Jeremy26 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 This was timely! I saw this feed in my email this morning, as I was heading to my pro shop to pick up a King Tec 2 Hybrid. Traded my Stealth2 5W. This will be the first time in my life that my bag doesn't have a fairway wood in it. Playing tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes! Quote Link to comment
Jeremy26 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 This was timely! I saw this feed in my email this morning, as I was heading to my pro shop to pick up a King Tec 2 Hybrid. Traded my Stealth2 5W. This will be the first time in my life that my bag doesn't have a fairway wood in it. Playing tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes! Quote Link to comment
Badgermc76 Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 4 hours ago, RwsGolf1 said: Used to love mine too, now it does not like me. I had a m5 3w. and it broke. So I got fitted again... it was freaking expensive for a 3w. As I really liked the Graphics design shaft $350 for that alone...best part of using it is driving the greens on short par4s. TJ Hall 1 Quote Taylormade M5 Custom Aldila Rouge Black 130MCI SST Pure Shaft Taylormade M6 3W Hazardus Yellow Taylormade M6 3H Hazardus Black Callaway Apex Pro Forged SST Pure Irons KBS C-Taper Lite 110 Shaft 1degree upright with each 1/2 Shorter than Std. Taylormade 50, 54 58 Wedges Custom s200 Shaft Stiff Ping Sigma 2 Fetch Putter 34'' Custom Fit Via Golftec. Ball Srixon Z Star xv. Link to comment
sl1111 Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 Hope this makes sense since everyone’s game is different, but this worked for me. I recently ditched my fairway woods after a deep dive into my game by keeping stats and noting what clubs or shots were costing me strokes. I have always struggled with a left (hook) miss as a right-handed player. My miss was worse with fairway woods and hybrids and as I became a better player, I found myself avoiding those clubs, trying to manufacture a shot with a different club, or the worst, not putting a confident swing on the ball due to not trusting the shot. Stats revealed that I ruined multiple level to sub-par rounds by choosing to hit a hybrid or fairway wood when I should have laid up. The last straw for me was when I was 2 under through 16 and hooked a 230-yard shot into the drink on a par 5 going for the green in two. I made a six, but it was a blemish on a otherwise really good round of golf. It made me start keeping stats and revealed those clubs were my biggest weakness and usually cost me shots. I was blinded by the previous 1 out of 10 good shots I had hit in the past. This all lead to me revamping my bag and that took a while as well. I’m not long or high speed, so the low lofted driving irons didn’t really help and just caused similar distances from multiple clubs at the long end of the bag. I then found the supposed unicorn of the Callaway UW. I played the 17 and 21 in my wood/hybrid spots and found the 21 to be great, but I couldn’t elevate the 17 even with multiple shaft options. I recently ditched the UW and am currently playing the Cobra King Tech hybrid in 17 and 21 and things are going well so far. They are the only hybrids that I have ever found that can mitigate (not correct or fix) my hook miss. I am giving up yardage from a 3 or 4 wood, but accuracy is increased, and it is minimizing big misses and numbers. Also, I have found I “go for it” less because I just don’t have the yardage to get there. This leads to more safe play and lay ups that have helped my scores. Keeping stats, being honest with myself, and eliminating clubs that cost you strokes is key. Hacker60521 and taylorjonasher 2 Quote Link to comment
skyryder Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 I did a full bag fitting about a year ago and was advised to ditch the 3 wood in favor of a 3 hybrid and I am glad I did. It turned out that I got better overall results from a 21 and 24 degree hybrid instead of using a 5 and 7 wood. The hybrids for me are much more versatile for my game than the fairway woods. Quote Link to comment
redyeti Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 I currently don't have any fairway woods in my bag. The only downside I've seen is that in really long rough irons can be hard to get through, and my longest club other than my driver is a 5 iron, so it can launch pretty high when I'm in the trees. Quote Srixon ZX5 MKII Link to comment
