Purpose of a 3 wood?

[BK in TEXAS]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Unfortunately I am stuck in this boat, and can't really do much about it.

It's all good. Just keep positive and remember at those distances it's costing you a few strokes a round. When you go play another course that is more in line with distances you'll be well under 100.

 

Another way to judge yourself is using the handicap system. After every round you can look at your differential to see how you played vs yourself. I use it because when I play different tee boxes it adjusts for that.

[MattF]

Hireko has a component that's 3 wood loft but 5 wood weight. the shaft gets tipped like a 5 wood, and playing length is the same as a 5 wood. There's negligable loss of distance because contact is always good with the shorter club.

 

Don't forget, you can build or have them build with the shaft you want.

 

Would you try one of these?

 

Which one is it Mike?

[revkev]

Nice to see a couple of new guys here and I like the suggestion about the "hybird" 3/5 wood Mike.

 

I get where you are at Sparnar - your answer to my question was all I really needed to see that this isn't your choice it's what you're stuck with. Sorry man - even 350 m is a stretch - that's 375 yards - we're used to thinking that this is a "short" par 4 - heck we wacth golf on TV and they call 420 yard holes shortish and they are when you drive the ball 300 75 percent of the time but very few of us who don't play on TV do - we average 210 - that means 165 or if we are being honest with ourselves 5 iron into the green at 375 yards or 350 meters. We need to learn to think in regards to reality and not what we see/hear on TV so often. When we do that we learn that a 3 wood is either a necessity or an uneeded club to carry - Can you hit the thing well enough 90 percent of the time off the turf to make it useful? If so you probably need one - if not - look at something else like another wedge or longer hybrid or more lofted fairway wood that you can hit.

 

No shame in that - I play with lots of very good golfers who don't carry a 3 wood. They'll rationalize it away in the clubhouse by saying they're long enough that they don't need one or they hit their choked down driver well enough to cover the distance gap off the tee but when you get them to be honest it's because they can't hit it well enough of the time to justify carrying it. They're good golfers because they play to their strengths, not their weaknesses.

 

 

Rookie's advice is dead on solid - I think that very few golfers, pros included, hit their 3 wood more accurately than their driver - I didn't check it but we have tests here that would probably illustrate the point nicely - modern drivers are very, very forgiving - if you are having trouble hitting yours its probably the wrong shaft/loft/lenght combo for your swing - that or take some lessons.

[MikeG]

It's called the Power Play Raw Power 3 wood. They also make a standard 3 wood, which in the catalogue is with the hybrids.

 

They also, under the Acer brand, have what they call the Thriver. It's has 3 wood loft (15 deg.) and weight, but is sized like a driver. Once again, I guess the idea is shortening up clublength for control and driver-type forgiveness without swingweight issues. I could see this club helping slower swing speed and higher handicap players. Probably develop a little too much spin for most of you though!

 

I am considering trying one of the 3 woods next year, though. The head is only 30 bucks, and I'd like to try the Xcaliber FW shaft. It'd be about a $75 experiment.

[RoverRick]

Sorry, we have gotten two threads mixed up into one. Spanar trying to break 100 and the purpose of a 3 wood. But the two are similar.

 

When I got my R11 3 Wood, I originally put in a shaft that was 43.5 inches which is the standard length from TMag. I also had a shaft that I had in a 17* that was 42". My driver shaft at the time was 46". I put the 3 wood shaft in the driver one day to test that and while I gave up a bit of distance on my max hit, I gained consistency and yardage on the average. So I put and adapter on my 42"er and put that in the three wood. I also cut my original driver shaft to play 44.75 inches. And my Talamonti in the 3 FM is the 42"er.

 

I may or may not have lost some yardage off the tee with the 3 wood. But this club is infinitely easier to hit off the deck and I gained distance off the deck simply because I make better contact. I no longer fear the 3 wood because I can hit it straight. I gained 18 yards average with my 3 wood. That is an amazing statistic and all I did was make it short enough to control better.

[MattF]

In case anyone is interested, here are the links.

 

The Power Play 3 wood (fully assembled): Power Play Caiman X2 Rawpower

 

The Thriver: Thriver

[sparnar]

It's all good. Just keep positive and remember at those distances it's costing you a few strokes a round. When you go play another course that is more in line with distances you'll be well under 100.

 

Another way to judge yourself is using the handicap system. After every round you can look at your differential to see how you played vs yourself. I use it because when I play different tee boxes it adjusts for that.

