Driver, Fairway, and Hybrids — Need to Match?

[ChiTown]

Pretty simple Q. If I decide to purchase a new driver is it “best” to stay within the same brand / line for a 3W and hybrids?

Thanks in advance 

[klineka]

I'd get fit and go with whichever 3 clubs fit you best regardless of if they're in the same brand/line or not.

I have a 1 model year old Callaway driver, 1 model year old Ping 3 wood, and 2 model year old Ping hybrid. 

Pretty much all the major OEMs make high quality clubs now so I don't think it really matters as long as it produces the optimal numbers for you.

[billchao]

49 minutes ago, ChiTown said:

Pretty simple Q. If I decide to purchase a new driver is it “best” to stay within the same brand / line for a 3W and hybrids?

Thanks in advance 

Not at all. My driver, 3w, and 2h are all different brands. The only club I got fit for was the driver, though.

I did get fit for new woods (was going to replace the hybrid with a 5w) but ended up not doing it due to the price. They would have been the same brand and shafts since I got them fitted at the same time.

[pganapathy]

Matching clubs only helps your bag look more beautiful.  The most important thing is that the clubs match in terms of performance (accuracy and distance gapping).  Pick the ones that help your game best, even if that means each club is from a different brand

[Shindig]

They don't have to match, although three of my four match the OEM but not the model.  Depending on your handicap and swing speed, I don't necessarily recommend a 3-wood, although this is not a universally accepted view. 

I have four woods at the top of my bag:

* Titleist Driver.  First, and so far only, driver I bought new.  It still works great.

* Titleist 4-wood, 1-2 model years later, also fit (also still the only fairway wood I was fit for).   That fitting also included information (that I didn't really request, but didn't object to -- just information that came from the same launch system that the rep used to fit me for the 4-wood) for what 3H I'd get, if I got one.  Speaking of which,

* Titleist 3-hybrid, several model years later than the driver.  Matches the specifications on the sheet that I got with the 4-wood (for a hybrid), although this one I bought used many years later to replace a Maltby hybrid on a whim.

* Maltby 4-hybrid, the last of my GolfWorks/Maltby clubs still in my bag.

My Ping irons then start at 5, and my wedges don't match, although maybe that's a part of the bag that should. 

[phillyk]

Aesthetically, certain brands look different at setup than others. Set them down next to each other and make sure you like and feel confident with the look. Woods tech aren’t getting better so make sure shaft is right. Looks, we can get over but if we can be picky, why not?

[WUTiger]

On 7/18/2023 at 9:31 AM, phillyk said:

Aesthetically, certain brands look different at setup than others. Set them down next to each other and make sure you like and feel confident with the look.

I had my first true driver fitting in 2008. What I noticed: Launch numbers aside, some models just set up to my eye better than others. If driver looked good, often fairway woods looked good too.

Since that time, all my drivers and fairways have been either Callaway or Tour Edge. The two brands just fit my eye, and I can get them zeroed in quickly (if I have the right shaft in them).

Hybrids are different. Some are designed basically as SGI clubs, and have quite a bit of offset. These I tend to pull or hook. Others, more square facd along the pro line, are easier to hit straight. Hybrids in play have been Adams, Cobra FlyZ and Callaway BB Osize (see 4H below).

For three seasons I played the FlyZ 3H and 4H. This pair gave me a consistent slight fade out of a square stance - good for going other way. Current Callaway 4H has lighter shaft and missed left on occasion: So, I put some lead tape in the toe section of the sole, and this slowed down face closure and straightened things out.

[onthehunt526]

On 7/17/2023 at 10:24 PM, ChiTown said:

Pretty simple Q. If I decide to purchase a new driver is it “best” to stay within the same brand / line for a 3W and hybrids?

Thanks in advance 

In short, no. Long version, it doesn’t matter if gaps are ok.

[saevel25]

On 7/17/2023 at 10:24 PM, ChiTown said:

Pretty simple Q. If I decide to purchase a new driver is it “best” to stay within the same brand / line for a 3W and hybrids?

Thanks in advance 

Nope. 

You could design your set to have the fairway woods be more off the turf strikes. Some manufacturers make 3-woods to be more useful off the tee and less so off the ground. I would be more incline to keep the golf shafts similar in the fairway woods and hybrids. The driver can be its own thing. 

The best thing to do is figure out how you are going to use each club and go from there. If you need to hit your woods/hybrids off the ground a lot, then get ones that excel at that. 

 

[ChetlovesMer]

On 7/17/2023 at 10:24 PM, ChiTown said:

Pretty simple Q. If I decide to purchase a new driver is it “best” to stay within the same brand / line for a 3W and hybrids?

Thanks in advance 

As others have mentioned, the answer here is no. 

I guess you could make an argument that the way be buy clubs in a set is easy in terms of filling a bag, but not necessarily the best way to hit your "gaps". I once played with a guy who's entire bag was made up of random makes and models of clubs. For example he had two 6-irons and two 9-irons. There was no 5-iron but there was a 4-iron. Each one was a different brand. Some of his clubs were recent vintage, some were older. He built his entire bag from the used club rack.

His philosophy was that he wanted to go go out and buy a club that went 200 yards. Then he bought one that went 150 yards. Then he found one that went 100 yards. Then he filled in the gaps in between. He bought each club for a very specific distance didn't care what was written on the bottom of the club. 

Now, I will also add that this guy liked to be a bit eccentric and part of the appeal for him was that he went about filling his bag in a unique way. I think he liked that people would look at his bag and see what appeared to be the bargain bin at your local pro-shop. He was and still is a good golfer though and has a lot of confidence in his clubs. 

A slightly less eccentric move is to get a 3 wood you can draw easily and a 5 wood you can fade easily or visa-versa. 

 

[onthehunt526]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

As others have mentioned, the answer here is no. 

I guess you could make an argument that the way be buy clubs in a set is easy in terms of filling a bag, but not necessarily the best way to hit your "gaps". I once played with a guy who's entire bag was made up of random makes and models of clubs. For example he had two 6-irons and two 9-irons. There was no 5-iron but there was a 4-iron. Each one was a different brand. Some of his clubs were recent vintage, some were older. He built his entire bag from the used club rack.

His philosophy was that he wanted to go go out and buy a club that went 200 yards. Then he bought one that went 150 yards. Then he found one that went 100 yards. Then he filled in the gaps in between. He bought each club for a very specific distance didn't care what was written on the bottom of the club. 

Now, I will also add that this guy liked to be a bit eccentric and part of the appeal for him was that he went about filling his bag in a unique way. I think he liked that people would look at his bag and see what appeared to be the bargain bin at your local pro-shop. He was and still is a good golfer though and has a lot of confidence in his clubs. 

A slightly less eccentric move is to get a 3 wood you can draw easily and a 5 wood you can fade easily or visa-versa. 

 

I have a caveat on this I think the driver can be different from the fairway that’s different than the hybrids. Like I said above if your gaps are ok it doesn’t matter. You can even have different fairways or hybrids. I believe that your fairways should maybe be the same as each other if you have multiple. And the same with hybrids. You want a little bit of consistency, but if you have a Ping driver, Taylormade fairways, and Callaway hybrids It doesn’t matter.