FACE CUP

We’ve applied an all new A.I. face optimization to include speed, launch, and spin. The unique face pattern is customized for each model and paired with our high-strength C300 maraging steel face cup. This promotes impressive speed and consistency across the face.

 

PENETRATING FLIGHT WITH LOW SPIN

PARADYM SHIFT CONSTRUCTION

The Paradym Triple Diamond is designed with a deeper face and compact, player preferred shape. The Triaxial Carbon crown aids in creating a low and forward CG. This produces a penetrating ball flight with low spin. And an adjustable hosel allows golfers to further dial in trajectory.

*All of marketing claims and materials courtesy of CallawayGolf.com

As is true of most large golf OEMs, the Paradym Triple Diamond fairway woods aren’t lacking for the latest & greatest technology or bold claims regarding ball flight and distance. My interest lies in whether these clubs will allow the following for my game:

·       Improved distance from all lies and the tee boxes where I would play a fairway wood. Ideal total distance would be in the neighborhood of 225 yards for the 5 wood and 250 yards for the 3 wood. Anything greater would be a welcome problem of adding a club to bridge the gap between the 7 wood to the 5 wood. Anything less, would lead to further consideration of my current gamers, a PXG 0211 15° 3 wood and an 0211 19° 3 hybrid.

·       The ability to hit a variety of shots i.e. fades, draws, low flight, high flight

·       Consistent carry and lateral dispersion

·       How forgiving can a club that isn’t designed for forgiveness be? More precisely, how punitive are the mishits?

Aesthetics (4 out of 5)

Simply put, these woods are gorgeous. The dark blue used in the carbon wrap is sedate and visually calming at address. On the sole of the club the use of blue, white, gold and black blends together well and produces a timeless, classic feel. When holding the clubs at address, one thing noticeably missing from these clubs is an alignment cue, which is traditionally a chevron. The presumed reasoning would be that lower handicap players wouldn’t need an alignment aid to find center face of the club. And while, I don’t need it, I find it aesthetically pleasing. One other minor quibble would be the head cover that comes with the club. I don’t like it. Specifically the use of blue patent leather accents and the weird finish of the blue leather on the face behind the chevron. It reminds me of wax that hasn’t been buffed off a car fender. Which is a shame given the quality of the materials used. The head cover is well made, but just awful to look at. I took away 1 point. From address, these clubs just feel powerful. Add in a grip change from the stock Golf Pride standard grips to the Golf Pride MCC +4 Midsize grips that I prefer, and I feel like I could put a hole through a brick wall at 30 paces.

The Numbers (5 out of 5)

I took the Paradyms, as well as the current gamers, out to the range for a series of testing sessions.  In my first range session, I was looking to find whether they could outperform my gamers, as well as showing a baseline set of numbers for comparison purposes with future range sessions. Here are the results:

 

On my second trip to the range, I wanted to give each club an extended session to compare to the initial results and start to figure out where they fit into the bag regarding gapping. The results were overwhelmingly positive:

 

Given the distance jumps, I may have to rethink my gapping below the five wood, as currently the next club would be my 7 wood that carries 199 and goes 207 total. That is a 24 yard gap between the 5 and the 7. This also plays into a deeper thought I have had on my 5i and replacing it with a utility iron that is lofted close to the 7, as it stands my 6i will go, on average 192, so the gap between the 6i and 7w is manageable.

Overall, here are tables of my range results:

 

On the Course (5 out of 5)

During the time of testing, I played 3 rounds on 3 different courses. Each course offered the Paradym FW’s a fresh set of challenges. The Paradym’s passed each of these tests with flying colors.

During the first round, I was still unsure of what I had, so the fairways were used on the 2nd shots of the par 5s and the 5 wood was used on the tee shot of a fairly short par 4 that required an accurate 200-215 yard shot to hit a tight window for the dog leg right.

Starting with the 2nd 18 I had these clubs in play, my familiarity with each led me to trust them implicitly with whatever the course threw at me. The highlights included a 265 yd 5 wood off the tee on the Par 4 3rd hole that left me 30 yards to the pin. I also found myself in need of 275 yard approach on Par 5 13th, after an errant tee shot left me on the 12th fairway with a fairly tight window to the 13th green. The ball wound up pin high2, just off the green, in the second cut left of the hole. Just a rocket of a shot. (Ed. Note: Looking back now, this is the exact moment that I decided these fairway woods were never leaving the bag.)

