Anybody use a high lofted driver as a “3 wood?”

At my home course, on 5/14 holes I use a fairway wood off the tee (shorter, tight holes or doglegs), 8/14 driver, and 1/14 hybrid. I never hit my fairway wood off the deck. I prefer to just hit my hybrid on any scenario from the fairway. All my par 5’s are long and surrounded by hazards, so I never go for them in two. The long par 4’s are also surrounded by trouble.

I have both a 3 wood and a 5 wood that I can hit decently off the tee. I only carry one of them on any given round. I was noticing that callaway makes many of their drivers in a 13.5 loft that you can adjust further.

If you’re only using it off the tee, then what downside would there be from a 460/440 driver set at 14.5-15 degrees? Cut off a few inches and it seems like the perfect club to hit the fairway. Probably wouldn’t lose a ton of distance as is.

Am I crazy?

Or you could pick up a mini driver. I have a 16 degree Aeroburner that's a fairway finder.

I’ve thought about that too. Problem is that they stopped making these. There is a callaway 1.5 mini and the TM aeroburner that you have. You need to find one on eBay that’s in good condition but not overly expensive, for what you are getting. The reason I discovered the 13.5 driver is that I was unsatisfied with the used eBay mini driver options.

The Holy Grail of fairway finders is the old Cleveland Hi-Bore 2 wood. OMG level of performance. Rare as hen's teeth - Unicorn!

http://www.golfwrx.c...-hibore-2-wood/

Why not just get a strong lofted 3 wood?

Callaway, Titleist, Exotics, TaylorMade (Tour only though) make 13.5º 3 woods. Shorter shaft length, smaller club head size, and nearly the same distance as a driver.

I’ve thought about that too. Problem is that they stopped making these. There is a callaway 1.5 mini and the TM aeroburner that you have. You need to find one on eBay that’s in good condition but not overly expensive, for what you are getting. The reason I discovered the 13.5 driver is that I was unsatisfied with the used eBay mini driver options.

There are also TaylorMade SLDR S mini drivers available on Ebay. What flex are you looking for?

Callaway 3Deep woods are also popular choices for tee-only.

I’ve thought about the strong 3 woods also. But if I’m never going to hit it off the ground, then wouldn’t the larger head be all upside? I hit my fairway woods pretty decent off the tee, but I get a decent number of toe shots/off center shots that lose like 15 yards. I am wondering if the same swing with a 460 head would keep those yards on slight mishits

Why not just get a strong lofted 3 wood?

 

Callaway, Titleist, Exotics, TaylorMade (Tour only though) make 13.5º 3 woods. Shorter shaft length, smaller club head size, and nearly the same distance as a driver.

I put together a Maltby KE4 ST-FD deep faced 3w at 43.5”. It’s only marginally shorter than my Ping G driver

I carry the Epic SZ strong 3 wood and it’s just as long as my old G5 13.5* driver. The high lofted driver was a band aid for my lack of 3 wood swing, until I took lessons.

Years ago when I had a young man's swing speed, I carried a 7* driver and a reshafted senior 12* driver as my FW. It was a cannon and I had the SS to elevate it from the deck.

These days my driver is 10* and my 3w is 14. Ah, to be young again!

BT