Best Fairway Woods for High Handicappers, Mid handicappers & Low Handicappers?

Best Fairway Woods for High Handicappers and Beginners

Callaway offers FREE fitting from a Certified Master Fitter...as well as online options to custom fit your clubs.

Best Fairway Woods for Mid Handicappers

Best Fairway Woods for Low Handicappers

Who are these for...

• Players that like a more compact head, like to work the ball and fine tune launch angle and spin-rate.
• Good ball strikers in the mid-handicap range that are more comfortable with a smaller fairway wood club head.

The Sub Zero is a killer club for the better ball striker. You will love the more compact look and superior performance.

It's going to have a more penetrating ball flight by design...so, you will need to be able to elevate your shots from the fairway a little more on your own. 

The Sub Zero has all the Callaway Mavrik tech tucked in a player profile. It's monster long and workable

I can strongly recommend the Mavrik Sub Zero if... you have the game to handle it. You will not be disappointed.

If you're interested, I suggest you pick it up direct from Callaway or Fairway Golf USA. Amazon would be my last choice, but I'll include that option below too. 

• The price for brand new clubs is the same everywhere
• At Callaway you have WAY MORE customization options & the ability to set up a 30-minute consultation with a certified professional fitter.

Callaway offers FREE fitting from a Certified Master Fitter...as well as online options to custom fit your clubs.

Who are these for...

• Players or low handicappers that like a more compact clubhead, working the ball, and don't need as much help getting the ball airborne

Thanks to its titanium face, the SIM is Taylormade's hottest fairway wood, and...like all other fairway woods from Taylormade, it has

1. V-shaped sole for better turf interaction
2. Twist Face for more forgiveness
3. Low CG for easier launch
4. Speed Pocket for...Speed

Plus a 2 degree Sleeve.

The SIM is Taylormade's best "player" fairway wood and is used by most of their tour players. 

I'm only a 10.8 and I prefer more compact clubheads. So, none of this is set in stone.

As usual, I suggest going through the manufacturer when buying the latest models..

1. New clubs are the same price everywhere
2. You can communicate with Taylormade experts before purchase
3. You can get the EXACT club you want with WAY MORE customization options

Best Bargain Fairway Woods 

Best for...

• Mid to low handicappers looking for great performance and want to save a couple bucks

The 2019 M6 is an all around great performing fairway wood you would be happy to have in your bat.

It packs tons of distance, forgiveness, and playability in a great looking chassis. 

Your best options for buying the M6 fairway woods online will be from Taylormade or  Amazon.  

Best for...

• Mid to low handicappers looking a little more forgiveness without having to give up elite distance and playability

The 2019 M2 is designed for greater playability from different lies and for best-in-class sound and feel. The new M2 is also an absolute mauler.

This one will definitely be around new for much longer. It's priced to move and available from Taylormade or Fairway Golf USA.  

Best for...

• Mid to low handicappers looking a little more forgiveness without having to give up elite distance and playability

The Rouge is the first of Callaway's exceptionally long fairway woods featuring 

• Jailbreak technology,
• Face Cup  technology, and a
• Triaxial carbon crown 
• Ultra-low CG

All to make the Rogue extremely easy to launch from the fairway with low spin for max distance and accuracy.

This one will definitely be around new for much longer. It's priced to move and available New or Used from Global Golf.

How To Choose The Best Fairway Woods for Your Golf Game 

These are the key factors to consider when picking the best fairway woods for your game

• Price
• Shaft flex
• Lofts
• Manufacturer

Pricing your Fairway Woods

Buying the latest model...

Pricing is a bit less of a factor when buying this year's model. The top brand manufacturers are basically in line with their pricing these days, with a couple notable exceptions.

Ping prices their G410 series at $259
Cobra prices their latest models at $279

Buying New but Not the latest model...

Manufacturers are producing new models so often these days that they are bound to have their last models, or even 1 or 2 iterations before those, still available new.

The only problem comes with inconsistent availability and a lack of customization options from the manufacturer. 

Buying Used...

This could be anything from returns to floor models, to trade-ins. The pricing will vary with the wear and tear on the club. 

Honestly, I've never spent $200 or $250 or $300 for a fairway wood. I've got fairway woods I really like (Taylormade R9) and woods were much cheaper when I got those.

The upside, as I said earlier in this article, is that you can keep fairway woods a long time once you find ones you like. 

Best Fairway Woods: How to Choose the Best Shaft

You will have two major choices when choosing your shafts:

1. Shaft material
2. Shaft flex

Shaft material is a bit of a false choice...

You are going to choose graphite because that is all that is offered these days. I used to have fairway woods and drivers with metal shafts. They are now in my attic.

So, we are left with shaft flex...

Shaft flex options generally include:

1. Senior- self-explanatory who these are for
2. Women's- see above
3. Regular- the preferred choice of beginners and high handicappers. Even low handicap seniors will use regular flex shafts
4. Stiff- approach 100 mph driver swing speed and this will be your likely choice. 
5. X-stiff- approaching 110 mph with your driver swing and X-stiff should likely be your choice.

Basically, the faster you swing the stiffer shaft you will need. Generally speaking, the better the player the faster the swing.

How to Choose the Correct Loft for your Fairway Woods

High handicappers and Beginners

The basic fairway wood set is a 3 wood and 5 wood. You will want to stick to 15*-16* for your 3 wood and around 18*-19* for your 5 wood.

Higher loft will get you a couple things. 

• More forgiveness
• Easier to get the ball in the air, especially from the fairway

You will have to put in work at the range and on the course to learn how to hit your fairway woods of the deck. No way around it.

As of this writing, my handicap is 10.8, and lofts on my fairway woods have been consistent for years. They are:

3 wood- 15*
5 wood- 19* 

Lower handicaps will occasionally use lower lofts to maximize ball flight and distance. They can do this because they don't have issues hitting the ball high from the fairway. 

Choosing a Golf Club Manufacturer

All top manufacturers make great clubs these days...Callaway, Taylormade, Ping, Titleist, Cobra, etc.

It's going to come down to aesthetics, price, and testing.

You have to like what you see when looking down at your club sitting behind the ball. This gives you initial confidence.

Then you have to hit balls with it to know if it will perform for you. This is the acid test. How does it perform in your hands?

Like I said above, the latest models will cost about the same with the exception of Ping and Cobra. Beyond buying the latest model, you are just going to have to dig around a bit. 

Should I get Fitted?

I've got a simple philosophy for this

1. Not mandatory and most golfers don't get fit
2. Has the potential to help you play a lot better. (Except if you are a beginner)

**Beginner: maybe get a static fitting to get the right grip size and maybe shaft length. NOT a full-blown fitting. You don't even have a swing to fit yet. 

Everyone else:

It's a matter of priorities.

Do you just want to get on the course, drink a few beers, and forget about the world for a minute? Don't get fitted

Are you competitive and striving to play better? Get fitted. It doesn't cost that much...about $100 or so