Closing the gap...3 wood question

[Teyber]

i would recommend a 5 or even 7 wood- if your a high handicap you will find yourself pulling it on most short par 4's. a lot of 3 woods can be pretty hard to hit

[DJYoshi]

Ok...so I have done some research...this is what I am thinking

best way to decide on the clubs is to go hit them....try to go to a range where they do fittings for clubs so you can actually see how the ball reacts... advantage of that is they can change stuff for you on the club on the fly.... pretty awesome if you ask me.

[becksfan2185]

I have read about a few woods...I'm between a 3w and a 4w. My new dilema is TM burners do not come in 4w, only 3w. I've read some reviews on the Mizuno F-60 FW, and it seems preety darn interesting. Specially the 4w @ 16.5*.

It sounds like you may be hooked on the TM, but there are definitely other alternatives out there. The Mizuno you mentioned does look nice. I have the Ping G10 which has 15.5* loft... kinda in-between. I would hit a few, if possible, just to see which you like the feel of more.

[Crey23]

Ok, so I went to the pro shop today... I tried the following:

909 F2 15.5* - Stiff Loved it...I kept slicing, but I attributed that to the stiff shaft....very nice, and extremly nice to hit from the deck, I was surprised, and Impressed.

Rapture 14* - Regular I like it too....I could launch it very well from the tee, but not as great from the deck.

'09 Burner 15* - Regular I had the hardest time to hei this stick, from the deck and the tee....Yikes!!!!

Boby Jones 15* - Regular Did not like it much.....hit of the tee great.....My best distnace even, but could not hit off the deck...It could have been me....I'll have to try it again.

I also tried a new ft9 15* - Regular Could not hit it for the life of me ... I did try to hit after hitting about 80 balls or so....

The nice thing that I found out is that my swing speed in consistently between 75 and 88 mph...some variation due to club weight maybe, but must likely, amature indian! Tha ball speed was constanly over 100, upto 118, and avg 111 mph. I learned how to use the analysis system at Golfsmith rather quickly. Great staff, very helpful, even knowing that my intention was to shop arround.

I must say I almost bought a used DWS 2/R 18*...Very nice. I could not find a short tee to test with analytical system, but of the deck.....man I was launching this esty to hit, and what seemed to be straight shots, down the middle. I will have to consider the 1/R 18* closely now....

Decisions.....Decisions..... I will continue to research my best option.

Thanks all for you intup, and as always your thought are appreciated.

[1Greatgolfguy]

As you can see from my sig I don't have a 3 Wood. I recently replaced it with a gap wedge. This was to fill a gap because for me, it was more important to have something to fill the gap in my irons, than 3 Wood distance.

What is more important:

an extra 15-40 yards that a 3 wood will give you?
or the gap somewhere else in your irons?

[Crey23]

it was more important to have something to fill the gap in my irons, than 3 Wood distance.

You are right....but in my bag I have:

PW - 45* (AP1) GW - 50* (AP1) SW - SM56*-10* LW - SM60&-04* and a Zevo 60*-(08 or 10) So I have my scoring clubs all sorted out. My issue is trying to close up on long par 5 and 4's. My Driving gets me from 250/260 consistently upto 280. The best I can do with my wilson 3h is about 200 consistently....I don't have anything to fit the 210 - 230 range. I may go for a 1/R Cobra DWS Baffler....I hit a 2/R and abosultely loved it. We'll see.... PS ~ My blackberry froze on the middle of placing my bid for the 906F4 3w....ARGGGG! Had to get it off my chest!

[Suited_Up]

I don't have any Fairway woods either.

I have 2 different Cobra Bafflers. One is the 1R Baffler Pro 16*, and the other is the 3R DWS. (20* I believe.) I am not consistent or good really, but I must say, the 3R DWS is crazy consistent compared to most of my other clubs. The 1R pro I struggle with though. Not sure if it's the loft or the fact that it's DWS vs Pro, but I like the 3 a lot. Just seems to go straight almost always... So if you liked the 2, it might not be a bad choice.

[1Greatgolfguy]

You are right....but in my bag I have:

Sorry, I didn't see that you have a gap wedge. So if you add the 3 wood to your bag, what club would you get rid of - if you play by the 14 club rule???

Or am I confused?

[Crey23]

Sorry, I didn't see that you have a gap wedge. So if you add the 3 wood to your bag, what club would you get rid of - if you play by the 14 club rule???

Confused

No you are right...I would exchange the LW depending on plying conditions. I have: TM Burner 10.5* Driver (1) Wilson 3h 17* (1 = 2) Titleist AP1 4-GW (+8 = 10) Titleist SW SM56-10 (+1 = 11) Titleist LW SM60-04 (+1 = 12) /emoticons/d3_drool.gif" title="Drool"/>

[laconic517]

imo if you are having trouble hitting the 3 wood off the deck is probably a question of set up more than anything else.

