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Are you a beginner in golf and looking to find the best fairway woods for your game? Did you know that fairway woods are used basically by amateur golfers and beginners. The general characteristics of fairway woods are that they consist of large heads, bulging club face, flattened soles sliding over the ground and are spherical in shape. Usually the best fairway wood is fitted with graphite shafts considering their light weight. These light weight woods enables golfers to accelerate higher club-head speed and achieve longer distance.
Best Fairway Woods for High Handicappers
The following top 3 best fairway woods for high handicappers stand out in our list:
1. Best for Distance: TaylorMade M4 Fairway Wood – The M4 fairway wood is the best 3 wood or 5 wood for high handicapper
2. If you want the best: Callaway Golf 2019 Epic Flash Fairway Wood – The Epic Flash fairway woods feature our groundbreaking Flash Face Technology to help golfers of every level and swing speed get more ball speed and distance
3. Best Value for the money: Taylor Made Men’s RBZ Fairway – Overall we would highly recommend this RBZ 3 wood for its performance and value!
The 3 wood and 5 wood are commonly referred to as fairway woods, because they are most often used during the second shot of play, and are designed for shots from off the turf of the fairway that still require long distance, such as the second shot of a par-5 or a long par-4 hole.
The Winner:
The M4 TaylorMade Fairway Wood combines TaylorMade’s latest innovations to provide a powerful fairway club with ultimate forgiveness. It is the best 3 wood on the market currently
Are you not convinced and looking for some other options apart from the 3 best fairway woods that we have mentioned above? We have created a comprehensive guide and an array of options to ensure you know exactly which club is the ideal fit for your game.
Best Fairway Woods – Reviews
1. TaylorMade M4 Fairway Wood
- Speed pocket creates more ball speed across the club face for more distance & forgiveness; Split weight mass pads provide increased MOI & perimeter weight distribution
- Ultra strong ni co 300 steel face insert allows for optimized ball speed
- 5 Layer carbon crown creates a lower CG by saving 8 grams vs a steel crown, driving higher launch while reducing spin
- Fluted hostel provides superior sound and feel without compromising CG location
The TaylorMade M4 Fairway wood is one of the best selling fairway woods in the market. If you’re looking for distance and forgiveness in a club, this us the one you need to opt for.
Build:
The M4 fairway wood features a stainless steel material in the body. The face material in the M4 has been made really very thin to produce faster ball speeds at impact. The inverted cone technology in the inside of the face area ensures that you will get a solid hit no matter where on the face you strike the ball.
The more advanced speed pocket offers more ball speed across the face for added distance and forgiveness.
Control and Performance:
The M4 fairway wood is built for a high and consistently straight shot. This Fairway wood is apt for the golfer with a slower swingspeed. The light shaft ensure more clubhead speed while remaining firm enough in the right areas to maintain a high level of stability and control.
As mentioned before this is one of the easiest to hit fairway woods on the market, producing a high trajectory, good backspin, not much sidespin and plenty of distance. And there is no adjustability so you get a straightforward result every time you swing this club.
Sound:
Taking an imaginative approach to clubhead design, Geocoustic technology utilizes advanced sole shaping techniques to deliver a solid and explosive sound with exceptional feel. The sound produced may be similar to a “wooden baseball bat”.
Conclusion:
The M4 Fairway does give you a lot for its price. It sounds great, very easy to hit and with the additional forgiveness is still going to be one of the fairways to beat in the market.
2. Callaway Golf 2019 Epic Flash Fairway Wood
- Callaway Epic Flash Fairway Woods are designed to help all golfers get more ball speed and distance, lrf by Flash Face Technology.
- Flash Face creates a new fairway wood face design that promotes increased ball speed for longer distance.
- A Forged 455 Carpenter steel construction combines with Face Cup technology to deliver fast ball speed across the face for distance on center- and off-center hits.
- Jailbreak Technology incorporates two internal bars that stiffen the body, placing more impact load on the face for fast ball speed.
The Callaway 2019 Epic Flash fairway wood has been the golf medal winner of the Golf Digest 2019 Hot List. The Epic Flash Fairway Woods is one of the best 3 wood ever made cause it features groundbreaking new Flash Face Technology to help golfers of every level and swing speed get more ball speed and distance. The most noticeable aspect of this club is that the technology speaks for itself, as the ball seems to travel forever.
