Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from ludddy who opens the discussion on the benefits of using a weak lofted 3-wood in his set-up. At the moment, ludddy is currently only using his 3-wood on long par 5s and would like to use it more going forward off the tee. Our members give their thoughts on whether changing to a weak lofted 3-wood is the right move.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• Celebros: “I just recently took my 15* out of the bag and replaced it with a 4-5 wood that is adjustable 16-19*. In my case, it was because I usually didn’t need that much club into Par 5s and on tight/shorter Par 4s I typically hit an iron off the tee. The higher loft gives me much gapping into the rest of my set as well.”
• RacineBoxer: “I’ve gone through this a time or two. There almost comes the point where no matter what you do, you’re going to have a club in your bag that you rarely use. If it’s not the 3 wood, then it’s some sort of driving iron or low lofted hybrid or 4 iron or maybe you carry both a 58 & 62 degree wedges. Maybe the longer and longer you hit it the more you gap your clubs and eventually use everything, but for us mere mortals you’re likely to find a little bunching somewhere. I don’t use my 3 wood much. I find the bigger head of the driver more forgiving. I get more horrible shots with the 3 wood because the head is just so small (talking topping the ball or popping it up for 80 yards types of horrible tee shots). If I need a fairway finder on a short, tight, hole, I’m going 5 wood or hybrid. I’m a straight to fade player, and the 3 wood is a club I’m comfortable getting going a little right to left off the tee, so I’ll use it non-routinely for a hole that calls for that shot shape. But usually, I find going to 4 wood or 4h a safer play to find the middle of the fairway.”
• Bye: “It’s such an individual thing, that really the only way to find the answer is to play with a few different options. For me, as long as I can put enough spin on it, the 3 wood is the best option. I had a few 4 woods; I just kept fiddling with them.”
• Boognish: “Loft is generally your friend with fairway woods. Your confidence from the tee should guide your head shape decision if you need it for tee layups. There is a trade-off for deep face (flat flight) tee clubs when you want to use it off the turf. I’m a big 5 wood guy, but they can often launch/spin too high for regular tee use. If you only carry one fairway wood, my recommendation would be a 4-wood with a lower spin shaft.”

Entire Thread: “Weak lofted 3-wood a good option?”