3 Woods Overrated

[BlackHammer]

Warm take-3 woods are overrated and most players regardless of skill level shouldnt be carrying one.

 

Good players and pros use them off the tee or going for par 5s in two. Ive heard multiple pros say driver is an easier club to hit off the tee and i would agree. If you need to hit a fairway badly a long iron is going to be the play. And how often do you really use it to go for a par 5? If theres any kind of trouble around the green, it usually just isnt a good decision to try to nuke a 3w. I dont see players use them more than like once every other round for that.

 

Worse players, like double digit handicaps, usually just struggle to get them into the air and find the sweet spot since its a tough club to hit. They use it plenty but usually do better with a hybrid. 

 

If you feel comfortable off the tee with it then go for it, or if youre a short hitter that needs it to get to certain holes in regulation then i see it. Or a high handicapper that just hits it solid. Otherwise, youre usually better off with another club imo, am i missing something? 

[Seidinho]

Funny you say this. I’m about to ditch mine and use a 17* UW as my longest non-driver. Just really struggle to make consistently good contact with the 3 wood. 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

I’m trying out a sort of 3HL and 5HL setup with my cobras. 16/19 lofts but toying with going a bit further up depending on how it goes. 
 

Completely agree with your post though, don’t think you’re missing anything 

[keith723]

Love my 3 wood.  Very reliable.  It's a hot face so I never feel like I have to nuke it, just let the club do the work.  Perfect on par 4's where driver brings trouble into play, e.g. keeping it short of a water hazard.  Most single-digits would not part with their 3 wood, especially if you're a longer hitter - it's a necessity to have something you can take a normal swing with and still get the ball out there a bit, but less than driver.  I'd rather do that than try to take too much off of my driver...once the tempo gets thrown off, that's when bad swings happen for me.  I don't practice shorter swings very often though either, except with the wedges.

 

I'll say the 3-wood can be one of the harder clubs in the bag to find, but once you find the right head/shaft combo, it's a great weapon.  So to each their own, but I love mine, and it definitely is not a club that costs me strokes very often.

[robleighlefty89]

Don't miss carrying a 3-wood at all, to be honest I'm not playing enough to see the distance benefit versus my 5-wood off the deck. In fact, I'm sure the 5w goes further!

[golfinbrad]

I still have one in the bag and can't imagine not.  I don't use it a ton, but some of my most memorable shots came with it.  The adjustable of the current 3 woods make them so much more versatile.  That said, there are more options than ever if you opt for something other.

[iknowbagu]

I think 3 woods are appropriately rated. Useful for some, not for others. No different than any other fairway or hybrid or driving / long iron.  

[Kmagnuss]

I can't imagine being without a 3 wood.  As stated before, sometimes a driver is too long and I'd rather hit a full 3w than a partial driver.  And off the deck going for par 5's in two... there's no fun in laying up.

[Righty to Lefty]

The requirements to hit a 3 wood are no different than hitting a wedge or any other club in the bag for that matter. Sure there would be a point of diminishing returns when it comes to shaft length affecting ability to strike the ball with leverage but I don't think that 5 ish inches of shaft length on a fairway wood in comparison to a wedge breaches that limit.  If you are paying attention to each shot that you hit and get your low point of your swing arc into the correct orientation (the same location for all shots being hit off the ground) in relation to the ball then hitting a 3 wood is no different than any other.

 

There is a weird dynamic at both ends of the bag where loft was thought to be forgiving but a 56 degree wedge is "easy" to hit but a 60 or 64 degree with more loft isn't?  This same mental barrier happens at the top end of the bag where most hit a wall at a certain club.  Sure the athlete may hit a swing speed barrier where they don't create enough speed to elevate the shot properly, but I am speaking more in reference to the belief that a given club is "hard" to hit.  The flaw is that most don't understand impact and that creates a belief that certain clubs are overrated in my opinion. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Righty to Lefty

[Lasorcier]

I just have a 4 wood to split the difference between a 3 wood and 5 wood.  Still, I do not seem to use it that much.  I also have a 17 hybrid that can fill its place as well.  

[ShortGolfer]

I got fitted for a 3HL that works really well off the deck.  My swing speed is low enough that I need all the distance I can get!

[dsmil]

I agree, it's a club that far too many people carry.  Especially poor golfers who don't know much about clubs and automatically think that they need a 3 wood, when they probably need it the least.  A lot of them can't hit driver well so they default to 3 wood off the tee, when shortening their driver would probably be a better route to take.  3 woods are definitely more valuable to the pros, because they have the speed to launch them high and land them softly, and reaching par 5's in two is a huge part of their game.  