Build:
This fairway wood is constructed from forged 455 carpenter steel. This steel combined with a Face Cup technology goes to great lengths to deliver fast ball speed across the face for distance on-center and off-center hits.
The Jailbreak technology incorporates two internal bars that stiffen the body, placing more impact load on the face for fast ball speed
Control and Performance:
The flash face technology combined with jailbreak and the carpenter steel face cup ensure that you will get more ball speed and distance in every shot. From an accuracy point of view, it may be a little off the mark. This fairway wood comes with 3 premium shaft offerings that can be opted for based on your needs
Project X Even Flow Green – EvenFlow’s revolutionary “even” bend profile transfers shaft load more efficiently throughout the swing to create maximum energy release at impact. The result is a powerful flow of energy that feels smooth while delivering gnarly distance and features a mid-spin and mid-launch profile
Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue – Thee TENSEI™ AV Blue Series incorporates a new material — Aluminum Vapor (AV) Coated Fiber — in the butt-section that adds stability. The new series is slightly lighter throughout, with lower torque. These are for players wanting mid-launch and mid-low spin, through a mid-stiff tip bend profile that offers enhanced control and stability.
Project X HZRDUS Smoke – Featuring a low-spin and low-launch profile that maintains the HZRDUS reputation, Smoke Black is designed for today’s aggressive swingers while providing new optimized material placement to promote an improved feel and an increase in playability.
Sound:
In this respect the Epic Flash fairway was very good, providing a solid sound and feel with a mid trajectory.
Conclusion:
Overall, the mid-sized head is visually great to look at along with the new shorter hosel looking much stockier and less visually intrusive. In our reviews, we found this to be the most premium fairway wood that you can purchase in the market today.
3. TaylorMade Men’s RBZ Fairway Wood
- Legendary speed pocket for high launch and increased carry distance
- Strategically positioned mass pad for optimal launch, sound, and feel
- Shallow profile lowers the center of gravity to increase playability from the fairway
- Lightweight 55 RocketFuel shaft for increased speed and distance
This RocketBallz model from Taylor made has been around for quite a while now. The RBZ series was launched in 2012 and has been undergoing a lot of alterations across the years to better the product over a period of time. This updated version features a new, aggressive style and powerful performance. It definitely is an affordable option when compared to other fairway woods in the market.
Build:
The face is made of high strength 455 steel to ensure the face doesn’t crack. The pull-face construction has been used by other manufacturers before and it usually delivers a more powerful face and in the RocketBallz Fairway Wood this is the case too. A shot does go a long way with over 300 yards.
Control and Performance:
The legendary speed pocket along with the 55 rocket fuel shaft for high launch and increased carry distance ensures that ball just flies off the face, and the flight is very penetrating. This fairway wood seems very forgiving on off centre hits, and not much distance is lost.
If you are looking for a 3 wood that consistently sends the ball out there, with ease, then you have to try this!
Sound:
The TaylorMade Rocketballz fairway as it does seem to deliver more distance with an excellent flight and very good sound and feel
Conclusion:
The pricing for this new RBZ line is very competitive, and can be one to opt for if you do no have very deep pockets
4. Callaway Golf Mens Rogue Fairway Wood
- Jailbreak Technology
- Easy to Launch on a Strong, Straight Flight
- Triaxial Carbon Crown for Distance and Forgiveness
- Boeing Aero Package
Callaway Golf 2018 Men’s Rogue Fairway Wood is best known for its power shot as it comes with 3mm titanium rods. It gives much more energy to the balls when hit correctly. Irrelevant material and weight has been cut off in this design that makes it very light in weight.
Build:
A first in this segment, the jailbreak technology has been introduced to give your shot a double power boost and distance with minimal effort. The rubber coating on the shaft gives you a perfect grip even if your hand gets sweaty. In this model of Callaway, the trajectory is also improved drastically that helps the player to take long shots at any angle with 100 percent efficiency.
Control and Performance:
The flash face technology combined with jailbreak and the carpenter steel face cup ensure that you will get more ball speed and distance in every shot. From an accuracy point of view, it may be a little off the mark. The Jailbreak technology of two steel Jailbreak bars that stiffen the body, was first introduced in the this wood by Callaway.
Conclusion:
This fairway wood is best for distance. It is suitable for those high handicappers are always looking for more distance, so the rogue is a good choice for shorter, straighter hitters who would benefit from longer shots.
