Fairway wood usage

[hypergolf]

Does anyone use fairway wood to get out of the medium rough when you are still quite some distance away from the hole? I find it difficult to use fairway wood in the rough, balloon hybrids, so my only choice remaining is 3 iron in order to get out of the rough and get as much distance as possible. Any advice on how I could get as much distance as possible but from a mid rough? Is it advisable to use a fairway from a rough?

[CG031]

If you have a good lie in rough that's not too thick, I say go with the three/five wood. If you do not have a good lie, I like to "punch" at it with a hybrid. I take my 3 iron hybrid out, take it off my middle-to-back stance, and take a more abbreviated back swing and make sure I STAY DOWN on it, and it will usually go about 190-200 pretty low. It works well for me.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

Does anyone use fairway wood to get out of the medium rough when you are still quite some distance away from the hole? I find it difficult to use fairway wood in the rough, balloon hybrids, so my only choice remaining is 3 iron in order to get out of the rough and get as much distance as possible. Any advice on how I could get as much distance as possible but from a mid rough? Is it advisable to use a fairway from a rough?

Well it really all depends on the lie. You say medium rough so assuming the ball is sitting down a little I'd probably hit my hybrid and try and hit it low much like the previous poster said. If you're in rough but it's sitting up OK then sure, let the fairway wood fly. Really all depends on what your comfortable with. If you're in the rough and still a long ways from the pin it's all about managing and salvaging the hole. Chances are you are not going to get on the green anyways, so hit what you are comfortable with and mimimize the damage. If you aren't comfortable hitting a wood or hybrid out of a tough lie in the rough then hit a mid iron and just advance it as far as you can. Get within wedge distance and you still have a chance to do okay. Sometimes I see guys chop a wood out of the rough and get in lots of trouble after that. Chances are they aren't going to reach the green anyways so what's the best they'll do, probably get with in 20-30 yards of the green, you know that awkward range a lot players struggle with.

[gogolfing]

If it is a decent lie, I use my five wood from the rough and it cuts through it nicely. About a year ago, I dropped my 3 wood because I couldn't get much launch from it, and replaced it with a 18 degree five wood, but with a 3 wood shaft. I hit it almost as far as my 3 wood, but much better trajectory and it is easier to hit out of the rough, and is good off the tee too.

[lamebums]

I'm pretty unreliable with my 3 and 5 woods - I only use them when a drive might end up in trouble, such as a lake going clear across the fairway, or when I'm trying to drive a par 5 in two (driver, 3 wood). If I'm in the rough, I'm probably close enough to the hole to use an iron, if not, it's a par 5, and I'll get there in three anyway.

I don't hit my 3 wood however on anything less than a perfect lie, because otherwise I'll hit an ugly topper that goes 10 feet.