The 3rd 18 played with these clubs, is when I discovered how reliable of a fairway finder the 3 wood could be off the tee. In the lead up to this round, I had been thinking about my Ping G425 Max driver and wondering about a head adjustment, and what it might offer to my tee game. Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I made the adjustment and brought the club along with me to the course’s driving range for my warm-up session. I hit a couple of shots with my gamer, a Rogue ST TD LS and the Ping. I liked the ball shape I was seeing with the Ping, so I swapped them out and the Rogue in the car. For the first 7 holes of this course, Driver only comes out of the bag twice, so though the 2 tee shots I hit were a little shorter than normal, but I attributed it to needing to loosen up a bit more and carried on as normal.

It was on the 8th tee, that it became apparent I had made a mistake. The 8th is a wide open par 5 that I normally drive really well. I have had a couple of 300+ yard drives on this hole, making it a reachable par 5. On this particular day, my tee shot went 211 yards and right. Not good. On the Par 4 9th, I flushed one right down the middle and hit it about as well as I am capable of, it went 248 yards. Again, not good enough. By the 12th tee, I had had enough and hit my partners driver. While it wasn’t the cleanest of strikes, it still went 276 yards. Moral of the story: Don’t switch out drivers the morning of a round based on 3 swings on the range.

Beyond the aggravation of my tee game to this point, it did offer me a golden opportunity to see what I had, off the tee with the Paradym 3 wood. It is fair to say, that the 3 wood answered the bell.

·       Par 4 13th, 248 yards middle of fairway.

·       Par 5 15th, 246 yards middle of fairway.

·       Par 4 16th, 259 yards middle of fairway.

·       Par 4 18th, 236 yards right edge of fairway.

Coupled with these shots I had prior to the Driver divorce:

·       Par 5 4th, 207-yard approach with the 5 wood to get on in 2.

·       Par 4 6th, 232 yards middle of the fairway for the 5 wood off the tee.

·       Par 5 11th, 250-yard second shot by the 5 after the driver only went 215 yards off the tee, setting up an easy 43-yard pitch for the 3rd shot and a 2-putt par.

The Good, The Bad, The In-between (5 out of 5)

 

The Good: These clubs go. Period. End of story. The ball speeds that these clubs have averaged has been impressive. Coupled with the flight I have seen on off-center hits, leads me to believe that despite the Triple Diamond designation, there is a noticeable amount of forgiveness at play.

The Bad: The headcover. Honestly, the headcover has grown on me since my first impressions, I now think I will keep them. It says volumes about these clubs, that my bad item has nothing to do with the performance of these clubs.

The In-between: At $350.00 a club, I wonder how many folks will wait for the Callaway Pre-Owned site to start selling these, before they try them out. It is a significant investment to add these to the bag, so thanks to the golf gods for that little bit of serendipity that allowed me to give these a whirl during their current product cycle.

 

Play It or Trade It (5 out of 5)

You can take these woods out of my bag when I am dead, but only then to bury them with me. These are far and away my favorite woods I have ever owned. I must go all the way back to a Titleist 983 3 wood that had a steel shaft, to find a fairway wood I have ever felt even remotely close to the level of affection I have for these woods. They are effortless distance combined with workability, the likes of which I have never experienced. Kudos to Callaway for creating the perfect fairway woods.

 

Conclusion

If you are in the market for fairway woods, you could do a lot, lot, lot, lot worse than the Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond fairway metal woods. They offer an impressive combination of style and performance. I give my unequivocal endorsement to this product and would recommend all manner of golfer give them a try.

Final Score (29 out of 30)

 

[sirchunksalot]

Those are some good looking fairways and you got a good deal on those from what I read over in the CHA thread. You getting a trade in bonus from Callaway is just the icing on the cake. I hope they perform exceptionally well for you and I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on them. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

I don’t need to replace my rouge st ls, I don’t need to replace my rouge st is, I don’t need to replace my rouge st ls. 
 

that looks beautiful. Hit it well. I like my current Rouge and got tempted on the trade in for a 5w to open the face. Need the big head for of the tee more though. Enjoy!

