Rarely used or secret weapon?

Here’s a question for you, how do you feel towards each club in your bag? You’ll certainly be reaching for you putter on every green, but how often do you have a fairway wood in your hands?

You may well prefer to play with longer irons when you’re approaching the green or if you’re seeking better accuracy on a particularly tricky tee shot, but the fairway woods in your bag may well be an underutilized secret weapon.

Most golfers have a 3-wood and a 5-wood in the bag, but have you ever played with a 7-wood? These clubs are very popular with players on tour and are renowned for being easy to hit while offering plenty of launch, and they help the ball stop quickly on the greens too.

Today we want to illustrate how versatile these underused lofted woods are, and why it's always great to have some at the ready in your bag.

Your secret weapon

First of all, the clue’s in the name. Fairway woods are excellent tools at helping you find the fairway off the tee. If you have a tricky tee shot with a narrow fairway ahead, it’s a decent trade off to put your driver away and pull out a fairway wood, sacrificing a little distance for much greater accuracy.

Fairway woods also give you an excellent sense of course management. If you have a par-5 or long par-4 ahead, you can use a fairway wood to power your second shot over bunkers and bodies of water to keep you from getting caught in a hazard. The larger heads also offer lots of relief and forgiveness which makes them in many cases a better club than an iron, particularly when striking from the rough.

If you don’t have the most confidence in your short game or find chipping around the greens a bit of a challenge, a fairway wood can be an effective means of punching your ball onto a green. You’ll be nicely on the short grass without worrying about thinning the ball or chomping your clubhead into the ground.

Another thing to consider is that as we age, we don’t hit the ball as far as we used to. Fairway woods are an excellent alternative to irons that promise a reliable impact with the ball thanks to the larger clubhead, and it’s easier to gain distance with them on average too.

So, in a word, yes, these lofted fairway woods are very versatile and don’t need to be restricted to being played from the fairways.

Fairway woods really shouldn’t be overlooked for their usefulness at different stages of the hole! If you’re in need of some new clubs and you’re unsure which would best suit you, we’re available in the pro shop to offer you our expertise.