What 7 or 9 wood is an absolute game changer?

[LowAndLeft32]

Seeing more 7 and 9 woods in tour bags. Are there any that just standout above the rest? Are there any that have been just a game changer? Thanks. 

[azgreg]

TM V-Steel

 

[LowAndLeft32]

1 minute ago, azgreg said:

TM V-Steel

 

I still have the 3 wood in the basement. 

[J_Tizzle]

I feel like I've seen lots of Titleist and Ping 7 woods in the pro bags.

 

So not sure if that makes them game changers but they're good enough for them...

[hammergolf]

For me it’s the Ping g425. Hands down the best equipment decisions I’ve ever made.

[Morry]

have ping 430 7wood.....flat setting down 1....'is' the Perfect lofted 5 wood basically....

 

but I am still in a st-z 230 3h instead.....does the same for me basically from more lies 

 

trying to separate them, but it's a chalenge

 

that 430 7wood is a Beast is my point...try it!

 

 

[BIG STU]

31 minutes ago, azgreg said:

TM V-Steel

 

I have had mine in my bag since it was new darn near 20 years ago now

[tilasan]

G430 changing games.

[Rbsiedsc]

21° UW all day

[sworkman]

For a beginner, and easier on the wallet, I've found the TE 7 wood really easy to launch. It's lofted up, so kind of splits the difference between a 7 and 9 wood. 

[adamwittman]

At 21 degrees i would say apex uw. Maybe not technically a wood by purists but damn this thing has all the shots. Can hit a nice high baby fade that goes 230-235 spins 3500 and stops at 45 degree landing angle or hit a baby draw and carry 260. Put an autoflex fairway wood shaft in my 17 uw bc i wanted to see just how far i could hit it. 

[NevinW]

At our club it is the G430 that is the popular 7 and 9 wood.  Mine is on its way from Ping as I type this.  

[infinii]

4 hours ago, adamwittman said:

At 21 degrees i would say apex uw. Maybe not technically a wood by purists but damn this thing has all the shots. Can hit a nice high baby fade that goes 230-235 spins 3500 and stops at 45 degree landing angle or hit a baby draw and carry 260. Put an autoflex fairway wood shaft in my 17 uw bc i wanted to see just how far i could hit it. 

 

Why wouldn't it be considered a wood?

 

[braincramp52]

I'm very happy with my Paradym 7 wood.

[Warrick]

TSR2, love it, first 7w

[Whodey-85]

For me it's the Stealth 7 wd.  Once I found the correct shaft it's amazing.  Can hit it varying distances, so fits the gap well between my 4wd and 4 iron.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Whodey-85

[FearTheDeer]

Titleist TS2 7 wood. The ability to loft it down and flatten it is *chef’s kiss*. 
 

Even as a high ball hitter, this club has been incredibly workable. I find it invaluable on longer golf courses as a weapon into Par 5s and even longer Par 3s when the wind is blowing.

[texcellence86]

8 hours ago, adamwittman said:

At 21 degrees i would say apex uw. Maybe not technically a wood by purists but damn this thing has all the shots. Can hit a nice high baby fade that goes 230-235 spins 3500 and stops at 45 degree landing angle or hit a baby draw and carry 260. Put an autoflex fairway wood shaft in my 17 uw bc i wanted to see just how far i could hit it. 

This....definitely! I've had a few 7w and when I would put a little extra into my swing they all would balloon too much but with this UW & the 93 BlueBoard combo, not once have a missed a shot because of the club.

[Maroon_19]

I've got a Cally Rogue Max ST Heavenwood and love it.  Fits my gapping perfectly between 3w and 4i.  Thinking of grabbing a 9w to swap in/out with the 4i depending on conditions.  It would be nice to be able to bring in a relatively long shot from high when wind conditions allow it.  The 4i can be pretty flat.

[xkilgorextroutx]

Callaway Heavenwood in multiple versions has been a "point and shoot" club for me. 

[NoTalentLefty]

Hybrids Epic Flash hybrids. I cannot hit a 7 wood without problems with alignment. Glad you can . 

[ChipNRun]

I'm in season #12 of 4W + 7W.

 

7W models have been Tour Edge Exotics XRail, Calla Alpha 815/20*, and current Rogue. All were very easy to hit.

 

Main consideration: If you have higher clubhead speed, ensure the 7W head design and shaft don't balloon the ball.

