Resurrecting the 5 Wood

[TourSpoon]

So the age old search for the perfect club continues. I have been down this road before years ago when I would swap out my 2 iron (845) for the then new hybrid (Nickent, Adams), and even a 5 wood (Titleist PT).  As I matured in golf and equipment became better, I settled on a 2 hybrid and followed it up with a 3 iron and a 3 wedge set-up. As time went on that morphed to a 4 wedge set-up, 2 hybrid and bye to the 3 iron. Even more recently, I started with the utility or driving irons (3, 4) which kicked out the hybrid. The utilities are nice, they are cheat sticks when hit well, but is there maybe something better? Recently, my fitter buddy has been suggesting the 5 wood as the option to look at. He put one together and my marginal swings produced good results, much better than the hybrid and utilities, and great swings were fantastic and happened more often. The flight is great into a par 5, it fills the gap between 3 wood and 4 utility and aside from the high flight has very little downside. Finally, he got me to consider it and I just ordered one from Rock Bottom, and then found my current 3 wood shaft on eBay.  I will report back once I get it built and tested, but it will be swapped for the 3 utility except on windy days where you need to lower flight. The hybrid is out for me, it never was a strength and I doubt it ever will be. 

While talking about 5 woods and their new found popularity on the Tour (not that the Tour should influence amateur play) was the reason why they became popular (again). He deals with many pros on a few different tours (PGA but more so Korn Ferry, McKenzie, and Florida section PGA) and it is something that he says has come around again as more manufacturers are even coming out with 7 woods (remember old school Cally). 

So Trappers, is this a temporary trend? Why has it resurged? What are your thoughts about your set-up? I haven't seen any recent posts dedicated to this so I hope we get some great discussion. 

[mohearn]

Not sure others, but I have a good relationship with my 5-wood.  Hit it 3 times today, all straight and true, wouldn't be without it.  That said, I only put it in the bag at the last minute, alongside the 3-wood which saw exactly zero action despite being lugged around 18 holes. 

All the others you mentioned, I'm sure any could work, but for me having too many choices is a bit of a recipe for me to start over-thinking.  Had a 7-wood, gave it away to someone who seemed to need it more than me. 

[billchao]

I loved my 5w. I bought one pretty early on when I started playing and it was one of the clubs I could consistently hit well. The shaft broke at the hosel and it wasn’t worth fixing and I haven’t had one since.

I did a fitting at Club Champion for a new 3w last year and the fitter suggested replacing my 2h with a 5w. I didn’t end up ordering either club.

[David L Yskes]

TourSpoon,

Not going to lie, i was actually thinking of this very thing while watching the Master's on TV..   

I've thought about losing my 3 and 4 irons (for a while), and replacing them with a 5 wood..   

I figure the on course, if i'm needing to swing my 3 or 4 iron, i could just use the 5 wood..  

Probably have more consistent swings and results..     

[Typhoon92]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:35 PM, billchao said:

I loved my 5w. I bought one pretty early on when I started playing and it was one of the clubs I could consistently hit well. The shaft broke at the hosel and it wasn’t worth fixing and I haven’t had one since.

I did a fitting at Club Champion for a new 3w last year and the fitter suggested replacing my 2h with a 5w. I didn’t end up ordering either club.

The other day I put my 5 wood up against my 3 hybrid to see the difference.  I don’t bother carrying a 3 wood.  Both were more or less the same.  More consistent contact with the hybrid, but on solid strikes the 5 wood was 10 yards further.  Toss up.

[Esox]

I currently carry M6 5,7 & 9 woods in lieu of hybrids. 9 wood gaps perfectly with my 5 iron.  The 7 & 9 woods are amazingly versatile and easy to adjust shot height and movement with.

[mcanadiens]

During the moments of my golf tenure where I haven't completely sucked, the 5W has been my go-to club.

At it's best, the 5W is the club to save me from the outrages of my driver. Depending on what I need saving from, I can either hook it or hit one low enough to stay under tree branches and preserve a chance for an up-and-down.

Early on I'd forever try to hit 3W. One of the few smart things I have done in golf is to take the 3W out of the bag and use the 5W.

 

[TourSpoon]

I will definitely be reporting back on how it goes for me with a 5 wood.  I could have used it yesterday into a couple of par 5s. 

[Esox]

On 3/20/2022 at 10:43 AM, Typhoon92 said:

The other day I put my 5 wood up against my 3 hybrid to see the difference.  I don’t bother carrying a 3 wood.  Both were more or less the same.  More consistent contact with the hybrid, but on solid strikes the 5 wood was 10 yards further.  Toss up.

