The great 3w battle of 2021

[getitdaily]

For those who care, I'm getting ready to embark on a several.week journey into 3woods. I lost the feel of my old trusty 17m2 and have started to wonder if I'm going to hit it left when I pull it from the bag.

 

I've hit a bunch of stuff and have narrowed into 3 that will battle it out...

 

Tsi3 - 15 - OG rogue silver 110 70 x

Stz - 15 - 757 speeder evo ii 

Sim2 max - 757 speeder evo ii 

 

The stz has a leg up. I've been testing it the last 2 weeks and it's good. I've tested the tsi3 indoors and it was really good. Thought the ts3 would be equal but I didn't care for it at all. It never made it off the range. I've tested sim2 max indoors too. It showed nearly the exact same launch, spin, and ballspeed as 17m2 so there was no justification in getting it. I didn't pay attention to dispersion then so that must mean it was the same as 17m2. 

 

Sim2 max is on its way, will start testing, formally, next week. Launch monitor first, then range, then on-course.

Edited July 27, 2021 by getitdaily

[Ri_Redneck]

Don't buy any of them until you hit them off the dirt. Mats lie to you a lot more with fairway woods. Personally, I would be happy with any of those as long as they are weighted correctly (which you should have done before trying them).

 

BT

[getitdaily]

2 minutes ago, Ri_Redneck said:

Don't buy any of them until you hit them off the dirt. Mats lie to you a lot more with fairway woods. Personally, I would be happy with any of those as long as they are weighted correctly (which you should have done before trying them).

 

BT

I own them all. The only valid testing is using my shafts in them. Got them all for a price that should allow me to resell them and not lose much, if any, money. 

[ChipNRun]

6 hours ago, getitdaily said:

17m2 and have started to wonder if I'm going to hit it left when I pull it. 

 

That's what happens when you pull a shot, unless it's a pull slice.

 

Maybe something has happened with your physique, spine angle? For starters, choke down a half-inch the shaft. This will flatten the lie a bit, and may help you control direction better.

 

I turned the Rogue 4W into a solid club by choking down a half-inch for shots off the turf. If I want a draw off a tee box, I hold it at full length and aim for the right side of the fairway.

 

Also, try out a 4W. Often has a shorter shaft than 3W, and is easier to control. General reliability for negligible distance loss is often a worthwhile tradeoff.

Edited July 27, 2021 by ChipNRun

[getitdaily]

6 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

 

That's what happens when you pull a shot, unless it's a pull slice.

 

Maybe something has happened with your physique, spine angle? For starters, choke down a half-inch the shaft. This will flatten the lie a bit, and may help you control direction better.

 

I turned the Rogue 4W into a solid club by choking down a half-inch for shots off the turf. If I want a draw off a tee box, I hold it at full length and aim for the right side of the fairway.

I meant pull it from the bag...

 

It might be the shaft. I have a theory that my move to ventus blue in driver and hybrid has caused me to lose the feel of my gamer 3w shaft. Had no issues with it until a few months ago (about 5 months into the ventus change). 

[Lefty96]

I picked up a sim ti a month or so ago to replace my xr-16 3 wood and have been very happy with it. Much better launch and spin for me and has quickly become my most consistent tee option. No issue off the turf either. Very happy with it even though I historically haven't gotten on with taylormades. 

[getitdaily]

25 minutes ago, Lefty96 said:

I picked up a sim ti a month or so ago to replace my xr-16 3 wood and have been very happy with it. Much better launch and spin for me and has quickly become my most consistent tee option. No issue off the turf either. Very happy with it even though I historically haven't gotten on with taylormades. 

I tried sim2 ti. It was good but not good enough. Wanted to like it but found 17m2 to out perform it on dispersion.

[AP76]

I really can't get on with modern 3 woods for some reason, it totally baffles me? Tried so many but have no confidence in them or with them. Have picked up a couple of older ones and am going to try those then put a good shaft in one of them. Either an X2 hot or Mizuno MP titanium. I'll be interested to see how your test goes though.