[Headhammer]

Good lookin fairways!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Initial thoughts from the first range session: 

• These clubs generate good ball speed.
• The TD fairways do not have alignment aids on the crown of the club. 
  

Where as it appears that the Paradym/Paradym X fairway woods still have the Callaway Chevron as an alignment aid:

I suppose the assumption is that the TD is geared toward lower handicap players, who are able to center strike the ball without the aid of a visual cue. I don’t need the chevron to find the center of the face, but I’ve always liked the aesthetic of the visual cue, so I’m a little bummed they have done away with it. 

• Lastly, before we get into the first testing session, I have to agree with the Paradym Driver testing cohort. The head cover is not great. Which is a shame, given the quality of the materials.

I think I would like it better without the patent leather strip. Also the area around the chevron has the appearance of wax on a car that hasn’t been buffed off.

On to the numbers!

I went to the Southwest Golf Ranch for the use of their Top Tracer Range launch monitors, but also because rain looked imminent for most of the day and I didn’t savvy scrambling to shelter with bag and Rapsodo MLM in tow, if the skies opened up mid session. My session was regimented thusly:

I hit 20 balls for a warm up, using a gap wedge, 8i, 5i, and driver.

I then hit 5 balls with each club in the following order: 

PXG 0211 3 hybrid:

Paradym TD 5 wood:

PXG 0211 3 wood:

Paradym TD 3+ wood:

The fight between these clubs was over before it started as the Paradym FWs  were consistently longer. The ball speeds were better and the results were anything but unexpected. So that being said, this test will transition from comparative to solely focusing on how well I can get these clubs dialed in for my game. I’m excited by  the potential of these clubs! 
 

I then played a virtual round at:

Gleneagles, The King’s Course

Perthshire, Scotland

 

The Paradym FWs helped contribute to my lowest virtual round on record. To say I was on fire on the back nine, would be mildly understating the obvious. Highlights from the round included a 5 wood from 210 out that I put 7 foot from the pin and a 257 yd 3 wood on a long par 5 that left me with a 50 yd approach shot that I stuck close to the pin to set up another relatively easy birdie. 
 

These clubs are similar to every other new club I’ve owned in that they will require a breaking in period where I acclimate to how they like to be played, but lord are they buttery smooth when struck properly.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

I had a nice plan in place to go to the Golf Ranch today and do some side by side testing between the top tracer and my Rapsodo MLM. Then my league partner called up, saying he and his daughter were heading there. Ah, the best laid plans…

So testing got scrapped in favor of taking my oldest with me and meeting them. My daughter and his are the same age and play on the same club soccer team. So they hung out and hit (or attempted to hit) a bucket while he and I played 36 holes of virtual golf. Some observations about the Paradym fairway woods that were gleaned from todays session:

• These clubs are rockets when you center them.
• The top ball speed I saw for the 5 wood was 151 mph, that shot went 235 yards
• The top ball speed I saw for the 3 wood was 163 mph, the ball carried 253 yards and rolled out to 276 yards. My playing partner was speechless and jokingly accused me of teeing up my driver while he wasn’t looking.

As in golf, as in life, there were misses sprinkled in with the missiles. The two worst misses I had today, were duck hooks that took 75 yard left turns, granted I was trying to come out of my shoes on these swings so I’m not overly concerned. For my next range session, I’m going to experiment with working the ball left and right in addition to dialing in an average distance for each club. I have a round scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so I should get to the range tomorrow or Tuesday.

[Tarheelvolvo]

On 6/23/2023 at 10:44 PM, Ben Joest said:

Initial thoughts from the first range session: 

• These clubs generate good ball speed.
• The TD fairways do not have alignment aids on the crown of the club. 
  

Where as it appears that the Paradym/Paradym X fairway woods still have the Callaway Chevron as an alignment aid:

I suppose the assumption is that the TD is geared toward lower handicap players, who are able to center strike the ball without the aid of a visual cue. I don’t need the chevron to find the center of the face, but I’ve always liked the aesthetic of the visual cue, so I’m a little bummed they have done away with it. 

• Lastly, before we get into the first testing session, I have to agree with the Paradym Driver testing cohort. The head cover is not great. Which is a shame, given the quality of the materials.

