What is your go-to fairway finding club off the tee?

[bombs]

Yesterday the penny dropped for me, and I realised that despite being a handy golfer I am not a smart one.

I don't take any strategy into my rounds and this is most evident off the tee. On any Par 4 or 5 I pull out driver and let it rip giving little consideration to hazards, preferred distances for my approach shots or any other 'strategy' that should be applied to club selection off the tee. For this reason my ability to post a good score depends heavily on how well I am hitting my driver, and it results in a decent variance between good/bad rounds.

Until this point I have hit driver on my local course 8 of 18 holes, but have worked out I should only hit driver on 3 holes if I want to avoid hazards, maximise my chances of putting my tee shots in scoring positions and get to my preferred approach shot distances.

I have realised that what I need is the ability to hit fariways consistently at 230 yards. I never hit my 5W or 3H off the tee but either of these clubs would get me just short/long of this distance. This is now a part of my bag that I want to give serious attention to and where I believe I can find a few shots.

I wanted to know what club is your go-to fairway finder off the tee, what distance do you hit it, and how consistent are you with it?

[trojanhorse]

For me it's driver. I can't hit my hybrid for anything and I'm not confident over the 3 wood but I know my driver will be a 250yd slight fade every time. I'm working on the 3 wood because I would like up have some versatility and maybe take some hazards out of play if possible

[bombs]

If I could hit my driver consistently straight I would stick with it, but I hit my driver ~295 yards in all directions.

My local course is quite short, so giving up signficant yards off the tee will not be an issue. Getting into a scoring position from the tee is most critical. Driver often leaves with me with less than full shot swings on my approaches which are not my preference. BUT I do love hitting huge bombs so putting the driver away will be tough.

[cardoustie]

Driver

[dwh24]

4 iron, line up to left rough/trees and smooth transition and swing out to the left and shut it at the last minute. Smooth draw 210-220 middle of the fairway.

[bombs]

You line up to the left, swing out to in, and have a closed face that results in a draw?

Based on my undestanding of golf swing mechanics I don't understand how this is even possible unless you are left handed??

 

[freeflyer14]

M1 5 wood with motore speeder 83x. High launch but absolute fairway finder and easy to hit. First 5 wood I’ve ever stuck with, and the only non iron club in my bag besides driver.

[brew4eagle]

Has to be a lefty

[brew4eagle]

The only time I don't hit driver on a par 4 or 5 is if the dogleg distance, end of fairway, or some other hazard is in the driver landing area. If that's the case then I'll hit 19* hybrid, 4 iron, or 5 iron depending on where the ideal landing distance is.

Edit- driver distance has been around 250-260 avg lately (dry, hard fairways). 19* hybrid goes 210ish, 4i 190, 5i 180.

[Chuck905]

 

The 2 iron was my go to club but the root cause for that was because I couldn’t hit the 3 wood reliably. After swing lessons and hard work, I have every club stretched out.

Now my game has opened up where I hit to a certain yardage. It basically goes driver first, 3 wood, 2 iron etc in descending order .

I get it about those strategic holes, in that case, I target the fattest part of the fairway. For example, one hole in my men’s league I take 6 iron off the tee and it leaves me a 5-4 iron into the green and a likely par. I’ve witness guys take a 7-8 stokes on the hole because they’re in the woods, fairway bunkers or under a branch etc

At the end of the day, I’m not losing a stroke to the field.

[Vater]

V-Steel 3W.

Trees crowding in, water in play... tempted to go to my 4 iron (21*), but my trusty 3W can keep me between the buoys.

[dwh24]

Definitely a lefty.

[gentles]

Driver - biggest face and you get to tee the ball however you want to. Even a chippy half swing with a driver goes as a far a full 2 iron or something like that. Only time I won't use driver is if there isn't enough room to land the ball where I want it.

[Tax77]

Chip shot driver.

[ProStryker]

3 hybrid if I have to get it in play. I actually hit a lot of 3 hybrids and 3-woods off the tee. But I’m not playing back tees at long courses.

[geochitown]

Tour Edge 4W 16.5* at 41.75" (short)

heavier shaft 80's range tipped

lead tape on head

I can hit it 240-250

[WarEagleGolf]

Driver is the easy answer. Butter cut, 250-65. Can step on it if needed. I'm a wrx wannabe, not a monster.

