3 Woods Overrated

[Mrgreen36]

My ltdx ls 5w turned down one degree is hardly any shorter than my 3w was.  I can hit it low to run up or fly it high and hold a green on a long shot.  I'm not playing many 550+ yard par 5s anyway. 

[geauxt]

Add me to the disagree pile.

 

I love having 3W in the bag. Mine gets frequent use off the tee for some shorter par 4s as I’d rather a full swing 3W than trying to cut back on the driver. I also have no issue getting it elevated off the fairway. 
 

My only problem is that I’m trying to decide what club to settle on between the 3W and 4i…

[Roejye]

15 hours ago, Albatross Dreamer said:

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.

I basically have a similar setup with a 15° 3w and 17° hybrid. The 3w is used mainly when driver is REALLY squirrelly and for one particular tee shot on my home course, although I am finding I can use it on other holes too. The hybrid is for a particular par 3 on my home course, long shots where I don't have a good lie for the 3w, and it's what I pull off the tee if I absolutely have to hit a fairway but also need decent distance. There is some slight overlap in their purposes, but the setup works well for me.

 

I think the types of clubs they are too, helps. The 3w is more a game improvement while the hybrid is more of a "player's hybrid". 

 

Back to the OP, 3 woods may be slightly overrated and slightly overused, but I think it's probably closer than it seems.

[DaveGoodrich]

Funny how the 3 wood seems like it is either useless, or indispensible, depending on the player.  Seems pretty clear that this is mostly speed related.  At my low 90's speed, I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm in the former category. 

 

Today at the range, I was hitting my M2 18* 5-wood as far as my M5 15*, and I had much better dispersion with the M2.  No comparison really. The 3 wood rolled out 10 or 15 yards farther on maybe 5% of the shots, but the vast majority of shots were as long with the 5-wood.  More big misses with the 3-wood too. 

 

I've was surprised by how easily I could flight the 5-wood down so it spins enough to carry, but still runs out some.  Or hit a high cut (that actually doesn't cut that much) that stops quickly. 

 

I'm going to try carrying the 5-wood as my only wood, and carry a 16* hybrid for low launch/spin duties.  

[sociojeje]

I still love my 3 wood. Rather, I would say all "new" fairway woods are overrated. Don't change your fairway wood like you change your driver. If it works, just keep playing. 

[Looper34]

Abandon "old reliable" for what, another wedge in the bag? Never!

[Dan Drake]

12 hours ago, gator022 said:

I think like others have said it depends on the usage. If your second longest club in the bag is a tee only club, @Dan Drake is a massive proponent of a second or mini driver.

 

Lots of non traditional options out there now to building your bag to better your scores.

You are correct good sir!

 

And I'd like to point out that it's not because I am "anti three wood."  It's because, for most of us, asking a club (especially at the long end of the bag) to do more than one job well enough to not negatively (I know, double negative there, but I want it to be read and understood in that manner) impact our score is really difficult to do.  As such, I ask that golfers re-imagine what they are thinking of with their 2nd longest club in the bag, even if it is one that has a "3" on the bottom of it. 

 

And I say this not only from the perspective of a self-confessed bag setup theory junkie, or as a coach who wants everyone to shoot lower scores.  I also say this as someone who absolutely LOVED his Epic Flash 3w and I have the stats to back up that it was a very good club for me.  But, in that spot in the bag, it just wasn't the best club for me.  

[Ri_Redneck]

8 hours ago, DaveGoodrich said:

Funny how the 3 wood seems like it is either useless, or indispensible, depending on the player.  Seems pretty clear that this is mostly speed related.  At my low 90's speed, I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm in the former category. 

 

Today at the range, I was hitting my M2 18* 5-wood as far as my M5 15*, and I had much better dispersion with the M2.  No comparison really. The 3 wood rolled out 10 or 15 yards farther on maybe 5% of the shots, but the vast majority of shots were as long with the 5-wood.  More big misses with the 3-wood too. 

 

I've was surprised by how easily I could flight the 5-wood down so it spins enough to carry, but still runs out some.  Or hit a high cut (that actually doesn't cut that much) that stops quickly. 

 

I'm going to try carrying the 5-wood as my only wood, and carry a 16* hybrid for low launch/spin duties.  

Great point made here! The loft on one's FWs should be based on their swing and CHS. We should stop thinking in terms of 3w, 4w, etc and instead do like we do with hybrids and just use 13* FW, 15* FW, etc! That would allow people to just look at the loft and not get hung up on what number wood it is.

 

BT

[Albatross Dreamer]

1 hour ago, Ri_Redneck said:

Great point made here! The loft on one's FWs should be based on their swing and CHS. We should stop thinking in terms of 3w, 4w, etc and instead do like we do with hybrids and just use 13* FW, 15* FW, etc! That would allow people to just look at the loft and not get hung up on what number wood it is.

