3-wood usage question

[Chuck905]

You’ve made a great point about turning shots over right to left.

One of the reasons I like my strong 3 wood is that I can turn it over right to left on those shaping dog legs where my driver is exclusive for left to right shots and my 17* UDI would be smart but 2-3 clubs behind from an aggressive shaping executed 13.5* 3 wood.

I get what the guy is saying about a 17* hybrid but that point is muted when you can shape a 3 wood and benefit the extra 2 clubs of distance. A 17* UDI is a 4 wood replacement not 3 wood replacement , at best a concession.

[Nollster]

Where we play league, we have quite a few short or funky holes where a driver won't work, so the 3W can come into play quite a bit. I have a personal rule that if the hole is <400 yds and not wide open, I pull the 3W. I'll also sometimes just hit the 3W so I can play other irons as this course is mostly driver->wedge.

[Multipass613]

When I play the white tees with my hacker friends, I use it off the tee exclusively. If I'm playing proper tees, even at most public courses I play many holes narrow down at 250+ yards so I still use it for 30-50% of tee shots.

This one simple trick lowered my score.

[Drivingrangehero]

I removed it from my bag due to lack of use.

My replacement is a 2 hybrid bent strong 2* and 1” over standard shaft length.

It will find a lot more play......... when I can get out and do so post corona hysteria!

I think many could benefit from dropping a 3 wood. It frees up another possible club in the bag 2-3 hybrid, 2/3 uti, gap or lob wedge. I too think 2 Drivers may work for some people better, if you have trouble with shaping shots, one could be set up for fade and one draw ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[jah7838]

Maybe 3 times a round most of the time? I'm very comfortable with my driver, and most courses around where I live don't have too many holes that take the driver completely out of my hands, so I hit it a lot. I played an F6 Baffler all last season, and it was very reliable. I bought a F9 Tour 3 wood set to 15*, and I'm unsure if it's going to stay in the bag. It's definitely longer off the tee, but I'm not very consistent with it off the deck into par 5s or into long Par 4s. I don't know if it's the deeper looking face of the Baffler, or the shorter length, but it's much easier for me off the deck. I think the Baffler is more versatile for me around the course, so it will probably go back in the bag. I don't think the 5-10 extra yards off the tee with the F9 makes up for what I can do with the Baffler off the deck.

[Twism86]

Like everyone else is saying, it depends on the course. At my "home" course There are 2-3 par 5s where I can use it on my second shot but really only 1 I need it if making birdie or par is in the cards. Other courses I enjoy playing force the 3W out of my bag more as they have hazards right where a tee shot with my driver should land, so using my 3W allows me to take a full swing and not worry about it.

 

Im not a long hitter. My Driver doesnt go much further than my 3W and my 3W doesnt go much farther than my longest iron. On most par 5s or a long par 4 I can use my 4i for a second shot and still be in good shape. My 3W still gets the most action on days my driver is misbehaving.

[sheppy335]

I will say this, i use it less now then before. I hit it about 7 to 8 times at my home course, other courses it depends on layout. tee off with it on 4 holes, use it on approaches on another couple. That doesnt include bad mishits that i need a 3 wood to get it close to a hole.

[Sourpuss]

 

i usually play from the gold, i hit my 3wood of the box on holes 2, 7, 8, 10, 12, 16, 17 and on the par fives from the fairway

[Cruisin1966]

#2 must be really tight (dogleg?) or there's trouble too far out, hence the 3 wood

[Stinger83]

I can go a month without pulling that club out of the bag.

[LeftyMatt24]

I agree. I have it but I don’t typically use it. I like my 3 iron off the tee if I’m not using driver. I would replace with like a 62 or something but couldn’t imagine myself using that much either. I’m only carrying it to fill out the bag. I wonder what a better replacement as a spot in the bag would be.

[Stinger83]

I replaced a TM m4 tour 15* with a PING g410 17*.

I'm a firm believer in the 4 wood. I still don't hit it very often - but it does fill the gap more in the middle between hybrid and driver IMO. Before the three wood was just 10 yards behind the driver and they hybrid was 30 yards behind that.

[LeftyMatt24]

That’s a good idea. I want to switch my 15 ts2 to the 16.5 one. Now here’s to more tinkering haha

[nitram]

Usually 6 times per round and twice off the tee.

[lefty1978]

I wasn't hitting it well until I decided to really work on it at the range. I was blaming the club, but reallynit was all me.

I spent multiple range sessions hitting off turf and some off a tee. In the last month I am using it more as I am more confident with it. I am not a long hitter (250ish driver) so I need it on most par 5s and some long 4s. When you can hit your 3 wood with the accuracy of a mid iron, it's a great thing.

[JoeFrigo]

If im really being honest with myself, my average times using a 3w during a round is less than 1. Most of the time I use my 3w isn't out of necessity, its bc I haven't hit it in a while lol... the guys I play with aren't that great so we're never gonna play 7000+ yards where a 3w in to a par 5 will ever happen. We have a permanent tee time at my home course that has 4 courses so we rotate every weekend. Unfortunately its rare for me to get out and play new courses

[Skhacker]

4-6 times per round. Usually at least once off the tee. Always been my favorite and easiest club to hit.

