How much further, driver vs 3-wood?

[deekay]

Hi all,

I am a fifty-something bogey golfer who doesn't own a driver. I tee off with an old Powerbilt Grand Slam 15 degree 180cc 3-wood. I generally get about 210-ish carry distance and about another 10 yards roll. Call it about 220 yards total.

With those figures, what sort of distance gain could I reasonably expect if I bought myself a 2-3 year old driver? I gather that there would at least be a little more roll with a driver. It probably wouldn't be adjustable, so what loft would be recommended?

(Our weak currency makes equipment very expensive where I stay, so a new model driver is out of my reach.)

 

[deekay]

I recall a topic about "How far do you hit each club...and don't lie.", but I couldn't find it with the search function. Can someone please point me to the correct forum? That info may be helpful to me. Thanks.

[mcanadiens]

There is probably a lot of variability in something like that from one golfer to another. 

Personally, I haven't even carried a three wood in two years and hardly ever used it off the tee when I did.  My guess would be 30 or 40 yards.

 

[cipher]

On 5/20/2017 at 8:09 AM, deekay said:

With those figures, what sort of distance gain could I reasonably expect if I bought myself a 2-3 year old driver?

Difficult question to answer.  Can you consistently hit the ball as cleanly with a driver as you can the 3 wood?  I don't use a driver either, what I use is a 14 degree strong 3 wood with a slightly over-sized head for 3 wood standards.  My top end distance may be about 10 yards short, but it appears based on Game Golf stats that I am averaging about 5-10 yards more because I hit it more consistently.  You really may just need to try some different driver's out though and see how you hit them.

[Midpack]

There are charts all over the internet. This one would suggest you'd hit a driver about 235-240 yards, but there are several variables. That's probably why the charts aren't in complete agreement.

https://www.thoughtco.com/golf-club-distances-1562677

Edited May 22, 2017 by Midpack

[jamo]

Probably 10-20 yards or so.

[Grinde6]

I would say that on average you would see 20-30 yards or so.  If you are going to do it, I would go to a place where you can hit with a launch monitor and see what type of yardages you are getting, maybe bring your 3 wood in as well so you know how far you are hitting that on the monitor as it is likely to be different than on the course.  That way you can see if it is worth the $ for the added yardage you are getting.

[Jeremie Boop]

I'm not nearly as consistent as the previous two guys, but I'm typically 10-30 yards shorter with my 3 wood depending on the day and conditions. I could probably use 3 wood instead of driver a majority of the time and still put myself far enough off the tee that I'm not at a significant disadvantage, but honestly I'm not really any more accurate with it than I am with the driver so it's not really worth the loss of distance most times. As far as asking what loft you should look at, it's very difficult for anyone to really answer that because it would depend on the technology in whatever driver you went with. Some do better with higher loft if it's a lower spin model, while others will be better with lower loft if it's more of a mid spin model. Not to mention that shaft flex/kick point/tip stiffness etc all have some impact on launch and spin numbers. Your best bet, if at all possible, would be to find a place that has a launch monitor and a used club selection that will allow you to test as many options as you can.

[David in FL]

I'm 58.  Off the tee, I carry my driver about 235.  That's about 20 yards further than my 3-wood.

[Groucho Valentine]

Its hard to say. For me theres a 30-40 yard gap between my driver and three wood from the tee. But generally i think you can expect about 20 yards more on a well struck shot with a driver. 

[onthehunt526]

210 yards carry with a 3-wood would roughly translate to: 90% of your driver carry. So we do the algebraic ratio 9/10= 210/x. Cross multiply 9 times x and 210 times 10 we get 9x=2100. 2100 divided by 9 is~ 233 yards. So you would get approximately 23 yards more carry with a driver than you do with your 3-wood. So total distance I would guess 25-30 yards... Depending on trajectory.

[Hategolf]

impossible to answer...too many variables, including the swing in itself. 

I would DEMO the club in mind and take it from there. 

Some times, I hit my driver 20yrds longer, sometimes 10yrds..it really depends how well I'm swinging that day. 

[onthehunt526]

2 minutes ago, Hategolf said:

impossible to answer...too many variables, including the swing in itself. 

I would DEMO the club in mind and take it from there. 

Some times, I hit my driver 20yrds longer, sometimes 10yrds..it really depends how well I'm swinging that day. 

First point, I agree with. However, @Hategolf, I think,  @deekay is looking more for a theoretical so he knows what to expect to look for numbers wise. He may hit shorter or further, it depends on his swing, trajectory, AoA, etc.

[deekay]

Thanks for all the good advice.

My thinking was that I am playing a really old 3-wood, and so surely a 3 or 4 generation "newer" 3-wood should give more distance (assuming a similar strike, which should surely come with practise) and a similar generation driver (to the newer 3-wood) should give even more.

So I find some of the comments about only 20 yards or so increase from a 10-12 year old 3-wood to a 2 year old driver quite depressing! (Otherwise, what have the equipment people really been doing all these years, other than writing really creative advertising copy?)

 

[onthehunt526]

1 hour ago, deekay said:

Thanks for all the good advice.

My thinking was that I am playing a really old 3-wood, and so surely a 3 or 4 generation "newer" 3-wood should give more distance (assuming a similar strike, which should surely come with practise) and a similar generation driver (to the newer 3-wood) should give even more.

So I find some of the comments about only 20 yards or so increase from a 10-12 year old 3-wood to a 2 year old driver quite depressing! (Otherwise, what have the equipment people really been doing all these years, other than writing really creative advertising copy?)

 

It could be more... But it's more or less, your swing.

[Jeremie Boop]

6 hours ago, deekay said:

Thanks for all the good advice.

My thinking was that I am playing a really old 3-wood, and so surely a 3 or 4 generation "newer" 3-wood should give more distance (assuming a similar strike, which should surely come with practise) and a similar generation driver (to the newer 3-wood) should give even more.

So I find some of the comments about only 20 yards or so increase from a 10-12 year old 3-wood to a 2 year old driver quite depressing! (Otherwise, what have the equipment people really been doing all these years, other than writing really creative advertising copy?)

 

Most of the improvements in golf clubs have been in their forgiveness and less about actual distance gained in the past 10 years or so. Your average distance will probably be longer than with an older club, but the max distance will be within 10-20 yards.

[p1n9183]

Maybe you gain yards, maybe you loose. If the perfect loft for your driver it´s 15 degrees, with any other driver with less loft you will be hitting the ball shorter than your 3 wood.

As someone already said, test the new driver in the lunch monitor against your 3 wood.

[onthehunt526]

1 minute ago, p1n9183 said:

As someone already said, test the new driver in the lunch monitor against your 3 wood.

I'm not sure the lunch monitor would like that too much, that would hurt them.

I would definitely go with a higher loft driver, since the 15° 3-wood seems to work... But I wouldn't necessarily go as high as 15°, maybe 13-14° with a lighter shaft with the proper bend profile to maximize distance.