HikingMike Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 No, actually I just started hitting my 3w much more consistently well. I could always hit it really good sometimes, but now it's more consistent. Thank goodness, because I would get some huge snap hooks with it, more than any other club. Also good thing because it is my newest club and I bought it after a Golf Galaxy fitting (where I also fitted for irons handed down to me). Like others, I also don't hit it very often - the odd par 5 where I'll have enough distance remaining, and occasionally off the tee if I need to hit a shorter distance. But it feels great when I hit a good one. I did bump the adjustable loft from 14.5 degrees +1.5 to 16 degrees, so it's kind of like a 4 wood I guess. For some reason I've always hit it low and I was hoping to get over some big trees on a double dogleg par 5 at my usual course - 2nd screenshot below... still didn't work as I was too close to the far trees to aim at the green. No luck, I can still hit my driver higher. I do tee it higher and hit up on it a little. I'm mostly replying since it's fun posting screenshots of my shots now, lol. Embarrassingly, it looks like some of my good recent 3 woods come after duffed drives. But I'll own it. The driver is streaky and has streaked negatively lately. VernL4 and BallsLeon 2 Quote Driver: G400 LST 8.5° 3W: King Speedzone Irons: i200 (3 thru PW & UW) Wedge: Ray Cook 60 deg Putter: Spalding TP Mills 3 Tech: on Apple Watch & phone Link to comment
Kenny B Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 No, I actually replace my 2H and 4H with fairway woods. Now playing 3W, Heavenwood, and 9 Wood... all Callaway Epic Max. BallsLeon 1 Quote “We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.” Link to comment
The Mad Bomber Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 I’ve gone back to my old 909, 15.5° 3 wood. It goes maybe 10 yards further than my iCrossover, just in a completely different window. I keep both because my gapping at the lower end is good, so it just means I have more options off the tee. I think I’m hitting that DI well, I wouldn’t see any real difference in my scoring, so dropping my fairway wood wouldn’t be the end of the world Quote Titleist TSi3 8º - LAGP DJ 65TX Titleist TSR2 15º - LAGP Tour AXS Blu 70X PING iCrossover 3i - PING Tour Chrome 2.0 X Mizuno MP-5, 4-9 C-Taper Mizuno T22 47.5º, 52º, 56º, 60º C-Taper Scotty Special Select Newport 2 Titleist Left Dash -ProV1x Link to comment
Hacker60521 Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Actually, I took out my 3H in place of a 3W. So the top of my bag is D, 3W, 4H, 4I I couldn’t hit my 3H well or confidently, so it was swapped out for my 3W. What I will emphasize is that for me the 3W is my least favorite club. So now I’m spending more time working on it at the range — both from turf and on the tee. I’m much more intentional about practicing with this club, and I’m starting to see it pay off. chris_ 1 Quote Driver: Stealth2 3W: Stealth2 4H: Stealth 2 Irons 4I-9I: T200 Wedges P, 48: T200 Wedges 54, 58: Vokey SM9 Putter: O Works #1 Black Link to comment
Phil Sykes Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Like many, I was obsessing over this until I had a realization. Watching a pro golf tournament and noticing most of them don't hit their 3 wood well. I decided to do a little test on the course. I hit 3 different clubs from 200 - 225 yards. With my driver I choked down and hit some 3 quarter type shots. Hit a 3 wood and a 2 hybrid. Did this on 9 different holes and hit 2 ith each club. The results kind of blew me away. My sawed off Driver was by far the most consistent and accurate. I could hit high cut shots or higher straight shots. On 3 different par 3's (190, 205 and 215 yds) I was on with my driver and birdied 2. I have taken the 3 wood out entirely and couldn't be happier. I kept trying to find the perfect 3 wood but realized they are super hard to hit and you use them so rarely anyway. Once I took my ego out of it, the answer came to me. My new set up is kind of weird but it has worked so well for me. I go: Driver - Titleist TSI 3 - 8.5 2 Ping G425 hybrid - turned to 16 degrees 3 Callaway Apex UW - 19 degrees 4 New Level driving iron - 24 degrees 6-9 New Level 902 Pd irons Pw, Uw Ping I210 54 and 58 Cleveland RTX 4 Odyssey Two Ball OG Titlest Pro V1 Yellow HikingMike, berkeleybob, William P and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment
