Fairway Woods Buying Guide

Choosing fairway woods is rather like buying a new car. Looks and image are important, but in the end you really are best off taking it for a spin. Deciding on what fairway wood(s) you want can be harder than choosing your driver.

With more lofts, shafts and headsizes available it is not easy to find the perfect match for your game. With more and more players increasing the number of woods in their bags, the manufacturers have upped their game also.

With fairway woods, hybrid and utility clubs, the companies producing these weapons are using a lot of research and development into making the perfect club for you.

When looking for a fairway wood you have to decide what you need it for and then research. Do you require more height on your shots? A club to replace your 3 iron? A club to use off the tee? Or do you need a club to hit from rough?

These are all questions, that fairway woods can answer and the following information will describe the differences between them and help you decide which one is right for you.

2 to 4 Woods

These woods are mainly used as tee-shot alternatives to your golf driver or long irons. They will have a smaller head and shaft than your driver and will offer a more controllable, shorter tee shot. Also for use from fairways, the small head design makes them easy to get airborne. As well as offering 2, 3 and 4 woods, most fairway wood manufacturers will offer at least a 3 + wood and perhaps a 4 + wood. The plus symbol simply means that it is a strong 3 or 4 wood. This means the loft on the club is less than a typical 3 or 4 wood, but the headsize remains the same. They will offer more distance at a lower height than a typical 3 or 4 wood.

5 to 11 Woods

The main purpose of this range of fairway woods is to replace and assist the longer irons, and offer an alternative out of rough. Many golfers struggle to produce the contact and flight they want from their long irons, and look to a fairway wood to produce the highflying distance that they lack in their 3 or 4 iron. The construction of these woods usually involves the weight of the head being positioned lower and wider to lower the centre of gravity and create maximum forgiveness. This will help produce a higher ball flight that is more consistent than a long iron. The size of these woods's head construction will decrease as the loft increases to allow the club to get more and more under the ball and adapt to offer assistance in rough.

Sets

Some manufacturers offer sets of fairway woods. The great advantage to this is that you will have consistent feel throughout all of the woods. Typically companies will offer 3, 4, 5 and perhaps 7 woods as sets. A good idea for players just taking up the game to save money and offer consistent feel and playability.

Click Here to Compare Prices on Sets of Woods

Steel

Most of the fairway woods on the market will have a head constructed from steel. Because the head is not required to be large, steel offers a strong, forgiving element to the club. The inexpensive metal can be easily manufactured for a smaller head.

Titanium

Relatively outdone by steel in this area, titanium is still used in many fairway woods. The basic lightweight nature of titanium makes it a useful face for fairway metals. Commonly reserved for slightly larger headed fairway woods, titanium is being used more and more by companies in their fairway clubs. Also, because it is lightweight, the thin face means that the weight and centre of gravity can be moved lower, wider and further back to produce high hitting forgiving wood. Like most titanium clubs however, the price of the metal is represented in a relatively expensive price tag.

Composite

There are a few composite fairway woods creeping onto the market. The carbon material is placed on the crown or rear of the clubhead allowing manufacturers to reduce the weight of the head for lower and perimeter weighting. This makes the club much more forgiving and at a cost that is less than titanium.

Shafts are a vital part of any club, but even more on a fairway wood. Many hybrid and utility clubs have appeared in the game with shorter shafts to help players. The benefit being that those clubs will feel more like an iron and offer more control. However, that is not the aim of a shaft of a fairway club and the longer shafted fairway woods are designed to offer more distance. Although sacrificing a certain degree of control, the function of a fairway wood is primarily distance.

Steel Shafts

Fairway woods are unique in that they are not dominated by either steel or graphite shafts. It is hard to say whether control or distance is more important to a fairway wood. Steel offers a solid, consistent feel that will feel like your irons. It is cheaper and more controllable. Suited to players who do not need added distance and produce decent swing speed.

Graphite Shafts

If you are thinking of getting a fairway wood to use from the tee and desire solid distance from it, then graphite is probably the shaft for you. One great advantage of graphite is the vast variation you can have in one shaft. Testing out the different flexes of graphite shafts and the different brands of shafts will help so discover what specifications suit you. More expensive than steel it is suited to senior, lady or junior players with slower swing speeds who desire more distance.

For more information on shafts, go to the Golf Shafts Buying Guide