 

 

I get where you are at Sparnar - your answer to my question was all I really needed to see that this isn't your choice it's what you're stuck with. Sorry man - even 350 m is a stretch - that's 375 yards - we're used to thinking that this is a "short" par 4 - heck we wacth golf on TV and they call 420 yard holes shortish and they are when you drive the ball 300 75 percent of the time but very few of us who don't play on TV do - we average 210 - that means 165 or if we are being honest with ourselves 5 iron into the green at 375 yards or 350 meters. We need to learn to think in regards to reality and not what we see/hear on TV so often. When we do that we learn that a 3 wood is either a necessity or an uneeded club to carry - Can you hit the thing well enough 90 percent of the time off the turf to make it useful? If so you probably need one - if not - look at something else like another wedge or longer hybrid or more lofted fairway wood that you can hit.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Most of the courses I play are a similar distance, so I am used to playing holes of that length. While I am sure it would be easier playing shorter holes, this is what I have always known. I just need to get some confidence with the driver. It is definitely on my list of things-to-work-on with my pro.

[Super Tuna]

I guess we've succesfully hijacked this thread - sorry Tuna - I like the original intent of the thread and will like it more once my new 3 wood gets here.

 

Organic threads are always the best.

 

Honestly, I was just looking for anecdotal comments on why or why not 3 woods are working with people. I'e been paired up with probably 50 odd random golfers this year that I've never played with before. Every single one of them had a 3 wood in the bag and every one of them hit them. Out of 50 odd people, there were 6 who hit it even half decently.

 

Two were ladies. Not long, but decent length with lots of roll out. Super accurate

Two were older gentlemen. Decent length (around 200 give or take) for both of them but could land the ball on a dime in the fairway

The last two were UBC players with length like Rookie or Jbones. They had to use the 3 wood just to dial back their distance, especially on dog legs where they couldn't really cut the corner.

 

To me, at least locally, that says that people are either

A: Not practicing with it to gain the skill level they think/want to have

B: That slot in the bag could probably be taken by a different club on either end of the bag and they'd never notice.

 

Though when I really think about it, what I'm really driving to is that I don't think people really put thought into their set makeup and some clubs just end of there by rote then anything else. After the driver and putter, all 12 spots are fair game for whatever works. I don't think that's really an accepted idea yet.

[sparnar]

Organic threads are always the best.

 

Honestly, I was just looking for anecdotal comments on why or why not 3 woods are working with people. I'e been paired up with probably 50 odd random golfers this year that I've never played with before. Every single one of them had a 3 wood in the bag and every one of them hit them. Out of 50 odd people, there were 6 who hit it even half decently.

 

Two were ladies. Not long, but decent length with lots of roll out. Super accurate

Two were older gentlemen. Decent length (around 200 give or take) for both of them but could land the ball on a dime in the fairway

The last two were UBC players with length like Rookie or Jbones. They had to use the 3 wood just to dial back their distance, especially on dog legs where they couldn't really cut the corner.

 

To me, at least locally, that says that people are either

A: Not practicing with it to gain the skill level they think/want to have

B: That slot in the bag could probably be taken by a different club on either end of the bag and they'd never notice.

 

Though when I really think about it, what I'm really driving to is that I don't think people really put thought into their set makeup and some clubs just end of there by rote then anything else. After the driver and putter, all 12 spots are fair game for whatever works. I don't think that's really an accepted idea yet.

 

I think you are spot on with your assessment. "Common wisdom" (and more often than not it really isn't wisdom) dictates that a set of clubs consists of a driver, a wood, irons, wedges and a putter. I have a 4W as mentioned earlier in the thread, that I got on the advice of my pro, but I haven't put it in play yet, and am still a way off from playing it.

[jayhawker]

Although I do not carry one now(no money)when I did it was for several reasons. One, of course was that I can hit it more consistently that the driver. The most important though was a yardage gap. My driver goes about 270-280 give or take a few yards. That said, my 20 degree hybrid goes 210-225. More for off the tee I carry it/ plan to carry one for shots that I can only hit a certain distance. Also with the accuracy, It is easier to hit tighter areas as the less club you use, the less you are punished for bad contact.

Next spring I do plan on filling that gap with a 4wood. I was considering having a 14 degree wood and a 17 degree hybrid,but this is too many long clubs for me, and adding two clubs between driver and 3 iron would only allow for 2 wedges. That one wedge would be used much more than an additional long club, so I will settle on something between my driver and 3 hybrid that doesn't have too much loft.

[revkev]

Organic threads are always the best.

 

Honestly, I was just looking for anecdotal comments on why or why not 3 woods are working with people. I'e been paired up with probably 50 odd random golfers this year that I've never played with before. Every single one of them had a 3 wood in the bag and every one of them hit them. Out of 50 odd people, there were 6 who hit it even half decently.

 

Two were ladies. Not long, but decent length with lots of roll out. Super accurate

Two were older gentlemen. Decent length (around 200 give or take) for both of them but could land the ball on a dime in the fairway

The last two were UBC players with length like Rookie or Jbones. They had to use the 3 wood just to dial back their distance, especially on dog legs where they couldn't really cut the corner.