RwsGolf1 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I too took my 3 wood out months ago. It was dead weight as I may of only hit it once in 20+ rounds. My hybrid I do not hit as far but is much more useful. I hit hybrid yesterday on par 5 about 230 but only average about 205. I hit my 4 iron off the tee on shorter tight par 4s with better accuracy and consistency. EnderinAZ, HikingMike, William P and 1 other 4 Quote A former plus handicapper who must settle for mid 70s to mid 80 scores today. After taking 10 years off due to back issues, my driver length has decreased by 40 yards on average. I look forward to any training aids, shaft improvements, club enhancements to get back part of what was lost. Link to comment
ZackS Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I had completely removed woods as well for the same reasons. Always had a 3 wood and almost never used it as I was not any more accurate off the tee and didn’t hit it very well off the ground either. I recently add a low spin 5 wood and so far I am liking it. I am more accurate since it’s shorter and can still hit it high enough to be used into a par 5 if needed. William P and EnderinAZ 2 Quote WITB: Driver: Titleist TSR3 with TPT Nitro 15Hi 5 wood: Calloway Paradym Triple Diamond with TPT Power 15Lo Driving Iron: Tour Edge Exotics EXS Ti-Utility Hybrid: PXG 0317X Gen2 hybrid with TPT Power 15Lo Irons: Takomo 101T with Nippon Modus 120 shafts Wedges: Celveland RTX4 50 Degree, Calloway Jaws Raw 58 degree Z grind and 54 degree S grind Putter: Edel EAS 4.0 Ball: Srixon Z Star Diamond / Z Star XV Official 2024 TPT Shaft Test Link to comment
TylorJudd Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I in fact have almost removed my driver in favour of my 3 and now recent 5 wood. Both are much more accurate for me, as I found my hybrids to be unpredictable as well. Before I got the stealth 2+ though, I was terrified of 3 woods and couldn’t hit them William P, ZackS and EnderinAZ 3 Quote I like golf. You should like golf. If life is tough, play more golf! Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond 10.5, Graphite Design Tour AD-MJ 6x Titleist TSr3 18 Degree, Graphite Design Tour Ad-DI 7x Takomo 301CB's, KBS Tours 120S Vokey SM8 48 10F, 52 08F, 56 08M, 60 08M Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini, Versa Scheme, 17" Fatso 3.0 Grip, 40" Jazz Tacoma Cart Bag Titleist Pro V1x Link to comment
TJ Hall Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I had a Ping G25 3 wood that I never hit, then decided to make an effort to learn to hit a 3 wood, swapped to a TaylorMade M6 and now a Stealth and love the 3 wood again. VernL4 and William P 2 Quote TaylorMade SIM 2 Max Driver TaylorMade Sim Ti 3 wood Titleist U505 Hybrid (3H) TaylorMade Tour Preferred CB Irons (4-PW) Vokey SM8 Wedges (52/56/60) Odyssey Ai-ONE 7S Putter Link to comment
Golf Dawg Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 A 3W is the only one still standing, and I go between a BB and an Adams. The BB is in now with a shorter shaft, but the Adams is in reserve. I hit a 3H nearly as far as the 3W, there may be an empty spot soon. William P and TJ Hall 2 Quote Chasing my ball around the cow field, trying to avoid the “ruff.” Link to comment
GolfSpy_APH Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I'm the opposite and I have added more over time. EnderinAZ and William P 2 Quote as of Oct 5, 2024 (Past WITB) Driver: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ - check out the Driver Shootout! Wood: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ shaft (still love my Cobra F7's) Irons: T Series - T200 5 Iron T150 6-9 Iron Wedge: Toura Golf - A Spec 53,57 or SM10 45,49,53,57 degree wedges Putter: LINK! Full putter shootout incoming Balls: Vice Pro Plus Drip (Blue/Orange) Golf Bag: Ghost Anyday 5.0 Golf bag - Maverick colorway with MGS Logo Other: Vortex Anarch Rangefinder, searching for electric cart, Red Rooster The Root Glove and more Link to comment
