New 5 wood

[Blossom]

What are my best options to consider

Being a lefty, I do not get to see all the available models out there so would appreciate anyone's input. I am after a new top quality 5 wood. My requrements are: largeish clubhead (around 150cc at least) for confidence, mid to deep face depth (maximum 35-36 mm) & a forgiving face. I play to a 12 handicap. Ones I am consifering are Ping G5, Tour Edge Exotic & Callaway X.

Thanks

[StarFleetGolfer]

I heard great things about the Callaway X. My current favorites are R7 and Sonartec 2.5

[pingshack22]

Wait until March and get the Cally X woods with the Fuji 26.3 Tour Platform shaft. Great combination and are very effective from turf or tee. They are also great looking clubs !

[Blossom]

Is the Fuij tour platform 26.3 the stock stnadard shaft even though it's a Callaway stock shaft? Have you hit this fairway wood already?

[jhigdon]

Tour Exotics, no question. The only detractor might be the fact that you will hit your 5 wood farther than your three wood if it's another brand.

[pingshack22]

Callaway rep. is a friend of mine and I hit the X-tour version, which does come with Fuji 26.3. If you go to Callaway web page and pull up the Australian site, you can see the club and specs. TE Exotics is an awesome club, but is it worth the cost of a Cally (or other brand) 3 and 5 wood? I don't think its worth $350 for a few extra yards, especially in a fairway wood. The Exotics also measures 43 1/2" with the standard shaft, which explains some (not all) of the distance gain. If you can control a 43 1/2" with a 13* head, you are going to get extra distance regardless of the model.

[Blossom]

Some good points raised here people. Distance in a fairway wood esp. a 5 wood is not the most important consideration whereas playabliity esp. fom fairway & rough is more important (IMO). I have decided to go for a 42 inch length as I find this to be more controllable. Cally X, TE Exotics & G5 come in 42 inches so that's why their on my list.

 

Compare this to some TM woods (R5 & R7), well they are in 42.5 inches. Perhaps lighter Ti head has something to do with it in order to bring swing weight up to an acceptable level.

 

Loft is another consideration though 1 degree may not be that signiifcant. eg. if TE Exotics is 18* & Cally X is 19*, both may hit same height/traj. as people say on this forum say the TEE hits a high ball.

[Cameron Circle T]

Id have to say that the Ping G5 is one of the most solid most square fairway woods that i've hit thats in production. I cant speak to length of the club itself bc i cut down all my woods (43.75" driver and 41.75" 3 wood). These fairway woods have a solid feel and a decent setup (i say decent bc im not a fan of the half moon golf ball thing working on gettin ping's tour dept. to fix that for me).

 

IMO TM and some others also make their fairway woods long in the hopes that the avg person will go out and try the fairway woods and not look at the specs and say damn i hit this one longer than this other one without realizing that the extra half an inch on the club length may give them a slightly longer shot. Id say go find someone that you play with or know and see what theyre playing and try them.

[pingshack22]

That is exactly what TE does. Their specs say the 3-wood is 43" and the 5-wood is 42". However, if you measure the TE stock clubs against other OEM clubs they are clearly 1/2" longer. I even called customer service at TE and they did not deny the length difference. Their answer was that every OEM has different ways of calculating specifications. Even with this in mind, the Exotics is an exceptional club ! Although others may disagree, I can not justify $350 for a fairway wood.

[ScottWS33]

Is the Fuij tour platform 26.3 the stock stnadard shaft even though it's a Callaway stock shaft? Have you hit this fairway wood already?

 

In the tour X fairway it will be the Tour Platform 26.3. The standard model will include a tweaked version rather like what they did with the NVS in the Fusion. The idea is that Callaway want to begin to use branded shafts as a lot of other companies do. By the way the new G5 fairways are awesome. Until I try the Callaway X fairway I believe they are the best on the market. Well worth a try.

[Blossom]

Thanks for your feedback everybody. Based on TE length (as measured) being 1/2 longer than stated, then I shall seriously instead consider the other 2 - G5 & Cally X. I believe they are both 42 inches as stated & hopefully are in fact 42 inches (for 5 wood).

 

As stated on an earlier post by Pingshack22, I do not want to hit & play the TE only to find that it goes about same distance as the 3 wood. That would defeat the purpose of having a 5 wood.

 

Ping have some of the best & precise tolerances & spec. in the business IMHO & I'd expect the G5 will in fact be 42 inches. Cally, I'm not so sure as I have found their drivers (BB454) to vary in length by about 1/4 inch from club to club (supposed to be 45 inches in stock shaft). As an aside I play G2 irons.

 

I noticed G5 sets-up quite open & am concerned it may lead to fades/slices. Has anybody got experiences with G5 fairway woods ball flight/ball shot shape?

[DrawDaBall]

Don't rule out the Nike T60 5 wood. It is deep faced, long hitting, and square faced.......