I think I would like it better without the patent leather strip. Also the area around the chevron has the appearance of wax on a car that hasn’t been buffed off.

On to the numbers!

I went to the Southwest Golf Ranch for the use of their Top Tracer Range launch monitors, but also because rain looked imminent for most of the day and I didn’t savvy scrambling to shelter with bag and Rapsodo MLM in tow, if the skies opened up mid session. My session was regimented thusly:

I hit 20 balls for a warm up, using a gap wedge, 8i, 5i, and driver.

I then hit 5 balls with each club in the following order: 

PXG 0211 3 hybrid:

Paradym TD 5 wood:

PXG 0211 3 wood:

Paradym TD 3+ wood:

The fight between these clubs was over before it started as the Paradym FWs  were consistently longer. The ball speeds were better and the results were anything but unexpected. So that being said, this test will transition from comparative to solely focusing on how well I can get these clubs dialed in for my game. I’m excited by  the potential of these clubs! 
 

I then played a virtual round at:

Gleneagles, The King’s Course

Perthshire, Scotland

 

The Paradym FWs helped contribute to my lowest virtual round on record. To say I was on fire on the back nine, would be mildly understating the obvious. Highlights from the round included a 5 wood from 210 out that I put 7 foot from the pin and a 257 yd 3 wood on a long par 5 that left me with a 50 yd approach shot that I stuck close to the pin to set up another relatively easy birdie. 
 

These clubs are similar to every other new club I’ve owned in that they will require a breaking in period where I acclimate to how they like to be played, but lord are they buttery smooth when struck properly.

Great write up! Clearly the TDs were the winners. I recently hit the TD driver compared to my current gamer with Trackman and was gaining about 30-35yds. 
 

Curious if you would only keep 1 of the TD clubs given the close yardage avgs you saw with Top Tracer - 7yds avg yds difference isn’t a big gap. Almost like the TD 3w and PXG 3hybrid to add more versatility to your bag for different situations - realize it might be course dependent, but you get the idea. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

14 minutes ago, Tarheelvolvo said:

Great write up! Clearly the TDs were the winners. I recently hit the TD driver compared to my current gamer with Trackman and was gaining about 30-35yds. 
 

Curious if you would only keep 1 of the TD clubs given the close yardage avgs you saw with Top Tracer - 7yds avg yds difference isn’t a big gap. Almost like the TD 3w and PXG 3hybrid to add more versatility to your bag for different situations - realize it might be course dependent, but you get the idea. 

Thank you. 
 

when it is all said and done, if the yardage gap is that close, then I would probably keep the 3 and continue searching for another option up to and including sticking with the 3 hybrid. I would have been interested in how they gapped today, as the 5 felt like my 210 club and there were a couple of instances where I played the 5 over the 3, out of a concern that the 3 would run through the fairway. Ultimately, part of the reason for this unofficial review is to force myself to evaluate the clubs and their place in the bag, rather than stuffing them in there and hoping for the best.

[Swood1994]

Really wish I gave the TD a shot when went to the Callaway demo days for the paradym driver. Ended up going with the standard Paradym and focused heavily on fine tuning the shaft. Ultimately set the driver up on full draw mode (main miss is right thanks to hockey) and upped the shaft weight from 60g to 70g (ventus blue 7 S). I was always nervous about losing any forgiveness going to the TD so I never gave it shot. From the sounds of it I left some distance on the table.

Great write up so far! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[rkj427]

36 minutes ago, Swood1994 said:

Really wish I gave the TD a shot when went to the Callaway demo days for the paradym driver. Ended up going with the standard Paradym and focused heavily on fine tuning the shaft. Ultimately set the driver up on full draw mode (main miss is right thanks to hockey) and upped the shaft weight from 60g to 70g (ventus blue 7 S). I was always nervous about losing any forgiveness going to the TD so I never gave it shot. From the sounds of it I left some distance on the table.

Great write up so far! Looking forward to the rest!

 

Not necessarily as too low of a spin rate from the TD could potentially lead to a distance loss.

I just went through a fitting, both the TD and the standard Paradygm heads, and the spin rate was too low for me to use the TD compared to the standard head.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

5 minutes ago, rkj427 said:

Not necessarily as too low of a spin rate from the TD could potentially lead to a distance loss.

