• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

3 wood v Driver

Yes I would use a 3 wood most of the time as I'm more consistent with it than my driver!! I'm forever slicing driver and 3 wood straight as a die! Puls driver does not go that much futther
 
if I only want to go 230 - 250 then the 3 wood will be the club selection.

I treat club selection on par 4 and par 5 tees in the same way as par 3's - where do I want to hit it...
 
I have only had a driver for 1 week, and it does make a difference, maybe an extra 20-30 yards, i think it will make a bigger difference when the ground dries out, but i was more consistent with my 3 wood.
 
duncan mackie said:
if I only want to go 230 - 250 then the 3 wood will be the club selection.

I treat club selection on par 4 and par 5 tees in the same way as par 3's - where do I want to hit it...
Click to expand...


Id love to have that confidence with a Driver in my hand....The harsh reality is that i can pretty much make my 3 wood sing but put a driver in my hand and people would be ducking for cover left right and centre.....

I wont give up on it though...As when i do catch one right there's a good 40 mtrs difference between the driver and my 3 wood.....

The thing i find with my 3 wood is that because i hit it so well when i hit a bad shot with my driver im punished directionally and distance wise...
And to be honest a good hit with my 3 wood is far better than anyones bad hit with a driver.....
Whats the point in hitting a club that you cant keep at least some bit straight.....
Most pro's will only hit about 60% of fairways during a round.....
I can honestly say that the weekend with my driving out of 9 holes i found 2 fairways with the driver....
I hit an adjacent fairway with another put two tee shots OOB on 2 different holes because of errant driving and ruined my round on the 18 after putting 3 balls OOB......
I wouldnt think that it made me score any better for the good shots either.......

Seriously thinking now of buying a tour model RBZ 3 wood just for tee shots.....
I just cant seem to hit a driver consistently well enough to score well with it.
You would think that because the drivers head is so big i would find it easier to hit but the total opposite is the outcome.....Im more confident with a 3 wood in my hand.
 
kid2 said:
You would think that because the drivers head is so big i would find it easier to hit but the total opposite is the outcome.....Im more confident with a 3 wood in my hand.
Click to expand...

Having seen your underlying swing, and read a few of your posts relating to drivers, I can't help feeling that your real problem revolves around the aims and aspirations in your head when you take your driver..........

If you hit your 3 wood so well when are you going to take your driver -
when you feel you need the extra distance / need more than your 3 wood can deliver.

Basically in tough demanding situations and the need to hit it...not good for 'just putting a solid swing on it' and building your confidence.

Make friends with it for the ease of hitting it - let the length come later.
 
Using my 3 wood on every par 4/5 tee whilst Im waiting for my driver to come back. I know its generally going 200-210 down the middle and if I dont quite catch it right its not going too far off the fairway.
 
I have to say the driver is the best club in the bag for me. Have total confidence with it in hand. Example last time out used the driver of 15 tees. 14 fairways hit 1 just in the first cut. Mind you, you would have laughed at the second shots. If I could just get the bit between the driver and putter right. I would have cracked it!
 
duncan mackie said:
Having seen your underlying swing, and read a few of your posts relating to drivers, I can't help feeling that your real problem revolves around the aims and aspirations in your head when you take your driver..........

If you hit your 3 wood so well when are you going to take your driver -
when you feel you need the extra distance / need more than your 3 wood can deliver.

Basically in tough demanding situations and the need to hit it...not good for 'just putting a solid swing on it' and building your confidence.

Make friends with it for the ease of hitting it - let the length come later.
Click to expand...


I agree with you fully Duncan.....Its not that i wont hit it......I hate going to the range just pounding balls with a driver....Our practice area at the club isnt long enough to hit one at only 180mtrs....
I always carry it in the bag and last sunday to be fair i was getting good contact just the wrong direction.....
What happens then is that when im managing my way round my own course i can pull the driver on all the par 5's as i have the room for error but maybe 5 of the par 4's are generous enough to let me get away with a bad one but thats basically it....
So in any round i could maybe hit it anywhere from 4 to 8 or 9 times....And funnily enough when its windy ill hit the 3 wood because i can keep it under the wind as well....

I will eventually master it but because im changing things in my swing im a bit too wayward with it....There is no point in me hitting it on one hole 250mtrs down the middle and grinning only to pull it again on the next hole and cut the backside off it to 3 fairways right.....
I think for me one of the problems is learning how to square up the face at impact...
 
I tend to use a 3 wood until / if I'm swinging well and then I'll get the driver out on the safer holes.

Currently in the middle of a bit of a crisis with just about every club in the bag though:(
 
duncan mackie said:
if I only want to go 230 - 250 then the 3 wood will be the club selection.

I treat club selection on par 4 and par 5 tees in the same way as par 3's - where do I want to hit it...
Click to expand...

My thinking too, play for position from the tee, will use 3 wood on par 5's if I'm not going to threaten green in 2 to try and ensure fairway for 2nd shot.
 
I use mine a lot due to fairway bunkers and narrow fairways. 8 Drives today and 5 woods off the tee.

I have, when playing badly used my driver just twice and the 3 wood nearly a dozen times.
 
360yds and under I use 4 wood, leaves a 9 iron or less to green.

Also downwind I usually get the 4 wood to travel further than the driver.
 
Driver is still in the naughty corner plus it would only be out on 3 tee shots and the 3 wood leaves me a short iron in still so no need for the big stick to come out of the bag. Longest medal hole is 440 and I can hit that with a 3 wood and 5 iron.
 
I have not used a driver on my new course yet,about 4 months.
My 3 wood when i hit it well,compared to my playing partners
when they have hit there driver well,is about 10 to 15 yrds.
However i can safely say my 3 wood is definately on the short
stuff more,giving me a longer,but much easier 2nd.
However when i play with longer hitters i can be 40 yards behind.
Only last weekend myself and my partner were paired up against
a really long hitter and his partner in a 4bbb open.
On one par 4 he drove 336 yrds,i drove 270 he got a 5 i got a 4
He also drove 360 on a 480 yrd par 4 i drove 240 i got a 4 he got a 5
All the way round he was commenting on how good my and my partners short game was,compared to his .
Thats where the game is lost and won.
I think at the moment whilst the courses are firmer i will stick
with the 3 wood.
Come winter the big dog might have to come out to play.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Mini Driver Vs Standard Driver
2 3 4
Replies
78
Views
14K
Oddsocks
Oddsocks
T
Ladies #3 hybrid - recommendations?
Replies
2
Views
478
chellie
C
Mel Smooth
Golf Equipment Lease deals.
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
elmoag
E
N
3 clubs and a putter comp
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
Orikoru
Orikoru
Klimski
Honma TW-U
Replies
2
Views
345
Klimski
Klimski
Top