Anyone completely ditched fairway woods in their bags?

[JLO14305]

I, too, got rid of the 3 wood and use a 2 hybrid. I gives me far better results.

[Alf. S]

I carry 3w, 3h and 4h. With the 3w I've lofted up by 2' to 17' to make it easier off the deck. I dropped my 3i and 4i which I was losing distance and replaced it with the 3h and 4h, lighter shafts helped me maintain my gapping.

3w = 210yds carry

3h = 200 yds carry

4h =190 yds carry

[No3PuttLaLa]

I actually went the other direction and added fairways to my bag. I had not been comfortable with them until this season. I added a 3 and 5 and the 5 is my go to off the tee. Half the time I am out driving most of my playing partners and/or hitting it just as far as their drivers.

I find I am much more consistent off the tee with it and saving strokes on any errant shots. 

[10Hockey]

I ditched my 3 wood a long time ago .  I go driver, 19 degree hybrid , 21 degree hybrid , 4 -PW, and 3 wedges .  If I am going to miss a fairway I would much rather have the distance .  Also , getting your important short game distances with wedges is much more important. 

[fourwaymiss]

I carry a 3W, but honestly, it almost NEVER comes out. I have a lot more confidence with my 2h and 3h.

Maybe I should play with my 3W more often to get comfortable.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Can't possibly do it for me. I just love my 3 wood too much!

[drb1956]

Like most folks, I did top my 3w a lot in the fairway, off the deck, and then read an article from a teaching pro about hitting your fairway clubs just like an iron, and setting up with the ball in the center of your stance. Been good with it since. I usually get these lazer like "stingers", and get about 190-200 yards on good contact...

[Preeway]

I carry a high lofted 3-wood that I consider more of a 4-wood but I use at least once a round either off the tee or into longer par 5s. I still don’t own any hybrids other than my Mizuno FliHi but it’s more similar to a driving iron than a hybrid. 

[IanCC]

Yes. Summer bag: 60, 54, GW-4i, 3 hybrid, 11.5 TM BRNR mini driver, driver. Also have 2&4 hybrids as our course gets soft in winter. 
Seen a lot of ‘who needs a BRNR’ but I use it as a power 3 wood with a bigger face. Tighter dispersion than driver without a great deal of distance loss. A good tee option on tighter fairways. I’d consider buying the higher lofted one as well. 

[Byrnzee]

My 3 Wood has always been my least favorite club in my bag. Rarely used, hard to hit and taking up empty space that could potentially go to a more useful club.

I have had a 3 Hybrid in my bag for as long as I can remember and I recently purchased a driving iron. My plan is to switch out the hybrid for the driving iron depending on the course I'm playing, weather conditions, etc...

I honestly wish I could switch out my 3 Wood and keep my 3 Hybrid and driving iron, but the distances between the latter two are too close. I think if money was no object, I'd swap the 3 Hybrid for a 2 Hybrid to replace my 3 Wood. My 3 Hybrid was a recent gift from a friend, so I feel obligated to use it. I might try tweaking with the settings to get more distance out of it and keep my two favored clubs in the bag.

[ButchE]

If I ditched every club that I didn't hit well...it would be a very lite bag to carry.

[Willie T]

Have one fairway (Ping G410 turned up to 16*).  I can hit decently off the tee with it and can come off the fairway pretty straight as well.  The rest of the top is G400 SFT driver, G400 3h and 4h, both of which are darlings to hit.  I am not long on distance, so accuracy is key - this setup gives me that. 

[JPDELGADO]

3W-5W-4h set up for me, but I could see myself testing out a 2h and 3h down the road. One of the guys in my Sunday crew has driver and irons only.

[JeremyD]

Not yet. I actually brought back my PT15 from high school. The head looks tiny, but I hit it better than any club in my bag.