Fongle Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I have a Cobra Big Tour 3 wood I absolutely love and will not give up until it falls apart, and a Cobra 5w I need to sell at some point because I use a driving iron instead. TJ Hall and William P 2 Quote Driver - King SZ 1w 7.5° w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 110MSI 60x Woods - King SZ Big Tour 3w 13.5° w/ Fujikura Pro 65, King SZ 5w 20° w/ Tensei CK White 70 Driving Iron - King Utility 2i 16° w/ Project X Hzrdus Black 85 Irons - Apex '24 Combo set - 4i Pro, 5i-8i CB, 9i-10i MB w/ KBS Tour V 120 X-Stiff Wedges - MD5 Jaws 52° - S 10° grind, 56° - C 8° grind, 60° - C 8° grind w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner Tour Issue 115 Putter(s) - O-Works 2 Ball Black, Big Bertha Warbird, Special Select Squareback 2.0, Red X2, Bullseye Original Flange SC, Bullseye Standard Flange SC, OG Bronze Anser, Method Midnight 007, R.Mendralla 8802 Link to comment
Hans...not Franz Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I prefer both hybrids and fairway wood . At 15 hdcp maybe another wedge may allow for overall score decrease . IMO hybrids can be used for chipping and full swing easier than an iron. EnderinAZ, TJ Hall and William P 3 Quote Not loyal to one brand , I’ll use whatever works Link to comment
Dave73nl Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 +1 i hate the thing! William P 1 Quote Driver: 0811 XF GEN4 10,5 Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Blue 60 regular shaft. Hybrids: FLY-Z 3/4/5 , VLCT ALTUS R-flex 75gr. shaft. Irons: Speedzone One Length Irons 5-GW - KBS Tour 90 Regular shaft. Wedges: ST8TS Tour T Wedges 52-56-60 + 1,5cm KBS regular shaft. Putter: MLA Tour XDream 'Black Edition' Superstroke 3.0 slim (standard 34") Ball's: Drive personalised ball's for the moment till i can find a better deal Rangefinder: Garmin Fenix 6X Pro, ZIYOUHU Chinese laser, Garmin Approach X40., SwingU app. Privileged to been testing the MLA Tour XDream BLACK EDITION SuperStroke 3.0 slim AND SwingU app for MyGolfSpy! Link to comment
PJVicary Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 My 3 and 5 woods are still key pieces of my arsenal. I have taken my 4 iron out of play and count on my 19 degree hybrid to fill the gap. If my yardages were close to what you are getting I might think differently. William P, EnderinAZ and TJ Hall 3 Quote Using Cure CX3 putter Link to comment
JAYER38 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I just added my 3w back to my bag. I was using a 4h and a 3 iron all summer but they were so close in distance it came down to how good I hit it on that day. So I ditched the 3i and added a 3w to close the gap on the top end. BUT I do not have a great long game as far as total distance so... EnderinAZ, HikingMike, William P and 1 other 4 Quote DRIVER Paradym Ai SMOKE MAX D w/ Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 65-R 10.5* WOOD STEALTH 2 Plus 15* w/ Mitsubishi Kali Red 65-R 42" 15* HYBRID Big Bertha 19 w/ UST Recoil DART 75-S 20* IRONS TS3 Forged 4i-PW w/ True Temper Score LT 100-R WEDGES Glide Forged Pro w/ ZZ115-W 48*/52*/58* PUTTER HB SOFT 8 w/ Center Shaft 3* Check out my Tests... Link to comment
Joe Blue Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 8/17/2023 at 3:43 PM, 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 am the opposite, my long Irons are poor where my woods and Hybrid's save me, I am thinking of adding more woods and hybrid 's to my bag and take out my long Irons .. EnderinAZ and TJ Hall 2 Quote WITB D. CALLAWAY ROUGE 3W. PING245 H2 PING H4. PING 22DEG 5.6.7.8.9.PW CALLAWAY MAVRIK 50 AND 60 S18s Sw Link to comment
Svengineer Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I took out my TSi2 3@13,5 wood last year because I have always been too steep so hybrids have always suited me better. When struck perfectly or off a tiny tee the length was insane, but mostly it was too low and occasionally topped. After Dechambyfing my swing with the sound advice from Kirk Junge, my driver is so straight that I don't need the 3 wood for accuracy purposes and I never need 250 m in to any hole as a 2nd shot so I have a Ping°G430 22° set to 20,5° and a 17° set to 15,5 and those are so good that I can get 230+ m relatively bulletproof with the 2 hybrid and the 4 hybrid is 200+ m, according to Trackman data, since I live in Iceland and the season is still a good 3-4 months away. But I could imagine that those who have a shallow attack angle already built into their swing, that 3 woods could be very good weapons, but for someone who started too late and still has to murder the ball every time, which in my case makes me too steep in the downswing, then 3 woods are only useful on a tee and that is only as a shorter driver and who needs that. Statistically, most people are slicers, i.e. too steep so I would imagine that the tendency overall is that most people would fare beeter with a hybrid as a safe option, and then a 2 hybrid, i.e. 15-18° would be much easier than a 3-wood at 13-15°. BTW: I am a 1 handicap player, but I always have to fight the old slicer in me. Kirk Junge's method totally worked for me to take it out and speed training absolutely works to get solid length off the tee. William P, HikingMike, TJ Hall and 1 other 4 Quote Driver: Cobra Radspeed, x-stiff , 9.0° set to 7.5°. 