Switch from Driver-3W to Driver 5W

[bombs]

On the courses I play I rarely have a need for my 5W, let alone a 3W. 

 

5W typically rolls out to 230m and I never hit it off the tee, so it only comes ever out for long par 5 approach shots.

 

I've had an M3 in the bag for a few years and it's going nowhere. Love hitting it. Great flight and can shape it beautuflly both ways with ease. 

 

[pup142]

I carry 3-5-7 woods.I guess I am old school. Getting older and need the 3 wood distance.3 wood goes 225 and find out when I hit down with it I have no trouble. Rather than sweep i it hit down on the ball. Works for me. Try it. Might take a bucket of balls to get used to it. Don’t give up on that 3 wood. I play some old fairway woods. Taylor burner 2007 woods. Tried all the new stuff but these for me are golden.

Edited October 21, 2020 by pup142

[golfandtennisfan]

Great idea. Most will hit it almost as far or the same if they are lower swing speed players. Easier to launch and softer landing is a win/win. If you want to ramp it up a bit just put a little longer shaft in it (like around 43 or bit under like a 3w). Can't go wrong if strike stays good.

[mallrat]

I kind of created my own club and love it. I have a high loft 3 wood (16.5 degrees) and have the shaft cut down to 5 wood length. 

[PhilWhitUK]

I have played a four wood for many years having found that I always used to go to the five wood rather than three wood if I wanted a safety shot off the tee.  I figured there was no point in carrying a club I didn’t use.

 

Recently I did a Cobra fitting and they gave me a five wood with the three wood shaft and I got great results with the combination of loft and shaft length.  Might be worth the OP trying some options that allow an adjustable shaft so he could get the pro shop to set up something similar to try.

 

i cannot imagine owning a “traditional” 3 wood again.  I will always stick with the 4 wood or 4 wood.

[Flyers99]

Pulled the trigger on the M6 5W at 18 degrees. Is being shafted so will try it out this weekend. I am getting it at a 4 wood playing length (basically 1/2 longer/shorter) than stock 5W/3W. Looking forward to testing it out. Up here in the Northeast the golf season is winding down so hoping to give it a few runs before the winter. 

[NRJyzr]

I feel like I repeat this whenever this subject comes up.  With apologies for that repetition...

 

In Ye Olde Days, most carried a 3w on top of their driver.  That 3w was 17*, before being bumped to 16* in the late 80s (or thereabouts).  A 14* club was a 2w, and few people carried one.  Even pros tended not to use them.

 

Golfers now moving to the driver/4w or even 5w in the modern bag configuration are merely returning to the loft setup that long worked, only with slightly different names.

 

[LeftyMatt24]

I’ve moved to driver 2 hybrid 4 hybrid. I can get 260/270 off tee with 2 hybrid down to 16 degrees and can get 240 with my 4 hybrid lofted to 20. Works for me and I feel confident from more lies than with a fairway wood

[Bubbtubbs]

On 10/16/2020 at 7:02 AM, North Butte said:

I think you've correctly identified the two issues. 

 

1) What is the longest and strongest lofted club you can hit well off the fairway?

2) Do you need a slightly shorter than driver club, optimized for distance off the tee?

 

For a lot of us, myself included, this gets pretty simple. I answer #1 first and the answer is something around 18 or 19 degrees of loft no more than 42" or at most 42-1/2" long. That's pretty much a 5-wood nowadays. And my answer to #2 is no.

 

There are two guys I frequently play with who are much better golfers (around 5hcp) than I am and who rely a lot on the option of 3-wood off the tee. In both cases it's because they feel they hit their driver crooked and play 3-wood for "safety". It's funny reading this thread right now because both of them, on separate occasions, have recently told me they are reconsidering that strategy because they don't actually hit the fairway every time with the 3-wood.

 

As one of them said the other day, "It's like I'm giving up 20 yards for no reason". And this guy, the one who said that, also carries a 5-wood which he is absolutely dead consistent with. He can hit a GIR with that 5-wood from 200 yards more often than I hit the GIR with a 6-iron. I try not to give "advice" to better players but I was tempted to suggest he do just what you're proposing. Drop the 3-wood and just carry Driver and 5-wood. 

For a longer player, sometimes 3w off the tee is safer on doglegs with OB so you don't risk a stroke pushing/pulling it into the deep stuff or trees. There's a couple local courses here where hitting it 290-300 and not curving it properly will have you off the hole, whereas cutting the leg with 3w leaves you only a slightly longer wedge and eliminates the chance of a lost ball.

 

Edit: for reference, 3w loft has always been 15° for me, not one of those strong 13.5° ones.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Bubbtubbs

[mjf34g]

At 72 and with my aches and pains I can't reach most five pars in two with a three wood anyway.  I switched to a 18* Sim Max five wood (almost as long as my previous  Epic three wood) and am much more consistent with it which breeds confidence that I can swing away.  As an old friend who won our State Am five times, All American at NC and someone who had played in three US Opens told me a long time ago "count how many birdies you've made with your wedge vs your three wood". I've lived by that now for years and its born out to me at least to be true. YNNV. 

[cbjuhr]

I am considering increasing loft to 17-18 degrees as well. I had good results going to an M2 Tour HL 16 degree a couple years ago and now with the hotter fairways ( SIM in particular) I think its an even easier decision to go for 17-18 degree 4 or 5 woods. They have the same distance, higher ball flight and better descent angles. I've also really struggled with the increased length of stock 3 woods and the resulting dispersion.     

[asKaasa]

Good idea OP! Myself I have a good experience going driver, 3 wood @ 16°, 5 wood @ 19° and 4 hybrid @ 22° before going into irons. Feels very versatile and safe. For the windy days I switch out the 18 and 22 for irons.

Edited October 23, 2020 by asKaasa

[Ephemerlol]

I recently changed out my 3 wood for a strong lofted 5 wood.  It plays at 42" and 16.5*, much more useful club.

[joostin]

Yeah 5 wood is very useful. I find that clubs that can hit high are so versatile because I can learn to also hit them low.  As a relatively long player on mostly short courses, my 5W is mainly a tee club but great off turf when I need.  I only brought back a strong 3W recently really as a 2nd driver that I can shape a draw more easily than driver or hit low bullets.  Could've gone mini driver route for that but I like the smaller size and ability to hit off the turf if needed.  5W off the turf is usually better anyway.

[dlygrisse]

On 10/14/2020 at 11:16 PM, ChitownM2 said:

Also thinking of making this switch but took the intermediate step of trying out an adjustable 3w and setting it to 17. 

Depends, you are really just adjusting face angle, so a lofted up 3w is going to play closed while a lofted down 5 wood will play open.  Both fun options to experiment with. 

[ChitownM2]

1 hour ago, dlygrisse said:

Depends, you are really just adjusting face angle, so a lofted up 3w is going to play closed while a lofted down 5 wood will play open.  Both fun options to experiment with. 

Yeah I fight a slice so closing the face was a win-win. If I decide to go with a 5w I would probably go with a SFT from ping or something else with a closed face.

[azgreg]

Driver, 5w, 3h here. Couldn't be happier.