How Do You Go About Picking a 3 Wood?

[Nixhex524]

I have tried SO many 3 woods over the last couple years... I am not a super long hitter so a long 15* 3w was always my only option, or so I thought... Short of it, I had a 15* '16 M2 with a Proforce V2 66g stiff shaft and it was a total bomber, but I was inconsistent with it off the deck. Went to the Cobra F9 3w and it was really the best 3w I had tried in the 14.5-15* range. Mid launch bullets that helped me get to Par 5s in two... On a whim, I picked up a '16 M2 16.5* head here (4w) I figured I would experiment with. I paired it with a Matrix white tie Proto X flex shaft I had laying around and it has been a high launching, accurate par 5 killer for me. It's as long as just about any 15* 3w I have hit and way easier off the deck... moral of the story, like mentioned earlier, do not exclude the 4w option if you are looking for distance AND height. Best of both worlds IMO.

[Aviador Naval]

After much experimentation (ie, trial and error...) over the years I’ve come to approach the top three clubs in my bag as a set. Driver is optimized for max carry with a slight fade. I have a 13 degree low spin 3w I use from tee only with which I’m very comfortable hitting a low-mid trajectory slight draw that runs out. My 5w is optimized as max distance from turf and is high enough with enough spin to hold greens or play to small ‘lay up’ targets on long par 5s.

 

I don’t have sufficient swingspeed to hit 3w off deck (even a 15 deg version) from anything other than a perfect lie and my yardage gaps start to collapse at loft less than 25 deg so I have room at top end to carry two fairway woods.

 

I am quite comfortable with driver and don’t consider the 13 deg 3w a “driver replacement.” Rather, it a club with which I can reliably produce a different flight profile and landing distance without over manipulating my swing.

[wkuo3]

If your main concern with the 3 woos is to use it off the tee to replace the driver. Try to find older driver head under 360 cc in volume and reshaft it with 3 wood length. You can do a search for a high lofted older driver, before the time they go into High launch design.

What you want is a basic titanium head without the internal configuration to launch the golf ball higher.

[ihatecats18]

I found a shaft I liked in a driver then matched it to a 3 wood, buying it online. Happened to be in a similar model of driver

[kcd38]

> @Pwood28 said:

> I fall more into the first example. Driver is too long in some spots, so 3 wood for me was a 2nd tee club that I could stay short of trouble or give myself a good yardage with. I have found that I rarely have a situation where a shot that I would feel comfortable hitting into a green that I would feel comfortable taking the risk with a 3 wood. Most of the courses I play either have too much trouble around the par 5s to go after or they are short enough that 3 hybrid (19 degrees) is enough club for me to go at them (assuming a good Driver from the tee).

>

> For this reason, I actually took 3 wood out of the bag and replaced with the Original One mini driver. It added 10 yards over my old 15 degree 3 wood and the larger face has a lot more forgiveness. I haven't had a chance to hit it from the deck on the course yet, but if the front of the green were fairly open, I would give it a run from the deck. This works for me because the 3 wood spot is a tee club for me and the hybrid is the longest fairway club I carry.

 

Very interesting. Cool to hear someone have almost an opposite situation than mine and make it work.

[Pwood28]

> @kcd38 said:

> > @Pwood28 said:

> > I fall more into the first example. Driver is too long in some spots, so 3 wood for me was a 2nd tee club that I could stay short of trouble or give myself a good yardage with. I have found that I rarely have a situation where a shot that I would feel comfortable hitting into a green that I would feel comfortable taking the risk with a 3 wood. Most of the courses I play either have too much trouble around the par 5s to go after or they are short enough that 3 hybrid (19 degrees) is enough club for me to go at them (assuming a good Driver from the tee).

> >

> > For this reason, I actually took 3 wood out of the bag and replaced with the Original One mini driver. It added 10 yards over my old 15 degree 3 wood and the larger face has a lot more forgiveness. I haven't had a chance to hit it from the deck on the course yet, but if the front of the green were fairly open, I would give it a run from the deck. This works for me because the 3 wood spot is a tee club for me and the hybrid is the longest fairway club I carry.

>

> Very interesting. Cool to hear someone have almost an opposite situation than mine and make it work.

 

I love talking with guys about the top and bottom of their bags. There are so many different ways to look at the fairway wood/hybrid/driving iron slots and the wedge slots.

