Is it bad that I want a 3 wood that doesn't go so far?

[erikro]

Yes. It is bad.

 

[cardoustie]

3 deep or 5 deep

[b.mattay]

OP, how far is too far for you in regards to your driver? What is the gap in yardage between the two? have my three wood averaging about 25 yards less than my driver and think that is a perfect setup for your speed (I swing 118-119 myself).

[BigVolGolfFan]

I understand this issue (maybe both the speeds), but I get the problem with 3 Woods going too far. The 3 wood is a “Specific Distance” club, not how far can you hit it. There’s a reason that it’s the most difficult club to get Tour players to change. I just want a consistent distance, not another club maximize distance. If it’s out of the distance range, then I’m probably about to make a dumb decision and swing too hard. I would try a sub-zero style 5 wood and crank it down. Then you might get the launch and distance but without the crazy distance.

[tbonetw]

I agree. I bought a Taylormade M2 Tour a couple of years ago and it was just crazy long. I got rid of it and got the Titleist 917. The gap is now 30 yards. With the TM it was 15-20. But that left a 30 yard gap between my 3 wood and my 2 hybrid. The gap between my driver and 3 wood is much less significant that the gap between the 3 wood and the hybrid.

[bfp9]

I struggled with this as well until this season. Bought a cheap Cobra F6 fairway to play with the adjustable settings to see if I could pull the throttle back on my fairway woods and it really wasn't a successful venture at all. The M3 3wd could have replaced my driver in my bag. The Cobra took some yardage off, but it wasn't nearly enough.

I decided to get rid of all woods in the bag this year and just play Driver -> Taylormade UDI 2 with Hazard Smoke -> 3 iron. Which left my yardages at about 300 -> 265 -> 230. With the 3-4 wood it was more like 300->280->230 which was awful.

5 Wood was considered, except I far prefer piercing ball flights in the longer clubs - and I wasn't sold on a 5 wood being able to produce the ball flight I was looking for. 2 UDI does exactly what I want.

[Lemonde]

Oh there’s a few f us out there burning lots of dollars per year on 3 woods. Don’t know what it is about that club. Either you find one and hold onto it for a decade or you constantly search for the unicorn several times a year. I’m currently eyeing the cobra Speed zone big 3 lol

[Ri_Redneck]

I have no problem hitting my 3w as far as my driver. I sometimes need that kind of distance on my second shot on long par 5s. It doesn't hurt to have a "Land Cannon" in your bag.

BT

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Reading the topic, I was going to suggest something on those lines...

”My 3W goes too far, and I refuse to use a 4i instead.”

or

“I hate overdriving those par 5s, can you relate too?”

Seriously though, I can’t believe a 115mph driver SS can cause these issues?

[thoemeke]

I think it is less about swing speed here and more about swing type. I hit a big high moon ball naturally, so with modern fairway woods that are designed to add on to that the ball has that knuckling "never falls out of the air" tendency. Its not terribly different to the bermuda flyer phenomena where a PW can go almost the same distance as an 8i from the same lie, because without creating the correct spin conditions irons the difference in irons becomes less noticeable. Also 115 is my normal on course speed, I top out at 120, but to your point, not here to brag.
That being said, obviously there are things I could do to correct this type of thing, but this was more a post of "hey I cant be alone in this, what have y'all done to make this easier on yourself." I currently have a ~50ish yard gap between 4i and 3 wood because I chose to play more traditional iron lofts. I am also always tinkering on bag setup so the chase for a good headcover configuration is more of a novel than a single chapter. As your bio says, we are just here to have fun.@bfp9 - havent committed to this, but I think a no metal woods bag (apart from Driver) may be the final iteration of this. Just get a nuclear 16* iron and move on, then have something else.

[dubbelbogey]

3W's are a very personal thing for each individual golfer. Some use it as a regular option off the tee - if that is the case, then it makes sense that having it go no further than some particular distance makes a lot of sense. Otherwise most would just choose to hit driver.

OTOH, for those long approaches from the fairway, a lot of players are looking for the longest club they can reliably hit from the grass. So, in essence, it's not a "specific distance" club in this situation.

How about going back to some older clubs? E.g. some of the steel headed 3w from 8-10 years ago? I think the trends in higher launching, distance max 3w's started more recently than that. I know I can get my 2016-era 3w (which I consider "new") to launch much higher than even my old Cally Steelhead from that prior era, even though the measured loft is one degree lower (measured) in the newer club. A lot has to do with face spring and CG placement. The older clubs, in general, are less hot and lower flying. Plus, I'd suspect those older clubs would be quite a bit more durable under higher swing speed impacts.

[Jkfuller]

I like the distance, just pull back my speed a little when needed.

[pinestreetgolf]

You don't "hit a big high moon ball naturally" you add loft at impact with a club over 38" like 99% of amateurs by scooping.

I can personally vouch for BT's wood prowess, btw. Listen to that man.

[NRJyzr]

 

It does seem like you're a candidate for the "16* hybrid in place of fairway wood" experiment. It would hit a lot of points for you, they tend to fly lower than similar loft fairway woods, and they have shorter club lengths. You also have a greater variety of heavier shaft options, if that might interest you, going all the way up to steel iron shafts.

It could even be a super cheap experiment, you can find the early 2000s Rescue Mid in 16* for a rather low price these days. On a lark, I just checked 2nd Swing, they have six of them, ranging from $18 to $30. Replace the shaft and off you go.

Or you could just go straight to a Tour Edge 16*, they have a lot of interesting shaft options that would suit someone in the 115 zip code. And several recent models that could fit the bill.

[tannyhoban]

It's not a bad thing. I just can't relate to it.

[bfp9]

 

Sometimes you just need a little encouragement to make the switch, so here you go OP.

[lyons107]

Was having that problem with my m1 3w gap to close to my driver, roughly 10-15yrds. Adding loft opened the face and was hard for me to adjust. Went back to the trusty aeroburner with a cheap no name shaft and am wondering why I ever went away from it.

[bullie76]

Do as I did......I got old. Hitting it too far is no longer a problem.

[kiw1982]

I ditched M6 3 wood for being too long.

[Man_O_War]

cobra baffler f6. Longest i have hit it is 260 yards into a par 5. I can't do 3-4 woods that go 280.. that's why my LTD woods are in the closet. too long

[SylvesterLundgren]

Just put a steel shaft in your 3wd, y’all so powerful over the ball so what’s to worry.

your back at the end of a round? Pssh

[BIG STU]

I will second the V-Steel and will also comment the older Callaway Steelheads are good too. But now days I do not have the SS to really get a 3 wood up like I want it so I went to a 16* 4 wood

[BirdieBob]

Have not seen it mentioned...………...The Callaway Super Hybrid...basically a mini fairway!

Long...YES....but not as long as that 15* FW.