Do i need a 3 wood?

Hi guys,

i am new to golf. Do i need a 3 wood. Please advice. Is there anything that can replace a 3 wood?

if you are just starting to learn.. your coach will start you off with your irons first.
get your 3 wood only when you are ready loh..

there are also some people who do not use 3 woods.. they use hybrids instead. Really up to your personal preference.

Hi Alex,

Just to share with you.

When I first started, I didn't get any woods. I started with a hybrid as it's much easier to handle.

Iron First ... IS Ur Question Is On The Course I will Say Yes ... Because Its More Accurate than Drive Less Chance to go Trouble Left Or Right ... But There Is Some Hybrid Like Adams Who Make 14Degree Loft Which Are Easier To Launch But I Still Prefer the Three Wood ... Go SSN To try some titleist hybrid is pretty gd ...

currently i have an
iron set 4-PW
Driver 10.5
putter

i am hitting my 7 iron 130yard with range ball.
I am thinking of getting a
3 wood 15 deg
19 deg hybrid
22 deg hybrid
54 deg wedges
60 deg wedges


i am just confused should i get wood? hybrid? as for wedges should i get 54 or 56? 58 or 60? and what type of bounce should i get? medium?

if u take 60.08 beter take 56.14 .... if u take 58.08 , 54.14
I will Advice u to take hybrid 17 or 19 degree because more forgiving

3 wood will be longer but harder to handle ... i never use 3 wood until i was 10 handicapt just 5 wood which is equivalent to 19 degree hybrid

that my advise u could try the tm or ping ... i use ping I15 but biase fade

The best is to try the wood n hybrid with the loft that u are interested. Join us at SSN to try some of GR member's set.

Best to look at the distance gap between each club before deciding. To do so, what I do is hit 10 balls for each club, take out the best 2 and worst 2 shots. Average out the remaining 6 shots. You will get the distance for each club in your bag.

The distance gap between your driver and 4i can then be determined. I would suggest getting a hybrid instead of a 3wd as it is much easier to hit. Remember on the course, it is about being able to pull off the shot consistently, not a flash in the pan effort. I've ditched the 4i and carry a 3 hybrid for covering duties. If I needed to do a 4i distance, I grip down a bit. The 3 hybrid can also be used off the tee. In fact, other than my irons (6-P), I carry 1 driver and 3 hybrids (1, 3, 5).

Re your wedges, look at your distance gap again. 54 & 60 or whatever combinations to me are just guides to start off. Again look at what distance each wedge can give you before deciding. If you need to know, I carry a 52 & 58 because it fits my game better. The P in the sets nowadays can be quite strong in loft and this produces a big gap between the P & S.

You will have to try the wedges, can borrow from friends or just ask around at the range from fellow golfers to try. We're all very friendly.

Since you just started, I would advise not to get the 60 deg as it requires more skill to master and can be very frustrating when the ball only hops and drops 3 ft in front. Get the S first if you do not have one yet. Try to use the P & S to do the pitch, chip and half swings. It will be more rewarding and less confusing practicing with 2 clubs instead of another L.

Quest wrote:

Best to look at the distance gap between each club before deciding. To do so, what I do is hit 10 balls for each club, take out the best 2 and worst 2 shots. Average out the remaining 6 shots. You will get the distance for each club in your bag.

The distance gap between your driver and 4i can then be determined. I would suggest getting a hybrid instead of a 3wd as it is much easier to hit. Remember on the course, it is about being able to pull off the shot consistently, not a flash in the pan effort. I've ditched the 4i and carry a 3 hybrid for covering duties. If I needed to do a 4i distance, I grip down a bit. The 3 hybrid can also be used off the tee. In fact, other than my irons (6-P), I carry 1 driver and 3 hybrids (1, 3, 5).

Re your wedges, look at your distance gap again. 54 & 60 or whatever combinations to me are just guides to start off. Again look at what distance each wedge can give you before deciding. If you need to know, I carry a 52 & 58 because it fits my game better. The P in the sets nowadays can be quite strong in loft and this produces a big gap between the P & S.

You will have to try the wedges, can borrow from friends or just ask around at the range from fellow golfers to try. We're all very friendly.

Since you just started, I would advice not to get the 60 deg as it requires more skill to muster and can be very frustrating when the ball only hops and drops 3 ft in front. Get the S first if you do not have one yet. Try to use the P & S to do the pitch, chip and half swings. It will be more rewarding and less confusing practicing with 2 clubs instead of another L.

very sound advise....... i would advise against getting the 3w for the time being but get either the 5w/7w or the 19/22* hybrid....there will still be gap between from the driver but those clubs i mentioned would be better to hit off than the 3w, once u attain some form of consistency, then u shop around for 3w.... accuracy is better than distance anytime


as for the wedges, find out the loft of the Pw (standard is 47/48*), u can use to get 52/54* as your Aw or 56/58/60* as your sand....depending on your preference

mine is 52/56/60..... i use 52/56 mainly for chipping, seldom used 60 (white elephant in my bag now)

I carry both a 3 wood and a 3 hybrid.
I would say that it's definitely easier to hit a hybrid off fairways, and the risk reward usually favors hitting the hybrid cos the end result of trying to bomb a 3 wood is often disastrous (at least for me haha)

However, the same its also true between a driver and 3 wood. i.e., many situations where a 3 wood off the tee is a better option than driver, especially shorter but very tight par 4s. Remember one time Phil Mickerson ditched his driver and carried two 3 woods for some tournament?