3 wood: Titleist TSi2, x-stiff , 13,5° set to 15°. 1 hybrid: Adams tour proto, x-stiff Aldila 80g, 16°. 3 hybrid: Wishon 775HS, x-stiff, 21°. 4-GW: Mizuno JPX919 forged, x-stiff. SW: Taylormade MG3, 56° bent to 55°, medium bounce. LW: Taylormade MG3, 60°, medium bounce. Putter: EVNROLL ER2 black. Ball: Titleist ProV1 or ProV1x I spend way too much time bombing the driver. Link to comment
pwace Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 For several years I had no fairway woods in my bag, carrying #1 thru #5 Cleveland Mashie hybrids instead. They were all as easy to swing as each other so the transition between long shots and #5 approaches was seamless. I do use a 4 wood now, but #3 thru #5 Mashies are still in my bag. William P, EnderinAZ and TJ Hall 3 Quote Link to comment
gingerbeast87 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Don't think I ever could. My 3-wood is ideal for shots where I can't quite trust the aggressive fade from the driver. It's also really helpful on par 5's TJ Hall, EnderinAZ and William P 3 Quote Ryan Gardiner Driver: Wilson Deep Red Maxx Woods: 3W Cobra speedzone Hybrid: 4H Cobra Speedzone Irons: Cobra King F8 5-9, PW, GW Wedges: Rife RX7 60:8 & 56:12 Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro Hammer Link to comment
MsGolf Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) I have a 3, 5 and 7 wood. It depends on what course I am playing. 7 always stays in my bag. I also use hybrids too. Edited January 8 by MsGolf Willie T, EnderinAZ, TJ Hall and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment
Zebhead Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 My 3+ is my go to club when driver is in timeout. Never had a problem with hitting fairway woods because I have a sweeping stroke. Know others that couldn’t hit a fairway wood if their life depended on it. There is no right answer to this question. Play the club that fits your game. There is no one size fits all, including having a bag full of the same manufacturer. HikingMike, TJ Hall, William P and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment
Willie T Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 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’ve been all over the place in terms of use of fairways. Not very long on distance, so there is a variety of fairways/hybrids in the reserve arsenal. One of my faves is the SLDR S 3HL (17*) - a good all around fairway. Even have a SLDR 5w and 4h if I’m in a TM mood. Right now it’s all Ping - G400 driver, G410 3w (set to 15.5), G400 3h, 4h and soon to be 5h. Have toyed with the thoughts of long irons, but am more comfortable in the world of hybrids and fairways. The best part of this thread - variety! It’s what gets your there in the fewest strokes and you are most confident in playing….. William P, Dead Solid Bogey, TJ Hall and 1 other 4 Quote WITB? G400 SFT w/Aldila NXT GEN NVS 55 Aflex ; G410 3w; G400 3h(19), 4h(22), 5h(26) - stock Ping Alta CB R-Flex; SMS 6i, 7i - KBS TourLIte 95 R-Flex; Maltby TS1 8i-9i-PW w/Apollo Acculite 85 R flex; INDI FLX-S wedges (50, 54, 58) w/Recoil graphite shafts -R-Flex and AI-One 7T BD Milled (aka Millie), ball choice tends to be Pro-V1 or simliar 3pc urethane balls. Link to comment
Dead Solid Bogey Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I have had to go 180° in the other direction. Whether because of age or the diminishing of my already minimal skill set; I have lost significant distance in the last year. It has gotten much, much worse over the last few months. Actually adding more woods and hybrids to the bag and retiring all the long irons. As one person, if not multiple people have stated; your golf game is usually in some state of flux and you just have to attempt to find the varied remedies. TJ Hall, gingerbeast87, William P and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment
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