 

Here's the Scott Stallings take on 7W in a Sept 2019 Golf Digest article (p. 36):

"My 7 wood is a more versatile than a utility iron. I can hit it high or low, and the height on full shots into par 5s is so helpful, especially when you're coming in from 240 to 260 yards. I've found a utility 2- or 3-iron doesn't stop very well from that distance."

[WristySwing]

I think it's an important thing to consider for a lot of us that woods are going to be more beneficial for players who have a lot of shaft lean and have very low spin traditionally, while a hybrid will fit a player best who tends to be a bit higher spin, looking to reduce that.  If you look at the player's who have higher lofted woods in the bag, most of them have it tuned down as much as they can (if they are able, DJ can't) but most Titleist pros and almost all the Ping guys I see have them -1* and flat.  If you hit down on it with low dynamic loft these should be great for you, if you are flippy and add loft, they could hurt, despite the larger surface area.

[bcflyguy1]

15 hours ago, LowAndLeft32 said:

Seeing more 7 and 9 woods in tour bags. Are there any that just standout above the rest? Are there any that have been just a game changer? Thanks. 

Short and standard answer; maybe, it depends and you won't know without getting properly fit up.

Is it a rabbit hole worth exploring? Probably, particularly if you find hybrids to be hooky seemingly no matter what you do.

Since its introduction, I've had big success fitting an incredibly broad spectrum of players for that fiddley part of the bag between driver and irons with Apex UW. Of course there are other fine options out there from the other OEMs (Ping comes immediately to mind in this space), but I can personally vouch for the UW's unique performance traits.
 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by bcflyguy1

[JAMH03]

@LowAndLeft32 I'm kind of curious what your approach is going to be can you share that with us a bit?

Game changer? Bruh no.

It's physics, those lofts on woods do a job that the players benefit from.

I've said it for well over a decade. The vast majority of golfers benefit from having a 20º wood. This has gone on for generations. If you think about the Raymond Floyd's, Corey Pavin's etc.

Now with players with as much clubhead speed as Harrington and the best player since 1986 himself. Higher lofted woods fit in their kits because they're more utilitarian than long irons.

What do you need in a FW wood? Which ones work best? What I've found is the shaft has to be a good fit. An ill fitting shaft will give you bad misses that are exacerbated by the speed with which their hit and the distances traveled. That is a must.

Obviously Titanium works really well in a lot of instances. Lighter faster farther, good sound, not a bad trade off for cost.

For more avid golfers smaller head sizes are preferred. 

As far as deepness and head shape that's up to personal preference, depending on what folks can stand looking at and how it effects you seeing it teed up. Surprisingly enough with moderate SS the higher lofted fairway woods can get a fair bit of use as play clubs off the tee to get to perfect approach distance on short and tight par 4's etc.

Where would I start? I'd look for a head shape I like, and I'd start with Touredge, reason being so many people once they arrive on TE they happily stay. That's not to say that there are not other fairway woods nearly as good.

I call the higher lofted ones "Boppers" as in

"I'mma just Bop this right over here."

For me though just having a fairway wood, that I trust not to do weird stuff (shaft kick matters) makes the game much easier. 

After exploring what Touredge has then I'd look at others.

But none of that is accounting for your tastes @LowAndLeft32 if you have fairways woods you've liked in the past that'd be the way to go. Check clubs similar to those especially with shafts that you like first. As they're more likely to fit what you want.

Good luck and may you find the Bopper of your dreams. :D


 

[JAMH03]

After reading the other answers I would add.

Touredge, Ping, Callaway are the brands I'd start with myself. But that's not to say that another brand may not fit you or your bag better. Mizuno and Cobra are also brands I'd consider but that's just an amalgamation of my real life experiences AND brand identification. It doesn't represent what's going to fit anyone best.

The other thing I left out was the whole Tom Wishon thought process that because clubs are sold to sell distance first we can often get more benefit out of them by playing them a titch shorter than standard because we're trying to maximize accuracy at some distance vs just distance.

IE having the fastest hottest most versatile higher lofted fairway wood is not preferable to the fastest hottest most versatile fwy wood that has effective misses.

[skmiec4]

Check out the Paradym 7 wood 

[TNwanabe]

23 hours ago, hammergolf said:

For me it’s the Ping g425. Hands down the best equipment decisions I’ve ever made.

Same

[Phebus]

I’m very happy with my 7 and 9 Titleist TSi 1’s. 

[animalgolfs]

I've had G400 7 & 9 woods for the last few years. Recently replaced 7wd with G430. I'll probably eventually replace the 9wd with G425 as I like the feel better 

 

So I'd say PING and I love my G400 9wd as it is

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by animalgolfs