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Forum Thread of the Day: “Best fairway woods of 2019?”

Published

5 years ago

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Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from pollock21, who opens the discussion concerning what are the best fairway woods of the latest releases. On the lookout for a new fairway wood, pollock21 asks for fellow members feedback on the new editions, and our members provide it in spades.

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.

  • chadly643: “I did some initial testing of all the main available options last weekend. They are all very close in terms of performance. Ballspeeds were all identical. Ping was definitely the highest flight. I disliked the Ping shape, however. Srixon was the best looking option and felt really good. The winner for me, however, was f9. Those rails really do offer something useful that the others don’t have. In all honesty, all the big manufacturers have a great option this year. You can’t make a mistake with any of them. It comes down purely to preference on looks and feel.”
  • JustinM: “The epic flash SZ fairways are great. I replaced my PXGs for these both 15 and 18 degrees. The head is small, and the face is tall if that makes sense. I’ve tested them all and a clear winner.”
  • Sh00terMcGavin: “I’m going to go with TEE CBX for best fairway. I will say that the Epic Flash sz does look mighty appealing to hit. Guys on TXG were raving about the ballspeeds it was producing for a fairway wood.”
  • Honman: “I’ve hit most of this year’s fairways, flash sub zero was by far the best on ball speed, and I like the feel. PXG was a good number two. G410 felt the most forgiving by a long way, but I couldn’t control the spin, and they didn’t have the LST to try. I think that would be a good head for me. In a separate session, I’ve hit the ST190 and was putting a good flight on that, dialled down to 14 and really liked the feel. The TaylorMade fairways both want to go really high this year.”

Entire Thread: “Best fairway woods of 2019”

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Tom54

    Mar 18, 2019 at 5:20 pm

    Don’t know about most of the readers but the 3 wood is probably my least important club in my bag. Rarely hit it off the tee, cause if I need 3 wood distance I’ll choke down on a driver. Will try to reach par 5s if the distance is just right otherwise I’m laying up with an iron or a hybrid which are so much easier to hit than a 3 wood. Have a older model M2 3 wood which suits me just fine.

    Reply Report comment

    • Jack Nash

      Mar 20, 2019 at 4:05 pm

      Got rid of my 3W and started using a 4W. Works out great. Easier to hit and same distant. More workable too.

      Reply Report comment

  2. John C.

    Mar 18, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    I tried all the big guys, Titleist, Callaway, Ping, TaylorMade, Cobra, and PXG. It wasn’t even close, Callaway’s EpicFlashSZ fairway woods are crazy long. I was able to hit them high off the deck as well.

    Reply Report comment

  3. HDTVMAN

    Mar 18, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    I am so sick of “spin” it drives me crazy. Players, most have never had a sub 80 round, come into our store and hit ball after ball, standing there looking at the spin! Spin has it’s place, but it’s mostly created with your swing & ball contact, and it changes on every shot! When I was visiting a major manufacturer and learning about their new products in Carlsbad, their master fitter, who fits many of the pros, said just be concerned with distance and dispersion. “Don’t worry about spin”.

    Reply Report comment

    • Timmer9

      Mar 18, 2019 at 1:31 pm

      When I got fitted last year, the spin numbers went in one ear and out the other. As a low ball hitter I wanted a higher trajectory and hopefully a little more distance. Mission accomplished!

      Reply Report comment

  4. Brad

    Mar 17, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    The Cobra F9 fairway wood is the best I’ve tested in a long, long time. Very impressive performance with fantastic sound and feel a well.

    Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Best irons in golf of 2024: Slower swing speed (Easiest to launch)

Published

4 hours ago

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Apr 8, 2024

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In our effort to assemble the 2024 best irons, we have again compiled an expert panel of fitters to help you find out which of the 2024 irons is best for your game.

Ultimately the best way to find your personal best iron set is to work with a professional fitter using a launch monitor. The difficult part is a lot of people don’t have easy access to fitters, launch monitors, and club builders — so at GolfWRX, we have done a lot of the work for you.

We are in the era of not just maximizing distance but also minimizing the penalty of common misses for each player — this applies to irons just as much as it does with any other club in the bag. And of course, proper set makeup and gapping is essential. This is why, now more than ever, custom fitting is essential to help you see results on every swing you make.

We want to give you the tools and information to go out and find what works best for you by offering recommendations for your individual iron set wants and needs with insight and feedback from the people who work every single day to help golfers get peak performance out of their equipment.

Best irons of 2024: The process

The best fitters in the world see all the options available in the marketplace, analyze their performance traits, and pull from that internal database of knowledge and experience like a supercomputer when they are working with a golfer.

It’s essentially a huge decision tree derived from experience and boiled down to a starting point of options—and it has nothing to do with a handicap!

Modern iron sets are designed into player categories that overlap the outdated “what’s your handicap?” model, and at GolfWRX we believe it was important to go beyond handicap and ask specific questions about the most crucial performance elements fitters are looking at.

