High Lofted Fairway Woods

[saevel25]

8 hours ago, Don Golfo said:

What that means in reality is that the 3-5 irons in a modern set are more or less at least equivalent to 2-4 irons in traditional set.  If a golfer can’t consistently hit his long irons to achieve a peak apex of 90-100 foot (25-30m) then he can’t stop the ball on a green and maybe woods or hybrids might be a better option. 

Not necessarily. The reason behind the drop in loft is to accommodate the movement of the CG location and the length of the iron. Both of those things add to the dynamic loft, loft presented at impact. They have to lower the loft or the irons will go too high. 

Also, the sole of modern GI long irons make them much easier to not dig the club in the ground and gives the golfer leeway on their strike. 

[Hacker James]

The highest loft fairway wood I have hit would be the 7W. It was an Orlimar miraged tri-metal. One  of my many regrets in not keeping it. Should I spot these in a thrift shop again, I will definitely snag one.

[Don Golfo]

16 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Not necessarily. The reason behind the drop in loft is to accommodate the movement of the CG location and the length of the iron. Both of those things add to the dynamic loft, loft presented at impact. They have to lower the loft or the irons will go too high. 

Lowering the CoG has no impact on dynamic loft. It does increase the launch angle of the ball, but that’s just simple vectors. The lower CoG increases the chance that a less accomplished player will be able to keep the club CoG below the CoG of the ball, reducing the risk of topped shots and making the best of thin shots. This might seem like semantics, but it’s an important point.  Stronger lofts still generallly increase the difficulty of hitting good shots, for example they increase side spin when the club is delivered open or closed to the ball. 

[chipeacher]

Great points from those up to date (hybrid users, flies high lands soft) and nostalgic faiway wood users (has enough mass and shaft length to create ballspeed and roll).

Personally, increasing my 3wood loft by 1.5° has been a significant benefit whan hitting off the deck and needing maximum carry yards such as over a bunker/hazard fronting a green.