[Lamosteve]

I can't imagine not having a 3W in my bag

[Sourpuss]

trees left, outa bounds right but there is a down hill slope with some extra roll, if u hit it to far it goes into a valley and you cannot c the pin, about 160-200, depending on wind.

 

[jwhite86]

I typically hit my 4 wood 1-3 times per round. Usually once off the tee, rarely off the deck... and it's my go-to for punch shots when I hit it into the trees, which happens more often than I'd care to admit.

 

For me it comes down to finding a FW you love. Once you find the one... don't get rid of her

[agood3putt]

Off the tee twice a round at most. Off the deck maybe once at my home course which is not very long. Very rarely do I use it from the deck there.

 

other longer courses maybe use it a total of 4 times a round

[KiwiNick]

The course I play (Paraparaumu, New Zealand) isn't especially long but does require accuracy. Front nine I'll hit it twice off the tee, back nine twice off the tee and maybe once into the longest of the par 5's. I find having a reliable 250y off the tee crucial to low scores at most courses. Driver just won't fit on every par 4.

[jordan2240]

I don't have a 3w, but do have a Taylormade mini-driver. If I was being smart, I'd use that off of every tee I typically use driver on, but I enjoy the rare driver smash too much to be smart. When I'm not using the mini off the tee, I typically use it only on par 5s off the turf. But recently, I've tried to simplify my game by paring my bag down to 8 clubs (3h, 4i, 6i, 8i, PW, Driver, mini-driver, putter), and I might take the driver out and see how things go with the mini exclusively as soon as we can get back on the courses (which is next week - yahoo!).

[KiwiNick]

Curious to know how you get along with this. I tinkered with the idea of a Taylormade original one at 12* as a second driver.

[J_Tizzle]

My home course I have 3 par 4's I hit it off the tee, mostly for position as driver would basically be in no mans land/trouble

The four par 5's, I'll hit anything from 3 wood to 5 iron into three of them, then one is driver and all the 3 wood I have but still won't get there.

 

So I'll hit it between 4-7 times a round at the home course. It is usually a rotating door for me, but I did just get a SIM that I've already hit some massive shots with, so maybe the cost is worth it?

[cw1209]

Really like it! I was stuck with this notion of perfect gapping from driver to 3 wood to 5 wood/hybrid. If my driver goes 300 and my hybrid goes 240, the three wood has to go 270. Turned out there is more utility for me by finding two clubs off the tee that are biased towards opposite shot shapes. I also don't hit my 3 wood off the deck into a green, which means distance control is less critical. I save more strokes eliminating a two way miss off the tee than I do having perfect gaps at the top of my bag. I would only worry about gapping for clubs you hit into a green.

For further reading: https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1825253/is-it-a-dumb-idea-to-carry-two-drivers/p1

[Jifmoli]

At best 2 or 3 times a round IF the lie is soft and I am stupid enough to put the driver in the bag as well. Promised myself never to invest in a driver again: after10 years of playing, a good round of driving means hitting 7 of the 14 fairways... What a waste of the $400 last year on the driver.

So whenthe driver is out, I will hit the 3w 14x of the tee box (never of a tee either) plus the 2 or 3 times of the fairway. Thing is I love hybrids and always have them in the bag. Great from all lies. So once the driver is gone and the 3w as well, I will get a 2 hybrid and have that as my longest club.

I like to carry my clubs and prefer half sets or less, so carrying a club I might use only a few times a round is a big nono.

[b.mattay]

When I need to turn a shot over off the tee or when driver gets me in my trouble. I also use it anywhere from 70-250 when I really really need a huge slice out of the trees. Don’t ask how I control distance with this, but I do somehow.

[Righty to Lefty]

I, like others have stated, vary my club configuration depending on the type of course that I am playing. I go with driver and 4 wood if the course is longer and less punishing off the tee, or I go Mini Driver and 3 wood if the course is tight. Both configurations still allow me to have a shot at getting home in two on most par fives as I found that when I am hitting driver well I will only hit 3 wood as a teeing club on a short, tight par 4 as it will not be needed to hit into a par five because I will most likely have a shorter yardage into the green and so that is why I combo the Driver and 4 wood. The mini driver 3 wood combo works because it allows me to fall back off the tee, reducing the risk for error, but still allows me to cover 550 to 575 yards in two good shots which still gets home in two on most par 5's while my Driver and 4 wood combo can cover up about 600 yards max.

I used to be a terrible fairway wood player but I found through fitting myself and getting the total weight and swing weight ( heavy swing weight and total weight player) more to my liking, and good old fashioned hard work and perseverance, that they are no longer a weakness in my bag and I have no reservations about hitting them into tight windows. Now that I have them dialed in it will take quite an improvement from future clubs to remove them from my bag and that is made more difficult because I now view fairway woods in much the same light as an iron in that I am looking to hit them a specific distance for a stock shot.

[eaglechip]

My fairway wood is a 4W. I use it 1-3 times a round on my home course, depending on wind, flag and teebox position:

doogleg par 5 with narrow fairway where driver would be too long.

teeshot on a ~245 yards par 3, when 3 hybdrid wouldn't reach.

second shot on a par 5, but only after a well hit drive and perfect lie on fairway.