I just went through a fitting, both the TD and the standard Paradygm heads, and the spin rate was too low for me to use the TD compared to the standard head.

It was the opposite issue that first brought me to the Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS Driver that I have been gaming this year. Prior to that I was playing a Ping G425 Max. It was forgiving, but I was losing a ton of distance to spin. 

Well, a LS head and some work on the range to correct the steep attack angle that was contributing to the spin. At any rate, I’ve gotten my distance back with the driver and that prompted me to give this LS fairways a shot. Obviously, it’s still early in the testing, but the preliminary findings have been encouraging.

[Fred Mitchell]

The numbers on the PXG 3W appear to my untrained eye to carry the same distance the PXG just will hold a green if thats whats needed and the TD will have more roll out if thats whats wanted. More of what do you want from your 3 wood than one better than the other.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

I had a range session for lunch today. I hit a medium sized bucket (75 balls) and can report the following numbers, trends, etc.:

I started with usual warm routine, being W>short iron>long iron>driver for 32 balls. The number of shots per club and overall shots can vary from range session to range session. I typically don’t like to move on to the next club until I’m satisfied with the current one. This can as few as 3 shots or as many as 20, there’s no real definition of satisfied, beyond I know it when I know it. Today’s number was 32.

I moved into the 5 wood first and hit 12 shots. My averages were thus:

I definitely saw some improvement over the previous session as ball speed stayed the same but carry distance improved by 17 yards and total distance jumped up 24 yards! The best of the bunch was this:

The dispersion pattern was as follows and should improve for reasons I’ll go into below:

As mentioned in a previous post, I also focused on working the ball left and right. This chart shows that I overcooked a few of the balls I was trying to draw and it skewed the dispersion a bit:

For the 3 wood, I started out with the aim of hitting 12 shots as well, but admittedly it felt so good, I was at 17 before I thought to count them. The averages:

As compared to the last session, ball speed was up 2 mph, but carry distance improved by 19 yards and total distance was an absurd 37 yards further on average! The best of the 3 woods:

Dispersion for 3 wood was better as there were fewer overcooked draws:

and my miss tended to be right. As to shapes, I’ll gladly take the following every round:

I may need to access an outdoor trackman to confirm which launch monitor is more accurate. But based on the eyeball test, the balls I hit today, stayed hit. I’m not certain how many more creative ways I can say it, but these clubs can flat out wallop a ball! On semi-serious note, I know it’s a small sample size and there needs to be more testing to reach anything approaching a definitive review, but I’ll leave those thoughts for another day. Right now, I’m enjoying the afterglow of a good range session and am eagerly awaiting Wednesday’s round. 
 

One aspect I will be investigating further is how the 3 wood performs off the tee. As the distance I’m getting from the ground makes this club a possible driver substitute if needed.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Went out for a bucket at lunch. The primary focus was Driver related, but I hit the 3 & 5 wood while there, as I continue to accumulate data for the review. The carry and distance average dipped slightly, but not enough for any real concern. Dispersion was a little more focused, as I was aiming for a target that simulated the center of the fairway.

3 wood:

5 Wood:

I will be putting these clubs in play this evening for 18 holes. The course is relatively short with some tight fairways, so I imagine I will get a chance to report back with details of how they performed. Stay tuned.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

These fairway woods are a cheat code!

Fresh off a round that wasn’t bad, but frustrating for reasons that have nothing to do with these angelic instruments. For more detail, see the VCT thread. I humbly submit the following best shots from each respective club:

5 Wood:

I hit the 5 wood here from the tee, thinking 235 would leave a comfortable 60 yard pitch from the flag. The shot was a high draw that just. kept. going. I can’t expect this every time, but this once it was awesome!

3 Wood:

I overcooked my tee shot into the 12th fairway on the par 5 13th but left myself with a clear look at the hole and 276 to the pin. I hit it pin high just off the left side of the green. The crazy thing is when I hit it, I didn’t kill it or try to. Just a normal swing, that produced easy, effortless distance. If loving this club is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Another range session to dissect. 

5 wood:

The distance was down a touch from the last session, but not enough for concern. However, the dispersion has tightened up and that is a good thing,

The balls hit all landed in a theoretical fairway, but my miss still tends to be a hook. I need to either work on correcting that OR lean into become a sling king. 