[shanx]

> @Yuck said:

> 3 woods are tough to get one you like under all conditions. I have had 3 of them over the last 40+ years. A Macgregor persimmon from the late 70s till early 90’s. A TM burner bubble tour spoon from the early 90,s till 2004. And a TEE CB 2, still in my bag for the last 15 years.

 

Yeah, I have had three 3 woods since I started playing seriously (still have all three somewhere), I play the three wood off the tee more than off the fairway (I have a 4 wood for that).

[Bye]

It has to be good from the deck, Im not that worried if it spins a bit too much from a tee, the flight has to be right when the ball is on the ground. I guess it depends on player traits. For me it’s the same as with my irons, I want both to go really high with a good amount of spin on a stock shot as I find it easier to take the spin off/flight down a shot than trying to hit it higher than usual.

[kcd38]

> @Bye said:

> It has to be good from the deck, Im not that worried if it spins a bit too much from a tee, the flight has to be right when the ball is on the ground. I guess it depends on player traits. For me it’s the same as with my irons, I want both to go really high with a good amount of spin on a stock shot as I find it easier to take the spin off/flight down a shot than trying to hit it higher than usual.

 

I'm the same way. I actually want some spin on my 3 wood because I want to be able to go into greens with it.

[Mych]

For me... buy an F6 Baffler, then if that hadn't worked, return it and buy a fishing rod.

[Bye]

> @kcd38 said:

> > @Bye said:

> > It has to be good from the deck, Im not that worried if it spins a bit too much from a tee, the flight has to be right when the ball is on the ground. I guess it depends on player traits. For me it’s the same as with my irons, I want both to go really high with a good amount of spin on a stock shot as I find it easier to take the spin off/flight down a shot than trying to hit it higher than usual.

>

> I'm the same way. I actually want some spin on my 3 wood because I want to be able to go into greens with it.

 

It also helps to prevent the knuckle ball that goes 20 yards too far.

 

 

[ctsgolf]

A year or so ago I put a bid in on eBay at $75 and happened to win it. Turns out nothing has come close to kicking it out of the bag. Put a stiff NV 75 in it last season, but have been keeping an eye out for an X-Stiff shaft.

 

I hit it ~250-265 off the tee and that is primarily what it's used for. I have been playing par 5s horribly this year so I have started using it more to go into greens to see if it will help bring my par 5 scoring average down a bit.

[MacgregorFan]

How do I go about finding a 3-wood?

Ball flight and the right distance for your set makeup.

 

I have 1,3,5 fairway woods and 2,3 hybrids, but I swap them out depending on the course & conditions. So proper distance gaps are important for me.

 

And get fit. I think alot of people make the mistake of picking a particular loft because "it's the standard", instead of getting the loft that fits the distance/ball flight characteristics you're looking for. That could mean 13* loft or it could be 15* loft or more.

[tannyhoban]

I have to able to draw it off the tee and comfortably launch it from the fairway. It has to mate up well with the driver, so shaft is very important. Usually means HL for me. So really a 4 wood.

[2Down]

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Caught this three wood off the toe

Next

For me it is all about the shaft. Then the face. Currently love the three wood I have in play. Suspect it will stay. Love the feel flight and result.

 

 

[Jonesy]

Found my ideal 3 wood through trial and error, that was the MP Titanium from a few years back, did everything so well and looked fantastic, so naturally I sold it.

I'm now in a tense love/hate relationship with an RBZ stage 2 tour that is a breeze off the tee but not so easy off the deck. Ideally I'm looking for a 4 wood, slightly smaller head in some cases, easier to hit off the deck whilst still getting out there.

[serveitup911]

3 wood is tough for me. I have had a Ping original Rapture in the bag for about 10 years and it is great off the tee, although for the courses I play it’s probably a bit too long. It is unplayable off the fairway for me and I never have a 2nd shot that needs full 3 wood length on the courses I usually play even on par 5s. Other 3 woods that I have tried that I can hit well off the fairway are too shallow to give me confidence off the tee and I’ll hit the 200 yard pop up occasionally.

 

I just bought a Callaway Steelhead XR 4+ wood with the hopes that it will still give me good lay up distance off the tee and a longer option than my 19 degree hybrid off the fairway should I play a course with longer par 5s or shorter par 4s.

It has a deep face, so looks good when the ball is teed up some. It has 16 degrees of loft and a low cg with the carbon crown, so I’m hoping it will be easy to launch also. It has a Fubuki J 70x shaft, which is supposedly stable, but with an active tip to help launch. It sits beautifully open unlike the non plus steelheads that sit a bit shut.

