Fairway Woods: Face Dimensions. Trade-offs

[Skenny]

I looked for info on this and don't see alot of discussion about "oversized" fairway woods, and their playability from various lies versus forgiveness, owing to an oversized clubhead/face. More specifically, and/or said another way, I recently purchased 5, 7, and 9 fairway woods that I hit extremely well (for me) off a mat at the range. They had larger club faces than previous versions I owned, so I attributed their performance to forgiveness. In actual play, however, this larger clubface seemed to get held up by grass in light rough or even just lush fairways, resulting in weaker fades, as opposed to what I was hitting at the range.

At this point, I have gone back to my older FWs with smaller club faces. They appear to have more potential from "real world" lies. Would this be a typical trade-off between the two scenarios, or am I missing something? Please note, for purposes of this question, I am not concerned about tee shots, which I think would benefit from the larger face, just like from the mat at the range.

What I would like is clubs that hit explosive shots with maximum forgiveness from all lies........  (humor intended). Thanks for feedback.

[SavvySwede]

No fairway wood can give you the best of both worlds. I suggest trying some lead tape low and back on the larger head to help with the flight off the ground or find a hybrid with a deeper face.

[WUTiger]

A larger-headed FW will give you more confidence when you use it off the tee because the head looks larger.

But when the larger heads appear to catch on the turf, it may actually be a balance issues - not size issues.

The balance issue relates to the location of the Vertical Center of Gravity (VCOG) in the clubhead.

Position 1 shows a VCOG which is high and forward. This would tend to give a hot, "power" low-spin, low trajectory launch. You might find this in pro or tour head FWs. used by players who are solid ballstrikers and have high clubhead speed.

Position 2 shows a VCOG which is lower and more rearward. Because the weight is lower, you get a higher launch with more spin; also, the more rearward position allows the shaft/clubhead to bow more forward, also increasing loft.

(Note: the 1 and 2 positions above are not absolute either-or locations. Clubmakers will move the VCOG around this general range to tweak launch effects of the club.)

In the case of the TaylorMade RBZ family, some players had trouble with the FWs because the woods were a bit top-heavy. I was able to hit the RBZ 3W fine off a tee or out of light rough (cushion below ball), but had trouble getting good launch off the fairway. The RBZ Stage 2 corrected this by lowering the VCOG, and having a shallower clubface. The SLDR S fairway woods have a clubface that is shallower still.

The idea of low profile was made famous by the Adams Tight Lies woods and drivers of the mid-1990s. The low profile and lower weight positioning helped players with moderate swingspeed get a higher launch on the ball. And, this is being "rediscovered" by other golf OEMs.

(Note on diagram just above: The CG is below the center of the ball on most modern woods).