Driver or 3 wood off the tee

[Martin70]

Not going to publish forum yards but on average I can hit my driver on the fairway about 7/10 although the leaked ones right will cost me shots.

My 3 wood I can hit fairways arrow straight 9/10 and sometimes no loss in difference so I obviously have been hitting this more often on all but the most lengthy holes.

My driver is 9.5 degrees and I play on a links course and like the low flight when it's hit it up the middle against the wind.

My 3 wood is 15 degrees, I can't hit it for toffee of the grass but off the tee it is doing me proud.

So I am now thinking greedily - aside from learning how to hit the woods off the deck, looking for even more distance off the tee without sacrificing too much accuracy do you think I should look for a more lofted and shorter shafted driver?

There are only 2 or 3 par 4's which are difficult in length to reach in 2 but I have to play them as par 5's even with a lovely 3 wood up the middle.

I intend to get a lesson or two to try and hit a fairway wood over 200 yards consistently which will help but I'm kind of curious as to what the best wood might be off the tee.

I don't want to sacrifice my dead straight line with my 3 wood at any cost - but I'd like 20 or 30 more yards if possible.

I'm pretty sure the accuracy advantage with my 3 wood comes from the shorter shaft so was wondering what the impact in difference would be with a shorter shafted driver of say 13 degrees would be if they in fact exist.

Cheers for any thoughts.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Driver - 7/10 and 3 wood 9/10 fairways ?!

 

[Martin70]

Driver - 7/10 and 3 wood 9/10 fairways ?!

Yes Phil - fairways have never been a problem - hitting off them has always been.

Honestly my 3 wood is arrow straight - no draw or fade even when the wind is a cross wind. My playing partners call me boring.

Not a massive hitter I'll grant you - driver goes 230ish depending on wind and roll.

 

[pbrown7582]

You have a shot a hole use it! 3 wood off tee 2 7 irons 2 putts par 5 nett 4 next....

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Yes Phil - fairways have never been a problem - hitting off them has always been.

Honestly my 3 wood is arrow straight - no draw or fade even when the wind is a cross wind. My playing partners call me boring.

Not a massive hitter I'll grant you - driver goes 230ish depending on wind and roll.

The first i would do is forget about worrying about your tee shots as you have stats that pro golfers would be proud off and work on why you appear to struggle from there ? Your shots into the green or your short game

7/10 at 230 yards ? and 9/10 at 200 yards ? thats impressive

 

[Martin70]

The first i would do is forget about worrying about your tee shots as you have stats that pro golfers would be proud off and work on why you appear to struggle from there ? Your shots into the green or your short game

7/10 at 230 yards ? and 9/10 at 200 yards ? thats impressive

I know you're right and my biggest problem is my 2nd shot. I'll expand a little hopefully it will make more sense as to why I am asking. I played a few public courses earlier in the year where distance was no problem at all and had a couple of front or back nines which were 4 or 5 over gross ( with substantially shorter winter tees) . Then a bunch of us joined a club which can be very demanding on some par 4's as some are long and it's a links course which has knocked my confidence with my irons somewhat as I've always taken a big divot and am taking my time to adjust here. Therefore I was wondering how to pinch 20 yards if possible while I work out where I need to change things with my irons as I am seriously struggling with fairway woods or long to mid irons while I adjust.

Hope that explains my question, cheers.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I know you're right and my biggest problem is my 2nd shot. I'll expand a little hopefully it will make more sense as to why I am asking. I played a few public courses earlier in the year where distance was no problem at all and had a couple of front or back nines which were 4 or 5 over gross ( with substantially shorter winter tees) . Then a bunch of us joined a club which can be very demanding on some par 4's as some are long and it's a links course which has knocked my confidence with my irons somewhat as I've always taken a big divot and am taking my time to adjust here. Therefore I was wondering how to pinch 20 yards if possible while I work out where I need to change things with my irons as I am seriously struggling with fairway woods or long to mid irons while I adjust.

Hope that explains my question, cheers.

Your distances are fine from the tee - you get shots on each hole - keep the accuracy - forget distance and look to improve the short game

 

[Martin70]

Your distances are fine from the tee - you get shots on each hole - keep the accuracy - forget distance and look to improve the short game

Ok thanks for the advice Phil - gonna start using the range for the first time this week to try and improve my ball striking off the deck - I think that might be the key. if I can improve that I won't worry so much about how far out I am.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

good luck and hope it goes well

 

[Martin70]

good luck and hope it goes well

Good luck to you too - this is very off topic but I've been a Man Utd supporter since I was 6 which is about 36 years ago when I can remember we didn't get a sniff of the title - I genuinely hope you do it this year for more than 1 reason - but not next year eh

 

[Martin70]

Name me any golfer who wouldn't want an extra 20 yards if they could. But then again, name me any golfer who wouldn't want to hit the fairway 9 times out of 10. To be honest, if there really were a sure fire way to instantly gain 20 yards with no other apparent effort on the part of the golfer, then everyone and his dog would be using that tactic. But unfortunately, there isn't, other than due diligence on your part in terms of technique and practice. Which makes your post sound all the most ludicrous and desperate - I'm not surprised it's not entitled "why am I not off scratch"?

