'Second Club' Dilemma

[Orikoru]

I agree with you about the heavy head thing. I bought a 26° Callaway hybrid off a forumer this season and I am now thinking about getting the 21°, or similar, to replace my Ping Hybrid. I like the heavier head, I feel more confident that I will bring it down and through the ball whereas I can sometimes be a bit wafty with the Ping. Basically, I like about it what you don't like about it . There are definite differences between brands, which is good when you think about it.

Yeah with the drivers the AI Smoke was the longest, but I was a bit more left and right with it, so the head-heaviness accounts for both I'd say. I use a Callaway hybrid though (Rogue ST Max) and I love it, does exactly what I need. My previous hybrid was a Cobra LTDx and that felt too light in the head. With a hybrid you need it to get through grassy lies and whatnot. Just about trial and error sometimes.

 

[Mandofred]

By 'second club' I mean next longest after driver basically. I'm having a bit of a dilemma over what I should be using there now. For about four years I had 5 wood and 7 wood in the bag (both Cobra F9) and this worked fine. But just lately I've had a change up for a couple of reasons:

1. On a couple of Toptracer sessions I realised there wasn't a very big gap between 5 & 7. 5 wood is maybe 5 yards longer on average. I might be striking 7 wood better than I used to which has squeezed the gap a little, I'm not sure. The lofts are set at 17 and 21.
2. Very unusual for me but I hooked a few tee shots with the 5 wood, while setting up for my typical fade, which killed a couple of rounds for me. So lost a bit of faith in it.

So last month I ordered a Callaway Paradym X 3HL on a bit of a whim. I've not had a 3 wood for years because I found them difficult to hit with my low-ish swing speed. So I went for the high launch version - at 16.5 it's only half a degree less than the 5 wood I was using, so I thought it was worth a try - got a great deal on Callaway pre-owned as well. Having used it for a couple of rounds and on the range, there are a few thoughts going round in my head now:

• It is a bit longer than my 5W when I flush it, but it's probably harder to hit also. On the plus side it only seems to fade - more than the 5W did - but that's possibly preferable to having a two-way miss. The Paradym X is meant to be slightly draw-biased but I'm not really seeing that, it only really fades/slices.
• Just got a new driver which seems like a bit of a beast - a lot of the point of your 'second club' is to be a fairway finder, but I'd wouldn't say this 3 wood is any easier to hit than my driver now, which gives me less reasons to reach for it really. Off the deck I wouldn't hit it all that often, as there would be a reasonable chance of a fat or a big slice. I'd only hit it if I thought the extra distance would get me on the green and there was relatively not much trouble to worry about.
• Is there a more forgiving 3 wood out there than the one I've bought? Instinct says there probably isn't, so the fact that I'm prone to slicing this one is just me being me.
• Perhaps I'd be better off simply upgrading to my 5 wood to a newer 5 wood and that may get me more distance anyway? And be easier to hit straight than the 3HL?

Sorry for the long ramble - has anyone else gone through a similar dilemma over what to use as their second longest club? What options did you try and what did you end up with? Is there an unsliceable 3 wood out there or shall I narrow my search back to 5 woods?

Cheers all.

I go driver-5w-9w. I've really been tempted lately to put in a 7w.....but then I start thinking about reality, and whether that would make sense. 5w much more consistent off the ground than a 3w for me......and I would think lands about the same distance with the 3w probably rolling a little further during the middle of summer. MOST of the year....there is no roll, so the 3w is just a bigger risk for no reward. The 9w is MUCH more consistent than the 5w....with the nearly the same landing distance but less roll during the summer. Common sense for me is the 7w might help every once in a while....but is unnecessary.

The VAST majority of the year you are not going to get much roll....the club that gets you some good consistency in the air is more important.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

What's a 3HL?

A 3HL is a four-wood from an OEM that doesn't like to use even fairway wood numbers.
They also call their 2-wood a 3+.
I don't know what their problem is.

 

[Orikoru]

A 3HL is a four-wood from an OEM that doesn't like to use even fairway wood numbers.
They also call their 2-wood a 3+.
I don't know what their problem is.

This is only a guess but maybe it's to save manufacturing costs - since a 4 wood head would normally be smaller than a 3 wood head, but if they make it a 3HL they can just make the heads the same size?

 

[Imurg]

A 3HL is a four-wood from an OEM that doesn't like to use even fairway wood numbers.
They also call their 2-wood a 3+.
I don't know what their problem is.

It's not them..it's us
We don't like buying 4 woods because it's not manly enough...it's admitting we are too feeble to use a 3 wooed..
Calling it a 3HL means we can still massage our egos and kid ourselves that we have a 3 wood in the bag...

 

[sunshine]

Sounds like you need a 4 iron. Rory hits his 250, so maybe 210 for you.

 

[Orikoru]

Sounds like you need a 4 iron. Rory hits his 250, so maybe 210 for you.

I thought a 4 iron was a device for punching out under trees?

 

[Whereditgo]

Driver then 17 deg 2 hybrid for me, I am much more consistent off the fairway with the hybrid than the 3 wood used to be, plus it hardly loses any distance from the first cut.

 

[jim8flog]

Referring to your carrying a 5 wood and a 7 wood. Many years ago I bought a 5 wood due to the length they grew our rough to.
Some weeks later I saw a matching 7 wood in the secondhand rack - some weeks later the 5 wood was sold.

