Guide to buying a fairway wood

The Ace Series: Your complete, in-depth guide to fairway woods

In our Ace Series, we take the microscope to each different type of golf club and find out more about how it’s made, where it comes from and where it’s going. This time around, we focus on the versatile fairway wood. If you’re new to golf, you might like to start with our buyers’ guide to used fairway woods, which will give you a basic understanding of the purpose of the club, and any particular considerations you need to make in order to choose the perfect fairway for you.

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The absolute basics of a fairway wood

The difference in tee height between a driver and a fairway wood

While modern-day fairways are made from steel or graphite, original fairways (and drivers) were made from wood. That’s why, even to this day, they’re still referred to as fairway ‘woods’. The fundamental purpose of the fairway, just like the driver, is to deliver a shot as far along the fairway as possible, but the difference is that a fairway gives you slightly more accuracy (and sometimes slightly less distance as a payoff).

One thing to note is that if you’re teeing off using a fairway rather than a driver, you’ll need a slightly shorter tee, as pictured below (or you could opt to not use a tee at all if you’d prefer).

The complete history of fairways - from then to now

Back in the day of wooden clubs, fairway woods were also known as spoon clubs due to their shallow profile. As with all the other club types, over time, the design of fairways has evolved, with manufacturers constantly making small but important changes to the clubhead shape, shaft and adjustability elements.

It’s a club that’s been around a lot longer than hybrids or rescue clubs, so it holds its place as a golf club category. This is partly because of tradition, but also because if you look at the geometry of a fairway and compare it to an iron/hybrid/rescue club, you’ll see that the head is always larger (deeper from the front to the back). This is true even if the loft and length are exactly the same. That means that the centre of gravity is moved further away from the club face, therefore meaning that, all things being equal, the fairway will typically hit the ball higher than its equivalent.

Fairway woods these days are more commonly (and accurately!) referred to as fairway metals, but the namesake still sticks. 100 years or so ago, fairway woods were so nuanced that they were numbered sequentially (e.g. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… etc.). But these days, in the modern game, common sense has prevailed and they are typically sequenced in odd numbers (3, 5, 7, 9).

These days, we are seeing a rise in popularity of the more lofted fairway wood, and that’s possibly because tour players are using higher-lofted fairways at high-profile events like the Masters. At golfclubs4cash, our most popular fairway woods tend to be the 7, 9 and even 11-wood. As the loft increases, the shaft length gets shorter, which makes them really easy to use. For a lot of recreational golfers, once they’ve hit their tee shot with their driver, the next club that comes out of the bag is the 9 or 11-wood.

What’s the main purpose of a fairway wood?

As we mentioned above, the purpose of a fairway wood is to hit a shot from the fairway (ideally) to get closer to the intended target (i.e., the green). These are shots that typically can’t be achieved with a 6, 5 or 4 iron, or even a hybrid. Alongside the driver, fairway woods are commonly used to tee off, particularly for tee shots that need more accuracy. That’s because they are shorter-shafted and more lofted than a driver.

Difference in distance when using a driver vs fairway wood, by handicap

To complicate things a little for the novice golfer, there is a lot of crossover in the purpose of fairway woods, hybrids and irons. Because the two key variables for distance and trajectory are the loft and length of a club, it’s plausible that you could find a hybrid, a long iron and a fairway that actually all do the same thing (because they all have the same stats).

If you’re not sure whether to tee off using a driver or a fairway wood, then the general rule of thumb is to use a driver if you’re prioritising distance, or a fairway wood if you’re prioritising accuracy. But, having said that, if you are a beginner golfer then it’s almost always more sensible to use your fairway wood from the tee, because in the long run working on accurate shots will help you see a faster improvement than if you focus on distance above all else. You’ll also lose a lot fewer golf balls that way, too!

How to use a fairway wood

When it comes to your stance and swing, the usual rules apply. Check out our five top tips for improving your swing, which apply to whichever club you happen to have in your hand!

Because the fairway wood typically hits the ball higher than a driver and therefore has a sharper angle of descent and lands more quickly, it is usually the preferred club to tee off on golf courses with greens that are firmer and more undulating in terms of their surface. These courses tend to have more pronounced and steeper slopes. So if that sounds like the course that you tend to play, it’s worth considering using your fairway wood over your driver for those bigger shots.

A very good example of this is at the annual Masters tournament. Held every April at Augusta, it’s common for the players to have a lofted fairway wood, e.g., a 7-wood, as part of their set, and this is because of the way the golf course is set up. Conversely, every July at The Open, courses are typically links or coastal courses. Because that means the course will be more exposed to lots of wind, golfers will often do away with fairway woods altogether, instead opting for a long iron or hybrid.

Choosing a fairway to suit different abilities

The usual rules apply when you’re deciding on the right fairway wood for you, regardless of your ability. Go for something that feels comfortable in your hands, and try a few out for size so that you can compare a few different models and brands. Resist the urge to buy new – you’ll get so much more for your money with a second-hand fairway wood.

Fairway woods for beginner golfers

Beginner golfers should focus on finding an affordable fairway wood with a steel clubhead. At the beginner level, there is little point shelling out on a more expensive titanium-headed fairway, which is stronger and lighter than steel so that the head can be more generous.

Fairways for intermediate and advanced golfers

Subject to the type of golf course that advanced and/or professional golfers are playing on, it’s common for them to use a fairway wood. Even the great Tiger Woods is currently using a 3- and a 5-wood. As for the brand he chooses, that changes fairly regularly, but his 3-wood is a TaylorMade Qi10, and his 5-wood is a TaylorMade M5 (this is accurate as of July 2024).

Which fairway woods do the pros go for?

The best example of a professional golfer who is famous for their fairway wood choices is Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson. He won the Open at Troon Golf Club in 2016 without a driver, which is almost unheard of otherwise. Instead, he only used a 3-wood (the Callaway Diablo Octane) and he’s still renowned for it to this day. While he doesn’t play much these days, he’s been known for prioritising the fairway wood throughout his career.