Often a hole will require you to hit a tee shot that doesn’t need to travel as far as your driver due to a dogleg or a hazard that crosses the fairway. In these instances, you can drop down to one of your fairway woods such as a three, five, or even a seven wood. These clubs will have a smaller head, shorter shaft and more loft than your driver and won’t fly as far as a result.  

They are also a solid choice when a particular tee shot is fraught with danger, and you need an accurate shot to get the ball in play without sacrificing too much distance. Fairway woods are also used for your long second shots to par 4’s or par 5’s. Today’s fairway woods are packed with technology and are usually relatively shallow faced, which allows you to get the ball airborne easily from even the tightest of lies. When using a fairway wood from the tee, ensure you use a much lower tee than you would with a driver as teeing up the ball too high will usually result in a skied shot. 

Lofts of fairway woods start at around thirteen degrees (3+ wood) and go all the way up to twenty-one degrees (7 wood). Often the clubhead will be adjustable, allowing you to alter the loft up or down using a torque wrench, and change the curve and trajectory of your shot.  As with everything in golf, advances in technology have enabled manufacturers to produce different styles of fairway woods to suit different ability levels and so it is important that you choose the correct one for own level of play. Much like with drivers, fairway woods are offered with differing centre of gravities which can dramatically affect the way the club performs and its ease of use. As a general rule, the larger the head of a fairway wood the easier it will be to use. The centre of gravity will be further back in the head creating a club that is easier to launch, sending the ball on a higher trajectory with a little more backspin. Most of the leading manufacturers now produce three different heads in each range of fairway woods they release, with each one aimed at a different style of golfer. There is one that is designed to suit the broadest cross section of abilites - the standard head if you will. These fairway woods will be fairly neutral in their design.

Standard Fairway Woods

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Some of the fairway woods are constructed to fight against the dreaded slice and will have more weighting placed towards the heel of the club. This works by slowing that part of the club down and speeding the toe of the club up, squaring the face earlier helping to prevent those unwanted shots that start offline and curve further offline - ending up in a place where only bears and snakes live. A key point to remember on this style of clubs is that, whilst they are extremely effective and can dramatically reduce slice spin, the weight is fixed and cannot be altered should your swing improve.

Draw Bias/Anti-Slice Golf Fairway Woods

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The smaller headed fairway woods are, as you might expect, aimed at the better golfers. They will usually have a centre of gravity that is low and forward in the head, creating a lower launching, lower spinning shot that will fly on a more penetrating trajectory. They will also be slightly more punishing to shots that are struck off centre. I would say though, that if you are a mid-handicapper that wants to lower your ball flight, down be put off by the smaller head, they certainly aren’t as demanding to hit as something like a bladed iron.

Smaller Headed/Low Launch + Low Spin Fairway Woods

When I was starting out in golf, the fairway wood shot from the fairway was by far the hardest shot in golf. Wooden heads (yes, I am that old) were not your friend when it came to trying to stripe a 3-wood from a slightly bare lie. Today’s modern fairway woods are an absolute dream to use and nothing to be afraid of. Their wide soles and shallow faces make them a viable option even for golfers with a higher handicap.