5. TaylorMade Men’s AeroBurner Fairway Wood
TaylorMade Men’s AeroBurner Fairway Wood is among the best brands, as it comes with many cool features that will up your game for sure. New Speed Pocket increases the size of the sweet spot and reduces spin.
Build:
Its design is so eye-catching that it attracts the customer in the first impression. The durable and lightweight design helps to give your wrist a perfect twist for better and powerful shots. The club is made using the highest strength face material Ni CO 300 Super alloy built with new Matrix Speed RUL Z 60 Shaft and TM Speed grip. Taylormade has make sure that these Aeroburner Fairway Wood clubs would stand with you in any situation, any condition.
Control and Performance:
Few of them are its aerodynamic shape, new matrix speed and its super pocket speed that not just helps to improve your gaming skills but also provide your shot maximum forgiveness and accuracy with every hit. Aeroburner gets a huge applause here because of its consistent accurate shot with higher distance and sweet center hits.
Conclusion:
Good fairway wood that offers the best high ball flight with a lot of consistency.
6. Cobra Men’s KING F MaxFairway Wood
- Offset design-an Offset hosel design creates higher launch with more draw bias for straighter, more accurate shots
- Ultralight configuration-lighter shafts and swing weights promote maximum clubhead speed and distance for slower swing speeds
- Back/heel CG weight-a fixed, back weight positioned near the heel promotes more forgiving, straighter drives
- Crown alignment feature-a visually appealing crown feature makes it easy to align the clubhead at address for straighter shots of the Tee
The Cobra F-Max Fairway Wood is designed with one primary goal in mind: help the high handicapper who has a low ball flight.
Build:
The face of the club is inserted with forged 455 stainless steel which delivers more speed and distance in your shots. The shafts have a ultra light configuration that promotes maximum clubhead speed and distance.
Control and Performance:
The trajectory in King F is remarkable, so now hit your shots at any angle with long distance and low CG. Its new Speed channel innovation gives your hit incredible distance and longer shots
Conclusion:
Overall, it is a well-balanced fairway wood with almost all the aspects covered. Except for the high shot performance, it did well in most of the things. It is suitable for both professional and amateurs
7. Pinemeadow PGX Offset Golf Fairway Woods
- ANTI-SLICE TECHNOLGY: This technology has existed for years but is becoming more and more popular for recreational, new and longtime golfers. The PGX Offset fairway woods features an increased offset…
- IMPROVED PLAY: You can see the leading edge to the face is offset. This allows you a little more time to square the face at impact allowing you hit the ball straighter and longer.
- GRAPHITE SHAFT: Woods are equipped with a Pinemeadow Graphite shaft. The shaft paired with the stainless steel clubhead gives you the best combination you need in a fairway wood.
- HEADCOVER: All fairway woods come with a headcover to protect your club while it is being transported in your golf bag.
The PGX Offset fairway woods features an increased offset in the clubface that you will every come across. You can see the leading edge to the face is offset. This allows you a little more time to square the face at impact allowing you hit the ball straighter and longer.
Build:
Cast from 431 Stainless Steel and designed with a precision offset, the PGX Offset Fairway woods helps the average golfer enjoy their round of golf. The matte black finish is eliminates glare and looks great in your bag.
Control and Performance:
The offset seems to make the club feel and play much more similarly to Irons and Wedges, allowing me to make less drastic adjustments to the alignment and angle of my swingplane. You will be able to get your shots up in the air, where they belong. You will easily get a carry distance of around 170-190 yards with this product.
Conclusion:
Very light on the pocket and a another fine, undauntingly priced product from these guys
8. Ping G30 3 Wood Golf Club
- Ping G30
- Turbulators crafted onto the crown create a captured appearance that assists with aim and provides confidence. The face profile provides an inspirational appearance while increasing its height for…
- A new addition to the G family of fairway woods, the lightweight hosel design is engineered with the same mass and outer diameter as our fixed hosels to unlock the benefits of adjustability without…
The G series from Ping has always been popular amongst golfers because of its ability to create high distance shots with an excellent accuracy. Yet again, they have done a remarkable work at their new G30 version of fairway woods.
Build:
The new Turbulator Technology increases the airflow around the golf wedge and improve the aerodynamics so that you can take your shots with more accuracy. Its durable body is built from 475 Carpenter steel that gives it 44% more strength and ruggedness.