 

3 wood: 

The results with the 3 wood were a little more scattered.

Still maintaining a decent yardage gap between the 3 and the 5, but the dispersion wasn't as tidy. 

My miss being right with this club boils down to the x stiff shaft. If I am not fully committed to the swing, they tend to go right. Although, as witnessed in the next graphic, today shot shape was all about equal opportunity.

 

We are about one week into this journey and the following thoughts are starting to take shape:

• The 5 wood is easy distance and fun to hit. I am able to work the ball in both directions and there isn't much prettier than a well struck high draw that goes for days.
• The 3 wood is a moody and temperamental mistress that demands nothing short of absolute commitment to the swing. Half-hearted and tentative swipes are punished, God of the old testament style. Which just makes me want her more...  

 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Got out for a round today at Majestic Springs. 

The performance of these fairway woods cannot be overstated. On a day when my Driver decided to stay home, the 3 wood was a reliable fairway finder off the tee and the 5 wood helped to compensate for shorter than normal drives on the par 5s. 

On the par 5 4th hole, I hit an absolute beauty of a 5 wood to get on in 2. I then 3-putted for par because the good lord rarely gives with both hands.

On the par 5 11th, which as an aside was the last hole the driver left my bag, the 5 wood crushed my second shot 250 yards to the center of the fairway, leaving me with a 43 yard pitch that I put close enough to 2-putt for par.

 

On the par 4 13th, which was the first hole I played the 3 wood off the tee out of necessity rather than choice, the 3 wood hit a nice tight draw that went 248 yards and left me a 66 yard pitch that I then converted for another par.

On the par 4 16th, I hit my best drive of the day regardless of club, it went 259 and left me with a 59 yard approach that ended in par. 

I continue to be impressed by the performance of these woods. Swinging them feels effortless and they just go. I have yet to find a flaw in them and can safely recommend that if you are in the market for new fairways, you should give them a try.

 

 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Over the past 3 weeks, I have been able to gather a significant amount of data on how these clubs are performing for me. Enough so that I have started writing up the final review. But I wanted to check in with anyone who is checking in on this thread, to see if there is/are any tests they would like to see with these clubs, that hasn’t been covered yet? Or any questions? Feedback is greatly appreciated in advance!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

I think I have come up with what should be a fun test for the Paradym fairway woods. I am going put them up against the first fairway woods I ever bought. 

That’s right, I still have my Titleist 980 3 & 5 wood from the early 2000’s. They weren’t my first clubs per se, but definitely among the first I spent my own money on. For my OG’s out there, tell the sight of a fairway wood with a steel shaft doesn’t take you back a bit. The 3 wood has a dynamic gold S300 in it. 

The 5 wood has a Titleist branded graphite shaft. No clue if they produced it or branded someone else’s.

Also, the grips are filling me with a bit of nostalgia as well

Anyone want to set an over/under on how many yards further the Callaways go?

[GolfSpy_BEN]

So this afternoon I went to the Top Tracer Range and hit 5 balls with each of the Titleist 980 f fairway woods and 5 balls with each of the Paradym fairway woods to predictable results:

The 3 woods:

A 32 yard total distance delta is fairly significant for those of you stubborn souls that believe there is nothing wrong with those old fairways you’ve been gaming.

The 5 wood:

30 yards is a 2-3 club difference. 
 

Looking at the data, the Titleist fairways launch higher than I recall. It was fun hitting them again, I can still center up those tiny heads, and I’ve never been more grateful that I don’t have to play them anymore.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Final Review of the Callaway Paradym TD fairway woods is up! Check it out.

 

[Braehead]

I'm resurrecting an old post here, but are you still using these?  
 

I'm currently using a G425LST having played the Epic Flash SZ before that.  I just couldn't hit the Epic off the deck!  The Ping has been fantastic but a recent fitting highlighted I got a lot more ball speed from the standard Max.  The problem with that was it just wanted to go left, no matter how we set it up.

However, it got me looking for alternatives to the G425LST - looking for similar shallow profile, so easy off the deck, but a hotter face.  The Paradym seems to fit that bill quite well and now represents a very good value switch, so I wondered if you'd compared the standard head against the triple diamond.  I could go directly for the TD but I'm just concerned by my experience hitting the Epic Flash SZ off the deck. 

