Most Forgiving 3 Woods — Refining Our Club Review Process
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Patrick Corley
- 03/16/2023
This Most Forgiving 3 Woods Review, written by our golf instructor review team has findings with three data-driven guidelines in mind:
- Forgiveness
- 3 Wood Distance
- Feel
This review will provide you with the findings to make the most well-researched purchase as soon as possible.
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#1. TaylorMade Stealth Fairway Wood – Forgiving and Stylish
Our review team tried out several different 3 woods from different golf gear manufacturers. Through our testing, we’ve gathered the most important guidelines to help you find the best 3 wood possible. The criteria we find the most essential for a 3 wood are forgiveness, distance, and feel.
The Benefits:
TaylorMade Stealth woods come with stock Fujikura Ventus Shafts, meaning that you will have a high-quality shaft right off the bat. The carbon technology has a great feel and looks very striking, and also delivers very high ball speeds to maximize your distance.
To top it off, this fairway wood offers some of the tightest dispersion patterns available, meaning that you will experience greater accuracy on mishits.
One negative about TaylorMade’s new fairway wood is that it’s non-adjustable. While professionals might need this, most amateurs don’t and might instead find the adjustability distracting.
Pros
- High-quality Fujikura Ventus Shafts as stock
- Carbon technology that feels great, looks great and delivers long distances
- Easiest 3 wood to hit
Cons
- Non-adjustable
#2. Callaway Rogue ST Max Fairway Wood – Most Distance
One of the most desirable things in any golf club is distance, which is also one of our main criteria. Distance allows you to have shorter shots into the green and sometimes reach a par 5 in 2 shots. However, distance is nothing without accuracy, but this Callaway club is excellent at both.
The Benefits:
The Callaway Rogue ST Max fairway wood is meant to fit many golfers with a fantastic combination of forgiveness, speed, and looks. This fairway wood uses Speed Tuned AI technology, where Callaway has optimized the club for optimal speed, spin, and launch angle, all contributing to maximum distance.
The Rogue ST Max also has great accuracy with super tight dispersion, allowing for more distance even on off-center hits. It’s also available in a MAX D version with draw-bias technology, which suits many golfers struggling with slices or pushed golf shots. Callaway also muted the contact sound, making it more satisfying to use.
Some golfers might not appreciate the new muted sound, and prefer the old metallic one on the Mavrik clubs, but we must say that we enjoy the new and smoother sound.
Pros
- Optimized for maximum distance
- Very accurate, even on poor strikes
- Draw-biased option available for slicers or over-faders
Cons
- The new sound might not be to everyone’s liking
#3. Cobra LTDx Fairway Wood – Best Feel
Golf equipment has recently experienced many technological improvements, and one of the leaders is Cobra with their PWR-COR and H.O.T. FACE technologies meant to improve your game.
The Benefits:
The Cobra LTDx fairway woods also have a carbon fiber crown that looks, performs and sounds great. With this fairway wood, the engineers at Cobra redistributed the weight and moved the CG forward in the head. This creates higher ball speeds and more forgiveness, which both help improve your score.
Perhaps the best thing about the Cobra LTDx fairways is the adjustable weights (12g and 3g). One of them is positioned in the back for a high launch, and the other towards the heel, making the club draw-biased. It’s also very forgiving, especially if you struggle with a slice where the adjustability comes in handy.
The hitting area is slightly smaller than other fairway woods, which some may like and some won’t. However, you probably won’t notice the difference when swinging because of the high forgiveness.
Pros
- Moved CG creating high ball speeds and forgiveness
- Adjustable weights to change shot shape
- Draw-biased to help combat slices
Cons
- Slightly smaller clubface than other fairway woods
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#4. Srixon SRX ZX Fairway Wood
Srixon is a golf brand that’s often neglected, but they have stepped up their game. Their golf clubs are all about forgiveness and distance, which makes a great 3 wood.
The Benefits:
With their new Rebound Frame technology, the Srixon SRX ZX Fairway Wood makes the energy transfer from the golf club to the golf ball incredible, which makes the ball go further. This fairway wood uses a lightweight carbon crown designed to launch the golf ball high easily while also having tons of forgiveness, making it fantastic for high handicap golfers.