Control and Performance:
The fairway head is aerodynamically designed and a little bit heavier at the sweet point to maintain the balance of shaft. It gives golfers maximum forgiveness & trajectory, thanks to its trajectory tuning + technology. In this model, Ping has also improved its CG that allows you to take higher shots with ease. It comes in blue-white and blue-black color in glossy finish as well as metallic that will definitely give you a premium feel.
Conclusion:
Over a period of time, this will definitely become the favorite club in your bag. With one year Ping premium warranty you do not have to worry about a little bit about its performance if something happen just contact Ping and they will take care of everything.
9. Wilson Staff Golf Men’s D7 Fairway Wood
- CARPENTER CUSTOM 455 FACE: A premium managing steel insert provides a thin, hot face increasing both feel and distance performance
- SUPERLIGHT DESIGN: Easy to swing for faster club head speeds
- NEW CROWN: Thin cast pockets provide strength while reducing weight
These new Wilson Staff Golf Men’s D7 Fairway wood provides a great combination of beautiful design and performance engineering. This fairway wood is a sleek black and gray with a sharp athletic aesthetic.
Build:
They’ve clearly done their work on the engineering side as this wood hits with the best of them. It has perfect flexibility with strong impact which will definitely help with the distance. At first glance, it’s clear that Wilson Staff made a lot of changes between the D7 and its predecessor the D300. Carpenter Custom 455 Face features a premium maraging steel insert, creating a thin, hot surface for incredible feel and distance performance.
Control and Performance:
You will get easy swings which will result in better than expected distance through an effortless launch. The Superlight design means faster club head speeds with less effort and a new crown construction with thin cast pockets adds structure where it’s needed while minimizing weight where it’s not. All in all, the head design is subtle, confidence inspiring, and should appeal to the masses. It swings light but has a hard impact.
Conclusion:
Great playing, highly versatile fairway wood at a reasonable price.
10. MW8 Moon Wood Fairway Wood
- YOUR CHOICE OF HAND: Choose the hand that matches the other clubs in your set. If you play right-handed irons, for example, choose right hand.LAUNCH GREEN-HOLDING SHOTS FROM LONG RANGE: If you…
- QUICK LAUNCH & HIGH FLIGHT: Enjoy extreme high launch and greater ball speed off the face thanks to the MW8’s shallow clubface and low center of gravity; The MW8 looks so “hittable” at address,…
- EASIER TO CONTROL THAN TRADITIONAL FAIRWAY WOODS: The MW8 is shorter than the typical hybrid, wood and long iron making it much more comfortable and easier to control than most other fairway clubs in…
- LEGAL FOR TOURNAMENT PLAY: Legal and conforming; Conforms to the rules of golf
The MW8 is a different kind of fairway wood built for clean contact, high launch, and long distance. You can easily enjoy an extreme high launch and greater ball speed off the face thanks to the MW8’s shallow clubface and low center of gravity
The MW8 moon wood comes with an ultra low profile face design. I hit some Moon Woods off a tight lie and a grassy lie, and the ball performed very well coming off both shots. It just felt good the first time I put it in my hands. However, if you have a decent golf swing, you will probably see more consistent results with these clubs than the corresponding irons. I do not see these replacing long hybrids. Hybrids and traditional woods hit longer in my experience. But, for those pesky iron shots you just can’t figure out consistently, these may be a decent answer for you
Best Fairway Woods: Buying Guide
The four most important features you should look for in a fairway wood is:
Forgiveness:
This is the most important factor you need to consider before buying any golf club, because your performance greatly depends on it. For high handicappers, a best fairway wood would be the one with higher loft degree (viz. 3-woods) to make solid hits.
Whereas, low and mid handicappers can opt for the one with lower loft degree. Whichever woods you choose, just make sure it is easy to hit and fairly comfortable as well.
Head:
Usually fairway woods have smaller heads comparing to golf drivers. This aspect makes fairway woods easier than drivers when it comes to controlling the swing. It is advisable for beginners to opt for fairway woods instead of trying to use a driver. Greater lofts and smaller heads of fairway woods help in hitting the ball high into the air. Fairway woods are convenient to handle than long drivers and are used basically by amateur golfers and beginners. The main purpose of both drivers and fairway woods is to strike the club. In simple words drivers are used to hit the ball on the upswing and fairway wood is used to hit the club at swing bottom. Fairway woods have the largest head in your golf bag next to the driver. When purchasing your fairway woods, consider the clubhead material:
- Steel: This is a popular material for fairway wood clubheads. Steel tends to be forgiving and is often lower priced than the other options.
