I’m done with my 3 wood

[deepred]

I have had one 3 wood in my 40+ years of golf which I can say I hit well and two 4 woods.

A Kenneth Smith 15 degree head I bought on the bay 12 years ago and matched with a Rocket steel shaft (DFSI 110) which flies low and goes like hell. Every other club I have tried is too light or too flexible or something lol. Just before my first round last year it needed a grip so I had to rely on a 23* hybrid and was -1 in the par fives. Hitting a third shot from the middle of the fairway has advantages.

[NoTalentLefty]

Thank you for this. Was thinking about taking my five wood out of my bag but have been hitting it better than the three. Will give this a shot and then can add a wedge.

[Sparty4202]

Try a 4 wood it’s really one of the best options...I’m still a firm believer that 85% of golfers shouldn’t carry a 3 wood or 60*, they are both very hard to master.

[Valtiel]

The logical thing to try if you are having a hard time feeling the head on takeaway is adding some weight. Ping G25 aftermarket weights are readily available and a fairly cheap experiment. Even cheaper is lead tape, which you can experiment with, weigh, and then purchase an appropriate weight to swap in. It can be the difference between getting kicked out of the bag and being your favorite club. I always play my fairways heavier and shorter than standard. The raw headweight of my 3 woods are always around 10g heavier than "standard", basically weighing in like a 5 wood. Same jump for my 5-wood which weighs in like a 7-wood. I would not play them any other way.

[TServos]

Maybe that’s something I need to try. I have an Orange Whip and can attain a perfect backswing due to the mass of the ball. I’ll give it a shot.

[Justin Kollert]

I carry driver 5 wood no three wood.

[scooterhd2]

17* hybrid and no looking back! Total game changer.

[cardoustie]

G400 three wood ... or the 5w tuned down to 16.5

i have almost 30 three and 4 heads in the basement ... Consider myself an expert in this arena

 

what is your current set up?

[kinneywhat]

I've considered dropping my 3 wood as well, since it's only about 10 yards further than my 5 wood. What do you play for your 14th club? I'm currently Driver, 3 wood, 5 wood, 4-PW, 50, 54, 58, putter. I'm not sure what I'd throw in the bag if I did drop my 3 wood. I could increase the loft on the hybrid sitting in my garage..... play that at like 20 degrees. The 5 wood is a bit strong at 17.5 degrees anyway.

[14max]

I ordered my G400 3 wood 1/2" short and it's amazing how consistently I strike it now. I ordered my driver 3/4" short and I'm getting excellent results from it as well. Shorter is better...

[gopherlover]

I feel like if there's not a gap between the rest of your set then the logical club to add would be a 64* wedge if that's something you're interested in.

[kinneywhat]

I don't dare hit anything over 58*. I have the bounce ground down on my 58* and lay it open when I need to. I typically only hit it within about 35y of the green anyway. Anywhere between 105 and 35 yards, I got to my 54*, for more consistency. My biggest gap is probably between my 4 iron and my 5 wood. Problem is, whenever I try to fill that gap, it creeps up to the 5 wood length. 5 wood is about 230-235y carry and 4 iron is 205-210y. If I could find something that I would regularly hit 220, that would be great. I tried a driving iron at the beginning of this year, but the distance was so erratic. If I flushed it, it would carry like 230, but a hit towards the toe, and distance would drop right down to around 190. I'm leaning towards adjusting my Titleist 818 H1 hybrid to 20 or 21 degrees. That is something I haven't tried.

[Therealpatgiles]

A dang 3w is much easier to hit than a driver. Length is key. Half inch short is great. I can hit this epic flash 15 about as far as my playing friends can the driver.

[Tiptx1122]

I understand the frustration but once you find one it stays in the bag. I love my Royma F2 13.5* with GD AD stiff shaft.

[sdiver68]

I learned to hit my driver from the turf. Choke up. Weight on front leg..

Seems impossible to miss that huge driver head. Worst mis-hits are simply ground burners. Unlike 3W mis-hits that can go anywhere and typically into serious trouble.

[gdlewis]

About 5 years ago i sold both my 3W and 5W and swore i never own another. That was until a friend let me try their M4 3W, and that was a game changer. I have more control with that 3W then my driver most of the time. I tried another 3W the other day and couldn't a thing. I would say, you just need to find the one that is right for you.

[tagermo]

Have struggled with the 3 wood for years so I recently went to a Professional fitter (outdoor fitter not some store clerk with a simulator). He had me hitting a Ping G410 5 wood as long as my 3 wood but easier to hit and certainly higher launch. He dialed down the 17.5 degree 5 wood to 16.5 making it in effect a 4 wood and put a 3 wood shaft in the 5 wood and went up in stiffness due to the extra length, this is now a high bomber great off the deck or off the tee. My search for a 3 wood has ended.