I hit my 3 wood pathetic for a low handicap off the ground for years. The trajectory varied insanely, so if i had to carry something who the hell knows if I could do it. I changed my set up and started forward pressing the 3 wood a bit instead of hands behind and it has made it so much easier to hit it flush and high everytime now. Id recommend making sure you are playing it forward enough in your stance, and forward press it a bit so that you will hit it high on the face instead of catching it thin by trying to sweep it too much or swing up at it.

Id definitely go for a 3 wood.

[Big_M]

I don't have any Fairway woods either.

for what it's worth... my wife absolutely loves her Cobra DWS hybrids... she can't hit a 4-iron to save her life, but she's pretty consistent with that hybrid... she'll even swing easy and take some off her 5H just to be hitting it over an iron. I am all for replacing woods with hybrids... many people (myself included) have replaced the 5-wood with a 16-19* hybrid... and for me there is NO question that the hybrid is a much better club for me. I would use a 16* instead of a 3-wood, but I finally found a 3-wood I'm in love with and can hit a mile... before I hit most 3-woods only marginally further than my 18* 2-hybrid, but this new one is a good 15-20 yards longer.

[misty_mountainhop]

Ok So from my sig, you can see that I carry no fairway woods. I have a dilema....I was wondering how people are setup?

i would like to think hit the ball fairly well and i carry a 5w instead of 3w for 2 reasons. 1)

3-wood for me, but I use a 4-wood on occasion as well. 3-woods are not that hard to hit off the deck. They're longer than a hybrid and most hybrids (I hate the things!) have a lot of offset c.f. a 3-wood which will help with ease of striking. I can't work a hybrid left or right for toffee though and I like to be able to do this with my clubs so a 3-wood it is for me.

hey im trying to find the tip diameter of a titleist 907D2 driver head. my shaft broke at the hosel and looking at getting a new shaft. anyone know??

I think all(?) Titleist woods take a 0.335" shaft; I know mine do.

[Crey23]

... before I hit most 3-woods only marginally further than my

Was this hybrid a Cobra DWS 2/R by any chance??? If so how long were you hitting, and how long is your regular drive, for comparison purposes.

Thanks!

[Big_M]

Was this hybrid a Cobra DWS 2/R by any chance??? If so how long were you hitting, and how long is your regular drive, for comparison purposes.

No, I am speaking of the 18* in my sig... it goes about 215-220, and my old 3-wood would go about 220-230, however my new 3-wood (see sig) gets me 230-240. For the record my driver is 260-270 average. So, my 18* hybrid would still leave me a good 40-50 yard gap to the driver. I don't like this big of a gap at that end and that's why I wanted to find a 3-wood that was a fair bit longer than my 2 hybrid. Maybe a 16* hybrid would be right for what you want, but it will certainly be a little more difficult to hit.

your sig says you have a 3h at 17* loft... sounds more like a 2h to me. What distance do you hit it. Also I noticed you carry a 3-iron, how well do you hit that, and what distance. Seems like the long end of your bag might need some retooling. Why not drop the 3-iron... go with Driver, 3W or 4W, 2 hybrids, then 4-GW, SW, LW. I don't know about you, but most 36 cappers can't hit a 3-iron very well or consistently, and many can't hit the 4-iron much better either. It might make sense to add more hybrids to your bag, and try to find at least one fairway wood that you like. Maybe a FW like the Adams A4 or XTD A3 or A30 which plays more like a hybrid than a FW.

[Crey23]

...your sig says you have a 3h at 17* loft... sounds more like a 2h to me. What distance do you hit it. Also I noticed you carry a 3-iron...how well do you hit that, and what distance. Seems like the long end of your bag might need some retooling. Why not drop the 3-iron...

Actually...Thanks... I had not noticed that I said 3-GW on my sig. I actually have 4-GW. my 3h, is 17*, which I agree...it's lofted more like a 2h, but a pro told me that the combination of loft and club length is what dictated that. I have to be honest though.....most 2h, have the same characteristics as my 3h.

As for the 3w....I have hit a few sticks, ping rapture, Titleist 906F2 (Stiff), TM Burner, Nike Sumo, Bobby Jones, Cally FT-i, and I really liked the Titleist of the tee and deck...especially the deck. I was hitting huge slices, but that is due to the stiff shaft. As for 3h I can hit consistently 185-200, maybe a little more when I connect real well. I had lost all confidence on this club until my last outing, where a friend gave a quick tip, and I was launching 200 yrd line drives... :) My 4i, well Since for a while I couldn't hit my 3h, I got pretty good at it, but I probably hit this about 170-180 max, so as you can see my club gap is pretty significant. The setup that I have thinking off is D, 3w (15.5* Titleist 906F4), replace my 3h (20* 3/R Cobra DWS), 4-GW, 56-10, 60-04, and putter. This should not leave me with any gap that I cannot cover by taking a little of a longer stick. That's were I'm at. For the record...I have only been playing since Mid January. my last 3 scores are as 146, 126, 113. All before my first playing lesson. So I am heading in the right direction. The last outing with 113, could have nearly broken 100, if it had not been for 2 really disastrous holes I think they were 10 on a 4, and 12 on a 5. Hd my first par (2 infact), about 6 bogeys, the rest doubles. My I'm obssesed with this gave!!!! I love It!!!