Back in the day the 5 wood was comparable to a 2 iron. Now days with loft jacking and hybrids the 2 iron is all but extinct, and most 3 irons carry the loft of a 2.

[Be Still]

I couldn't agree more with your choice to have the hybrid in the bag during windy days for lower flight trajectory.  I also love my 5wood but we get more windy days here than not and I sometimes forget about my 5w.  Maybe about 3 years or so ago, I caught a shot from Web Simpson on TV, and I had to look it up- turns out it was a 21.0* (or close)- high and landed soft on a what seems to be on a firm green and said to self, it was a good time to break it out.

Thanks for the post.  This is a great reminder to keep sharp with the woods.

[TourSpoon]

13 hours ago, Noel Daof said:

I couldn't agree more with your choice to have the hybrid in the bag during windy days for lower flight trajectory.  I also love my 5wood but we get more windy days here than not and I sometimes forget about my 5w.  Maybe about 3 years or so ago, I caught a shot from Web Simpson on TV, and I had to look it up- turns out it was a 21.0* (or close)- high and landed soft on a what seems to be on a firm green and said to self, it was a good time to break it out.

Thanks for the post.  This is a great reminder to keep sharp with the woods.

So great point, a lot of these Tour Pros are carrying a 21* fairway or 7 wood. It seems to be a popular trend for high launch, decent spin, and a steep landing angle to hold the slick greens they play on. 

[Be Still]

Tour Spoon, yes, it was a 7w. 

[TourSpoon]

So I ended up with a Radspeed Tour 5 wood. I took it to the fitter along with a PX Even Flow White 75 gram 6.0 shaft (same as my 3 wood) and tried the stock Motore X F1 shaft. Three swings and I took it out (listed on eBay). I put in my 3 wood shaft, gripped down 3/4 and at 17.5 it was too hot. We settled for 19 as I was carrying it 215 consistently and I left it. When I picked it up, we fine tuned with the new shaft and set it up at 18.5. to get a consistent 215 carry with some decent height for par 5s. 

After 4 rounds it is my new favorite club. It definitely took 2 rounds to get used to it and in round 3, I had 245 to the pin downwind and with a firm fairway ran it into the greenside bunker. Yesterday, I had 205 into the wind and hit it just past the flag for an easy 2 putt. I hit a few fairways with it and got it greenside to the final par 5 from 220 out. 

I have to give my club guy credit on this one. He has been suggesting this as a missing part of my bag as my hybrid was not cutting it and the 3 utility iron was just too inconsistent. 

[jmanbooyaa]

Always awesome when a new club or ah ha moment works. Glad to hear. 

[TourSpoon]

10 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

Always awesome when a new club or ah ha moment works. Glad to hear. 

Hopefully this is not a fleeting moment. A Tommy Fleetwood moment I would take. 🤣

[mohearn]

6 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

Hopefully this is not a fleeting moment. A Tommy Fleetwood moment I would take. 🤣

ha, I see what you did there...

Serious though, 5 wood is great. You're getting more distance than I am but it fills a similar spot in the line-up.  In my opinion it pays to develop some proficiency with long fairway woods. LSW calls it a sv2 (225+) for me it's probably closer to 200+, but regardless, I spent some time tightening up dispersion and direction and its started to payoff, at least at end of last season and actually the other day hit 5-wood 4 times to good effect.  I've stopped carrying my 3H.

[TourSpoon]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:30 PM, mohearn said:

Serious though, 5 wood is great. You're getting more distance than I am but it fills a similar spot in the line-up.  In my opinion it pays to develop some proficiency with long fairway woods. LSW calls it a sv2 (225+) for me it's probably closer to 200+, but regardless, I spent some time tightening up dispersion and direction and its started to payoff, at least at end of last season and actually the other day hit 5-wood 4 times to good effect.  I've stopped carrying my 3H.

Saturday I hit it to the apron right at 210 on a par 5 and walked with par. It is changing the way I play for sure. I am not sure what a sv2 is, but I do know that closer is better! I just bought the 3 wood head in the same model for kicks so let's see if I can get that to work and I can have 225 covered! 

As far as hybrids go, I never really found one that I cared for. 

[mohearn]

9 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

I am not sure what a sv2 is, but I do know that closer is better! 

Indeed, closer is better.  "SV2" is from the book Lowest Score Wins. The authors use the term "separation value" to describe how a particular skill, in this case long fairway approaches of 220 yards, impact one's score.  

Played today, 5 wood = good....

3-wood, not so good.... 

Playing tomorrow too, gonna be a good day.