I would say eventually you'd still need a driver, a wood and some hybrids in the bag... the question is just how many hybrids. Once saw a bag with 5 hybrids in it!
Donno if the guys has any irons left other than his wedges

slinger wrote:

mine is 52/56/60..... i use 52/56 mainly for chipping, seldom used 60 (white elephant in my bag now)

Same same for me. haha

3 wood off the deck or off the tee?

i started 1 year ago, straight with the driver......still cannot hit the fairway consistently. Maybe if i had started with a 3 wood off the tee.....may hit more fairway and also may help with hitting off the deck.

golf digest did mention about using a 4 wood over 3 wood nowadays, probably due to launch monitors and how much lower spin can be achieve with shaft and ball technology nowadays. i am contemplating switching my 3w to a 4w as well but my ebay ventures have not been too successful lately. so i have been able to save money

I use both 3 wood and 4 wood. They are quite close in distance but 4 wood is much easy to launch and higher chance of hitting it straight and higher
When come to control and accuracy, hydrid is still the club to go to. And Hydrid can play off more lie than a fairway wood.

wah jimmy...u just make my choices even more difficult....Ping G15 17* hybrid or Adams 15* super hybrid......die la....

All sound advice Alex. If it all sound confusing, it's because it is. There are many ways to look at whether to get a 3 wood or not.

3 wood advantages
- off the tee, more consistent and easier to launch than driver
- most distance off the deck, especially for par 5s, which may be even more difficult to reach in 3 strokes without a 3 wood for the 2nd shot

3 wood disadvantages
- the longest club to be used off the fairway, making it difficult to launch with consistency and with a tight dispersion.

Can't think of anything else cos my brain is pretty fried.

But I've always had a 3 wood since I started, took me years to learn how to finally launch it and hit it straight, but once you get it, it's a devastating tool, and a must have for the shorter hitter like me.

In the end, decide how and where you want to use a 3 wood, off the tee first, or off the fairway. Then practice, practice, practice with it.

3 wood for glory, 3+ wood for extra glory, driver of the deck if u are AK (preferably with a shallow face driver)

eiji wrote:

wah jimmy...u just make my choices even more difficult....Ping G15 17* hybrid or Adams 15* super hybrid......die la....

If you play off regular shaft, I can pass you a Callaway X 4 wood for you to try before you go on to Ebay to buy.

Adams Super Hybrid will not be cheap...try the Adams 9032ti, its a FWhybrid, best of both worlds...can control to hit like hybrid (slightly more difficult) but can go for it if you feel adventurous. i am using the older Speedline FWhybrid. Manage to hit a few bombs in between the usual bad shots (but previously never manage to hit the 3 wood at all). Once you hit a few bombs that lands close to the green on those par 5s, u will be hooked (like hook on ur driver).

the bad thing about 3 wood...u need to practice that 40m shots, which u seldom hit before

In the WRX forum, many are as crazy about their 3 wood as with their driver.

thanks for the offer JC, i might take it up, let me try and see if i can hit my 5wood consistently, my 3 wood is like 5/10 at the range, on the course i only use it when it sits on flully lie in the rough.

adams super hybrid just launch and its retailing at 199.95 usd excluding shipping, with shipping works out to be about 320sgd or so. wait a few more weeks and once it makes it way to ebay, the used clubs should be around 150usd excluding shipping is what i would think.

what are your intentions for a 3 wood?
to use it on the tee box or fairway?

if driver is giving you problem then replace it with a 3 wood/ 5 wood cos the higher loft will impart more back spin = less side spin (less slice and hooks).

if off the fairway then probably a hybrid COULD be better as it is shorter (more controllable).

it is better to try both FW Woods and Hybrids before you commit to a purchase.
try as many different brands, different lofts, different shafts as possible.

if you have a coach, you should seek his advice as he is better qualified and he knows your swing.

JMHO

i am a fan of 3 wood. in fact, distance of my 3 wood is slightly shorter than my driver whcih means i m not good in driver.

However, i use 3 wood only off tee. on fairway, i use 5 wood which is easier to launch n more forgiving. of course i only use wood on fairway when ball is sitting nicely n good lie n where hole is not too many hazards.

it's advisable to use 3 wood off tee for low index holes with OB, narrow fairways n short par 4 where i want my approach shot to be in range my favourite distance btw 100-120m.

Sometime it may be wise to use a high loft driver than a 3 wood to tee off.
3 wood head is small and it's not forgiving at all. I have see a few beginner taking a 3wood to tee off but the 3 wood doesn't help much, the effective area is too small for some beginner to handle (but it's a good tool to practice)
I think a larger 460cc 13* or higher loft driver will be better in this case if we are talking about teeing off.

Hi Alex,

Based on what I've personally noticed for beginners starting out on 18holes would be that a 3 wood (4wd may be gd but not commonly seen) off the tee coupled with either a 3/4 hybrid off the deck (for the longer shots) provides more ease to their game.

This is because drivers have a higher margin for error (esp. slice due to lower loft) and might prevent a starter from enjoying his/her game (OB, lost ball, water etc.. demoralizing). However, a 3 wd isn't easy for someone new to hit/launch without a tee - this then brings in the usefulness of a hybrid that provides distance (even if you top), launch and ease of handling (shaft not too long).

As for wedge, like all the other sound advice, it depends on what are your distance gaps based on your PW. Getting a gd SW would be most useful at the beginner level (high bounce, 54~58* loft) as it will sure come in handy. As for others like AW and LW, there may not be that much value add to your game at this pt (assuming you are not very familiar with the game yet) and this buying decision can wait till you are ready. This also allows you to later reconsider if the SW's loft is suitable for your game - e.g. you use a 58* SW first but 1 yr later, when your swing/technique has stabilized, you realize you need a 52* Aw which may lead to a need for a 56* SW and 60* SW - you'll only have to change the SW instead of additional wedges (e.g. you bought a 54* to complement the 58* - and have to eventually change that TOO).

Just my humble opinion. Hope it helps (instead of creating more confusion).. heh

Cheers and hope you enjoy the game!