 

BT

To add to this we should also consider the purpose. If you use your 3w mostly as a tee club then you'd want it to roll out a bunch. But if you use it to attack greens you most likely want it to land and stop/minimal roll out. OR if you use it for both it should be metrics for the latter that drives what club you choose, as off the tee you're likely using it more as a fairway finder/hitting to a specific distance so roll out shouldn't be a factor.

[sheamclkel]

Totally agree with your opinion here! Fairways woods are most beneficial for lower swing speed players. In my fitting experience, 5 wood or higher lofts fairways woods have always helped out this issue. 

 

I once sold someone a 3 woods when I showed him the data that the club was worst for him then his current 5 wood in carry, total distance, launch and spin but he boughts the 3 wood anyway hahahah

 

I will admit, there is nothing in golf like a perfectly struck 3 wood from the fairway. But for most players I feel a leap year is more common hahah

[RacineBoxer]

I think the OP makes some fair points. With the high handicappers I play with, pretty much none should be attempting to hit 3W off the deck or off the tee (driver equally or perhaps more accurate).

 

I can't live without mine though. I'm a moderate SS guy at 100mph and I use my 3 wood fairly regularly to go for Par 5's in two. I never hit it off the tee (accuracy isn't worth it). However, I play quite a few courses where it takes all I've got with driver+3W to get home in two and because I'm a reasonably good ball striker, I'm taking the approach that I'd rather be 20-30 yards greenside than trying to layup to 80-120 in the fairway (where I could always miss the fairway too or hit a bad "full" wedge). 

 

There are a few clubs in my bag I rarely hit. I can certainly play a round of golf with only hitting my 3W & 5W a total of 2-3 times. Hell, it's pretty much guaranteed I'll hit my 5i even less. My 5i is around 200 and my hybrid is around 210 and I'd much, much rather hit the hybrid. I'll sometimes go 2-3 rounds and only hit the 5i once. Point being, with my SS and courses there's a couple clubs I rarely hit but frequency of use alone is not enough to feel like it should come out of the bag. I'm carrying the max number allowed and I don't have any other gaps that need something.

 

I do think most 10+ handicappers should almost always go for a 5W or 7W or hybrid and leave the 3W in the bag. Nothing worse than playing some league golf with a 19 handicapper who hits their drive in the rough then thinks they are going to hit 3W. Almost never goes well. 

[Ri_Redneck]

Exactly! I carry 14 clubs: Driver, 14.5* FW, 17* FW, 4i - PW, 52*, 56* 60* and putter. Do I use them all every time, of course not. But what the heck else am I going to carry? I have every distance covered from 320 down to 20 and have confidence in every club I have. Sure, the typical weekend hack would probably do just as well with a half set (Dr, 5w, 4i, 6i, 8i, pw, sw & putter) and would be better off for it.

 

BT

[Climbhard]

I’m a 10 with high 90s swing speed.  I carry a 16 deg 4 wood then a 20* hybrid.  Landing a 3 wood on the green is not in my game.  But Ive made a bunch of birdies getting just to the front safely and up and down.  My club is a Nicholas design and has SMALL greens. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Climbhard
Stupid Siri

[Dan Drake]

12 hours ago, Climbhard said:

I’m a 10 with high 90s swing speed.  I carry a 16 deg 4 wood then a 20* hybrid.  Landing a 3 wood on the green is not in my game.  But I e made a bunch of birdies getting just to the front safely and up and down for par.  My club is a Nicholas design and has SMALL greens. 

This is an excellent point and I'm glad you brought it up.  The number of times that we are hitting & holding a green with a fairway wood shot is just so small that at our level of play, launch angle/spin rate/descent angle don't matter much at all.  What's WAY more important is being confident in the club (meaning you regularly, for you, hit it solidly) and (this is actually the most important piece) that you pick a really good target to aim at before you even pull the club out of the bag. 

 

On super-long approach shots, we should all just be like Kevin Costner in Waterworld, looking for dry ground.  

[1puttTUT]

I have an old Cobra F8 turned down to 13.5° that I can hit 260-270 and probably 80% if not higher fairways. It's also super easy to hit off the deck. Personally I think it's massively underrated. 

 

I also have the same club in a 5 wood turned down to 17° and it's equally amazing.

[DaveGoodrich]

On 2/2/2023 at 11:31 PM, DaveGoodrich said:

I'm going to try carrying the 5-wood as my only wood, and carry a 16* hybrid for low launch/spin duties.  

 

Quoting myself to say that this strategy was vindicated yesterday on an extremely windy course.  The 5-wood carries forever downwind, and the 16* hybrid is great for advancing the ball as far as possible into the wind.  As Monte said in some previous thread about strategies for hitting into the wind "hit something you can hit solid."   For me, that is a 41" hybrid vs. a 43" wood.   

 

[BHI 99]

43” Driver would get more mileage. I can’t remember the last time I hit 3W off the deck.