That's not very nice is it really? Come and watch me hit my 3 wood and it will go straight. Is it so bad to ask if I can squeeze some more out of it? I don't think so and I find your response pretty nasty. I've already said I'm poor off the deck and want to work on it - what's your problem?

 

[London mike 61]

For those extra yards you are looking for I would grip down on your driver by about 1 inch and make your normal swing, you will be surprised at how straight the ball goes without much loss in distance.

I rarely hit my three wood off the deck, preferring mostly to use my 5 wood or a hybrid.

As for a three wood off the tee, have you tried teeing the ball up a tad more? Depending on the conditions on the day it can make noticeable increase in distance.

 

[Martin70]

Read your post again - and then ask yourself if it doesn't sound like a sense of entitlement on your part. If you want me to blow sunshine up your arse and tell you that gaining 20 yards and finding the fairway 9/10 is easy, then I'm afraid you are mistaken.

Bloody hell - I've asked a few questions on this forum and always found people polite and helpful. And now I run into you.

For the record yes I can hit a fairway 9/10 with my 3 wood although not massive lengths. Not my problem if you have an issue with it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The FIR regulations in the OP do sound pretty high especially for a mid-teen handicapper. There has to be a lot else with your game to have that handicap if you never miss a fairway. I wouldn't bother looking for extra yards if these are accurate (we've had similar claims before and playing with forummers they have struggle to hit the proverbial barn door so there will always be a tad of cynicism). Use your shots and work out why you are still off 18 and practice those areas letting you down. A lack of 20 yards isn't the reason

 

[Martin70]

I think I will leave this place after this post - why are people so resentful of the one part of my game I can do well? I am off 18 as I have not played regularly for years. I did get down to 9 about 6 years ago and still lost most of my shots from inconsistent mid to long iron approaches. My new club has really struggled with the weather and lots of the fairways are bare and I can't seem to get under the ball like I'm used to. That is why I asked my question as I can hit my 8+ irons far better than my longer irons at the moment.

Very sorry if that upsets one or two bloody hell.

 

[TheClaw]

Course management? Use the driver when the fairway is bigger or there's less trouble. Use the 3 wood when it's tight.

Work on your irons as this is the problem.

 

[Dave B]

Martin

You hit similar distance to me which by forum standards may be short however my advice would be to forget about the distance and rather than look for a 3 wood that will get you additional distance, look for one you can hit off the deck as that may be a game changer.

If you just want pure distance I can recommend the TM RBZ however my guess is that a) you wont be able to hit it consistently off the deck and b), because it has a longer shaft you'll start to hit it left and right and will lose out on dispersion. The same applies to using a strong 3 wood.

If you struggle with your second shot look at a couple of easy to hit hybrids to compliment your 3 wood. Once you get dialled in they're good, go to clubs, for anywhere from 160-200 yds, particularly off the fairway. If you don't like hybrids a 7 wood can make a huge difference from both the tee and fairways

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I think I will leave this place after this post - why are people so resentful of the one part of my game I can do well? I am off 18 as I have not played regularly for years. I did get down to 9 about 6 years ago and still lost most of my shots from inconsistent mid to long iron approaches. My new club has really struggled with the weather and lots of the fairways are bare and I can't seem to get under the ball like I'm used to. That is why I asked my question as I can hit my 8+ irons far better than my longer irons at the moment.

Very sorry if that upsets one or two bloody hell.

Dont let one person force you away - his attitude doesnt reflect the majority on here who are all very friendly and helpful

 

[TheClaw]

I think I will leave this place after this post - why are people so resentful of the one part of my game I can do well? I am off 18 as I have not played regularly for years. I did get down to 9 about 6 years ago and still lost most of my shots from inconsistent mid to long iron approaches. My new club has really struggled with the weather and lots of the fairways are bare and I can't seem to get under the ball like I'm used to. That is why I asked my question as I can hit my 8+ irons far better than my longer irons at the moment.

Very sorry if that upsets one or two bloody hell.

It's just because what you're saying is not the norm. To average 7/10 drives at 230 yards is excellent and there will be plenty of cat 1 players with much worse averages. I hit a cracker today and measured it and it was only 233 yards haha.

You shouldn't have that many long irons to hit...your course must be a monster.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I hit the driver about 230 yards. Always been a shorter hitter and only hit around 48% of FIR's. However I have learned to use my shots and so won't take glory shots on from heavy rough and have learned to be pretty good with my 9 iron and PW so just try to get the ball back to 120-100 yards from the green. Pitch on and hope for a single putt. Sometimes though, especially with a shot a hole bogey really can be your friend