R11 3 wood

[revkev]

I've had my contest 3 wood in the closet for a while now - I actually was fit for a rocketbalz head on a shortened R11 shaft but received a total R11 on the shortened R11 shaft. I didn't say anything because I just didn't want to bother T yet again - we were rough on him as we got our contest clubs and these were the last ones to come.

 

So I hit it a few times, monkeyed with it a bit but put it away because I could hit my Adams F11 okay and a three wood is a three wood.

 

I've been playing very well lately and yet have been increasingly unhappy with the distance and trajectory of my 3 wood - don't get me wrong, I'm not hacking it, but I'm only about 10 yards longer with the 3 wood than the five wood, I hit it much lower so that I don't get any additional carry and in fact sometimes less and my draw borders on a hook. So I took the R11 out and starting playing with the settings on it - after about 25 balls I found a combo that worked great - up one and neutral (which means slightly closed of course) face - I was hitting the proper head/shaft combo 230 when I was fit - while I don't think I hit this one quite that far I was hitting it 15 yards past where my old three wood was going - 220 to 225 which is just what I want - It also flies straighter and higher and seemed equally good, at least on the practice tee, off the ground and off the tee. I actually hit one or two off the tee very close to where my driver was going - 240-250.

 

So it's going in the bag - the course I play in league requires several less than driver tee shots.

[RoverRick]

I have a R11 3wood and have messed with it and like it just fine. I have played other guys RocketBallz anf RBZ2 and doubt you are missing much. The R11 is adjustable and can be tuned to fit your swing. The R11 was the first 3wood that I could hit off the deck as well as the Titleist 980F from 2002. I still carry that one occasionally. My problem with a 3 wood is that if I am far enough from the green to need a 3 wood, I generally have not hit a good drive and do not have a good enough lie to be hitting a 3 wood. Plus the tendency or my tendency is to over swing with the 3 wood. So I have found I am better off hitting 7 iron and wedge than a 3 wood.

 

However, inspired by Phil this spring, I tuned my R11 from 14* down to 12.5* and put a 44" driver shaft in it, making it a TMag Phrankenwood. I then put a longer shaft in my R11 Driver. So for about a month I have been using this off the tee in lieu of a driver on 8 holes and the driver only on 3 holes and irons off the rest. Probably the best thing about this is that psychologically when I pull this "2 Wood" I have already made the decision that I want to give up a few yards, maybe 10, in order to stay in the fairway. Then with the driver, I can swing away.

 

But I like the R11 3 wood and honestly I have hit the Rocketballz 1 and 2 probably 15 times over the past year and really have on had one hit when I thought I wanted one.

[revkev]

The two most common courses that I play require at least one three wood from the fairway and some three woods off the tee so it's a necessary evil for me.

 

The one has a par 4 that is 420, into the prevailing wind, this time of year it's almost always a three wood and since the prefered miss is left its very much worth the risk (I rarely miss my 3 wood right unless the trouble is left.)

 

The other has a par 5 that is reachable when it is downwind and there is no trouble to speak of left so it's worth the risks also - If the Par 5 is downwind then the 13th and 17th are into the wind and both are over 400 which means there's a chance of 3 wood into those greens depending upon how wet it is or how far left my drive goes on the dogleg right (yes left in the fairway - its a very, very sharp dogleg and I'm not long enough to cut the corner - 390 plays 420.)

 

On my league course 1,7,10,13,16 are never drivers and often times 5 is not as well although sometimes some of those holes are less than 3 wood off the tee there are never times when I don't need 3 wood there. Left is not good on many of those tee shots and so the increasing but educated draw is becoming an increasing concern.

 

I think this has the potential to be a very good club for me just as it is.

[RoverRick]

Like many of you, the clubs in my bag are in a constant state of flux. The ones in there now may change by the time I put my shoes on and am out the door. I have been known to show up with 20 clubs before the round and decide on the range which ones to take on the course, and in practice rounds I have even carried two bags on the cart.

 

Today, at least at this point, I have put the shorter shaft in the driver, and a steel shaft in the R11 Rescue, and have taken the 2 iron out of the, oops, the Mizuno MP FLI HI 18* Direct Long Iron Replacement, hybrid-driving iron-like thingy, out of the bag along with the 3 wood and added a wedge.

 

This means that if I do not hit driver I give up almost 30 yards off the tee when I hit the hybrid but still that does not cause any real problems. With the shorter shafted driver the only reason not to hit it is because it is too long. I can hit it straight.

 

But I love the interchangeable shafts. I have Driver, 3 wood and hybrid and have moved the shafts around in all of them to see how they played.

[RookieBlue7]

Rev,

I thought you ended up with the R11s? I've had both the R11 and the R11s fairways and honestly liked the original better. But I kept going back to the same old Nike SQ original. That is until I bought the Covert Tour on a whim at the Golfsmith closing sale (got it for $145 new). I had planned on swapping the stock shaft but hit it just to check out if I liked the head. The rest is history. I still have my trusty SQ though in case it needs a timeout. Lol. That said, a good fairway wood is hard to find and hard to beat. Stick with the one you find the most consistent results with. And I told you you'd love the TMag once you got it in the bag. The adjustability made the difference for me in R11s vs RBZ

[revkev]

Rev,

I thought you ended up with the R11s? I've had both the R11 and the R11s fairways and honestly liked the original better. But I kept going back to the same old Nike SQ original. That is until I bought the Covert Tour on a whim at the Golfsmith closing sale (got it for $145 new). I had planned on swapping the stock shaft but hit it just to check out if I liked the head. The rest is history. I still have my trusty SQ though in case it needs a timeout. Lol. That said, a good fairway wood is hard to find and hard to beat. Stick with the one you find the most consistent results with. And I told you you'd love the TMag once you got it in the bag. The adjustability made the difference for me in R11s vs RBZ

 

 

It is the R11s sorry Rookie I still get confused between R11, F11 (Adams) and R11s and RP and JP as well.

 

I'll play with it in the bag tomorrow and see how it does for real. If it passes that test it goes in the bag for Tuesday's money game - I'm begging trouble on number 7 with my old three wood.