[6 Million Dollar Man]

If I have a wide open shot for my 3w, then I hit it.  I also hit it off certain tees.  It's a tough pill to swallow but I need to hit my 5w on par 5 approaches for the most part.  Tougher and tougher to reach in two these days.

[dbsikirica]

Almost for me,  still carry a 5 wood however that may not be in the bag for long, I used to be able to hit woods but I seem to have lost it

[diamondduq]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:43 AM, jbsap said:

As the title would suggest, I am toying with the idea of ditching my 3 wood and adding an additional long iron.  Distance is one of my strengths, and I play my 3 hybrid 19.5 deg. to 240 carry.  My next iron is a P770 4 iron that I play to about 210 carry.  I am horrendous with my fairway wood, but when it does stay remotely straight it is a 270 club and is rarely used for one reason or another.  Thinking about getting a p790 3 iron and adjusting my hybrid to 18 degrees in the hopes of filling that 225 range and having the hybrid jump a few more yards.

Anyone else done something similar?  My gapping towards the bottom of the bag is pretty good so an additional wedge wouldn't help me.  

I have never been able to get on with a 3W, it’s always been less than a coin flip chance of hitting a decent shot for me, it’s almost exclusively used off the deck as driver is a strength of mine, so no 3W fairway finder.  I’ve actually moved into a 17* Callaway UW cut 1” short, effectively 2h length, but that thing is so “hot” that combined with shorter length and better contact I’ve lost little (if anything) of my best shots with a 3W and gained incredible consistency!

[OdinSnipes414]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:43 AM, jbsap said:

As the title would suggest, I am toying with the idea of ditching my 3 wood and adding an additional long iron.  Distance is one of my strengths, and I play my 3 hybrid 19.5 deg. to 240 carry.  My next iron is a P770 4 iron that I play to about 210 carry.  I am horrendous with my fairway wood, but when it does stay remotely straight it is a 270 club and is rarely used for one reason or another.  Thinking about getting a p790 3 iron and adjusting my hybrid to 18 degrees in the hopes of filling that 225 range and having the hybrid jump a few more yards.

Anyone else done something similar?  My gapping towards the bottom of the bag is pretty good so an additional wedge wouldn't help me.  

I was going with a 1 iron Bend of some kind since long irons is strong for me

[FairwayFanatic]

As I have increased distance and accuracy on my drives, I haven't needed more than irons for a long time now. I still carry them, but I should take them out. 

[ttasty83]

I always struggled with woods off the deck. I now play a 17* super hybrid with a right handed adapter (I'm left handed) so playing at 15*

On that note I need callaway to bring back the 17* lefty options on their new super hybrids.

[JudgeSmails]

just have a 3 and 4 hybrid.....just hit them better than fairway woods

[IanCC]

30 minutes ago, Byrnzee said:

My 3 Wood has always been my least favorite club in my bag. Rarely used, hard to hit and taking up empty space that could potentially go to a more useful club.

I have had a 3 Hybrid in my bag for as long as I can remember and I recently purchased a driving iron. My plan is to switch out the hybrid for the driving iron depending on the course I'm playing, weather conditions, etc...

I honestly wish I could switch out my 3 Wood and keep my 3 Hybrid and driving iron, but the distances between the latter two are too close. I think if money was no object, I'd swap the 3 Hybrid for a 2 Hybrid to replace my 3 Wood. My 3 Hybrid was a recent gift from a friend, so I feel obligated to use it. I might try tweaking with the settings to get more distance out of it and keep my two favored clubs in the bag.

I’d carry both hybrid and DI rather than keep the 3w in the bag if that’s what you’re doing. You’ll not get the gapping you’re after if you don’t hit it right anyway. Even if the Hyb/DI combo is similar in carry you’d choose one over the other based on lie presumably? I’d rather not take a DI out of rough for example and your hybrid has flexibility for you around the greens. As you say, ideally you’d have them gapped but nothing to say you can’t have two clubs with the same carry but for different situations if you have the space. I think Phil took two drivers round Augusta one year, a draw and a fade one. Sometimes you’ve got to ditch traditional thinking and go with what works for you, whether that’s two drivers, hyb/DI combo, a wedge only for bunkers that isn’t part of your gapped wedges, two putters (one for lag putting, one for up close), whatever works for wherever you play. There’s no pictures on the scorecard. 

