Best small 3 wood

[ewaldbeukes]

Hi all,

 

I love a more old school, small headed fairway wood to hit low bullets. At the moment the only <150cc fairway is the Cobra SZ Tour head. Any others I may be missing that I should consider and why? 

[03trdblack]

Still, to this day, hard to beat the Tour Edge Exotics CB2 fairway wood for looks, size, performance, etc.  Are you looking for something current?  The Cobra SZ tour you mentioned is quite small by today's standards and is a fantastic option.  You may also want to look at the Exotics EXS Pro 3 wood.

Edited October 21, 2020 by 03trdblack

[Dr. Block]

 

Grab a old school Titleist PT like Tiger used to use.  Then give it a new engine (the latest greatest shaft).  That would be an interesting golf club.   Those PT heads were legendary. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Dr. Block

[Mitchell]

Find yourself an old TaylorMade 300 tour fairway- Titanium construction with tungsten sole weight and small rails/relief to sole- more recent alternatives would be anything from the Tour Edge Exotics cb model series or Cobra F7 and F8 plus models.

[grm24]

7 hours ago, ewaldbeukes said:

Hi all,

 

I love a more old school, small headed fairway wood to hit low bullets. At the moment the only <150cc fairway is the Cobra SZ Tour head. Any others I may be missing that I should consider and why? 

TaylorMade M3 3 wood. 139cc.

[half lung]

Taylormade M2 tour.  Love that club!

[Karch]

Sonartec SS-02, 13*, was my favorite for a long time.

[MPAndreassi]

The Callaway XR16 Pro line was great to me, and very under appreciated. 

[raurness]

The Cobra F9 Tour delivers that recipe for me.  It is a compact profile that is easy to flight down.  Haven't hit the SZ, but would imagine it to be very similar.

[Albatross71]

Good ole Ping i3 was pretty dang small

[wakit300]

On 10/21/2020 at 12:43 PM, ewaldbeukes said:

Hi all,

 

I love a more old school, small headed fairway wood to hit low bullets. At the moment the only <150cc fairway is the Cobra SZ Tour head. Any others I may be missing that I should consider and why? 

Find yourself a Cobra F9 Speedback - same thing as Speedzone but cheaper since it came out last year.  I love mine!

[Fairway14]

On 10/21/2020 at 11:43 AM, ewaldbeukes said:

Hi all,

 

I love a more old school, small headed fairway wood to hit low bullets. At the moment the only <150cc fairway is the Cobra SZ Tour head. Any others I may be missing that I should consider and why? 

 

The golf industry companies stopped producing "small head 3-woods" about 15 years ago. These days a 16* hybrid serves the function formerly served by small head 3-woods .

Edited October 23, 2020 by Fairway14

[md_mueller]

I'd give another vote to the Callaway xr16 Pro. There are 14.5 and 16 degree options, a fixed neck (which I prefer in a fairway), and the matte black finish makes it look even more compact. Found ball flight to be very penetrating.

[mcounci2]

My Cobra F9 Tour is not leaving my bag any time soon.  Paired with my OG 83x whiteboard and turned down in loft it's perfect for playing in windy/hard conditions low to the ground.

[OSUBuckeyeFan8]

TaylorMade 2016 M2 deep face is another good option if you can find one. Pretty sure Koepka is still gaming his. I think TM has also released some 'small' tour head options in their most recent fairway options you can find on that auction site or maybe from Will Peoples. 

[scooterhd2]

2 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

 

The golf industry company's stopped producing "small head 3-woods" about 15 years ago. These days a 16* hybrid serves the function formerly served by small head 3-woods .

 

Exactly. Was able to ditch the 3 wood and driving iron for a 17* hybrid. So easy to hit low bullets with. And you can flight it up into greens. Really versatile without giving up much distance. Callaway Super Hybrid is a good modern choice which you can loft down or H85 from Srixon at 16*. 

[klausdude]

Okay...here goes...

Sonartec SS03

Sonartec GS14

Adams 5050

Adams 4060

Bridgestone J33 

[403Golfer]

3 hours ago, wakit300 said:

Find yourself a Cobra F9 Speedback - same thing as Speedzone but cheaper since it came out last year.  I love mine!

