We take a look at some of the best fairway woods for higher handicap golfers.
Best Fairway Woods For High Handicappers
By the nature of the high handicapper you are likely to be hitting a lot of fairway woods into par 4s and the ability to advance the ball in the region of 200 yards is a huge benefit and a very quick way to getting your handicap down.
Likewise the need to get the ball in play more often and here are a collection of 10 great models for those players whose handicaps are on the high side.
Best Fairway Woods For High Handicappers
Ping G410 SFT Fairway Wood
+ Lots of options and lots of help for your left-to-right shot shape
– Some players still don’t like the ‘stigma’ of a draw bias (which is a bit ridiculous)
If you hit the ball with a left-to-right flight then you might want to consider the SFT – Straight Flight Technology. The weight here is more towards the heel so it should create enough draw to keep you on the straight and narrow. The forged face will help to increase your ball speed and there are the same wide range of loft and lie combinations.
The 3-wood here starts at 16˚ and there is also a 5 and 7-wood to choose from.
US Buy Now at Worldwide Golf Shops for $259.99
UK Buy Now at Scottsdale Golf for £239
TaylorMade SIM Max D-Type Fairway Wood
+ If you find the right side of the course a lot then this will straighten things out
– If you like to work your ball about then you might want to look elsewhere
TaylorMade find that through fitting events they put more golfers into the D than anything else which says a lot about both the club and our vanity when it comes to draw-biased clubs and the like.
What’s clever here in the appearance is that because the D face is built slightly more closed – it closes more on each one as you move from the SIM to the Max to the D – it still looks square because of some clever white colouring on the leading edge to mask how the face appears. Nobody wants to see offset on their metal woods so the leading edge is key. This comes in the 3, 5 and 7.
US Buy Now at Worldwide Golf Shops for $299.99
UK Buy Now at American Golf for £229
Wilson Launch Pad Fairway Wood
+ The mass appeal of this club is obvious
– There are only two options, 3 and 5, but they launch high anyway
This has been designed to help with what the majority of club golfers do, it’s not re-inventing the wheel but is a simple and easy way to attack the common fault. It came out at the start of 2020 and there is a 1.5˚ offset, which is not obvious to see at address, which promotes a closed face at impact and helps to straighten out your fade.
The shaft, face and grip all have lightweight components and this translates into more clubhead speed for greater distances.
US Buy Now at Worldwide Golf Shops for $199.99
UK Buy Now at Golf Support from £139
Titleist TSi2 Fairway Wood
(Image credit: Titleist)
+ Great off the deck, sounds good and produces a lovely flight
– The smallish head size might not be what you want for a bit of help
This is designed more for forgiveness and to get the ball in the air easier than the TSi3. And unlike its sibling it doesn’t feature the weight track – the flat weight at the back here gets the CG as far back and as low as possible to improve the launch.
There is speed and accuracy across the entire face rather than a specific strike position which will be music to many ears.
An interesting stat about the new TSi2 and TSi3 is that the discrepancy between the drivers on tour is about 85 per cent in favour of the TSi3 whereas in the fairway woods it’s almost 50-50 so don’t see this as the option for the mid to high-handicapper, it’s just a great sounding, looking and feeling club.
Titleist TSi2 Fairway Wood Review
US Pre-order at Worldwide Golf Shops for $299.99
UK Pre-order at Scottsdale Golf for £269
Callaway Big Bertha B21 Fairway Wood
+ The high launch will benefit plenty of players
– The offset looks might take a bit of getting used to
The catchline with this club is ‘Distance Any Way You Swing It’ and this is a new offering and the latest in the iconic Big Bertha range. This is particularly easy to launch and, Callaway say, is is easy to hit like a hybrid. You’ll notice that this has a shallow face and the larger head provides plenty of distance and, to help us even more, a lighter crown provides even more forgiveness.
Otherwise the usual Callaway details – the Artificial Intelligence, Flash Face and Jailbreak technology – are part of the process to deliver another strong and very helpful club.
Callaway Big Bertha B21 Fairway Review
US Buy Now at Worldwide Golf Shops for $299.99
UK Buy Now at American Golf for £249
Mizuno ST200 X Fairway Wood
+ Is cheaper than the ST200 and great for more moderate swing speeds
– You won’t be able to add or take off a bit of loft if required
The X is a little bit lighter than the ST200 and has more draw bias but there’s no option for any adjustability. This extremely lightweight design will favour those who don’t swing it quickly and those who find the right rough a bit too often and it has a larger clubface and a wider body with more mass in the heel.
The face in the 3-wood has a driver-type construction while the 5 and 7-woods are designed for greater energy transfer.
UK Buy Now at Scottsdale Golf for £199
Cobra Speedzone Big Tour Fairway Wood
+ This is guaranteed to send it out there vast distances
– A lack of options in terms for extra loft
This is almost a mini driver coming in 13.5˚ with the option to loft up and down and it has the largest volume and, similar to the Tour version, the weight is forward to increase ball speed and lower spin. Hence it’s built for extreme distance.
Interestingly the Speedzone is said to work for handicaps of 5-25 while the Big Tour works for every handicap so it is aimed at the elite golfer. If you are looking to hit a bullet off the fairway then there’s good news as this features the hollow split rails – these flex more than solid rails and help create a 70 per cent larger sweet spot so it’s great for off-centre hits.
US Buy Now at Worldwide Golf Shops for $229.99
UK Buy Now at Scottsdale Golf for £229
Honma XP-1 Fairway Wood
+ The ultra-lightweight shaft are designed to up your swing speed and launch it
– This is a premium brand, and a lot goes into the construction, but it’s not cheap
These were introduced in 2019 as a new range of game-improvement clubs. They are designed to help you square the club with a draw-biased design which will appeal to those who are looking for some help with their swing path.
Like the driver this fairway wood features the Double Slot sole across the clubhead, with a narrow slot in the centre, that helps to deliver more distance and reduce spin on those shots that come out the heel and toe.
US Buy Now at Fairway Golf USA for $299.99
UK Buy Now at American Golf for £309
Srixon ZX Fairway Wood
+ You won’t struggle for distance with this club
– There’s no adjustability help here
Srixon say this is their most advanced fairway yet thanks to their ‘rebound frame’ technology. This provides a more efficient transfer of energy by focusing more energy into the ball. Put simply(ish) it works by layering alternating zones of flexible and stiff material which then transports the correct energy into the ball.
This comes in four options with the 3+ and 3 using a lightweight carbon crown to push the MOI up and increase forgiveness in the lofts where you may need it.
At address this looks classy, clean and simple.
UK Buy Now at Scottsdale Golf for £249
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This article Best Fairway Woods For High Handicappers appeared first on Golf Monthly.