These are the best iron categories we have developed to help you determine which category is most important for your swing and game.

Best irons of 2024: The categories

  • Overall performance
  • Easiest to launch/Slower swing speed
  • Pure enjoyment
  • Shotmakers
  • Most technology-packed
  • Best blade

2024 Best irons: Easy to launch/Slower swing speed

These are the irons for golfers who need height. With today’s modern golf ball, creating proper flight widows and spin can be difficult for some players — especially those at lower speeds — and this is where technology can really help. All of these irons do everything they can to create shot-stopping trajectories and a steeper angle of descent.

Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal HL

Their story: With the JPX923 Hot Metal, Mizuno introduced “4355 nickel chromoly,” which is 35 percent stronger than the original Hot Metal material and allows for an eight-percent thinner clubface. Cup face construction works in tandem with a deep center of gravity for high launch with stopping power. Mizuno developed Hot Metal Pro, Hot Metal and Hot Metal HL (High Launch) from 175,000 real golf swings recorded via Mizuno’s Swing DNA system. JPX923 Hot Metal HL is a high launch speed cavity delivering a higher launching option for players with moderate swing speeds or aggressive shaft lean, it’s suitable for mid to high-handicap golfers.

Fitter comments:

  • “We’re talking about… people who need forgiveness, but they don’t spin it enough. They don’t get it in the air. The HL is a little little weaker-lofted, but they have the size and the forgiveness they need. It’s one of the go-tos for us.”
  • “We’ve been getting a lot of guys where it’s like, you know, the way you deliver it, you really need the loft of a, of a blade, but you’re not good enough to hit a blade. So, you know, we need to get some height. Like the slower swing speed player, aging golfer, like they don’t have 130 MPH ball speed with a seven that they can launch it at 15 degrees and still get it in the air. They gotta get that thing off the ground and up to get some distance out of it. And this thing is just, it’s so easy to get up in the air…even if we do bend other things weaker, we can’t get it as high lofted as that thing, and it just goes straight up in the air.”
  • “It’s super forgiving and it feels pretty good that. We sell more HL’s than we do standard Hot Metals. It’s such a popular golf club.”
  • “It’s a spectacular club and really is probably the best club in that high-launch category. If you take the high launch QI, you take the [Callaway Paradym] Ai Smoke HL, [Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal] HL, that’s the best one.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL

Their story: At the core of Callaway’s new Ai Paradym Smoke irons is the Ai Smart Face. With the Ai Smart Face, these irons are designed to promote exceptional distance, tight dispersion into the green, and optimal launch in a modern construction. The new shape consists of longer blade lengths, thinner toplines, and optimized sole widths in a bid to create a forgiving, yet streamlined look at address. In addition, an all-new Dynamic Sole Design features a pre-worn leading edge with variable bounce that cuts through the turf with efficiency.

Fitter comments:

  • “Compared to the standard Ai Smoke, it’s definitely launching a little bit higher. I would say blade length is a little bit longer. So, you know, it’s a little bit more forgiving a little bit easier to hit than that traditional AI Smoke. It’s gonna launch higher than Ai Smoke and spin a little bit more for that player that needs that help.”
  • “Amazing when it comes to getting the ball airborne and retaining spin. Very easy to hit and very stable through impact. Second place to Mizuno, for me.”
  • “The HL version allows for a player to play a strong lofted iron in a lightweight package that helps achieve great distance. This iron is long! The ball speeds are crazy high. This iron is great for a player who flips at it.”
  • “Even though not as light as the others, the HL gets the ball in air faster and slower speed needs that for distance”
  • “Powerful but still helps get the ball to launch at a playable angle. Generates height well with lots of speed across the face.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

TaylorMade Qi HL

Their story: With a blend of minimalistic aesthetics and advanced multi-material technology, TaylorMade’s new Qi irons aim to deliver the optimal combination of distance, accuracy and solid feel in an inviting game-improvement package. At the heart of the Qi iron is individual head optimization, organic face designs, and FLTD CG, all working in unison to help golfers minimize the right miss. With their latest irons, TaylorMade has designed the all-new Qi irons to have significantly less right bias for straighter and more accurate shots.