The club head does have a very nice aesthetic at the address and feels powerful at impact, but it is on the smaller end, which suits some better than others.
Pros
- Great distance thanks to carbon and rebound frame technology
- Tight dispersion patterns, even on off-center hits
- Launches the golf ball high – something many high handicappers struggle with
Cons
- The clubhead is a bit smaller compared to others
#5. Wilson Launch Pad Fairway Wood
This fairway wood is the most budget-friendly on the list while still having terrific performance, which sums up the Wilson Staff golf brand very well. Wilson’s Launch Pad fairway woods are some of the most forgiving fairway woods available and are designed to make golf more enjoyable, no matter your skill level.
The Benefits:
The Wilson Launch Pad fairway wood features a Carpenter Custom 455 face, which is very thin and designed to increase the ball speed and distance. All Launch Pad fairway woods come with an Evenflow shaft which is very light at 55g and adds a nice premium feel. This fairway wood is forgiving and flies very high, but the shaft-to-head ratio is designed to keep spin down to increase distance.
Because the club is draw-biased, the head is slightly closed at address which can take some time to get used to. However, most amateur golfers will appreciate this as they often struggle with slices or fades.
Pros
- A budget-friendly and very forgiving 3 wood that helps will slices
- Premium and light Evenflow shaft
- High ball flight combined with low spin increases overall distance
Cons
- Draw-biased design can take some time to get used to
How to Choose Which 3 Wood to Buy – Our Buying Guide
Finding The Most Forgiving 3 Wood
In this article, we’ve shown some of the most forgiving 3 woods. At the end of the day, each 3 wood suits everyone differently. We recommend seeing a professional golf fitter to help players figure out what club suits your swing the best.
For example, someone who tends to slice the golf ball will benefit from a draw-biased club, such as the Wilson Launch Pad fairway wood. All technology improvements recently made in fairway woods mean that almost all top contenders are very forgiving.
Figuring Out What Spec to Choose
3 woods come in a wide range of specs, making it hard to choose which one to go for. Earlier in this article, we showed five different options, each with different specs. What spec you should get depends on your swing, and having a proper club fitting is a great way to find out exactly what you need.
However, not everyone has the ability to do that. In that case, you should pick a draw-biased 3 wood if you tend to hit the golf ball to the right. If your ball flight is inconsistent, choosing an adjustable club is a great way to change things out on the golf course and improve your golf game.
Why The 3 Wood Is a Great Club
On par 4s and par 5s, many golfers opt for the driver even though they might benefit significantly from using a 3 wood instead. Distance is not always the most important thing – especially on tight holes with small landing areas.
Some golfers experience more distance when using a 3 wood compared to a driver because of their angle of attack and swing speed. This is because the driver’s high clubhead speed and higher launch don’t suit all types of swings.
Tell Me More Golf – Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the easiest fairway wood to hit?
There are many easy-to-hit 3 woods. However, our personal favorite is the TaylorMade Stealth fairway wood that is very easy to hit, goes far, and looks fantastic.
Which is the best 3 wood off the tee?
Cobra usually does a great job at long-distance golf clubs, and many testings have shown that their new Cobra LTDx fairway wood goes the furthest out of all new stock 3 woods. To top it off, it’s also one of the easiest 3 woods to hit.
Should I use a 3 wood?
Even if you’re a great driver, it’s always good to have a safer club in the bag that ensures straighter shots and lower scores on challenging holes. A 3 wood is also much easier to use than a long iron, such as a 2 iron, making it a great choice for any golfer, regardless of skill level.
The 3 wood is a reliable golf club that allows for more distance and accuracy while being much easier to hit than a long iron. In this article, we’ve gone over many excellent 3 woods, each with their different strengths, and we hope that you now have a better idea of which 3 wood suits you the best.
Thank you for reading this article from TellMeMoreGolf.com – we strive to deliver the most informative and enjoyable golf content possible.
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