[Ri_Redneck]

On 7/26/2021 at 4:37 PM, getitdaily said:

I own them all. The only valid testing is using my shafts in them. Got them all for a price that should allow me to resell them and not lose much, if any, money. 

Then you should be good to go. One bothersome thing from another post...

 

You mention the move to the Ventus Blue in driver and hybrid has caused your 3w swing to go bad. It should not. They should all feel the same if the flex is right and they are weighted properly. Bend profiles will have very subtle feel differences, but not enough to cause something like that. I have 4 bags I play regularly out of. Many different shafts in irons and woods. The one constant is they are all weighted and balanced (MOI) very similarly. If hitting one club makes you not be able to hit the next, that's a HUGE red flag.

 

BT

[getitdaily]

34 minutes ago, Ri_Redneck said:

Then you should be good to go. One bothersome thing from another post...

 

You mention the move to the Ventus Blue in driver and hybrid has caused your 3w swing to go bad. It should not. They should all feel the same if the flex is right and they are weighted properly. Bend profiles will have very subtle feel differences, but not enough to cause something like that. I have 4 bags I play regularly out of. Many different shafts in irons and woods. The one constant is they are all weighted and balanced (MOI) very similarly. If hitting one club makes you not be able to hit the next, that's a HUGE red flag.

 

BT

Perhaps. It was a theory. I seem to be getting along with the stz fwy with the same shaft as my gamer 3w. It could just be something else. Just lost confidence in the gamer 3w. Not exactly sure what it is. I really.like being able to open up these adjustable fwys tho.

[Fairway14]

On 7/26/2021 at 1:10 PM, getitdaily said:

 

Stz - 15 - 757 speeder evo ii 

 

 

Stz is which brand/model ?

[getitdaily]

9 minutes ago, Fairway14 said:

 

Stz is which brand/model ?

Mizuno...and it's very, very good.

[getitdaily]

Likely Specs:

 

Stz - 57.75 lie, 13.875 loft

Tsi3 - 57.75 lie, 14.25 loft - weight in toe

Sim2 max - 59 lie, 15 loft

 

The mizuno can go flatter. The flat and 1 low setting is 56.25. I could end up in that setting. Start line will determine whether upright and open or flat and open. I don't envision the tsi3 going anymore upright.

 

The club that goes left the least should be the winner. I don't think any of them will be overly longer than the others. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by getitdaily

[BostonWRX]

I’m voting tsi3

[getitdaily]

3 minutes ago, BostonWRX said:

I’m voting tsi3

It's good too. Haven't hit it outside yet but it checked the launch monitor boxes. 

[bird_4_3]

Where is @Duffner's Waggle when you need him?  His 3 wood search was epic a few years ago.

[Duffner's Waggle]

1 hour ago, bird_4_3 said:

Where is @Duffner's Waggle when you need him?  His 3 wood search was epic a few years ago.

My ears were tingling....

[Duffner's Waggle]

Just be careful. It's a deep, dark hole and the climb out takes it out of ya....

 

I spent so much time, money, energy on 3 woods it was honestly insane. I was averaging like one round and two range sessions per club before moving on to the next. Pretty sure at one point in time, there were like 4 boxes with 3 woods in them that showed up to my door at the same time. I'd forgotten I even bought a couple of em. 

 

Truth be told, the best I ever hit in my life was a Titleist 915Fd with Aldila Tour Green 75X.....gah that thing was sweet! One day at the range I took a swing, and the head went flying. Snapped right above the hosel. Titleist replaced it, but it was never the same.  

 

Currently own the Tsi3 with Diamana D+ 70X (also have a Ventus Velo Blue....going back and forth between the two). 

 

The question I ultimately had to answer was what did I use the 3w for and how often would I hit it realistically? I had a Stenson mentality. I LOVED hitting 3w, especially off the tee. The problem was I started chasing distance because it was a tee only club, and I didn't hit it a ton shorter than my driver, so I could never ultimately find one I was happy with because I thought they should all be going 300 yards. (What can I say? I was young and dumb). 

