Advice Please: Driver or 3 wood first?

[slapshotz]

Hello. I'm new to the game of golf and new to this website. I'd appreciate the advice of all the more experienced players. Here's my question. I have just finished 4 weeks of lessons. I've never been on a golf course, but I'm going to the driving range regularly and am looking forward to a real round of golf. My starter golf club set consists of irons and a putter. My instructor told me I can't get away without a driver or a 3 wood. Can you all suggest if I should get a 3wood or a driver first? Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Joe081484]

If I were you I'd pick up the 3 wood first

- A good 3 wood is cheaper, you can get a solid used model for very cheap at most golf shops.
-Whenever I find myself struggling off the tee I always go back to my 3 wood to regain that confidence.
- The 3-wood can be used both off the tee and the fairway with relative ease.

I'd recomend you try and find a model with some offset as well, might help as a beginner

Other people might suggest the driver but thats just my two cents, good luck

[kafka01]

Hello,

i´m a rookie too, after getting a starter set of clubs i decided i wanted to get "real" clubs (only i enjoyed buying them so much). That didn´t make my game better obviously, but i think i can help you with your question. I didn´t had to decide between Driver or 3 Wood but after getting both, i honestly can say i don´t actually need a Driver yet (since distance for me is almost the same than with 3 wood - I bought the R7 Taylor Made line). So my recommondation for you would be to get a solid 3 wood, it will be more accurate, you don´t lose much distance, and if you get better you even get start hitting it from the fairway..
Hope that helps.

[Upright]

Hiya shotz! Welcome to the game!

I'm interested to know what irons you are using, and if you can tell me a little about how you hit them on the range we can make a better decision about the woods.

[slapshotz]

Thanks for the advice everybody. Upright, to answer your question, I got a short set of nike cpr irons (9-5 and PW). It's been 5 weeks. The week after the class, i took a break since I screwed up my wrist -- possibly from taking a lot of fat shots. I'm at a point now where I can probably hit a 5-9 iron semi-decently about 70-80% of the time. I also tried using a cleveland launcher driver and hit that ok which is to say that the ball got hit and went around 200 yards. I can't speak to my accuracy with it and I only tried it about 15 shots at the driving range.

Thanks again. I appreciate everybody's advice!

[Upright]

Hey those are nice irons, mr. shotz. I think you're on the right track in considering the 3-wood off the tee for a little while. At least until you regularly hit it solid and consistently hit the fairway. If money is not a concern it might be a good idea to go ahead and find a driver that suits your eye so you would have it to practice with occasionally on the range, but using the 3-wood will allow you to have more fun on the course. The hybrid clubs that go with your irons are highly rated for playability, so maybe a 22° hybrid and a 3-wood with comparable offset would round out your playing set nicely. You don't necessarily have to get a Nike club, but it's important keep in mind the progressive offset of those irons and try to maintain that progression in your longer clubs. Good luck, and just remember to have fun. It's a great game.

And who knows? Maybe it's not too late to tell ol' Santa we needs a new 3-wood!

[slapshotz]

thanks for the advice. Golf is fun....frustrating at times but fun too. Happy golfing!

[eyevan]

I actually think that you don't need either. I would actually go find a par 3 golf course and play, but if you want / need to get more clubs why not wedges? Learn how to chip / pitch / play out of bunkers just learn how to play before adding more problems to the mix. I'm sure that you've heard this before but the scoring is all about 100 yards in (so I'd focus on this). I mean if you have never played a round before, I think that you are getting a little ahead of yourself here. I know people who have played for well over 10 years and they still can't longer than a 5 iron with much consistency, and when you are ready to play par 4s (280 - 320 yard holes) I'd look into getting some CPR hybrids to match your set.

But to answer your original question I think Fred Funk said in Golf Digest to hit the driver vs. 3 wood, because not only are you hitting it off a tee the head is so much bigger with a greater sweet spot that its actually easier to hit. (even with the added length)

[Tozza]

I would definitely go for the 3 wood as it is easier to hit!

[slapshotz]

Yes. I heard that half the shots that make up a beginner's score are taken with a putter. That surprised me, but once I tried putting, I understand. I don't think I can get away with not having a way to get long distances. There's only one executive course near me and everywhere else has a lot of par 4 and 5 holes from what my pals who play golf tell me. I can tell by the variety of responses that there may be no one clear answer as to the best thing to do, but many are suggesting the 3 wood, so that's probably the safe bet.