Callaway X-Hot 3 Deep Fairway Wood Review Thread

Yeah, my driver SS is 105mph, +/- a few.

Thanks.

got a chance to hit this tonight for the first time hit the X Flex in 13* first swing on the monitor was 321 yards off the deck i started laughing so hard. after that i was consistently hitting it 280-290 yards so i dunno what i did on the first one maybe i got tired from hitting a bucket before i went to golf galaxy and had one more really great swing in me but wow this thing is LONG. for me it would really be more of a driver than anything else. i really don't see how it could fit in my bag with that distance. i would consider doing DEEP if they made a 4 wood or something close to 17* but i dont' need a 285 yard club very often so it seems kinda pointless for me personally in my bag. it did feel good and i did like the deeper face a little bit and like i said i was crushing it off the deck just as good if not more than off the tee. i do wonder if i could hit the Deep out of the rough since the face is deeper i think i could get under the ball a little better if its sitting a little deeper it would be nice to have that versatility but i'm not sure if that would work and like i said i would still need a higher lofted Deep. i asked Harry on Twitter and he said anything possible so maybe down the road they will come out with some other lofts but right now the 13 and 14.5* it was a nice 3 wood and i could def see it being a driver replacement for some also was seeing very consistent ball flights and fade with all my shots. i'd def give this a few swings if you think it might be something that you think could fit in your bag.

Hit the 14.5° at the Cally Fitting Center on the Trackman, personally, I wasn't a big fan. I only hit it off the deck, but I preferred the regular XHP 3 wood much more. I have never had a problem hitting a FW off the deck, and didn't find this one too difficult at all, but there was just something that felt "off" to me, and my numbers proved it wasn't a good match for me.

I think this could be a heck of a club off the tee for those who struggle with a driver. It's def long, and I think it could really be a great fit for some.

I hit this at Dick's today with Mercer85(he works there). I hit the 13* with the 6.0 shaft and was hitting it 250-260 on the monitor off the mat. Which I thought was pretty impressive. I thought the shaft felt a bit whippy on normal swing but I was pretty happy with the results on easy swings.

The store manager came over while we were chatting and Mercer told him it just came in, he put it on the frequency machine. The manager asked us what we thought it frequencied out at and I guessed on flex soft and sure enough the 6.0 shaft came in at 5.0. Now I am completely confused on why the shaft would come in at a full flex soft. If I am correct the 6.0 is stiff an the 5.0 is reg with the 5.5 in between at R+. Are the shafts in these made for shafts and would that have something to do with them being soft?

golfinFF said:

I hit this at Dick's today with Mercer85(he works there). I hit the 13* with the 6.0 shaft and was hitting it 250-260 on the monitor off the mat. Which I thought was pretty impressive. I thought the shaft felt a bit whippy on normal swing but I was pretty happy with the results on easy swings.

The store manager came over while we were chatting and Mercer told him it just came in, he put it on the frequency machine. The manager asked us what we thought it frequencied out at and I guessed on flex soft and sure enough the 6.0 shaft came in at 5.0. Now I am completely confused on why the shaft would come in at a full flex soft. If I am correct the 6.0 is stiff an the 5.0 is reg with the 5.5 in between at R+. Are the shafts in these made for shafts and would that have something to do with them being soft?

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Glad you had good-ish results...

Project X graphite wood shafts are different than their iron steel counterparts. 5.5 is R, 6.0 is S (soft-stiff), 6.5 is S+ and 7.0 is X (they were this way in the Black series as well). I don't have the exact frequencies for them but that is how they break down. The 3-Deep has the genuine aftermarket, not the made-for.

This is an odd club for a specific market segment, IMO. I know it doesn't really fill any particular gap for me...

Fourwiggle said:

Glad you had good-ish results...

Project X graphite wood shafts are different than their iron steel counterparts. 5.5 is R, 6.0 is S (soft-stiff), 6.5 is S+ and 7.0 is X (they were this way in the Black series as well). I don't have the exact frequencies for them but that is how they break down. The 3-Deep has the genuine aftermarket, not the made-for.

This is an odd club for a specific market segment, IMO. I know it doesn't really fill any particular gap for me...

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I didn't realize that on the woods shafts.

I think with the right shaft it could replace my driver and be almost as long.

Like any club, with the proper setup it will perform for the one that is swing it. Some will get nothing and other will geta great deal. I can't wait to it this beast, I am hoping EW has a demo I can take out this afternoon

Callaway X-Hot 3 Deep Fairway Wood Preview

Callaway X-Hot 3 Deep Fairway Wood Preview

Your right Tadashi with the right shaft this club will be for sum.

I'd really like to see what I could do with the right shaft in it for me since I was getting 250-260 with a reg flex and a easy swing.

It could be with in a few yards of my driver, which would be crazy.

Still interests in this club, but I don't think it would be a 3w replacement. More like a driver replacement from what I am seeing. I would still like to give this a go at some point and see what kind of results I get from it.

I tried to hit this Friday after work at GolfSmith but even though four guys told me they had the club to demo nobody could find it, so it was a no go.

tequila4kapp said:

I tried to hit this Friday after work at GolfSmith but even though four guys told me they had the club to demo nobody could find it, so it was a no go.

