3 wood vs driver

[TheTrueReview]

A couple of recent experiences make me wonder if there's anyone out there who chooses to play a 3 wood as his driver.

I played 18 in a scramble at a local course on Friday & hit my driver like crap. Found it hard to hit the centre of the club (yes, I know it was me, not the club) A mate I played with has been raving about his G10 3 wood & how he can barely be bothered hitting his driver because his 3 wood is effortless, accurate & long. I witnessed first hand on the front 9 how well he hit his 3 wood. On the back 9 when we were looking good on the scorecard, my mate switched to his driver & never played anywhere near as good as his 3 wood.

So I pick up my new 3 wood over the weekend and play 9 holes on Sunday morning where I deliberately left the driver in the bag. Here are my gps verified distances, and results, with the 3 wood.

1st tee (warming up) - fairway hit - 230 metres.
Next drive - caught it a little fat - fairway hit - 220 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 250 metres.
Footnote: par threes removed from score. 240m drives rounded off. No embellishments with the driving distances.

After the round, I was thinking that if you can hit the fairway more times than not with a long 3 wood, why even touch the driver.

Anyone have any similar experiences/thoughts?

 

[SiberianDVM]

About 3 years ago I had a series of bad off the tee days using the driver, so for a month I left the driver out of the bag and used only a 3 wood off the tee on par 4s and 5s.

The results: about 2 strokes better per round. Mostly because I was no longer slicing into the woods.

In the past year, my tee shots with a driver have become much better. The Taylormade driver I have now is almost impossible to really badly hook or slice. It's natural flight is a slight fade. Now I can swing as hard as I can and still hit a farily straight shot. With the much smaller face on a 3 wood, I can not swing that all-out.

Now I have other problems.

 

[acarty]

I can pound my 3 wood out there like 250 260 off the tee, and I can only just keep up with my driver, so I don't know why I bother. I hit it high, straight and consistent, but the big dog keeps asking me to play him!!!

It would be ok if I could learn to hit the Tiger "stinger" for into the wind, as I play a seaside links near Royal Lytham so 3 wood into a draft just doesn't cut it on our long par 4's.

 

[NBGolfer]

On my home course narrow and not that long, I hit 3 wood all the time off the tee. Probably only 4 holes I choose to hit driver over 3 wood on simply for that extra little distance and I can work a fade easier with my driver.
But there is nothing wrong in my eyes with 3 wood instead of driver at all.

 

[IrishGolfer]

20-25 years ago at my peak of golfing prowess I never carried a driver. I had a strong 3 wood (it was a Wilson staff metal, I still have it gathering dust somewhere and the head is tiny!!!). I was able to put it out there and never found myself under "length pressure". It was a fairway finder!

At the end of the day use a club you feel confident to find the fairway with, especially on a tight or a penal rough course.

 

[SolderJockey]

I play a 16 degree driver. Loft of a 3 wood with the big head of a driver.
After cutting the shaft down to 43.5" finding the fairway is pretty much
automatic.

 

[FATC1TY]

I've got a buddy who will generally only use his 3-wood and can get a good 250 out of it when he's striking the ball solid. He can work it too. I think it's a Cobra of some sort.

When he uses his driver, it's marginally longer, and much longer when he connects with it right, but it's so hit or miss that he doesn't like to bother with it. Unless he forces himself to use it to work it out, he'll use 3-wood and still score well.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

I went for a stint this year of hitting no driver, and no 3W, even. I was teeing off with my 18.5* hybrid, even on a 7,000 yard track. GPS verified distances were between 230 and 250 yards.

You will score better with a driver if you can hit it as well. But the driver will curve the ball much more. I do NOT hit driver if there's any reasonable chance I might put the ball out of play. If there's a 20% chance it's going out of play, and I really need driver distance, I'll hit driver. If it's even a 420 yard par 4 with enough trouble that driver might cost me a penalty stroke, I WILL club down and leave myself 200 yards in. Even if I miss the green and don't get up and down, I'm really not looking at worse than bogey.

It's hard to put up BIG numbers without penalty strokes, frankly. I hit the ball as far as I can without bringing in trouble. If there are bunkers at 220, I'll hit driver to AVOID trouble. If the bunkers are 240-260, I will lay up. It's just not worth the risk of hitting it a little thin and ending up bunk'd.

Long par 4's are tough. Most of us, including me, are better off playing for bogey on those holes than trying to crush driver, and playing for triples because we hit it wayward off the tee and cost ourselves a couple of strokes in penalties. The best option is definitely to put it in play off the tee, then try to hit the green from a long way out. Miss the green, try to get up and down for par. Hit the green, try to two-putt for par or can it for birdie.