 

I ditched it years ago when I realized how little I was using it, and how badly it was performing when I did use it.  If I need to take 20 yards off of my tee shot, I'd rather take 8 mph off of my driver swing and still have the forgiveness that my driver provides.  Based on my course setup, I'm rarely in a situation where I'm going for a par 5 in two from the fairway, but if I was in that situation, a 5 wood is better for me since I launch the ball on the lower end.

[amace04]

I go through fits with my driver, where it's literally the worst club in my bag (no joke, better off hitting  a wedge off the tee).  I own a 3+ wood as a substitute off the tee, but I never use it from a fairway lie.   My local course is only 6200 yards, I never find myself needing 270+ to the green from the fairway and my 5/4w generally goes just as far as a normal 3w for me as I get better contact.  I carry 5 wedges instead.  Currently my bag has: D, 5W (lofted up to 4W), 2H, 5i-PW/GW, 56, 60, 64

[MattM97]

Golf is this awesome game where things may not work for you but work amazing for someone else and the other way around as well. So many people go "I can't hit this club so no one else should either" but some people the 3W is their lifeblood on the course. 

[buckrogers71]

I ditched my 3 wood a while ago. I rarely used it off the deck and not that much off the tee so I went with a 4 wood. Allows me to hit it more frequently off the deck and I'm not giving up that much off the tee. I cant reach big boy par 5's in two anymore, so why bother?

[Albatross Dreamer]

On WRX I wouldn't say it's overrated considering the number of people trying different set ups.

 

In the general population I wouldn't so much say overrated vs maybe overplayed. Many people don't really know about 3HL, 4 or 5 woods to the degree they should, and many people go for the 3 wood thinking they need the distance while not understanding what's needed to launch it. Although it's definitely overrated when looking at online prices of 3 woods vs 5 woods.

 

For me personally I play one since I have a few courses around me where a shorter distance off the tee makes more sense and my 3w tends to be straighter then my driver. And I like to go for greens, even if it might cost me a stroke here or there.

[eric61]

8 minutes ago, Albatross Dreamer said:

On WRX I wouldn't say it's overrated considering the number of people trying different set ups.

 

In the general population I wouldn't so much say overrated vs maybe overplayed. Many people don't really know about 3HL, 4 or 5 woods to the degree they should, and many people go for the 3 wood thinking they need the distance while not understanding what's needed to launch it. Although it's definitely overrated when looking at online prices of 3 woods vs 5 woods.

 

For me personally I play one since I have a few courses around me where a shorter distance off the tee makes more sense and my 3w tends to be straighter then my driver. And I like to go for greens, even if it might cost me a stroke here or there.

I agree with all of this. I think here on GolfWRX, so many people have experimented with different set-ups that the 3W isn’t overrated at all.

 

I have one in my bag for now, mostly because I like it for control off the tee and I do seem to be very accurate with it vs. driver. I keep flip-flopping between wanting to go 4W/7W at the top of the bag to have two clubs I can really rely on off the deck or strong 3W/5W so I can have a great secondary tee club and then just let the 5W do the heavy lifting off the deck/out of the rough on long shots/etc. The happy medium might end up being 15 degree 3W and 7W lofted down to 20.25*. Lots of experimenting to do.

[mikec3672]

Sorry, I don't agree with this premise. What I do agree with is that you need a club in the 15-17 degree range that you can hit off the tee and fairway comfortably, and for me, with a 95-100 mph driver swing speed, that is now a 3HL (16.5), but for years it was always a 14-15 classic 3. We have a 450 yard par 4 at my club, that from the white tees, unless I nuke it, I am usually left with my 3 Hybrid (19) or my 3 HL (16.5) in my hands. I have hit that green so many times from 220-230+ out it's not even funny (it's a downhill and then uphill to the green shot, so if you hit the hill, it will always bound onto the green), so I don't know what I would do without it. Now, the hole before this par 4 at my course is a 195-220 par 3, slightly uphill. Again, I have hit this green often with what? My 3 HL (16.5). So I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that for mortals vs pros that 3 woods are obsolete. It's all about yardage gaps and what gets you there. I for one, have no issue hitting the HL and am a fairly decent fairway player, partly because I don't try to sweep them. That said, multiple failed experiments with the 5 and 7 wood, and for me (who knows why), I prefer the 19 and 22 hybrid (PING G410, love that I can adjust them and make them flat). BTW - my HL is a Callaway Rogue ST LS 16.5.

[cmatthews77]

A few years ago I was carrying 3W and 5W and over time I felt like I was just as likely if not more likely to hit the 5W further than the 3W (in the air) off the deck while not sacrificing very much off the tee. 
 

