3 Wood Dilemma

[Mac0770]

I'm leaning heavily towards using a 3 wood off the tee instead of driver.  My question is twofold....if I go with a 13deg 3 wood from the late 90s vs a 15 deg from the past year....does the 2 deg stronger loft outweigh the advanced technology?  Secondly, is there any benefit to taking an older smaller 9 deg Driver and cutting it down to 3 wood length?

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, Mac0770 said:

I'm leaning heavily towards using a 3 wood off the tee instead of driver.  My question is twofold....if I go with a 13deg 3 wood from the late 90s vs a 15 deg from the past year....does the 2 deg stronger loft outweigh the advanced technology?  Secondly, is there any benefit to taking an older smaller 9 deg Driver and cutting it down to 3 wood length?

Welcome to The Sand Trap. The newer 3 wood will be much better. It will have a better shaft and should launch higher. Higher launch should give you more distance off the tee. I’ve played with a 15 degree 3 wood and an identical model 16.5 and I am getting more distance off the tee and off the turf.

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[klineka]

8 hours ago, Mac0770 said:

I'm leaning heavily towards using a 3 wood off the tee instead of driver.  

Why? What is your handicap? Have you been properly fit for your current driver?

Most mid-high handicaps are just as inaccurate with their 3 wood as their driver, but with shorter distance off the tee when using the 3 wood. That means longer yardages into the holes, and over time, will likely result in higher scores.

FWIW I am a 2 handicap and this season I am averaging 270 yds off the tee with driver with 41% fairways hit, with 3 wood I am averaging 250 yds off the tee and 46% fairways hit. The extra 20 yds off the tee more than makes up for the 5% less fairways hit, especially since most of the rough I play from isn't particularly penalizing. 

I highly encourage you to practice with your driver and continue to use it whenever it is safe (meaning avoiding hazards). 

[Mac0770]

I'm a 20 hndcp.  Just seems like, for me, the accuracy is worth the loss in distance.  While I can't really afford lessons regularly, I can afford range time so point taken there.  Was just chasing ideas 

[klineka]

20 minutes ago, Mac0770 said:

Just seems like, for me, the accuracy is worth the loss in distance. 

Do you keep track of your stats? Do you know for a fact that your 3 wood is more accurate than your driver or are you just guessing? And if you do know that it is more accurate, what are the percentages of fairways hit as well as total distance for both clubs?

[pganapathy]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:29 AM, Mac0770 said:

I'm leaning heavily towards using a 3 wood off the tee instead of driver.  My question is twofold....if I go with a 13deg 3 wood from the late 90s vs a 15 deg from the past year....does the 2 deg stronger loft outweigh the advanced technology?  Secondly, is there any benefit to taking an older smaller 9 deg Driver and cutting it down to 3 wood length?

How far off target are your driver shots compared to your 3 wood.  Also, it is possible that a mini driver will help more.  That is essentially a higher lofted driver with a head size in between a driver and 3 wood and shaft length in between them as well.  Most importantly is see if you can get yourself fit for the driver/mini driver/3 wood before you go changing clubs randomly