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I was able to hit this at a demo day yesterday in 13* and it is a very good club from the tee but not for me from the deck. The tee box is what I was looking at it for so that worked out well.

majBC said:

I was able to hit this at a demo day yesterday in 13* and it is a very good club from the tee but not for me from the deck. The tee box is what I was looking at it for so that worked out well.

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How does it compare to your current strong 3w?

tequila4kapp said:

How does it compare to your current strong 3w?

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It compares very well. I didn't have my Tour Edge Exotics 3++ wood with me to compare but the X-hot deep is a very good club and the ball flight and roll out were very good. I would say the 3++ wood is longer but it would be close, on the plus side for the callaway X-hot is it has a larger club head than the Tour Edge Exotics 3++ wood. They both would be good driver replacement or driver back-up if that is what you want to use them for. I don't have the swing speed to use either off the fairway except for a low punch shot that rolls out very well. Two other three woods which impressed me was the Cobra AMP cell and the Callaway Razr fit. I only hit the regular loft in these two but was impressed by the distance and ball flight plus the roll out as well. I think the Callaway rep said the Razr fit was a lower spinning club head which probably led to the roll out. I would have to say the Cobra AMP cell 3-wood did almost the same with a little higher ball flight, maybe just a little less roll out. All three of those models would easily fill the bill as a back-up driver and I think the Cobra AMP cell and the Razr fit would also fill the bill from the fairway better than the x-hot deep or my TE Exotics XCG-5 3++ wood.

One other note on the x-hot deep 3-wood is I usually hit a regular flex shaft, but I had better results with a stiff shaft in it. The Razr fit seems to have a better shaft IMO.

I think I finally found a 3 wood to replace my v-steel, gonna go demo it again sometime this week, tried it last week and it was great

I just picked up a 14.5* 3Deep in 6.0. This is my new driver.

The more I read about this club, the more I'm interested in trying it....

JB, you guys wouldn't happen to be doing forum testing for this club? Interest would be through the roof it seems, myself included.

I just got my 14.5* 3Deep in last night. There was a request in another thread for a formal review so I will oblige and do just that. I've got one range session with it under my belt and I'm playing with it in a scramble tomorrow. This is my driver for now so I will be hitting it a lot. Initial impressions are VERY promising. I will follow up Sunday with a review including pictures!

h0ss66 said:

I just got my 14.5* 3Deep in last night. There was a request in another thread for a formal review so I will oblige and do just that. I've got one range session with it under my belt and I'm playing with it in a scramble tomorrow. This is my driver for now so I will be hitting it a lot. Initial impressions are VERY promising. I will follow up Sunday with a review including pictures!

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Looking forward to it.

3 Deep 14.5* Review

3 Deep 14.5* Review

Here's my formal review after a few range sessions and a scramble on Saturday:

Club: Callaway X Hot 3 Deep 14.5* w/ Project X Velocity 6.0 (real deal shaft) - Length: 43.5" Lie: 55" Face angle: Open Swing weight: D3

Comparison club: Cleveland Launcher FL 13*, Miyazaki C.Kua 43 stiff at 43.5". Average distance off the tee: 265, off the deck 250.

Looks: This club looks gorgeous. The matte gray crown is something very unique, it isn't a completely "flat" paint job, it has a bit of shine to it, but overall it gives the club a real classy and compact look. The sole of the club looks very clean and interesting. My wife saw it and said "wow! that club looks so cool." She normally never comments on what's in my bag, so that was a shocker coming from her. The club head is a compact pear shape that leads into that deep club face. This thing IS deep fellas.

My mainstay 3 wood is a Cleveland Launcher FL 13* and for those of you that know this particular club, it also has a somewhat deeper face than you normally see. The 3 Deep is deeper, significantly so. Mini driver look all the way here on the 3 Deep and its a look I immediately took to. Also, the face is PVD black that contrasts nicely with the matte gray crown, making the face and top line a bit more prominent which I feel improves alignment.

The Project X Velocity shaft comes in a nice pearlized white/silver that matches the head well. The headcover is functional and stylish, one of the nicest I've seen in a while. Callaway has does a great job with the looks of this (and many of its newer) clubs.

Feel: Swinging this club is interesting. It feels meaty and hefty, but not overly so. The shaft has a nice kick to it, common of most of the project X shafts I've hit. The shaft can feel a little loose when you waggle it, but the tip is relatively stiff in my opinion, which is again a common characteristic of project X graphite shafts. My driver SS is 108mph, which is borderline X-flex in a lot of club, but I tend to flex down in my 3 woods and I'm glad I did here. The 6.0 is a good flex for me and, as you will see below, it was a difficult shaft to hook.

The clubface itself feels FREAKING HOT when you catch it near the sweet spot. You can feel the face flex and then the ball just rockets off, its a satisfying feeling to say the least. Most of my misses were low on the face, leading to a duller feeling but nothing overly harsh. Again, near sweetspot to "on the nuts" hits feels great and unique

Sound: The sound of this club when you flush it is a crack, not a thud. It hard to describe but it is a satisfying sound. Gives it a "players" feel I think, its not a loud bang or a tinny sound for sure. It seems they really tuned the sound on this bad boy pretty well. I enjoyed it.

