Match 3 wood to driver or play the field?

hbetts · June 27, 2023

Do you match your woods and/or hybrids to your driver or try out multiple and go for what works?

I have a Ping G410 driver, no 3 wood, and a TM R15 Rescue. I would like to add a 3 Wood between those and was wondering if I would be pretty safe to get a Ping G410 with the same shaft as my driver or if I should put more work into it than that. I would rather not get a fitting as my local fitter left a lot to be desired last time I went there.

cnosil · June 27, 2023

7 minutes ago, hbetts said:

Do you match your woods and/or hybrids to your driver or try out multiple and go for what works?

I have a Ping G410 driver, no 3 wood, and a TM R15 Rescue. I would like to add a 3 Wood between those and was wondering if I would be pretty safe to get a Ping G410 with the same shaft as my driver or if I should put more work into it than that. I would rather not get a fitting as my local fitter left a lot to be desired last time I went there.

I try clubs myself and get what works; typically used clubs. There is no guarantee that the matching the 3 wood and shaft to the driver will work, but it probably would be terrible. For me the bigger question would be does it fit the gapping I want and need.

russtopherb · June 27, 2023

There's no harm in trying the 3w that's the same line as your driver, however I think checking other brands might lead to some happy surprises.

OdinSnipes414 · June 27, 2023

You want a great fitting by the folks at sub 70 they have two training facilities partnered with them! Not sure how willing you are to drive for a fit but there is one in bowling green KY and one in Atlanta! They are well worth it! Or pay for demo clubs and send them back!

Georgia

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4t9QLtHbvW8k9xYu6?g_st=ic

Kentucky

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6wKR1gdvySXgFmGS9?g_st=ic

And here is the site!

https://www.golfsub70.com/sub-70-fitting-cart-locations/

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hbetts · June 27, 2023

12 minutes ago, OdinSnipes414 said:

You want a great fitting by the folks at sub 70 they have two training facilities partnered with them! Not sure how willing you are to drive for a fit but there is one in bowling green KY and one in Atlanta! They are well worth it! Or pay for demo clubs and send them back!

Georgia

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4t9QLtHbvW8k9xYu6?g_st=ic

Kentucky

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6wKR1gdvySXgFmGS9?g_st=ic

And here is the site!

https://www.golfsub70.com/sub-70-fitting-cart-locations/

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like the Atlanta fitter is Elite Fit Golf or MobileClubMaker on youtube. I thought really hard about making the drive to see him for my driver fitting but decided to give the local shop a try. Looks like I should have just went with him in the first place.

OdinSnipes414 · June 27, 2023

10 minutes ago, hbetts said:

Looks like the Atlanta fitter is Elite Fit Golf or MobileClubMaker on youtube. I thought really hard about making the drive to see him for my driver fitting but decided to give the local shop a try. Looks like I should have just went with him in the first place.

It's never too late ..... I still need to get down to Sycamore IL to see Jason and get fit for some irons its about the same distance from me as Atlanta is to you.

Londo · June 27, 2023

I would see the matching 3 wood as a starting place for testing or a fitting but I would not immediately assume that it is going to be a great fit. As others have mentioned, it also depends on what you need from the club in terms of gapping, forgiveness, primary function (tee/fairway), trajectory, etc.

I have used the fact that it was the matching 3W as the tiebreaker before when I was getting almost identical performance from two options while testing

bellken · June 27, 2023

My fairway woods(Ping 425), my hybrids(Titleist 818), my driver(Mizuno STZ 220) does not match either. It is a good idea to get fit, but, if you don't have to get fit, at least try before you buy. Your local golf shop should have demo's for you to try. And, you might want to consider a 4 wood vs a 3 wood for little more versatility.

StrokerAce · June 27, 2023

play what works! I would guess that the only reason that tour players 'match' is because they are sponsored and are paid a LOT of money to and there isn't a big discernable difference for them.

there's nothing wrong with finding a good head/shaft combo that fits you and your swing and, in some cases, you can save quite a bit of cash doing it that way.