For quite a few recent years I carried driver and TM M1 HL 3 wood. The HL only got ditched because of how short I now hit the ball and was replaced with a standard 14 3 wood I went with Ping 425 as I found it pretty consistent (3 wood off the deck is my hardest to hit shot).

 

[GG26]

I have driver, 17 (2) Hybrid, 22 (4) Hybrid then 18.5 4-iron.

In normal conditions I expect the 2 hybrid to get around 200 yards with a bit of roll out and the 4 hybrid around 175 yards. I've struggled with a 3W and for me the hybrids go far enough (driver around 220-230 yards) without the need for something in between. The reality is that I am not consistent enough with those distances and I use them as a general guide.

 

[Voyager EMH]

 

[adasko]

Learn to hit your driver properly and you want need any fairway woods. Majority par 4 are 400 yards so if you hit your driver 240/250 you will be left with 7/8 iron to the green.
With your handicap you don't have to hit par 5 in 2.
I have driver 2 iron followed by 4 iron and never felt like I'm missing any clubs at the bottom of my bag.
Your handicap is 15 and you want to find a magical club that will give you 10 yards gap around 200 + yards? .
Keep dreaming

 

[The Fader]

Callaway calls their 4-wood a 3HL because so many younger players are not accustomed to even-numbered woods.
That's also why so many OEMs call their 13 and 14° clubs Strong 3 or 3+ instead of what they are, a 2-wood.

Callaway's Heavenwood is a really fun club that works for a lot of players.
It's got 3-wood length and lie, and very nearly 3-wood head volume, but it has twenty degrees of loft.
It hits the ball ball a mile high, maybe not great for the UK, and pretty close to 4-wood distance---and it wants to hit the ball very straight.

My Heavenwood overlaps my 4-iron in loft,
but I hit the former into greens and
use the latter exclusively as a driving iron on tight driving holes.

Also, there's insignificant difference in overall length between my Heavenwood and my 4-wood on the fairway--just a different carry-roll out split--
but the 4-wood is a club longer off the tee.

View attachment 55083

Another fan of the Callaway Heavenwood here.
Shaft length and headsize of a 3 wood - but with extra loft. 20* on my Rogue ST
At our level of golf - loft is your friend!!
Maybe this is the holy grail you are looking for?
My bag currently is Driver set to 12*, 3HL at 16.5*, Heavenwood at 20* and hybrid at 24*. Feels like perfect gapping to me.

 

[Orikoru]

Learn to hit your driver properly and you want need any fairway woods. Majority par 4 are 400 yards so if you hit your driver 240/250 you will be left with 7/8 iron to the green.
With your handicap you don't have to hit par 5 in 2.
I have driver 2 iron followed by 4 iron and never felt like I'm missing any clubs at the bottom of my bag.
Your handicap is 15 and you want to find a magical club that will give you 10 yards gap around 200 + yards? .
Keep dreaming

What a bizarre post. You must play at a dull old course if every par 4 is just 400 yards straight and you hit driver, mid-iron every time.

 

[adasko]

What a bizarre post. You must play at a dull old course if every par 4 is just 400 yards straight and you hit driver, mid-iron every time.

I’m a member at cruden bay. Google it and let me know if you think is dull. Your first point is based on the top tracer results hitting range balls. You do realise they not that accurate. Your second point just proved it’s not the club that is a problem but your technique. You wrote that you set to for fade but hitting hook. Majority of your suggestions for others are lessons yet you reckon they don’t work for you. You post on few occasions your range sessions when you just trying stuff you watch on YouTube. I’m not trying to be rude but money you spend on your range sessions and tinkering would help you get better with lessons.

 

[VVega]

I have driver 2 iron followed by 4 iron and never felt like I'm missing any clubs at the bottom of my bag.

It’s a bit difficult to relate to advice that mentions 2 iron

 

[Orikoru]

I’m a member at cruden bay. Google it and let me know if you think is dull. Your first point is based on the top tracer results hitting range balls. You do realise they not that accurate. Your second point just proved it’s not the club that is a problem but your technique. You wrote that you set to for fade but hitting hook. Majority of your suggestions for others are lessons yet you reckon they don’t work for you. You post on few occasions your range sessions when you just trying stuff you watch on YouTube. I’m not trying to be rude but money you spend on your range sessions and tinkering would help you get better with lessons.

Never read so much waffle in my life. Sorry for wanting equipment that I'm happy with, I'll trade it all in for a Dunlop package set and hack my way round with that so as not to offend you again.

 

[adasko]

Never read so much waffle in my life. Sorry for wanting equipment that I'm happy with, I'll trade it all in for a Dunlop package set and hack my way round with that so as not to offend you again.

When you joined forum you was saying your Dunlop club was fantastic and anyone who’s paying 500 pounds for a driver is an idiot

 

[Orikoru]

When you joined forum you was saying your Dunlop club was fantastic and anyone who’s paying 500 pounds for a driver is an idiot

Is that true or did you just completely make that up? I feel like you have me confused with someone else.

 

[adasko]

Is that true or did you just completely make that up? I feel like you have me confused with someone else.

go back on your early posts, golf on budget and no lessons was/is you mantra.