You will NOT make birdies, pars, or even bogeys, if you're hitting 3 off the tee. And you just WON'T put up huge numbers at the end of the day if you're keeping it play and hitting the ball even decently.

 

[Redneck Golfer]

I can't say that I understand. I have a TaylorMade Draw Driver 9.5 deg. I slice pretty bad with it. When I use my 3 wood, I still slice but not as bad. Still bad enough to put it out of play. I know that it is in my swing. OK. But why does the driver slice worse than the 3 wood? I swing them both the same. I'm trying different tee positions, ie: alignment to my foot and tee height. Why is the driver so sensitive and the 3 wood more forgiving? Not asking to correct my swing, just the difference between the two clubs.

 

[eclark53520]

Biggest problem here, most people play a driver that does not have enough loft for them.

 

[295yards]

A couple of recent experiences make me wonder if there's anyone out there who chooses to play a 3 wood as his driver.

I played 18 in a scramble at a local course on Friday & hit my driver like crap. Found it hard to hit the centre of the club (yes, I know it was me, not the club) A mate I played with has been raving about his G10 3 wood & how he can barely be bothered hitting his driver because his 3 wood is effortless, accurate & long. I witnessed first hand on the front 9 how well he hit his 3 wood. On the back 9 when we were looking good on the scorecard, my mate switched to his driver & never played anywhere near as good as his 3 wood.

So I pick up my new 3 wood over the weekend and play 9 holes on Sunday morning where I deliberately left the driver in the bag. Here are my gps verified distances, and results, with the 3 wood.

1st tee (warming up) - fairway hit - 230 metres.
Next drive - caught it a little fat - fairway hit - 220 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 240 metres.
Next drive - fairway hit - 250 metres.
Footnote: par threes removed from score. 240m drives rounded off. No embellishments with the driving distances.

After the round, I was thinking that if you can hit the fairway more times than not with a long 3 wood, why even touch the driver.

Anyone have any similar experiences/thoughts?

I played 3wood three straight years never touching driver. It helped me develop some power and accuracy off the tee I believe.

After I got a really forgiving driver my distance difference from 3wood to driver was definitely worth taking advantage of.

I think alot of people just need to learn what their shot tendancies are, and only hit within that.

You have more than enough distance to just play the 3wood off the tee and never have to worry about hitting driver ever, but why not work a little bit on your driver and learn what your shot dispersion is and play the driver when it is safe to do so?

I think people typically hit the same shot over and over with their driver, like 30yards right and always set up for the middle of the fairway and put it out to the right 5 out of 6 times.

A bigger hitter could easily aim up the center of a dogleg par 5 to the right and carry a bunker gaurding the corner and be laying in the center of the fairway or just run through the fairway and still have a good go at the green from the left rough, or a ridiculously easy lay up. You just have to know your shot tendancies and take full advantage of them!

 

[SilverUberXeno]

I can't say that I understand. I have a TaylorMade Draw Driver 9.5 deg. I slice pretty bad with it. When I use my 3 wood, I still slice but not as bad. Still bad enough to put it out of play. I know that it is in my swing. OK. But why does the driver slice worse than the 3 wood? I swing them both the same. I'm trying different tee positions, ie: alignment to my foot and tee height. Why is the driver so sensitive and the 3 wood more forgiving? Not asking to correct my swing, just the difference between the two clubs.

Right and left curving misses (slice, hook) are always less pronounced with a higher lofted club. A 5 iron will miss farther right than an 8 iron with the same swing; a driver will miss farther right than a 3W with the same swing.

Why?

Because loft generates backspin, and backspin negates sidespin. Sidespin is what causes a hook or slice. More loft = more sidespin-negating-backspin. How many times have you hit a slice with your pitching wedge? I'd guess never.

Keep in mind, this only applies to curvature. A miss that goes out away from you, to the right for a right handed golfer without curvature (a push/block) or a miss that is pulled across the line, to the left for a right handed golfer (a pull) is not a curvature miss. If your ball is STARTING on the intended target line, then curving, everything I just said applies.

 

[SiberianDVM]

The thing is: we really crappy golfers (and I'm putting myself in that group for a reason) can hook or slice anything.

Case in point: Saturday I played in a tourney on the same course where I shot my career best 2 weeks ago: a 76. Except in the tourney, I shot a 93. All because I couldn't get an iron shot to land on the green. (The drives were great.)

Why? because I suck at golf, that's why. Just like Kenny Perry sucked yesterday (for a tour pro, that is) when he couldn't hit an iron shot straight.

When the going gets tough, the shots go crooked, or something like that.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

But your shots will go crooked-er with a lower-lofted club.

 

[295yards]

>> How many times have you hit a slice with your pitching wedge?

I'd guess never.<<

Um, yeah. NEVER! :emot-ange