Fairway Woods Instead of Irons for Seniors

[micha]

any senior use fairway woods instead of irons

[Shindig]

I am not a senior and have only one fairway wood, but yes, there are.

In fact, there are (or were) some iron sets that are largely, if not entirely, woods.   

There are also sets that are nearly that, such as Cleveland's Launcher XL iron set.

Welcome to TST by the way. 

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, micha said:

any senior use fairway woods instead of irons

Welcome to TST @micha.   We're glad you've joined.   

My longest iron is a 6.   I have two hybrids and a 4W which seems to be  good gapping for my longer clubs.   It's not unusual to see people play either hybrids or fairway woods, young and old.    They require less club head speed for most people.   If you haven't tried a hybrid or a higher lofted wood, don't hesitate.  

[Bob M]

@michawelcome to TST. I turned 66 this year and use 5w, 9w, 6H and 7H which cover 2i, 4i, 5i and 6i spots, respectively. My irons are Ping G710s, the first one of which is a 7i. 

I have a slow swing speed and find that I am much more consistent with lofted fairway woods and hybrids than with their counterpart irons. 

[RWC]

I switched to a 3 and 5 hybrid this year (from 4w and 7w) and found my contact is more consistent which results in better average distance. My irons are 7-9-PW-SW. At age 70 with a slow swing speed, I've found this setup works well enough for me to maintain a 10 HCP from senior tees.

[SEMI_Duffer]

Historically, I've had difficultly getting the ball off the deck with woods. I've new Callaway Mavrik MAX 3, 5, and 7-woods.  Haven't swung the 3w, yet, nor have I yet played the other two, but I was able to get the ball off the deck much more easily, in range practice, with the 5 and 7-woods than I had with my previous woods.

You might also consider hybrids.  I couldn't hit my 4i worth a darn. Replaced it with a Mavrik 4h on a "I wonder...?" impulse and I'm able to hit that well.  Again: At least in range practice.

Whether any of those improvements will translate to play remains a question I hope to answer this season.

My main concern with replacing anything under my 5i with woods or hybrids would be play out of the rough--from where I far too often find myself playing 

[ChetlovesMer]

There's a guy in my league who's about 70-75 ish, and quite a bit overweight as well. He carries only LW, SW, GW, PW and I think a 9-iron. The rest of his bag consists of various fairway woods. He's playing off single digits so it seems to work for him. He does play the "forward tees", but I've played with him and he seems long enough to play at least the middles. From what I remember of his bag, there is something like an 11-wood, 9-wood, 7-wood, 5-wood, 3-wood and driver in there. No hybrids though. Of course he has a putter and I think he has a chipper too. 

[Shindig]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:54 AM, RWC said:

I switched to a 3 and 5 hybrid this year (from 4w and 7w) and found my contact is more consistent which results in better average distance. My irons are 7-9-PW-SW. At age 70 with a slow swing speed, I've found this setup works well enough for me to maintain a 10 HCP from senior tees.

Wait... 4W and 7W out, 3H and 5H in?  3H for the 7W maybe, I'm confused by the gapping.  Maybe I read it wrong.

On 8/12/2022 at 9:17 AM, SEMI_Duffer said:

My main concern with replacing anything under my 5i with woods or hybrids would be play out of the rough--from where I far too often find myself playing 

I hit hybrids and woods out of the rough frequently, but I'm not exactly playing at Oakmont.   I hit my 5I fine, but even if I didn't, being able to hit a punch shot (especially a trouble recovery punch shot) would be difficult with a hybrid, I think.  

[arturo28mx]

I'm 65 and the longest iron I carry is a 6. Above that hybrids and fairway woods.

[Esox]

I'll play lofted fairways (7 & 9 woods) instead of long irons on courses with long uphill approaches, or when things get really firm.

[DewSweeper09]

On 8/11/2022 at 10:26 AM, micha said:

any senior use fairway woods instead of irons

Grandpa got a set of Cobra T-rails and loves them.

[DrvFrShow]

My longest iron is a 7i at 30 deg. From there I went to hybrids starting at 26 and one more at 22. Doing this allowed me to add a 7W which has some uses. I play a 5W instead of a 3W. As I age, I plan to add hybrids at 30 and 34 degrees replacing my 7i and 8I. Hit the easy button. 

[tehuti]

My longest iron is a 7. I have 3-6 hybrids, 4w and 7w, and driver. It took a while to find hybrids I could actually hit consistently. But once I did it was a no-brainer to replace the 3 and 4 irons. Over time I added the 5 and 6 just because they are so much easier for me to hit than the corresponding irons.

[pganapathy]

I can probably still hit my 3, 4 and 5 iron consistently well but I dropped them from my bag.  I have a 4 hybrid and it gives me the distance I need.  Above my 6 iron I pick the hybrid and hit a less than full shot. if necessary.  I find the hybrid easier to hit than the iron and more practical from different lies

[Hohjoe]

On 9/21/2022 at 3:09 AM, tehuti said:

 It took a while to find hybrids I could actually hit consistently.

How did you do that? Di you buy or borrow or hit the clubs at a simulator in a store?

[chop]

I'm 67 and around 15 years ago I went in search for a fw wood head that I liked. A buddy had the Cobra SZ and I hit it and loved it. Got on eBay and bought the 4,5,7, and 9 woods. I put some new Diamana Red shaft on them and never looked back. They are all great but that 9 wood is "Money" Lol I hit the 4 would so long it's ridiculous. I played in a scramble two weeks ago and stuck the 5 wood and the 4 wood to 5 feet on the two longest par 4s. I like these FW woods because they have a taller face. I'm not a fan of the shallow faced woods although I have hit a couple and they were fine. The taller face just appeals to me. I still use irons up to 5 iron. So yea, I love my FW woods.

 

[mohearn]

4 hours ago, chop said:

I'm 67 and around 15 years ago I went in search for a fw wood head that I liked. A buddy had the Cobra SZ and I hit it and loved it. Got on eBay and bought the 4,5,7, and 9 woods. 

You're playing 15 year old FWs? More power to you!   I had a 7 FW TM SLDR-S with a R shaft, liked it, but seemed to overlap with other clubs and I gave it away. I sorta regret it, but then again I always felt that the dispersion was bigger then an equivalent iron.  Funny as I type this I'm thinking I need another one!

[arturo28mx]

One word of caution. Based on my own experience, "senior" shafts are too soft and whippy, and produce too much dispersion.