But, since OP doesn't want to hear that as it's not useful. On holes when I can't fly a bunker or will hit through fairway - 4Wd. Exponentially easier to hit than a 3Wd for me. It's a 5wd turned to 16.5. can work either way, tee high or low.

 

I find since I hit driver consistent, I don't need the distance of a 3wd.

[hagimihale]

Depends on where the trouble is or how far until the fairway ends. 4 iron is 200 and pretty much down the middle. 18* hybrid is 240 (carry) off the tee with a draw. If I'm not hitting driver due to the layout of the hole, its one of these 2 clubs.

[ChipNRun]

Since I got fitted about three years ago, the driver is my most accurate long club.

The only time I don't use it is when...

I risk knocking it through the landing area on short holes, or...A driver will leave me with a 70-yard blind approach off a sidehill lie, or something else silly. I would throttle back for a flat lie.Otherwise, I might go with a 4i or a 4H, depending on how I feel that day.

[Bgreene18]

Either tee my driver very low, like 3/4” inch high and hit a little hold off cut that flies about head high or my U45 18* moved back a touch and smoked. Both are very handy to have in the the bag.

[NotromJRH]

something I know I can hit the fairway every time?

hand me a wedge. lol.

but in general, i try to alway play to the fattest part of the fairway whatever that distance happens to be is what I grab.

[dubbelbogey]

Simple answer: Driver.

If I really need to squeeze one in a tight spot, it's a bunt/chip shot driver, teed a bit lower than usual. Big face + controlled swing gives me the best shot of hitting my target. I actually have fun practicing this shot to small targets on the range.

If the target is less than 225 yds out, then my hybrids come into play.

[Ger21]

4 iron for a 200 yard shot, 2 hybrid for a 225 shot.

[Albatross71]

It used to be my Ping i3 with a Harrison Pro 1.8 Stiff shaft (Loved that club), I started playing longer courses and now its my driver or my Titleist TS .

[Oqvist]

Some drivers are fade or draw biased. I got the sim max 9 degree head and I have to work like absolute hell to draw it. My old driver is more of a draw biased and there inside out do create a draw and outside in to create a fade. With the Sim Max it just a slice that starts more right when setting up to the extreme for a pull hook... I can get absolute straight as an arrow shots but no draws or hooks no matter how much I set up for a pull hook.

I do hope it will be my go to. My home course is very open and driver friendly. There is seldom a real excuse for NOT going with a driver fairways are wide enough and there is not much in term of traps at my distances. I am not a long hitter happy to do 220 metre drives.

3wood is certainly a safer option for me though. That one is hard to totally miss and still goes a fair distance.

 

 

[KevCannon]

I had this dilemma maybe 5-6 years ago mainly because I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my 3 wood and hybrid would leave me a longer than optimal 2nd shot into green. Once I was able to to end the lifetime search for a reliable 3 wood everything changed. It will always depend on the actual yardage and shape of a par 4, but when you have confidence in a fairway wood off the tee, it becomes a weapon. Eliminated lost penalty strokes from wayward drives, and dramatically increased my scoring chances from 100-140 yards out. So my long winded answer is 3 wood.

[ZA206]

If I have to be in the fairway, no matter what, then I'll pull the 3H. That's about 230 yards. I'll hit the fairway +90% of the time with it. If I do miss, it's generally not a "bad" miss. It's an extremely safe club off the tee for me. I can't ever really remember having "a bad day" with my 3H.

 

 

[nlinneman20]

lol i thought the same thing, more importantly, lining up left, hitting a draw (which curves right to left) and ending up in the middle of the fairway.

 

Although if a lefty it makes all sense lol, lefty's are like unicorns though, i dont know any

[GSDriver]

Driver, generically I don't miss more than 2 fairways a round with it. Only time I don't hit driver is if I can't make a forced carry or too much club for a dogleg.

[Mych]

This year I've been mostly playing a course that is pretty tight with lots of doglegs, trees, water, and houses. I generally play (blue/mens), and the front 9 is only 3150 yds, but driver has very little benefit unless you have great driver precision (line + distance accuracy). I generally only hit driver once on the 4th hole, and often leave it in the bag until #10 where it opens up a bit.

My go-to weapon is the Cobra King Utility 3 iron. It goes 225-240 and fairly close to my target line. For this particular course, I can aim it directly at the trouble and let it fly, whereas driver or fairway wood would be wet or in the trees. Because of the number of doglegs, being able to hit an aggressive line can change the approach distance by 50+ yards, the difference between hitting a 9i in and a 5i.