Snickerdog

Team THP 2019 Grandaddy Alumni
Albatross 2024 Club
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So seeing some different discussion about 3W+ so though I would ask the question.

How many of you have dropped the driver and use a 3W+ or 3W in place of your driver off the tee?
What is your reasoning for this? Consistency? Confidence in making a good tee shot?
 
I haven't done it yet, but with Taylormade releasing the mini driver and hopefully others to follow, I'll give it a solid look. I've never been good off the tee with the driver, 3w though I can play all day with full confidence. Off the tee or the deck.
 
I play my 3 wood in a strong setting (15* set to 13.5*) and use it off the tee on most holes, especially holes that are tight/have trouble, are short par 4's, or when I'm playing extra poorly. My worse mis-hit with the 3 wood is nowhere near as bad as my worst with a driver. So the driver is typically used for wide open holes, forced carries at odd distances, etc. I do typically hit it better than my driver as for as consistency/accuracy is concerned.
 
I have an older Titleist driver (10.5 deg) from yester-year sitting in my closet, still in great shape. If I remember right, it's 325 CC (compared to the TM Mini Driver at 275 CC). I always contemplated cutting down that old Titleist driver by a few inches along the same theory as a this idea. Always thought I was crazy and it was a dumb idea, but might give it a try now. If it's not worth anything, then no harm done. But I always felt like I had far better control with that driver and it's smaller club head than any driver I've ever had.
 
I haven’t and never would, but I do actually play a 3+ sometimes at 13.5. It doesn’t and wouldn’t replace my driver though.
 
I’m starting to use my 3+ more instead of my driver on non dog leg holes less than 430 yards. With how easily I’m adjusting to my irons I no longer fear having 175-165 into a green for an approach shot when the trade off is knowing I’m going to be playing from the short grass.
 
I guess my 3 wood is more of a 3+ at 13°. I use it off the tee probably the same amount as I use driver during a round, but if the driver isn't behaving I have no problem keeping it in the bag and pulling the 3 wood on every hole. I'm straight(er) with the 3 wood, and I'm a lot better at controlling high/low trajectory with it compared to the driver. If I miss, it goes left. It doesn't (often) miss right of my target line. My course also has a lot of big elevation changes, so with how the landing areas work out on some holes there isn't hardly a distance difference at all between the 3+ and driver, so why not hit the club that is more dependable?
 
So seeing some different discussion about 3W+ so though I would ask the question.

How many of you have dropped the driver and use a 3W+ or 3W in place of your driver off the tee?
What is your reasoning for this? Consistency? Confidence in making a good tee shot?

haha, funny enough, I game a 3+ WITH my driver, just based on the way I drive into the ball and increase my loft.

Kind of backwards logic, but I love having a 12.5-13.5 degree 3w for tighter par 4s, or shots I want to shape a bit more aggressively.
 
I have a 3+ but it’s not a driver replacement. It’s a secondary tee option on dog legs or where driver will be too much off the tee.
 
I struggle with FWs, driver is my confidence club. So no, I have not ditched my driver for 3W, although I am furiously practicing with woods to have alternatives for both tee and off the deck. Off the deck, hybrid FTW at the moment for me.
 
My 3W I will hit off tee but not a replacement for driver. Control is definitely better. It sits at 15 degrees. Have considered getting a 3+ to try to see it I could gain more accuracy and I don’t think I would lose much distance to driver



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I have played my past two rounds without a driver. Jury is still out. I hit some really good shots with it Sunday, but I feel like my bad shots are just as bad with the 3wd. With the driver, even though I might be in the other fairway, I'm usually 20-40 yards closer to my target... in the other fairway.

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I've never tried a 3W+ but it seems like it would be a great second tee option. It might be something I'll have to look in to in the future.
 
I got 3+ with a driver. Not because I have a lot of swing speed, but because it is slightly smaller (only a few CC but still) and lofted up 1* at 14.5* gave me better gapping/face angle than a traditional 3W at 15*.
 
My setup for this year is Epic Flash 3w turned down to 14*. My season is just getting started so I don’t have much idea of how it will help my game. My driver is so good right now that I rarely consider the 3w off the tee like I have in years past.
 
