Best sleeper fairway wood of all time.

[xjohnx]

The old Taylormade V-Steel is a super-sleeper in my opinion. No fancy graphics or colors, no dials or sliding weight gadgets, just a properly designed basic looking club that performs very well. Any it doesn't even need a toolkit. How sleepy is that!

 

Might be the #1 most popular and cult 3 wood of all time. I understand people may have slightly different definitions of what "sleeper" means but, to me this is not a sleeper. If a 10+ year old club still has its on thread on page 1 of this forum it can't be a sleeper.

[tobybear]

The BTY along with a bunch of the original Adams stuff was very good.

 

I think the next best if not the other top option would be either the cleveland launcher Comp or Launcher Ti... both straight forward bombers

[JamesSenior]

v-steel. Cant put something better in your bag for less from ebay

[xjohnx]

I know I'm just being a lame jerk but I figured I'd share what Merriam-Webster defines as a sleeper

 

Sleeper: someone or something unpromising or unnoticed that suddenly attains prominence or value

 

Calling the V-Steel a sleeper is like car guys calling a '69 Camaro a sleeper.

[cbole22]

G25

[morgan1819]

I'm with the group that thinks the OP's question contradicts itself. If it's the greatest of all time, doubtful it could be a 'sleeper'.

 

If something didn't catch on, it simply didn't perform as well as other options.

 

- Nothing from Ping, TM, Titleist, Callaway, or even Cobra, is going to truly go under the radar if it performs well.

 

- Cleveland, Adams, Nickent, Tour Edge, are examples of brands that could have a great product go relatively unrecognized by the masses.

[dpark]

So, after 30 years of looking, I am declaring the Adams BTY fairway woods the most perfect that I have ever tried (and I have tried a bunch.) Square to open face angles, tall enough to feel at ease of a tee, and easy to launch from the fairway. The smaller head also makes it much easier to hit from less than stellar lies.

 

If anyone remembers the Cobra Speed Pro X-ST, the BTY is very similar in size, but orders of magnitude better in forgiveness and trajectory.

 

If you like a shorter heel-toe face length, easy launch without an shallow face, and anything but closed face, then you owe it to yourself to pick up one to try. They can be had for cheap right now and I plan of getting a backup for each of the 3 I have.

 

I was actually going to say the BTY and the RPM LP. I had both for years.

 

Those 2-3 generations of fairway woods from Adams are among the best ever. I still play the Adams RPM 5050 which has got to be 10+ years old by now. Fantastic performance from the fairway or the tee and they are usually set up neutral to open. I think someone else chimed in on the Adams Fast 10 too, which is also from that same timeframe.

 

For the price (you can pick them up on ebay for less than $50, sometimes with nice shafts in them) its hard to beat the performance. When go to demo days and try the new stuff out I always have my 5050 to compare and there just isn't any significant performance difference.

 

And while you don't care for deeper faced fairway woods, that is why I like the 5050, it was designed to be used 50% from the tee and 50% from the fairway. They had other models (4060, 3070) that got progressively shallower faces and were biased more for use in the fairway than the tee (3070: 30% tee, 70% fairway, get it?). They were all great depending on what you were looking for. Adams really had a lock on the fairway wood and hybrid market IMHO in the late 2000s.

 

I should try to get some photos of the Trackman the next time I put up my 5050 against a TM M1 for Titleist 917 fairway wood. For me, there just isn't any significant difference between them. YMMW

[Highgolfer07]

Personally, I have used the Bridgestone J33 and have never found a better club to replace it. Going on my 4th club head as I have cracked the face on my previous 3 heads!

[Shotts]

mizuno mp-001

 

Going thru this thread and totally agree with the above, MP-001's are fantastic. Also previously, a good shout out on the Ping Zing 2's as well. Had a Zing 2 3-wood and not sure if there was a hot spot or what, but it was an absolute fav. of mine.

[mootrail]

Most of the picks are not sleepers; they were hot items in their era.

 

Sleeper: Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 with Aldila Rogue Silver shaft.

 

Never really heard a peep about these when they were released. Maybe because Callaway has out Taylormade'd Taylormade with the number of models and releases.

 

Regardless; phenomenal modern high MOI fairway wood with an excellent stock shaft.

[Albatross71]

How about the ping i3, with that tiny head

[bigdriveandy]

Macgregor Mactec nvg2

[golfman009]

Wishon 919 F/D

[bailman]

Taylor Made 200.

[Jifmoli]

With hybrids going nearly as far and usable for more varying and poor lies, woods for me are a thing of the past. Having said that, th Callaway BB Diablo is a great club of the deck (if not too dug in) and off the tee. Really like that one. Most woods I find hard off the deck, like my other Callaway 3w: hawkeye vft. For me impossible to get off the ground properly.

[mejmo]

http://igolfreviews.com/uploads/3/4/1/3/34139813/7057457_orig.jpg

 

http://igolfreviews.com/uploads/3/4/1/3/34139813/4532316_orig.jpg

 

The Mizuno MP 650 ticks all the boxes for me in a 3 wood. Compact, not too shallow, easy to hit from tight lies, open face, and super hot face. Oh, and totally naked crown

[super20dan]

original adams tight lies. still preforms up to par today.

[sphna12d]

I loved the Mashie Gliderail FW from Cleveland. I loved the stock Miyasaki shaft. Very easy to elevate.

[easylittle5wood]

Callaway squareway!!

 

Most underrated FW ever. Couples played a tour only version for many years, heard it was 15% smaller.

[BigHook25]

http://igolfreviews....057457_orig.jpg

 

http://igolfreviews....532316_orig.jpg

 

The Mizuno MP 650 ticks all the boxes for me in a 3 wood. Compact, not too shallow, easy to hit from tight lies, open face, and super hot face. Oh, and totally naked crown

 

Yea that was a great fairway wood that basically nobody played.

[4puttJohnny]

The original Cleveland launchers with the gold shafts.

[jbandalo]

Callaway Fusion fairway woods for me. So surprised they don't get much love. Simply amazing

[ToePoke]

Nike T40 tour. Beast.

[MyShortGameSucks]

DIablo Edge Tour

 

I still have one with original Blueboard 83. May be the first 3 wood I really liked

[Nuggets]

Tour edge exotics CB2, nice open face, titanium so super hot and mega long! X100 shaft, tipped an inch and cut to 42.75 means it doesn't balloon.....sounds nice too

 

Got a VR Pro ltd I need to shaft with an X100 and test next to it but the face isn't as open so I'm hesitant

[nolixul]

Orlimar Trimetals - were already mentioned. Still see quite a few of these around, sticking out like sore thumbs, in amongst fairly new bags.

 

I still have an 11 degree that comes out for a couple of courses that I play with 600+ yd par 5s.

[Zuzert]

TM Jetspeed. I have the stock stiff shaft and this thing just bombs it for me with a higher than most trajectory

[iamit]

I have these in the bag right now. (This is not my picture)

 

 

These^.

Second that^

[SwooshLT]

Jpx 850 with adjustments of 5 degrees and a real deal great shaft....just grabbed s 5wd that the lofts range from 16-20* and the shaft is a fuji tour spec 6.3 ..... light for most big hitters but perfect for the average guy....

 

Complete SLEEPER!

[Carvallo Golf]

TM retro series metal woods. 13 deg tour spoon, 16 & 19 deg raylor. The club heads are perfect, stock shafts not so much. Still available for cheap on ebay.