Middler · June 27, 2023

I choose my driver, then buy the matching woods/metals - just a personal preference (see sig below). I’d definitely recommend playing the field picking a driver, but not quite as crucial for other woods as long as they’re also fitted (shaft weights would be different). But there’s nothing wrong with mixing and matching - whatever YOU are comfortable with will work for YOU. YMMV

RickyBobby_PR · June 27, 2023

I buy what fits my desired carry distance.

The Mad Bomber · June 28, 2023

I think you can make damn near anything work these days, regardless of whether you stay in the line or not. It’s mostly about look/sound/feel at this point.
I’ve stayed in the Titleist family for the most part for the last 15 years with only a couple deviations, but I could play any of the current offerings in the fairway woods.

John W Sutch · June 29, 2023

IMHO play what works for you. Am 77 yrs old. Play senior shafts in all my woods None match. Driver is 9deg PXG 211 (220 yds), 4wd is Tour edge (195yds), 7wd is Ping G430 (175 yds) and Callaway Steelhead 9wd (160 yds). Works for my game.

Delaware Joe · July 3, 2023

I agree with some of the other replies that it’s best to try several different models. If you’ve never carried a three wood, you should definitely try some different ones out. They are no always the easiest things to hit. I recently ditched my 3 wood and went to a Titleist TSRi 4 wood at 16.5 degrees and it’s the smartest thing I have done in recent memory. Has become one of my favorite clubs in my bag.

ZenGolfer · July 3, 2023

On 6/27/2023 at 8:10 AM, hbetts said:

Do you match your woods and/or hybrids to your driver or try out multiple and go for what works?

I have a Ping G410 driver, no 3 wood, and a TM R15 Rescue. I would like to add a 3 Wood between those and was wondering if I would be pretty safe to get a Ping G410 with the same shaft as my driver or if I should put more work into it than that. I would rather not get a fitting as my local fitter left a lot to be desired last time I went there.

Totally play the field. Just because you like your driver, that goesnt mean that you will like the matching 3-wood.

fozcycle · July 3, 2023

I have a PXG 0811 driver and PXG 0211 5W & 7W, followed by a Tour Edge 9W. Because I could not get a PXG 9W….

revkev · July 4, 2023

So this is such a hard question to answer without knowing your game, seeing you swing, etc.

Maybe three wood is a bad choice for you, period. Especially as a higher 'cap it might be that you are best with 5 wood or 4 wood. I caught that your fitting didn't go well I'm assuming the fitting was for driver. If you don't like the driver it doesn't make sense to double down on a 3 wood that matches a club that you don't like. Driver and fairway wood shafts rarely match up - normally a fairway wood shaft will be a bit heavier - but not always.

You could go back a couple of generations and try used stuff to see what works best and fit yourself that way but I would start with something that has a lot of loft - a 4 wood to start probably. Maybe a 5. Ping generally makes really good fairway woods so that's not a bad starting point.

Good luck

KC Golf · July 4, 2023

7 hours ago, revkev said:

So this is such a hard question to answer without knowing your game, seeing you swing, etc.

Maybe three wood is a bad choice for you, period. Especially as a higher 'cap it might be that you are best with 5 wood or 4 wood. I caught that your fitting didn't go well I'm assuming the fitting was for driver. If you don't like the driver it doesn't make sense to double down on a 3 wood that matches a club that you don't like. Driver and fairway wood shafts rarely match up - normally a fairway wood shaft will be a bit heavier - but not always.

You could go back a couple of generations and try used stuff to see what works best and fit yourself that way but I would start with something that has a lot of loft - a 4 wood to start probably. Maybe a 5. Ping generally makes really good fairway woods so that's not a bad starting point.

Good luck

I think trying a used 3W and a 5W sounds like a great cost effective idea to see if you should add another wood to your bag. Even if it’s not the optimal fit, I believe it’s an inexpensive way to test the distance and trajectory for your game. Then you can see what you should get fitted for and what these clubs can do before you get properly fitted.