What is more important to you? A......

[Msokol13]

3-wood that you can hit off the tee extremely well or a 3-wood that you hit extremely well off of the fairway.

Let me elaberate....

here is a list of 3 woods I've owned and my personal experience with them:

**Cleveland quadpro-hit it extremely well from the fairway, not too well from the tee.
**Callaway x-hot-hit it extremely well off the tee, close to my driver distance-couldnt hit it off a tight fairway lie to save my life.
**Ping G5-hit it well from the tee, okay off the fairway but it usually had too penetrating of a ball flight to hold a hard green.
**Bobby jones-amazing off a fairway, too shallow of a face for the tee box, never felt comfortable.

So, now I am in the search of another fairway wood.

I've come to the same delemma:
-Cleveland Hibore XLS-pound it off the tee, not too comfortable off a tight fairway lie.
-Nickent-Amazing like their hybrids, very workable from a fairway lie, not quite as good distance off the tee.


What did...or would you choose?

[mbole]

Definitely the one off of the fairway. You have a club for the tee, called a driver.

[nlowplacez]

ill take hitting good on the fairway. you can always smooth a driver off the tee, but good luck with a driver off the deck. but i rarely hit 3 off the tee, and actually dont play many courses where i need it for a five out the fairway. come to think of it, not really sure why i have one. oh ya, for chipping. im money with a three wood from the fringe.

[Msokol13]

True, but most of the time my driver stays in the bag unless I know that it is a reachable part 5, or a par 4 over 420 yards. The rest of the time I prefer to be in the shortstuff.

[Big_M]

Definitely the one off of the fairway. You have a club for the tee, called a driver.

Maybe you don't have this problem... but I am forced to take less than driver on a lot of holes... even playing from the tips I run into this all the time. Also, if you watch any golf you'll know that pretty much all acomplished players use a 3-wood when a little more control is needed rather than power.

With that said... I think being able to hit your 3-wood from the tee is more important, but I also think that you have to find a balance or a club you like for both. Some name brands you might want to consider that make some pretty nice fairway woods are... Tour Edge, Sonartec, Adams, and KZG

[mhodar13]

Try the 07 burner fairway woods. I have the 3 and 5 and they're great for both purposes. I can hit the 3 wood 250-260, and the 5 wood 230-240 off the tee, maybe 15 yards less off of the grass. Truly great woods IMHO.

[CG031]

Off the fairway. If you are great with it off the fairway, you'll never have a problem with it. Just never tee it up.

But, no, really, off the fairway...why? Because I don't use 3-wood's off the tee. Driver is the straightest club in my bag.

[Dub]

Try the 07 burner fairway woods. I have the 3 and 5 and they're great for both purposes. I can hit the 3 wood 250-260, and the 5 wood 230-240 off the tee, maybe 15 yards less off of the grass. Truly great woods IMHO.

I agree, although I'm not as long with my 3 wood. I have smoothly nailed a few drives with it that went as far as 260 yds....but the distance I aim for and set up for off the tee is a solid 225 with lots of carry and a small draw.

I'm a little shorter off the deck....little lower, too. I mainly try to smooth this club around the course. I don't like the results when I jump on it (large high balls that work too hard to the left).

[microcrayfish]

I hit my 3 wood off the tee more than my driver and hardly ever hit it off the fairway, oddly enough it happens to be a Nickent 4DX and I can get it out almost as far as my driver a lot of the time. I find it best to tee it up really low so it's almost like hitting off a nice fairway lie so maybe you should give that a go and see if you have better results off the tee hitting it.

[is2linda]

My answer would be off a fairway. It would be more useful then just using on the tee. Plus i dont have problem hitting the ball with my driver.

If you cant hit drivers, it might be beneficial for you to substitute a 3 wood for a driver. I would imagine you would use the 3wood a lot more teeing off (14 holes), and depending on your distance, off the fairway you only get to use it on long par 5s, which is only 3-5 holes. I myself rarely use my 3 wood on the fairway, because i drive the ball long enough for me to use a 5 wood or a 3 hybrid, but again it really matters on your distance

So seriously... ask yourself: would it be better to get a club i would use for about 14 holes, or a club i will likely use for 3-5 holes (again this really depends on your distance). Plus driving is super important because it gives you confidence and power over other players who hit shorter then you. I think you would play more confident with a better first shot, then with second a recovery shot.

Good luck and happy hitting!

[flap]

I just recieved my new FREE callaway FT-3wood and I must say it is good off either the tee or the turf.I got the 15 degree nuetral.

[Zeph]

Why not find one that does both? Many woods today are made to be hit off the fairway, but they are still no problem off the tee. My 3 wood is great on both. The head is small and flat so I can hit it off the fairway, but it's no problem hitting it off the tee. I tee the ball up like I would with an iron, perhaps lower than my longer irons, and hit it great.

I don't see why a club should be significantly harder off the tee than off the fairway.

[Replay]

Maybe you don't have this problem... but I am forced to take less than driver on a lot of holes... even playing from the tips I run into this all the time. Also, if you watch any golf you'll know that pretty much all acomplished players use a 3-wood when a little more control is needed rather than power.

I agree. I often hit a 3-wood off the tee...I find it an extremely important club for tight fairways where I need more control.

Personally I don't hit beyond a 4 hybrid or a 5 wood off the deck...I prefer the control I have with these clubs and sacrifice the distance. I don't have the skill to land any shots with these clubs directly onto the green, so when I use the hybrid or 5 wood, it's simply a case of using a longer iron to make the green.

[gmanuel25]

True, but most of the time my driver stays in the bag unless I know that it is a reachable part 5, or a par 4 over 420 yards. The rest of the time I prefer to be in the shortstuff.

+1, well said. A 3w off the tee is my 'go to' shot. I may not make many birdies, but it always eliminates the big numbers on the card.

[lumpuckeroo]

I also would vote for the fairway. If I use a 3 wood off the tee it is usually to lay short of a creek or set of bunkers or something of that nature, so I an not looking to pound it. Also I will tee my ball so that it would resemble a really good lie in the fairway, I don't really tee it up, like I would a driver, and try and make the same swing I would as if I was hitting from the fairway.

[David in FL]

I agree with Zeph. Unless you can do both, you're not getting the full utility out of the club.

[goblue107501]

I can see both sides to the argument. I agree with those that have said that you should try and get one that will accomplish both. I haven't bought one in over 15 years, but if I were to look at getting a new one, I would want a club that I could hit off a tee and equally as good from the fairway. If it came down to 2 clubs and one was better off the tee and one was better from the fairway, I would give an edge to the club that I hit better off the tee.

Off the tee is slightly more important for me, at the courses I play. I will rarely hit a 3 wood from the fairway. The par 5's I play are such that I don't like hitting 3 wood from the fairway because of the trouble around the green. So even if a 3 wood would be the correct club to get to the green, laying up is the smart play so that is what I normally do. I can hit it fine off the fairway, it just usually isn't the smart play. It is nice to know that I can hit a shot from the fairway if I need to. However, I will use it 4-5 times off the tee.

You may just want to evaluate the courses you play and past rounds and see where you will get more use. You might know that you will use it 3-4 times from the fairway and 1-2 times off the tee. That might make the decision a little easier.

[andef]

i woud pick a fairway wood i can hit from the fairway. off the tee you already have your driver but i would pick the three wood on a tight driving par 4. in those cases, distance doesn't matter as much as accuracy even if that means picking a 3i instead of a 5 iron for your second. the importance there is to find the fairway which will be easier to do with a 3w than a driver. if you lose something like 25 yards off the tee with a 3W than try to find one that gives you a better mix of the two.