Edited April 6 by Braehead
Spelling

[GolfSpy_BEN]

55 minutes ago, Braehead said:

I'm resurrecting an old post here, but are you still using these?  
 

I'm currently using a G425LST having played the Epic Flash SZ before that.  I just couldn't hit the Epic off the deck!  The Ping has been fantastic but a recent fitting highlighted I got a lot more ball speed from the standard Max.  The problem with that was it just wanted to go left, no matter how we set it up.

However, it got me looking for alternatives to the G425LST - looking for similar shallow profile, so easy off the deck, but a hotter face.  The Paradym seems to fit that bill quite well and now represents a very good value switch, so I wondered if you'd compared the standard head against the triple diamond.  I could go directly for the TD but I'm just concerned by my experience hitting the Epic Flash SZ off the deck. 

The 3 wood is still in the bag, and unlikely to leave the bag this season. It is reliable off the deck and remarkably easy to hit.

The 5 wood however, was traded in for G430 3 hybrid last September, From a performance standpoint there was nothing wrong with it, but I am tinkerer by nature and was wanting to try something different. 

I haven’t tried the standard Paradym in the 3 or 5, but I demoed a 7 wood and it was an absolute rocket launcher. So I would guess you would get good ball speeds across the line. Whether you went standard, X, or TD. 

With the right shaft, I think any of the three could/would work well.
 

[Braehead]

Thanks - I went to ping because the flash sz was hard work off the deck so I'm nervous about the triple diamond.  I also struggled with the lack of forgiveness with the TD driver and ended up with the G430LST in that slot.  I've found a Paradym with the same Kaili white shaft as my driver so may give that a go.  Theres a few TD's available with that shaft too.  Most important for me is off the deck.  

[GolfSpy_BEN]

4 minutes ago, Braehead said:

Thanks - I went to ping because the flash sz was hard work off the deck so I'm nervous about the triple diamond.  I also struggled with the lack of forgiveness with the TD driver and ended up with the G430LST in that slot.  I've found a Paradym with the same Kaili white shaft as my driver so may give that a go.  Theres a few TD's available with that shaft too.  Most important for me is off the deck.  

With the caveat, that your results may vary, I haven’t had any trouble hitting a draw or a fade with the 3 wood off the deck. It is also worth mentioning, the majority of my rounds are played at my home course which is 6300 yards. In an average round I use the 3 wood, 3-5 times depending on the wind conditions on the 18th and 2-3 of those would be off the tee.  A large part of the club’s value to me, is that I can use it as a fairway finder off the tee, if the driver is misbehaving any given round. 

[aplynam]

Great review!  I had just ordered a new regular Paradym from 2nd Swing, after debating on the Triple Diamond.  The regular Paradym listed a HZRDUS Black 4thGen shaft.  That is the shaft I play in my PXG Gen6 driver and Sub70 hybrids.  2nd swing sent my Paradym with the HZRDUS Silver shaft, and that was an absolute non-starter for me.  So 2nd Swing just sent me a Triple Diamond with the correct shaft in exchange.  So after reading your review I am glad that I am ending up with the Triple Diamond.

[Lefty11]

I've been searching for a 3-wood to add to my golf bag, I will have to check the paradym out.

[RetiredBoomer]

On 7/12/2023 at 11:44 PM, GolfSpy_BEN said:

I think I have come up with what should be a fun test for the Paradym fairway woods. I am going put them up against the first fairway woods I ever bought. 

That’s right, I still have my Titleist 980 3 & 5 wood from the early 2000’s. They weren’t my first clubs per se, but definitely among the first I spent my own money on. For my OG’s out there, tell the sight of a fairway wood with a steel shaft doesn’t take you back a bit. The 3 wood has a dynamic gold S300 in it. 

The 5 wood has a Titleist branded graphite shaft. No clue if they produced it or branded someone else’s.

Also, the grips are filling me with a bit of nostalgia as well

Anyone want to set an over/under on how many yards further the Callaways go?

The 980Fs are too newfangled for your basic PT player.

 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

I'm looking for input on the 5 wood, reg flex, the reg not the diamond or the x.  My swing speed is mid 80s.