I have to reiterate what @wakit300 said, the Speedback versions from Cobra are really great smaller profile woods, I currently have the 5 wood version in the bag and just purchased a Speedback 3 wood via another GolfWRX member.

[Celebros]

4 hours ago, raurness said:

The Cobra F9 Tour delivers that recipe for me.  It is a compact profile that is easy to flight down.  Haven't hit the SZ, but would imagine it to be very similar.

I play the F8+ and have found that it, the F9 Tour, and SZ Tour are all extremely similar in performance (the head sizes are exactly the same across all three models as well).

[Puppetmaster]

The Srixon F45 3W is 160ish cc but they have a fixed hosel F45 Tour from 3-4 years ago that was a Japanese release which was smaller, or so I thought. I have one, it definitely has a smaller footprint than most others on the market. 

[cbjuhr]

If you want low consider starting with less than 15 degrees and higher (closer to face) COG. Clubs are moving away from those characteristics but the old Titleist PT's are classic. The Sonartec's were pretty awesome. 

 

I'm still very partial to the M2 Tour's from a few years back but they are not specifically designed to hit low bullets.  

[evoviiiyou]

I love the size (smallish) compared to many Mizuno ST190 TS (Tour Spoon).  Its long and the most consistent club in my bag...nothing but good things to report and the loft sleeve makes adjustments to personal need a breeze.

[pup142]

Find yourself a 2007 Taylormade Burner steel fairway wood. One of the best fairway woods ever made.

Edited October 23, 2020 by pup142

[EDT501]

There was a thread recently about old fairways that are still relevant, I'd find that and look through it if you haven't already.

 

One of the clubs mentioned there and one I am still playing is the Mizuno MP Titanium. It's an older model, sure, but it was seriously hot then and is as long as anything built now. The shape is very traditional and compact. If you're open to trying past models I'd recommend hunting one down and trying it out. 

[Hougz79]

As others have mentioned....2017 M2 Tour.  I still casually hunt for another one, regret getting rid of it a couple years ago.  Compact missile launcher.  

[phizzy30]

I still have my tour issue r7 ale 13 degree that I will periodically take out on the course for craps and giggles.  It's one of the best small 3 metals IMO and used to be my fairway finder. 

[scmgoblue]

I've been really happy with my Tour Edge CBX119 3-wood (15*), I'd be lying if I knew what the exact cc's were on it but it definitely fits more of that classic shape/profile bill, also a slightly deeper face than a lot of other options out there.  Definitely worth a look if you haven't considered their stuff before, some great shaft options too.

[mizuno]

As mentioned by others Sonartec 15* fairway clubs have small volume club heads and are rocket launchers!  Recently I started playing more and as a result of my swing getting more consistent I put my Sonartec GS Tour 15* back in the bag replacing the Big Bertha Alpha 815 16* I had started a few years ago as I felt it was more forgiving.  The Alpha 815 is an adjustable hosel and weigh placement fairway club which is very forgiving but the GS Tour is easily 20-25 yards longer and at least for me is easier to draw or fade.  You do need to put a good swing on it and hit the center of the club face, but it is certainly within the capability of most golfers who are decent strikers of the ball.  The other advantage is based on just a cursory look you can still find a lot of Sonartec models on eBay or similar sites.

[Drewhill44]

The Cobra F9 Tour is as solid as they come with that smaller profile you're looking for.  

[extrastiff]

On 10/21/2020 at 2:43 PM, ewaldbeukes said:

Hi all,

 

I love a more old school, small headed fairway wood to hit low bullets. At the moment the only <150cc fairway is the Cobra SZ Tour head. Any others I may be missing that I should consider and why? 

modern wood heads are not responsible for low bullets, technique (along with a bit of loft and shaft profile) is what u want

 

4 minutes ago, Drewhill44 said:

The Cobra F9 Tour is as solid as they come with that smaller profile you're looking for.  

that being said, f8+, f9 tour, speedback or zone tour. . .

 

OP u were spot on, cobra is the only small one worth bying and it will knock a couple hundred rpm off with that front weight placement