[danimal]

Yep I did the same thing goodbye 3 wood hello ping 3 crossover.

[Justin Kollert]

I am currently, Driver, 5 wood, 4-PW 52, 56, 60, 64, Sometimes i will pull the 64 and put in a 3i depending on the course.

[GraemeMacdonald]

Im also damage free of a 3 wood ?

G410 driver,

G410 5 wood 9 wood,

i210 5-9 iron

Glide 3 46, 52,56, 60

new ping Tomcat putter

Ping through and through ??‍♂️????⛳️

[me05501]

I'm one of those who could never do much with a 3 wood off the deck, but it wasn't exactly automatic off a tee either. Last season I dropped my 3 wood for a TM SLDR Mini Driver with the heavy shaft. That is now my warm fuzzy blanket club off the tee. I just put a smooth swing on it and it goes, even has a nice draw shape that I wish I could master with my driver. I don't miss the 3 wood at all. I can even hit the SLDR mini driver well out of the rough, if it's sitting up, which was an intimidating shot with the shallower 3 wood.

Since that worked so well for me I decided to try the new version, the Original One Mini Driver. It's not nearly as automatic for me for some reason. It flies much lower and wants to be teed up higher. I've ordered the heavier shaft to try in it before I give up completely.

 

[dlygrisse]

It seems from my experience you are either going to like a deep faced 3 wood or a shallow faced one. It really depends on your swing. If you are a sweeper then you will probably either need more loft or a shallow one, like a Ping G410. The deeper faced ones work better for people who hit down a bit or like them off the tee exclusively. The other issue is many modern 3 woods will get a case of the "lefts" real quick if you are more of a sweeper, especially if you need a flatter lie angle.

I fought the Epic flash for over a year, it was really long, but very inconsistent, went to the G410 and while I have never hit a real bomb with it, I feel I can control it. I have the 3,5 and 7 wood, I will pick two of these to fill out my bag depending on what I am feeling like.

 

Going with a 4 wood or a 5 wood with the face closed a bit is a nice option.

 

[Used2PlayALot]

I want to replace my 3W and 3i with a 3 Hybrid.

What's a popular used model that most people like?

[David69]

Shop Callaway used on their website. Excellent prices and customer service. I love the Epic series.

I would like to add that I can hit a 3-5 just fine off a tee or off grass, but not off a mat. For some reason when I hit this club off a mat it never ends up well. So I just don’t practice the club off a mat. No problem with hybrids though.

[A.Princey]

Play something at 16.5-17*, at 42". Problem solved. Also, hit it more, the less you hit a club, the more of a mind f**k it is than anything else.

[myspinonit]

I just did the same thing (added the 3 wood shaft to my G410 5w). Interesting you found it stiffer with the 3W shaft. I found it plays slightly softer with the 3W shaft than with the original Alta 65 5 wood shaft I had in it since early 2020 (with Covid break). That makes sense to me as the shaft is longer and a 5w head would be slightly heavier than the 3W one. Softer is not a bad thing at my swingspeed though. That's with the same 7g weight from the stock 5W. I tried the "4w" with a 4g weight I bought, but it felt wimpy.

That configuration makes it very close to the last Ping 4 wood, the G25 4 wood which was 16.5° 43" 165cc 56° lie. The G410 5w head is 162cc with "avg lie" of 57.0. Assuming it's one degree less at the -1 setting as the driver chart I've seen, that would also be 56.0 lie.

I THINK I'm going to play it at 16.5° but I was hitting it quite a bit lower than at the standard setting, but with more draw. But that's only after a few shots at either setting in play so far. Perhaps operator error trying too hard to turn it over. Anyway, at whatever setting (17.5 or 16.5) it is still a 4W at 43" in my book. (I even popped in a "4" number tab to the headcover today from extra Ping tabs I had on hand. )

 

 

 

[JY VPI]

Agreed! It took me a while but I finally figured this out and concocted a 4 wood. Started with a TaylorMade M2 HL 3 wood model which is 16.5* and I installed a 5 wood shaft into it so it plays shorter and stiffer. The head has hotmelt to add some weight (and for feel and sound). It's been a dream for the past two seasons and it's a keeper for the long haul.

[GSDriver]

I did similar when made my own Heaven Wood. 4 wood Matrix Black Tie shaft on a 7 wood Razr Fit Xtreme head, a modern version of the classic original that was good for about 220 back then.

[zerotiger]

id be frustrated too

[cmatthews77]

This is a great thread because 3W to me (and many others it seems) is the only club that rivals the need for mental comfort like a putter. Sometimes when it’s not going well you just need to look at something different.

Lots of good ideas shared in terms of shortening or just playing a 5 wood. First thing to me always in my fairway is starting with what do I primarily want this suited for... an alternate tee club or primarily from the fairway (even mix of both)