We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Driver vs 3 Wood Off the Tee?

SuperStroke
JB

JB

Follow @THPGolf on Social Media
Albatross 2024 Club
Staff member
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
283,235
Reaction score
432,654
Location
THP Experiences
Henrik winning in dominating fashion has brought the topic of fairway woods back to the forefront with many questions coming in. My question to THPers is which do you think you use off the tee more, and why?
 
Driver. More confident in which direction it will go.
 
Driver vs 3 Wood Off the Tee?

I often use a 3W or Callaway mini driver in most holes. I use driver on long par 4s and par 5s that I try to reach in two. Don't give up much in distance but gain a lot in accuracy. Many courses that I play are fairly tight and have doglegs where position is more important than distance.

Of course it helps a lot more if you hit a 3w 300 yards like Henrik
 
No brainier for me and that's a driver. I use the 3 wood off the tee but that's few and far between.
 
If the hole is long enough, definitely driver. Some holes require a bit less, so I drop back to 3. I have plenty of confidence in each one, so it's more about the shot I feel like the hole needs and what should set me up for a decent second shot.
 
Now, it's driver. Last summer it was 3w. Last week I built a cut down driver to use in place of my 3w off the tee and hit that straight as an arrow this weekend, albeit a lot shorter.

I still will choke down a lot on my driver (sometimes a good 2") because I figure that it's better to have the larger face and MOI of a driver vs. the smaller 3w face.
 
I'm pretty comfortable with my driver, so driver unless I will definitely hit through the fairway or surely find trouble.
 
My home course it's 50/50. My secondary course, which is longer, there is only 1 hole that is always a 3 wood and 2 others that are sometimes.
 
Driver. Use it about 9/10 times a round it's all about the distance I want for my second shot.
 
Driver on pretty much any hole over 325 because I need the extra distance to put the shortage club possible in my hand into the green.
 
Driver most of the time. And if it's not that, it's the mini-driver. Which I hit more fairways with, but the less distance gets in my head (and it totally shouldn't, but it does).
 
Depends on the hole layout. I feel like I need the extra girth and size of a driver for some extra help. Now, if 260 will work just fine, 4wood it is.
 
I probably hit driver 80% but it's really hole dependent. If there is trouble right and it's 360 or less it's closer to 50/50.
 
I've been hitting 3 wood probably 75% of the time on 4's and 5's. And the majority of the time when I hit driver, I regret it and wish I would've hit 3 wood. My 3 wood has been very good to me the last couple of months.
 
The hole layout will force my hand one way or the other. If it's a long hole with a dogleg that I may run through with driver, I'll throttle back to 3w. If it's a very narrow hole that's tree lined or a very small landing area-3w. Anything other than that I'm going driver. If I could hammer 3w like this I'd throw my driver in the trash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITXn5bMzRA8
 
Last edited:
Driver. I'm more confident with it.

The only time I'll pull anything else on Par 4s & 5s is if the distance would get me in trouble.
 
Driver. Larger head gives me more confidence.
 
The risk/reward equation on most of the short par 4's on the courses I play just don't pencil out to a 3-wood. Can play them just fine with a 5/6 iron off the tee. There are 3-4 other par fours that depending on wind direction and whether or not I think my Driver can reach trouble where I will sometimes hit 3-wood.

My 3-wood isn't that much more accurate than my driver so distance is the biggest factor for me. What club can I hit without reaching trouble and still give me the best opportunity for a PW or less approach to the green.
 
I probably hit 3W off the tee more, if my driver is hot I may use it more, but my 3W is more consistent for me. Any par 4 under 400 yards I feel ok hitting the distance of 3W, any more I'm going to reach for driver.
 
Right now it is driver, but for a long time it was my 3 wood as I could hit almost as far, but with better accuracy most of the time. I have gotten better with my driver the past year or so.
 
I'm thinking about pulling driver out of the bag honestly. I'm not constant enough with it. And the 2 deep is almost as long and I'm far more consistent with it. Just have to get over it mentally. Might have to call Rotella :)
 
I hit driver way too often to my own detriment. Mentally it makes me think I will be longer off the tee, but in reality the distance lost laterally doesn't compare to my consistency with the 3w.
 
Driver for sure. First, I need the distance and second, I'm still looking for a three wood I like!!
 
Hard to say. I very rarely have both in the bag and I'll tee off with a 4 iron more than either of them. I have no issue pulling 3 wood if it's behaving and I'm having driver issues.

More typically it's both of them leaking left on me or outright slicing into the crap or the wrong fairway.


Sent from the magic know everything box in my pocket
 
I've kinda stuck with an theory of under 350 yds, go 3w. Anything above is driver unless its target golf doglegs for long par 4/5. Recently got a callaway mini, so trying to adjust to using that. So I would say now it's 50/50 for the purpose of course management. If I was playing well enough to know I could get there in 2 more times than not, I'd go driver all round. I've come to the conclusion it's better be 60 yds in for third than in trouble (water, forest, sand) because I had to force a great shot.

Good topic JB!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top