I have an old Taylormade RBZ 3W which is 15° and is used as an alternative to driver when driver would be too much (which is a few holes on my home course)

I wouldn't consider it a driver replacement as I am pretty comfortable with my driver

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I do not use my 3 wood off the tee, I really need one off the deck. That said I would recommend checking out the Tour Edge Exotics CBX119 for a tee replacement club. It is a low spin rocket launcher off of a tee. I hit it almost as far as my driver off the tee. It's a bit trickier off the ground due to the deep face than my gamer, but it would definitely be a fantastic option for a driver replacement.
 
I definitely want a 3w+ or cut-down driver to complement my regular driver. I'd happily drop my strong hybrid, or replace my current 3-wood to add a club that gives me better-than-3w distance with more accuracy than my driver.
 
So seeing some different discussion about 3W+ so though I would ask the question.

How many of you have dropped the driver and use a 3W+ or 3W in place of your driver off the tee?
What is your reasoning for this? Consistency? Confidence in making a good tee shot?

Last year I did this probably 95% of the time. 3w of the tee was way more consistent for me.
I can live with 200-215 off the tee if I am in the middle of the fairway.
 
I game a 3+ Epic SZ (older model, set at 13.5* with heavy weight forward). It's the only FWW I carry and it's primarily my 'get as much as I can off the deck club'. I will use it off the tee from time to time. Max is maybe a hole or two on some courses but on other courses I only use it off the deck, just depends on the layout. When I do hit it in an attempt to nail a green I'm about as successful with the 3+ as I am with my other longer clubs, hybrid through 4 iron.
 
I've used a strong 3W before (13.5) and currently have one. I can't hit it off the deck. I lack the swing speed to get good carry distance. I think you need 105-110 mph (driver) to get good carry distance off the deck with one of these. But off the tee, better control than my driver although I lose some carry and roll. I hit an 11.5 degree driver.

There's one par 5 with OB left and bad woods right I'll use it. A par 4 with OB right. Another par 4 with water right. So yes it gets used. If I can't hit that, I have a 20 degree 4 iron I use for a driving iron and hit that straight as an arrow off a tee.
 
Once, when the course was empty, I played two balls. One was with driver and the second was with a 3-wood. With the driver I hit 8 fairways and shot an 84 which was my average score, but with the 3-wood I hit 12 fairways and shot a 78. Keeping it on the short grass is important.

Of course, I still hit driver most of the time (HAH!). Go figure.
 
I pull driver pretty much every time and can generally keep it in play. 3 wood gives up about 15 yards and while it is has less chance of going farther off line it does bring tops into play if I haven't hit it in a while.

Since last last October 39 drivers and 14 3 woods off tee and not a single ball OB!

Dave
 
I really like a 3+ off the tee which is 90+% of what I use that club for. I played a 13* for years, but lately have backed off a tad. The only reason I back off to 4w ~16ish loft for the bag carry spot is because I jut don't feel like I need the extra distance if I'm not pulling driver, and it makes the rare fairway shot on a par 5 that much more forgiving.

I still ponder a move to a tour 13.5 pretty often however, especially when the 4w spins up a tad.
 
So seeing some different discussion about 3W+ so though I would ask the question.

How many of you have dropped the driver and use a 3W+ or 3W in place of your driver off the tee?
What is your reasoning for this? Consistency? Confidence in making a good tee shot?

I've kind of arrived at this situation arse-about-face. Just re-starting to play again after a long lay off, and couldn't hit a driver for toffee, was struggling with the woods I had (almost definitely a swing thing), so I dropped all woods from the bag and started to play with a 3h as top of the bag for a year.

That worked well and calmed down a lot of my errant shots off the tee. Late last year I got to hit a couple of 5w, quite possibly the first 5w's I'd ever hit, and it went better than expected (almost certainly due to me grooving a swing with the forgiving hybrids).

I bought the most helpful 5w and used that as a tee club for a few rounds, and it worked well.

So then I expanded up to the same brand's 3w and used that for all tee shots, and broke 90 for the first time ever, and was consistently in play.

Then (knowing I had the 5w as a good backup) moved the loft down to 13.5°, put the moveable weight forward - just to try and max it out as a tee club, and broke 90 twice more in 4 rounds. I'm sold on it, and the distances I'm getting without needing to really muscle it are more than adequate for me, especially after playing hybrids only for a year.
 
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