 

I will tell you this about the Tsi3....it is low spin off the tee and hits piercing missiles that seem to carry forever. If you like long and straight, it's a good one. Like the Tsi3 driver though, it isn't the most forgiving thing. 

I finally decided that I wanted 250 out of my 3w. I didn't need 285-300 yards from it. That's what I had driver for. Once I did that, I started to realize how rare it was that I would use fairway from the deck. So basically it was a shorter driver in terms of what I wanted from my 3w. I committed to playing hybrid off the deck, and 3w off the tee primarily unless I have a perfect lie/number. Once I did that, I just wanted to find the fairway that would be best off the tee. Not balloon, not spin too much or too little, not go 285 yards. 

 

I actually ended up in a TS2 16.5 4Wood with the D+ 70X, but in a fitting saw some upside in the TSi3/Ventus combo. Made the fulltime move to the Tsi3 head, but still working through shafts. Sometimes the Ventus Blue feels like it wants to go pully/hooky on me and that's an absolute no, so he's benched for now. 

If you hit it off the deck a lot, check out 16.5 in a TS2 or TSi2. A little added help and launch height, with minimal impact on distance. I think a lot more people should play 4w than play a 3w. Much more versatile, which is why mine is not in the bag, but is also not on BST. Fairway woods are tricky things, and its always a good idea to have a backup! 

 

Sounds like you're already getting on with Mizuno as well. Love their stuff, and their woods/drivers game seems to get better with every release. 

 

Good Luck, will be fun to watch! 

[getitdaily]

6 hours ago, Duffner's Waggle said:

Just be careful. It's a deep, dark hole and the climb out takes it out of ya....

 

I spent so much time, money, energy on 3 woods it was honestly insane. I was averaging like one round and two range sessions per club before moving on to the next. Pretty sure at one point in time, there were like 4 boxes with 3 woods in them that showed up to my door at the same time. I'd forgotten I even bought a couple of em. 

 

Truth be told, the best I ever hit in my life was a Titleist 915Fd with Aldila Tour Green 75X.....gah that thing was sweet! One day at the range I took a swing, and the head went flying. Snapped right above the hosel. Titleist replaced it, but it was never the same.  

 

Currently own the Tsi3 with Diamana D+ 70X (also have a Ventus Velo Blue....going back and forth between the two). 

 

The question I ultimately had to answer was what did I use the 3w for and how often would I hit it realistically? I had a Stenson mentality. I LOVED hitting 3w, especially off the tee. The problem was I started chasing distance because it was a tee only club, and I didn't hit it a ton shorter than my driver, so I could never ultimately find one I was happy with because I thought they should all be going 300 yards. (What can I say? I was young and dumb). 

 

I will tell you this about the Tsi3....it is low spin off the tee and hits piercing missiles that seem to carry forever. If you like long and straight, it's a good one. Like the Tsi3 driver though, it isn't the most forgiving thing. 

I finally decided that I wanted 250 out of my 3w. I didn't need 285-300 yards from it. That's what I had driver for. Once I did that, I started to realize how rare it was that I would use fairway from the deck. So basically it was a shorter driver in terms of what I wanted from my 3w. I committed to playing hybrid off the deck, and 3w off the tee primarily unless I have a perfect lie/number. Once I did that, I just wanted to find the fairway that would be best off the tee. Not balloon, not spin too much or too little, not go 285 yards. 

 

I actually ended up in a TS2 16.5 4Wood with the D+ 70X, but in a fitting saw some upside in the TSi3/Ventus combo. Made the fulltime move to the Tsi3 head, but still working through shafts. Sometimes the Ventus Blue feels like it wants to go pully/hooky on me and that's an absolute no, so he's benched for now. 

If you hit it off the deck a lot, check out 16.5 in a TS2 or TSi2. A little added help and launch height, with minimal impact on distance. I think a lot more people should play 4w than play a 3w. Much more versatile, which is why mine is not in the bag, but is also not on BST. Fairway woods are tricky things, and its always a good idea to have a backup! 