- Titanium: This material is half the weight of steel. Titanium’s light weight allows the center of gravity to move to the back of the head. This can help the ball launch while providing maximum distance and tighter shot dispersion.
- Composite: Multi-material clubs combine modern materials, like carbon, steel and titanium. Composite materials help produce better launch and consistency on off-center hits.
Loft:
You can categorize fairway woods by their lofts. The higher the fairway wood number, the higher the loft. For example, a 3-wood will have less loft than a 5-wood, and so on. More loft will lead to a higher trajectory of the ball and a shorter carry distance.
- The 3- and 4-wood are the lowest of the lofts. These are the clubs that can be an alternative to your driver. They can provide better control than your driver off the tee.
- The 5- and 7-woods are best for when you need to get the ball in the air and off the fairway.
- Anything over a 9-wood is a high-lofted fairway wood. Some golfers find it helpful to use these as a replacement for mid-range irons in their golf bag.
Length:
Presently golf drivers with 45 inches length are common. This length factor makes it difficult to control the swing. On the other side shorter clubs are known as fairway woods, generally referred to as fairway metals. Materials used for manufacturing both golf drivers and fairway woods are same. These fairway woods posses the proprietary of progressiveness like irons. There are different types of fairway woods like 3-wood, 4-wood, 5-wood, 7-wood and 9-wood. One may rarely find a 2-wood. These fairways woods may decide the distance the golf club go after hit.
Shaft Options:
Fairway woods typically come with graphite shafts. They are usually the same weight or slightly heavier than the matching driver shaft. The flex of the shaft can include senior, women’s, regular, stiff and extra stiff.
Adjustability:
You will find fairway woods with a variety of features to help customize your club:
- Many fairway woods come with the ability to alter the loft with an adjustable hosel.
- Other fairway woods allow you to adjust the face angle. You can switch between open and closed. Altering the face angle can affect ball flight and help players correct swinging flaws, such as slices or hooks.
- Some come with moveable weight, an adjustability feature also popular in drivers. This allows you to move the center of gravity of the club for optimal trajectory.
Club Fitting:
For optimal consistency and accuracy, you should have your clubs customized to your body and swing by a certified fitter. By adding the right fairway woods to your bag, you will be ready to cover more ground as you make your way to the green.
- Higher loft to lift the out of the turf and over low obstacles like hills
- Shallower face height which allows a player to hit a ball from the ground using the exact center of the, providing greater distance for such shots
A quality best fairway wood can help you find better consistency and swing. The excellence of shots always lies in the quality of clubs. That’s why it is very important to go for the best fairway woods. Considering the fact that there are so many types of fairways woods available in the market, it can be a overwhelming task to find the best fairway woods. We have considered various factors such as levels of adjust-ability, forgiveness, accuracy so that you can have the best results and output when you purchase one.
Typically the characteristics of fairway woods are:
- Consists of large heads
- Bulging clubface
- Flattened soles sliding over the ground
- Spherical in shape
Club heads in the present era are made from metal alloys and hence are termed as metal-woods. Senior players and ladies prefer fairway woods that are higher lofted. It is so because fairway woods give them easier hit to the club while hitting the club high in the air at lower speed.
Shaft length of fairway wood may differ from 40 inches to 45 inches.
Some skilled golfers prefer shorter shafts which facilitates them to use it easily despite the fact that shorter shafts are likely to reduce the distance. Usually fairway woods are fitted with graphite shafts considering their light weight. This light weight enables golfers to accelerate higher club-head speed and achieve longer distance. The USGA approved length of the shaft is 47 inches.
It is evident that success and improvement of your game depends upon using the right fairway drivers woods
Are there any particular brands that manufacture best fairway woods?
Top 3 Brands
1. TaylorMade Golf
2. Callaway Golf
3. Cobra Golf
Conclusion
Best Fairway Woods for high handicappers
The following top 3 best fairway woods for high handicappers stand out in our list:
1. Best for Distance: TaylorMade M4 Fairway Wood – The M4 fairway wood is the best 3 wood or 5 wood for high handicapper
2. If you want the best: Callaway Golf 2019 Epic Flash Fairway Wood – The Epic Flash fairway woods feature our groundbreaking Flash Face Technology to help golfers of every level and swing speed get more ball speed and distance
3. Best Value for the money: Taylor Made Men’s RBZ Fairway – Overall we would highly recommend this RBZ 3 wood for its performance and value!