 

To me, at least locally, that says that people are either

A: Not practicing with it to gain the skill level they think/want to have

B: That slot in the bag could probably be taken by a different club on either end of the bag and they'd never notice.

 

Though when I really think about it, what I'm really driving to is that I don't think people really put thought into their set makeup and some clubs just end of there by rote then anything else. After the driver and putter, all 12 spots are fair game for whatever works. I don't think that's really an accepted idea yet.

 

Totally agree with the last part of that statement - I'd give it a plus 1 but I don't quite understand the reference yet other than it goes to a good comment - that's a great comment. I'll never forget seeing a Dave Pelz clip on the golf channel a number of years back where he had 140 to a tight pin and took out his 4 iron and hit 10 shots to try and put it on the green - he got one, exactly one on the green and the guy was a DI college golfer. He then hit one 8 iron to around 20 feet - point being why would you use the wrong tool for the shot as in why in the world are you only carrying 2 wedges and then trying to hit all kinds of part shots with them and expecting to get the ball up and down?

 

Big shock here - I carry 4 wedges, every club in my line up is there to fill a gap and/or serve a specific purpose - down to ordering a 4 hybrid rather than a 4 iron for my new set from Mizuno because I wouldn't hit that club often and the hybrid was the secondary purpose of being used for chipping. A longer player might use 4 iron off the tee - I would never find myself in that position or on the once or twice a year occasion when I the 4 hybrid suffices.

 

I think the lower the handicap the more thought there is going into the bag and the greater willingness there is to forgo conventional wisdom for the sake of shooting a good score. Obviously that's not true 100 percent of the time but it's true way more often than not. The few people whom I know who don't carry three woods are lower handicappers. I have had time in my golfing career where I didn't - I've had to over the past few years as I've lost distance. I make sure that I can hit it though.

[RoverRick]

I probably have said this before, maybe even in this thread, butI have been playing a 3 wood, TMag R11 14* with a Talamonti PD80 42" X Stiff Tour shaft, since shortly before this thread started. There are two things about this club that have made this a really beneficial club in my bag. First, the sole of this club works great off the tee or off the deck. Second, and perhaps more importantly, when I remove the headcover, I think, "7 iron swing".

 

It is so important to not overswing with the fairway wood. Today, I hit the 3 wood from the center of the fairway about 220 yards from the green and took a nice easy swing and ended up having a 25'er for eagle which turned into a tap in birdie.

[revkev]

I wish I could play - at least I got to the range today - hit the 3 wood a few times but right now am mainly concerned about the driver while waiting for the reshafted irons to arrive.

 

Hit the driver great - better than great - the best I've hit a driver in a number of years.

[Super Tuna]

I probably have said this before, maybe even in this thread, butI have been playing a 3 wood, TMag R11 14* with a Talamonti PD80 42" X Stiff Tour shaft, since shortly before this thread started. There are two things about this club that have made this a really beneficial club in my bag. First, the sole of this club works great off the tee or off the deck.

 

And this is why club stuff is so fascinating. I also have a R11 3 wood kicking around and for me, I've never hit a worse 3 wood from the deck. Between the sole and the face size, this thing is a tee only club for me when I bring it out.

[revkev]

I just read that - I'm hitting the crap out of my R11 3 wood. Interestingly I was supposed to get the R11 shaft with the RBZ head. When the club arrived I contacted the equipment fairy who shall remain nameless but is a member of this forum and he said I'd be happier with the R11 - I really didn't want to bother T again and honestly liked the look of the club. Very happy with it. I've only played with it once though and have yet to hit it into a green. I'll be playing friday but doubt I'll get that opportunity then - I'll get to hit it several times but not likely into a green unless the wind shifts to the east or southeast.

[lmh3]

I usually hit my 3 wood four or five times a round. We have two holes where there are hazard that come in to play at the 260 mark from the tee and you would need a 300+ carry to clear them. I would rather take an aggressive swing (not out of my shoes) with the 3 wood than to try and hit a softer shot with driver. Typically I will have about 160-165 in from there and I would rather hit the shortest club possible into the green so my hybrid would leave me 175-180.

 

As far as off the deck, there are two par 5's that I can reach in two and if I do miss it is usually just short with a nice chip from the neck of the fairway. One of the other par 5's I can reach if it is downwind so I rarely go for that one. The last is just a dumb hole with a double dog leg so it usually ends up being driver, 7 iron, 9 iron for the best angle in.

 

In general, I don't find myself to be all that much more accurate off the tee with the 3 wood, but it is a little easier to control the flight and shape of the shot with it versus a driver.

[red golfer]

Its a club to use after you throw your driver in the lake.

[Super Tuna]

Its a club to use after you throw your driver in the lake.

 

Hah. Zing!