What is more important to you? A......

[trumps4]

Off the fairway. If you are great with it off the fairway, you'll never have a problem with it. Just never tee it up.

+1 Why not just drop the ball on the T box and create a fairway lie? That is what I do anyway.

[alomar123]

id say use a 2 hybrid from the fairway, never ever do i hit a wood from the fairway.

[denver_nuggs_15]

True, but most of the time my driver stays in the bag unless I know that it is a reachable part 5, or a par 4 over 420 yards. The rest of the time I prefer to be in the shortstuff.

If your driver is that inaccurate, then you should practice it. I spent a month working on my driver because it was not getting the job done and I went from 43% to 56%. My misses were better, too.

But back to the point. I'd get a 3 wood that can do both. I've been searching for a while for a new three wood (still stuck with my Maxfli). Hitting it off the deck isn't that important to me though since I'd use it 2-4 times per round off the deck. However, I do take it out on some shorter par 4s off the tee. Just keep searching for the perfect 3 wood for you. And if you can't find it, think of what would be more useful to you. For me, the tee is more useful, but I've hit a 3W off the deck like 10 times this year. I'm long enough to hit irons into greens and if you're not, then a 3W that's better off the deck may be for you.

[goslin23]

I guess I got lucky and got a Wilson Staff FY-brid 3 wood that I can hit really good from the teebox or the turf. I had some doubts when I bought the club on clearance, so I am stunned at how well I can hit the ball with that club. I am going to give a serious look at all the Wilson Staff line for my next club purchase!

My thought is that if you can hit it off the turf, you "should" be able to hit it even better off the teebox just don't use a tee or very short tee and hit down on it like a fairway shot.

-=gos=-

[Zeph]

If you hit a club great off the turf, how can you not hit it great off the tee if you tee it low? It's not a driver, you don't want half the ball above the crown of the club. Tee it slightly up so you get a perfect "lie" for a tee shot, the ball being covered by the club if you look from behind. You hit a wood with a sweeping stroke, striking the ball at the bottom of the swing. Should not matter if the ball sits a bit down in the grass or is tee'd slightly above the ground. If anything, hitting it from the tee should be easier.

[imtomtomim]

Definitely off the fairway. I like that shallow face better to look at as well. Plus, I can stop my 4 wood on a dime. Anyways, I saw you were considering the nickent fairway wood. I would definitely recommend that club. It is probably my favorite club in the bag. I don't use it enough. I went on a wild search for a perfect fairway wood earlier this year and found it to be the nickent 4dx. Headshape is great, amazing forgiveness (it is a fairway wood), workable as far as you would want. I definitely can't turn the ball 60 yards to the side for those hero shots like I can with my irons, but to get around fairways and up and over corners, it works wonders. The face on the club also feels pretty hot and the ball definitely rockets off of it. Best FW I've ever experienced enough to become my favorite club. Did I mention it's my favorite club in my bag?

[Drifterland]

+1 Why not just drop the ball on the T box and create a fairway lie? That is what I do anyway.

fo sho nucka

[enduro]

Off the fairway. If you are great with it off the fairway, you'll never have a problem with it. Just never tee it up.

Pretty much can't argue with that.

[Blades4me]

3-wood that you can hit off the tee extremely well or a 3-wood that you hit extremely well off of the fairway.

I'd go for off of the deck cuz if I can hit it off of the deck the tee is no problem. I use a MacGregor NVG2 12.5* 3 metal and love it. I am very partial to strong 3 metals.

[WUTiger]

I guess I'm just lucky, but my Callaway Hyper-X Tour 3-wood works quite well from tee or fairway.

From 2003 until this winter, I used a low-profile Bazooka Beta Ti 3-wood (14º) with Grafalloy stiff Ultra-Lite shafts. I had trouble popping it up (like a 9-iron) off the tee. Also, I seemed to have good days and bad days with my fairway woods.

The Hyper-X Tour has a deeper-than-normal face, which helps on tee shots. Plus, it has a straight face (as does the driver), making it easier to fade the ball if I want to. (My prior driver and woods had about 2º closed faces it turned out, and nasty hooks showed up at the wrong time.)

With the HXT, about the only time I have trouble off the fairway is if the greens crew lets the grass get too shaggy. Then, I have to go with a 5-wood.

Also, I suggest you re-read the post by imtomtomim . He uses a 4-wood. One of the golf magazines reported that 17º (4 woods) were the easiest for most golfers to hit. Might try a 4-wood loft to solve the problem.

Before Hybrids became the rage, several male tour pros carried a 16º or 17º as their sole fairway wood.

[Grndslmhttr3]

If you can hit a 3-wood extremely well off the fairway, wouldn't you be able to hit it equally well off the teebox grass?