Performance: I will start off by saying that this club is freakishly long. I always felt that my Cleveland Launcher FL was a real long club too, but this club is beast mode, and then some. I will get into more detail, but with this thing, you really don't need a driver.

• Off the Tee: At first I was struggling to find the appropriate tee height for this club. I normally prefer a low tee height, but that might not work as well for everyone with the 3Deep. My first five or so shots were low off the face, generating stingers having acceptable distance for a mishit of about 240 yards. Once I adjusted the tee height up just slightly, and moved the ball position out a little bit further, I was able to dial things in. At the range, good lord this thing was long. I was nailing the back net at my range which is about 280 out, pretty consistently. I RARELY hit the net with my driver (Ping G20). Trajectory off the tee is what I would say is a "launching" trajectory, starts out low and climbs and climb and climbs. I'd say realistically I was average 275 off the tee at the range, which a few out at 280, actually hitting the net on the fly. I was astonished frankly, especially compared to my driver. My Cleveland, by comparison, gives me excellent distance of about 265 at this range, but I've never hit the net with it, never. Its a fairway finder for sure and, with its shorter shaft length and freakish distance, provides an excellent driver alternative.
• Off the Deck: The club is not particularly well suited for hitting of the deck. However, if given a perfectly flat lie of the fairway, it can be hit well and with some amazing results. Case in point, during my scramble on Saturday, none of us hit a particularly good tee shot on a long par 5 (518 yards). We ended up selecting the one with the best lie, not my drive, but one that was out there about 230 leaving about 285 to the middle pin position. My other three partners hit various iterations of terrible shots with hybrids and fairway woods. I was last up and needed to be aggressive, we were a bit behind in the tourney so I said what the hell. Perfect lie, flat and tight fairway. I gave her a rip with the 3Deep, hit her flush and nutted it 275 yards straight as an arrow to the collar of the green between two bunkers. I was stunned and so was my whole group. The flight was again high and boring, and the feel was solid and satisfying off the deck. I can't say that I would pull this club in all situations off the deck because the taller face isn't the most forgiving in those situations. However, it can be done with sick results.

Notes:

• The club face is slight open and the shaft has a pretty stout tip. This results in making the club hard to hook or pull, at least for me. My miss hits and bad swings had a tendency to fade or slice with the 3Deep which is frankly unusual for me as I am a hooker generally and my Cleveland hooks quite easily. In fairness, the Cleveland has a much softer shaft with a much softer tip.
• The sweet spot of the 3Deep is higher up on the face than typical. This is excellent off the tee and for certain types of players. It can, however, make this club hard to hit off the deck for many. However, it seems that I actually do hit higher up on the face, especially off the deck, so this club works well for me.
• I would grade the forgiveness of this club has good, but not great. It is not as forgiving as my Cleveland as it seemed that shots low of the face really lost a lot of trajectory - keep in mind that the club is designed this way, however, again with the sweet spot being high off the face.
• The 3Deep launches much lower than most 3 woods, even with the 14.5* version. I expect the 13* version to only work for the strongest of players or those that tend to hit a really really high ball.
• The trajectory on well hit shots is utterly amazing, high, rising, and LONG. It will work well in windy conditions because of the lower launch. It will climb high on the best hit shots though.
• I didn't like the stock Callaway grip very much. It seemed slick and uncomfortable, but not a big deal as I change out grips almost immediately on all my clubs.
• There is a significant adjustment period required to get this club dialed in and I am obviously still in the middle of that period. I'll need about a month before I feel totally comfortable. I tended to lose shots to the right on bad swings so that will also be part of the adjustment for me (used to hooking my Cleveland).

Conclusion:

Pros: Driver like distance with ease, shocking performance off the deck, amazing feel off the club face, gorgeous looks.
Cons: Higher sweet spot won't be for everyone, fade bias won't be for everyone, not likely to work well out of dicey lies.

This club is a game changer, FOR ME. I can safely use this as a driver and convert my driver to a true specialty club. The 3Deep is a fairway finding machine and gives me a lot of confidence. I cannot say if this club will be for everyone. I feel that you must have adequate swing speed to get the best out of the lower launch characteristics and the higher sweet spot might not provide enough forgiveness for certain types of players.

Great review h0ss. I keep going back and forth with wanting one of these. Part of me thinks I need it and the other part thinks it wouldn't get used very often since I like the driver I'm playing. High sweet spot and slightly open are both things I could get down with.

Wow, thank you for that h0ss. Nice write up dude!

I can't wait to hit this one at THP Demo Day in just a few weeks!

Immense write up h0ss! Will definitely be putting in some swings with this at the Outing.

I got a few swings with a 13° 3Deep with 6.0 shaft at the PGASS on Friday and I can say it is a beast. 275 carry and 290 total on the monitor. I know the monitors aren't the most trustworthy of gauges but I was hitting a Razr Fit Extreme 9.5° with the Trinity X shaft and the 3Deep was just about equal to it on carry and distance. Too bad I don't really need a driver replacement.