Ended up in the middle and got a 4w at 16.5 degrees and it’s best of both worlds for me. I just don’t swing it fast enough to really maximize a 15 degree 3W consistently from the deck. 
 

Swing driver at 103-105 max. 

[scooterhd2]

3 wood is dead for me. My setup changes depending on the course, but if I need a good tee club with length to hit tight fairways I'll use the Cleveland HiBore XL 2 wood, which is 440cc at 16 degrees of loft. Basically a 3 wood with a driver head. So much more forgiving and easier to launch. If I dont need the length, I'll bag the 5 wood. Just much more versatility and easier to hit off the deck. 

[grochol17]

19 hours ago, BlackHammer said:

If you feel comfortable off the tee with it then go for it, or if youre a short hitter that needs it to get to certain holes in regulation then i see it. Or a high handicapper that just hits it solid. Otherwise, youre usually better off with another club imo, am i missing something? 

 

So, you're saying 3 woods are overrated, unless you can use one effectively, then in that case they're not overrated?

[Kurtis4K]

I think it all depends on space in the bag.  to me its about gapping between your longest iron and driver and how many wedges you want to carry.

 

I love my 3 wood

[cgasucks]

I'm playing some of the best golf of my life and still hitting a 3 wood off the deck is one of the hardest shots to pull off solidly.  Hitting off a 5 wood off the deck no problem but I have my A game if I have to do it off the deck.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by cgasucks

[Jeri6gt]

I am not a fan of my 3W but sometimes I might need to hit "alittle" further than my 3 wood can reach.

That being said, I will only take it on a course when I am riding and I am familiar with.

 

[Albatross Dreamer]

49 minutes ago, eric61 said:

I agree with all of this. I think here on GolfWRX, so many people have experimented with different set-ups that the 3W isn’t overrated at all.

 

I have one in my bag for now, mostly because I like it for control off the tee and I do seem to be very accurate with it vs. driver. I keep flip-flopping between wanting to go 4W/7W at the top of the bag to have two clubs I can really rely on off the deck or strong 3W/5W so I can have a great secondary tee club and then just let the 5W do the heavy lifting off the deck/out of the rough on long shots/etc. The happy medium might end up being 15 degree 3W and 7W lofted down to 20.25*. Lots of experimenting to do.

I've even debating doing a 4w/5w combo. On the surface it might not make sense, but if the clubs are used for different things It could make perfect sense. Especially if I don't really need a 3w and a 7w isn't quite the length that makes sense. For example, could use a "hot" 16.5* (i.e. stealth + if they made 16.5) or turn it down for off the tee for really long shots. Then the 5 wood does most the work off the deck.  Depending on the course someone plays this could make a lot of sense I think.

[jholz]

I'm not going to tell anyone what they should play. It's all up to you.

 

But, for me, the 3w is, and always has been, one of the most reliable clubs in my bag.

 

Takes a long time to find one that I like, and some effort to develop a relationship with it, but that effort pays off for me.

 

Great off the tee for layup holes. Wonderful from the fairway and decent lies in the rough.

 

Although, if I really need a precision strike - I will defer to a hybrid. I get tighter shot patterns with them.

 

 

[BagofToast]

3w is my trusty club. With the variety of courses I play I want those options off the tee. But it’s useful for me, doesn’t mean everyone should use one. 
 

I used to change my setup a lot depending on what course I was playing, but I’ve gotten to one setup and only change two clubs. Rare change now also. (Also easier on the wallet.)

[mbarnocki]

3w for me is a great club when it's dialed in. Currently making a slow to perfect transition from a trusty old friend.

 

But your point about hitting iron off the tee when you really need to hit a fairway seems ancient. Not sure I've ever seen a hole where my 5 iron 205 off the tee is better than a 3w 250-260 down there.

[mjf34g]

What I've found that now as I've aged (73 now), swing speed has gone down, and I've lost some length that I can't reach most five pars in two. And if I can say with a three wood its gonna take great contact and execution. And I've found that in most cases it brings trouble into play. I started carrying a TM Sim Ti five wood last year and I've noticed a few things. The result has been more consistent strikes, distance and accuracy.  Its allowed me to play to a specific yardage where I'm confident in my wedge play.  The net result has been more easy pars and a fee more birdies. Win, win for me. A really great player (UNC Hall of Famer, Mi Am Champ 5 Times, a few US Opens etc) once asked me how many birdies on five pars I've made with my wedge vs my three wood? Made me re-examine what I was doing, 

[NNJ]

There are a few courses around me where there are par 4s that are 3 wood distance. I have to carry one for this reason