 

I’ll report back once I use it a bit and get some numbers on my launch monitor.

[knackers]

Sounds like you should just go with a Hybrid(high launch/ stopping power). I have a fast SS, top of bag; D, +3W(13.5) , 5W(18),3U. gap is around 10m between each. 3W off the Tee and deck on long par5 w/roll. 5W approach high/stopping power. I think it's the market as well the average golfer finds it hard to hit a 3/5w and elevate it off the deck so they opt for a hybrid. All depends how you go about your setup and how you play the courses. some pros would have a +3W 5W, other pros have a 5W jacked down too a 3w loft, some would have a 3w HL pretty much close to a 5W loft or some use hybrids instead each to their own. Whatever works.

[JAMH03]

I let early adopters try them all then choose never> @kcd38 said:

> Recently, it seems like 3 woods have been drifting more toward driver replacements. For some people that are super long with their driver or just hit 3 wood better off a tee, these are probably great changes. I noticed when I was testing 3 woods I wanted the opposite.

>

> I wanted my driver to be a low spin monster and have my three wood be able to go after greens from the fairway with some height/spin for stopping power. For that reason I preferred a lower profile and not a super low launch shaft.

>

> Wanted to see what the thoughts were around this trend and how you guys go about picking a 3 wood or any other wood.

 

Truth? I just let all of the early adopters fight it out.

 

Then out of what's left standing, I try the clubs that meet my criteria. Downside is that I'm never the guy with the latest greatest. Upsides too numerous to mention.

 

Far as a 3 wood for the OP sounds if you want more spin and to be able to hold greens seems that dependent upon your launch characteristics you're looking at a low profile 4 wood or 5 wood with a shaft that fits your swing.

 

Word on the street is that the Cobra F6 is hot. As for me and my piddling SS I'll just stick with my Tour Edge CB2's in 17º and 21º lofts.

 

My only question is when do we measure? How much Spin or what kind of trajectory is it going to take to hold greens? I'd have to imagine that @kcd38 you'd be much better served by having more than "enough" spin/traj or is it called Spin/loft? to hold greens than just enough to hold them sometimes because that would be really frustrating for me if sometimes they held and sometimes they didn't on my good shots. HTH's.

[golf9596]

I've had 2 3 woods that I got along with. They say it's the hardest club to put into the bag and when you find one don't change. That said I've had plenty of 3 woods in the bag over the years and never fell in love with them. On a whim I purchased a TM

M6 this spring because it's profile look good to me and it sat a little open. Guess what happened.....I'm not looking for the next one...Sometimes you just get lucky...It should be in the bag for a long time.

[Red4282]

I think its different for every player, handicap and swing speed playing a big role. 10+ hdcps and sub 105 driver ss players could benefit from basically using a 4 wood instead of a 3 wood. For those with higher swingspeeds and better hndcps, can stsrt looking at a tradiotional 3 wood, me personally i like one that is versatile. No problem lifting off the fairways and holding approaches, but yet has a deep enough face to still tee it up slightly and find some fairways. Never understood gaming a “low spin” 3 wood unless your just a high spin type player.

[Pete O'Tube]

I use Ping woods. When I got fitted for G400's I was recommended Driver, 5 Wood @ +0.5", 7 wood. The slightly longer 5 wood went the same distance as the 3 wood, but that was all through the air with very little run-out, which is what you are looking for.

As you can see, I couldn't afford the 5 wood, but the G25 4 wood does the job just as well.

[EllaRose909]

I tried quit a few. Ease of hitting and distance are my two main factors. I settled on 2 The Ping G410 plus with the stock shaft stiff, and Taylormade M6 red evenflow shaft regular flex shaft. The M6 is in my bag it is 10-12 yards longer. I like them both!

I also carry a M6 7 wood which is awsome

[dmael]

> @stormbringer said:

> Are you going to carry a 5 wood? I do and with that in mind my 3 wood has to perform several tasks. It has to be a viable option off the tee, I have to be able to flight it up or down and left or right. My current gamer is likely never coming out of the bag since it does all those things and is very forgiving.

> My 5 wood is asked to to totally different things. It is mostly used when extra height is required and out of tough lies since it is fairly small and has a v-type sole and two rails. I also rarely hit 5 wood off the tee.

