3-Wood or Driver

[MadAdey]

Just wondering how many people are actually using a 3-Wood instead of a driver.

A couple of lads that I work with have started playing in April this year having never played before. I have started playing with them the few weeks and doing the usual thing of giving them tips and hints to try and get them off on the correct foot. The thing I kept saying was to put their driver away and use a 3-wood instead. One of them pulled me up and asked why I always use a driver. I told them it was because I can use one and they can't. So to prove a point I took my driver out the bag and just used my 3-wood for a couple of rounds.

Well to my surprise I have had the best 2 rounds I have had for months. I keep track of stats on my phone using an app and I found that those 2 rounds compared to the previous 2 (when I was using my driver) I had increased my fairways hit by 18% by using a 3-Wood. Ok so I am hitting longer shots to the green but I find it is easier to hit the green from the fairway with a 6i rather than an 8i from the rough.

So I have now dropped the driver from the bag and replaced my 3W with the RBZ Stage 2 Tour 13* 3W. It is hard to believe but I am hitting that further than I can hit my driver and it goes straighter. My 2 friends thanks to using a 3W instead of a driver gone from not being able to break 100 to being under almost every round. One of them has now got his first handicap of 22 and the other 26.

So is their really any need to carry a driver in the bag is what I am now thinking. Surely it is easier to shoot low scores if you stay on the fairway.

 

[rickg]

Just wondering how many people are actually using a 3-Wood instead of a driver.

A couple of lads that I work with have started playing in April this year having never played before. I have started playing with them the few weeks and doing the usual thing of giving them tips and hints to try and get them off on the correct foot. The thing I kept saying was to put their driver away and use a 3-wood instead. One of them pulled me up and asked why I always use a driver. I told them it was because I can use one and they can't. So to prove a point I took my driver out the bag and just used my 3-wood for a couple of rounds.

Well to my surprise I have had the best 2 rounds I have had for months. I keep track of stats on my phone using an app and I found that those 2 rounds compared to the previous 2 (when I was using my driver) I had increased my fairways hit by 18% by using a 3-Wood. Ok so I am hitting longer shots to the green but I find it is easier to hit the green from the fairway with a 6i rather than an 8i from the rough.

So I have now dropped the driver from the bag and replaced my 3W with the RBZ Stage 2 Tour 13* 3W. It is hard to believe but I am hitting that further than I can hit my driver and it goes straighter. My 2 friends thanks to using a 3W instead of a driver gone from not being able to break 100 to being under almost every round. One of them has now got his first handicap of 22 and the other 26.

So is their really any need to carry a driver in the bag is what I am now thinking. Surely it is easier to shoot low scores if you stay on the fairway.

A properly fitted driver should go further than a 3 wood......depends how well you hit the driver.....a flushed driver out of the middle should go further than a flushed 3 wood.

On another note, is your guest still coming to the HFH day? Need his deposit. Ta.

 

[pokerjoke]

I have not used my driver for over 2 years.
My course is short and you only need driver on 4 holes,so I dropped mine.
Now I don't have one at all.
The 3 wood does go straighter,and bad shots are generally punished less.
Of course the same happens with the 3 wood as the driver if you try and kill it,however
the 3 wood wont slice as much.
Distance wise,you wont lose much.
I agree with Rick that a properly fitted driver is the way to go for some,but if your
having trouble with your driver,give it a go.

 

[El Bandito]

I'm sort of the opposite - the straightest club that I have is the driver...my 3 wood on the other hand can be wild. I am far from long, but the driver usually puts me in play, closer to the hole than when I started. I have just got a new 3 wood and 5 wood - as I want to develop an alternative tee shot - and have something for long approaches.

 

[Imurg]

I have a driver in the bag and if I get it right it goes a good 20 yards further than a good 3 wood
But I have to be playing well and have confidence otherwise anything can happen.
My 3w is my goto club off the tee and doesn't often let me down..

 

[lyden]

It really does depend on the course around my track you'd bring more trouble in hitting 3 wood. Some of the links courses near me though accuracy is a premium so I'd even take a 4 iron off the tee.

 

[big_eck]

i played a stableford on thursday and scored 29 without a driver in the bag was hitting my x hot 3 wood lovely from the teebut thought i could do better so put the driver in yesterday for another stableford and had 8 nr on my card thanks to trying to use my driver so really cosidering getting phills 3 deep as i can rarely hit the 3 wood off the deck anyway

 

[ScienceBoy]

IMO if you can hit a 3 wood you can hit a driver, you may just need a lesson on the Driver! I had a bad spell with the driver recently, saw the pro, fixed TINY setup fault and I went back to hitting it well again, leaving just a 6 iron in on our par 5 1st off the yellows.

There are about 4 holes on my course where a 3 wood is better than a driver, even if both are hit well, just due to the shape of the hole. I carried only a 3 wood recently during the first dry spell when I played off the yellow tees, a driver was far too long and nearly always ran out of room.

 

[Coatsy79]

I'm only bothering with my 5 wood and 22 hybrid at the moment

Think I'll go have a lesson just on my driver as if I can work out how to hit that I'll be set

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Been hitting the three wood a lot more this summer as it has been so dry. Driver brings some hazards into play when it is running. Felt I was getting it in play a lot more and started scoring better. The issue comes when the wind gets up at my course as it can make some of the long par 4's unreachable with a three wood.

For me the accuracy of a three wood will be paramount around a place like West Hill in H4H. My view is well known for new players and a couple of lessons to get the basics correct will make it easier to use all the clubs in the bag.

 

[MadAdey]

IMO if you can hit a 3 wood you can hit a driver, you may just need a lesson on the Driver! I had a bad spell with the driver recently, saw the pro, fixed TINY setup fault and I went back to hitting it well again, leaving just a 6 iron in on our par 5 1st off the yellows.

There are about 4 holes on my course where a 3 wood is better than a driver, even if both are hit well, just due to the shape of the hole. I carried only a 3 wood recently during the first dry spell when I played off the yellow tees, a driver was far too long and nearly always ran out of room.

It is not so much, not being able to hit a driver, it is the accuracy that I find with a 3w over my driver. I am not talking about missing fairways by hitting 30 yards wide, I am talking about being in the first,second cut. Everyone knows that it is far easier to control an iron shot from a nicely mown fairway than in 1" deep rough. I am just finding that I am making a lot more easy pars by staying on the fairway with a 3w.

 

[nufc86]

i use a 3w (burner 15* stiff) off the tee. i seem to get a better ball flight, more accuracy and more top spin from the 3.

when i used to use a driver my technique was terrible and in most cases could hit an iron further. i would like to use a driver from tee as with the 3w i have to use a smaller tee and have to it clean every time. saving for a few lessons and a driver fitting to solve the problem.

 

[AMcC]

I have dropped my three word from my bag in favour of another wedge, but retained my five wood. Bizarrely I hit driver and five wood better than the three. In the last couple of rounds I have used the five more times of the tee and I have been hitting more fairways. At ours we have a few holes where drive can be too much and there is a premium on accuracy off the tee.