 

Sounds like you're already getting on with Mizuno as well. Love their stuff, and their woods/drivers game seems to get better with every release. 

 

Good Luck, will be fun to watch! 

Thanks man. I've already hit a bunch of them. Narrowed it down to these 3. I'm able to hit pretty much anything I want on launch monitors so I've been able to eliminate a few already. Ts2 and tsi2 were no good. Ts3 was no good (had to buy that one). Sold it for what I paid though. Bought and resold sim2 ti. It was good on distance but mishits weren't as good as my gamer. I didn't really care for the callaway stuff, ef or mav. Still can't look down at a ping fwy. So it's these 3 and i got the tsi3 and sim2 max at prices that will allow me to sell them for at least what i paid and probably not lose $ on shipping.  Just wanted all 3 in hand for a few weeks to test side by side. They all will have to beat the stz. It is really good. Mizuno fixed their distance gap in this one. It's stable. But I'm seeing inconsistency in start line just a touch. Pretty sure i need to tweak swingweight. 

 

Sim2 max will be here Friday. Tournament rounds this weekend and stz will be in the bag for those. Then it's testing time.

[launcher]

16 hours ago, AP76 said:

I really can't get on with modern 3 woods for some reason, it totally baffles me? Tried so many but have no confidence in them or with them. Have picked up a couple of older ones and am going to try those then put a good shaft in one of them. Either an X2 hot or Mizuno MP titanium. I'll be interested to see how your test goes though.

I could easily put an MP-Ti back in the bag. Absolute vintage 3 wood. 

[getitdaily]

Got out for a round this afternoon. Was able to hit stz and tsi3 head to head several times. Stz will be hard to beat. It's really good. Tsi3 sits closed the way I address the ball. It's a canon. But I hit a few left and it just doesnt really want to "auto fade". It flies pretty straight but tends to fall left rather than fall right. The stz doesn't miss fairways. I bumped the swingweight up just half a point and start line was much more consistent today. It's going to be hard to beat. 

[SwingMan]

ST-Z lie angle is flat-flat - if you don't want to go left, that's the one.

 

I am adjusting the lie angle to +1.

[getitdaily]

Yeah, the upright and open setting seems to he working after adjusting swingweight. I get just a bit more height out of the upright setting. The flat and open setting produces a flatter ballflight.

[GolfTurkey]

Noooo…why am I reading this, my patience neuron can’t handle the wait for my STZ

[getitdaily]

15 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

Noooo…why am I reading this, my patience neuron can’t handle the wait for my STZ

It is very, very solid. It might be the most forgiving 3w I've ever hit. It is the favorite as of today. Sim2 max will have to be special. 

[GolfTurkey]

51 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

It is very, very solid. It might be the most forgiving 3w I've ever hit. It is the favorite as of today. Sim2 max will have to be special. 

 Yep, at my fitting I gained 7-8 mph ball speed and 1K less spin than my G400, with less dispersion 

[getitdaily]

7 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

 Yep, at my fitting I gained 7-8 mph ball speed and 1K less spin than my G400, with less dispersion 

Just be aware of swingweight. The head is light. I play 3w at 43 and with a counterbalanced shaft. I had to add 5g of lead tape to get it to d3.5.

[IL2AZ]

I have the same experience as Duffner's Waggle.  Loved the Titleist 915 fairway, makes me want to try and hunt one down.  Not really sure why I ever got rid of it.

[wam78]

The 915fd was my favorite 3 wood I ever played.  Stupidly got rid of it because GolfWRX!

 

Everyone is different, but man I can’t get the ts3 out of my bag.  For me, it’s so effortless off the tee and plenty forgiving. 

[uglande]

1 hour ago, IL2AZ said:

I have the same experience as Duffner's Waggle.  Loved the Titleist 915 fairway, makes me want to try and hunt one down.  Not really sure why I ever got rid of it.

I feel this way about the 917F2. I had every wood in that range at one point and wish I could go back in time.

 

Currently experimenting with the STZ 3w and 5w. Some mixed results. Not crazy about the Motore shaft. Want to get something else in there.