 

 

I am with you, Stormbringer, although I do hit 5-wood off the tee on a few holes (including one dogleg left par-5 that has lots of trouble and a severe left-to-right slope if you hit your tee shot much more than 225 yards). My 13.5* strong 3-wood (first generation T.E. Exotics CBX) is a “control club” for off the tee, and for use on very long par-5 holes. My 17.5* 5-wood is undoubtedly my favorite club and has been in my bag for several years (it’s a T.E. Exotics CB Pro model). I use 5-wood for many second shots on par 5 holes and for the afore-mentioned par-5, plus several short par-4 holes or holes where there is a water hazard at 240 holes or so off the tee — there’s one particular par-4 that fits this description on a course that I play at least 2 to 3x per month. On that par-4, which can range from 328 to 360 yards in length, there is a pond at about 90-95 yards short of the green, meaning that I’m likely to hit 3-wood in the water unless there is a very strong headwind, and even if I mishit the 3-wood and leave the ball short of this pond, it’s probably going to end up on a soggy downslope just short of the pond, leaving a very tough partial-wedge approach. My 5-wood generally leaves me a full gap wedge shot into this green, and if the tees are up or I am playing from the forward tees, I will opt for my 19* hybrid from the tee on this hole.

 

As for selecting a 3-wood, I’m a high-spin player, so anything that fits the “low-spin” fairway category works best for me. Although I have tried and owned several other 3-woods over the last 12-15 years, I always seem to go back to Tour Edge Exotics 3-woods. Ever since trying a CB2 model, I’ve done better with Exotics 3-woods than any other fairway metal. I played the CB2 for a few years, then a CB5 Pro, which I still own, and which was the only 3-wood in my bag from the time that it was introduced until late 2017, when I purchased the CBX Strong 3-wood that is currently in the bag. I’ve tried the new deep-faced CBX119 fairways, and may go with one of them whenever I decide to “retire” my 13.5 degree CBX. Actually, I’ve been tempted to put the 15* CB5 Pro 3-wood with a Fukui 73x5ct shaft in it back in the bag. It’s deeper-faced than the CBX and possibly even deeper than the CBX119, but I can still hit it off the deck very easily, and I reached a lot of par-5s in two using it. For me, the selection of a 3-word is all about control off the tee, while still getting decent distance, plus the ability to reach long par-5 holes in two with my misses still being very playable. The 15* CB5 Tour always did this for me, and the 13.5* CBX Strong 3-wood generally does this, as well.

>

>

 

 

[dmael]

One other thing — If I ever go back to using a 15* 3-wood (or even 16.5* 4-wood), the 17.5* CB Pro 5-wood will undoubtedly come out of my bag. It is shafted at about 1/2” short of Tour Edge standard for a 5-wood, at only 41.5”, and I hit it at least 25 to 35 yards shorter than any strong 3-wood, and most standard 15* 3-woods. However, if I go with a 15* or 16.5* fairway metal, I’d game an 18* hybrid (I own a couple of these), and maybe put a 4-iron in the bag, since I am still able to hit one of these consistently about 190 - 195 yards, and get rid of the 19* hybrid that is currently in my bag.

[A.Princey]

I pick a 3w that is really easy to launch and is almost a 3/4w, because if I can't easily hit it from a tight fairway, it's almost of no use to me. Having said that, I prefer a low-profile face and a generous flat, bottom. My G-sft fits the bill nicely at 16*. All these folks that want a deep-faced tee club just need to tee the ball lower and hit the low-profile options.

[Chuck905]

I started off with swing lessons and a club fitting once I felt confidently to produce consistent strikes.

 

Was always a 4 wood player than moved onto a standard 15* 3 wood. Swing continued to improved and now carry a 13.5* (which I’ll dial down to 12.5* when I’m feeling greedy) and two (17*) iron, both hit well off the tee and fairway.

 

Screw trial and error; never looked back.

[mogc60]

First my 3 wood is 42”. I want my 3 wood to fly 265off the tee, 255off the turf. I want a mid flight that I can keep down easily. That’s what I’m looking for when I buy a 3 wood. If it goes further...no thanks. Shorter...no thanks. Moonballs no thanks. I don’t care if it’s 16* or 13* if it does what I want and feels good.

[Cons]

You don't choose a 3 wood. It chooses you.

[Tim Sherwood]

eBay, PayPal balance and a prayer.