[AC13]

My 3 wood was replaced with a 2 iron (driving iron) over 4 years ago and I never went back. It’s better in the wind for me and is a great fairway finder. It also has better dispersion and is nearly as long as the 3 wood. 

[Dweed]

49 minutes ago, JPDELGADO said:

3W-5W-4h set up for me, but I could see myself testing out a 2h and 3h down the road. One of the guys in my Sunday crew has driver and irons only.

Have to admit, the 3W isn’t my “best friend” but I generally do OK with it and really need that gap filler.  Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy. Welcome.

21 minutes ago, ttasty83 said:

I always struggled with woods off the deck. I now play a 17* super hybrid with a right handed adapter (I'm left handed) so playing at 15*

On that note I need callaway to bring back the 17* lefty options on their new super hybrids.

Have to admit, the 3W isn’t my “best friend” but I generally do OK with it and really need that gap filler.  Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy. Welcome.

[CB Lobo 4 Life]

For me personally, I feel that my 3 wood is one of the most versatile in my bag. I struggled with it for a while, especially when it came to getting it in the air. However, I spent some time working on it and now it has become my favorite. I use it mostly from the tee because up here in Northern AZ there are a lot of short par 4's with trouble near or short of the green that would just cause too many issues if I just go straight to the driver. Also, could not remove it because I simply could not find a good gap club from Driver to Hybrid so I had to get better at it. 

[Dweed]

8 hours ago, Paco Chan said:

I carry a 3W, but honestly, it almost NEVER comes out. I have a lot more confidence with my 2h and 3h.

Maybe I should play with my 3W more often to get comfortable.

Have to admit, the 3W isn’t my “best friend” but I generally do OK with it and really need that gap filler.  Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy. Welcome.

[Rygolf32]

Following - very interested to hear the answers.

 

I've been hitting my 3 wood less and less and my 3 iron has even become my go to if I'm not having a good day with the driver, not the 3wd. I love my 3 wood, it's old and I can hit it pretty decently most of the time but seeing many of the answers, I wonder if a 2 or 2 hybrid might be a better option.

 

I hit the ball high so that 3 wood any day with wind in Nebraska (which is every day) is affected a lot. If I could find something to fill that gap between my 3iron and driver that I could keep a bit lower, might be the way to go.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Rygolf32

[Byrnzee]

22 minutes ago, IanCC said:

Sometimes you’ve got to ditch traditional thinking and go with what works for you

I really appreciate your advice here! You’re totally right that I need to do what works best for me. I think I might try ditching the three wood this week and seeing how I like the hybrid/DI combo. Updates to come!

[Matumbo]

I’m going to be in the market for some new clubs later this year. I have an old 3 wood and 4 & 5 hybrid that I’m looking at replacing. I’m still a new golfer and not sure what would work best for me. I’ve been able to hit the 4 & 5 hybrids pretty well, but the 3 wood has been a difficult club for me. Maybe new versions of these clubs would work better. May end up ditching the 3 wood and going for a 5 wood or longer iron. Planning to do some testing before figuring it out. 

[Big moose]

I have a 3,4 and 5 hybrid and a 3 and 5 wood. On 3 shot par fives I hit 3 hybrid second shot and whatever iron I need to the green. I use my 5 wood on long par 3s and my 3 wood on short par 4s or if I think my driver will go through the fairway on dogleg. I hit my 3 wood on a 228 yard par 4 Sunday and hit the green, just missing the eagle. So my 3 and 5 wood are here to stay. Have a wonderful day everyone.