Fitter comments: 

  • “That’s a big ass iron. But you also have a much better look than the [Stealth] HD last year. That [iron] was really shallow in the face that got the ball up great. But it just didn’t look the way some people wanted, right? They didn’t want a small face. So it’s a really good option for people.”
  • “You’re seeing some of these companies…I think they’re seeing that sometimes…a little bit of loft can be, be good, you know, but they’re combing it with heads now that are super tight off the face. You get some of those guys catching it all on the face, the thing still getting up in the air, still producing ball speed.”
  • “I would say the Qi HL, it’s like kind of top charts when it comes to…if someone’s hitting it, that thing wants to go. And I think they definitely did a good job…with the redesign of it compared to Stealth HD.”
  • “The previous generation was a little bit off-putting, you know, some, most people don’t wanna play kind of, you know, a hybrid-iron. It’s a little bit easier to hit a little bit better package…compared to the HD, the packaging is 1,000,000 bucks.”
  • “I mean…[Stealth] HD worked really good but it was very hard to…get someone to accept that they had to use it. Now at the [Qi10] HL you put that in someone’s hands, it looks good. It feels good. And they feel like, ‘I’m using a, a golfer golf club,’ you know. It’s a real battle sometimes with people…our job is performance, but they also want something that’s gonna look good in their bag.”
  • “The fact that it looks like a regular golf club is helpful. I think in that modern-day iron, it’s just lofts are getting so strong, and the ball is spinning so little off of these things that if you don’t naturally hit it super high, irons like that are just perfect for guys, they’re able to hold greens, stop it quicker. For a lot of guys, that height means more distance. So they’re actually hitting it farther with more loft and, and be able to hold a green better. And guys that maybe had a five hybrid are now getting a five iron back in their bag and it’s great.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Ping G430 HL

Their story: Billed as Ping’s “longest iron ever”, the G430 irons combine a lower CG with stronger, custom- engineered lofts and a thinner face that delivers up to 2 more mph of ball speed, per the company. At the heart of the new addition is the PurFlex cavity badge, an innovation which features seven flex zones that allow more free bending in design to increase ball speed across the face. In combination with a lower CG, the badge aims to contribute to the solid feel and pleasing impact sound. The stronger lofts across the set resulted in the addition of a 41 degree PW to ensure proper gapping options and allowed for standard lofts in the traditional scoring wedges (45.5, 50, 54 and 58 degrees).

From the fitters:

  • “With that Alta Quick shaft, I mean, it’s just, it’s super easy to kick that thing up in the air. And what I really like about it is they don’t put flex on the shaft. We’ve had, you know, I mean, you explain to the customer like, hey, you know, you might, you know, you’re gonna need that 35-gram Alta Quick. It’s not gonna say, you know, ladies flex or whatever and no one knows.”
  • “It’s super easy to hit, super easy to launch, especially for someone who needs…that help and forgiveness.”
  • “What I like about what Ping does, they don’t just like, shove a lighter-weight shaft in the same club head. They put a lighter grip on it, they put a lighter shaft in it. So like they kind of do it the right way. It’s just an overall lighter package version of the best game improvement iron out there. So it’s you get all the forgiveness and everything else that you get with G430, but now in a total balanced package for a slower swing speed player, it’s, it’s great.”
  • “What I like about it too is with the Alta Quick 35 [shaft]. It’s essentially like a ladies golf club that doesn’t say ladies on it. So like you get that guy that swings super slow or you get like that junior boy or something like that that just, you know, I’m not, you know, especially like the kids like, I mean, he’s not playing a club that says ladies on it or it’s purple or something you can get than this and it looks just like his dad’s G430s, but it just gets up in the air and goes and it’s awesome.”
  • “The best iron in the game improvement category. High launch and packed with forgiveness on those off-center hits. It’s one of the easiest irons to hit. The HL version allows players who need a lighter package and need help with higher launch are able to achieve that with this iron.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Titleist T350

Their story: The new T350 irons are still built for maximum distance and forgiveness, but they were redesigned with a hollow-body construction that’s inspired by the T200. Like the T200, the T350 also uses Max Impact Technology behind the face to maximize speed and forgiveness, and dual-tungsten weights in the back cavity. The T350 irons are noticeably larger, and with thicker toplines, than the T200 irons for golfers who need the additional surface area and stability.

Fitter comments: 

  • “The T350 is super good. They definitely cleaned it up, cleaned up that topline a little bit and made it…a little bit more compact, a little bit smaller for sure.”
  • “You know, I think is one of those irons that maybe sometimes can get overlooked. I don’t know…some guys, they think ‘Titleist,’ they can’t hit it. If someone’s in this category, it’s always a club you’re gonna have.”
  • “So like this is the first one in that model that’s had like a forged face and, and, and, and I think that just improved the feel of it. Topline to me looks a little bit cleaner and, they do a nice job of hiding the offset doesn’t look quite obnoxious when you look down at it. I don’t know if it’s like the chrome that they put or whatever, but it looks a lot cleaner at address. The iron’s always been super easy to get up in here.”
  • “That type of customer, I know they all want to do is just hit it nice and far. But we’re seeing so many guys come in that just need help getting it airborne in that moderate kind of clubhead speed category. And this thing is probably, if not the easiest, one of the easiest irons in this category to launch. And I think that’s what makes it so great.”
  • “High launch is a key component to this iron. Clean look, with reduced offset and a better look for a players game improvement iron. Players are surprised that this is a game improvement iron based on the looks and package size.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Best irons of 2024: Meet the fitters

RELATED: Best driver 2024

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/8/24): TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver

Published

6 hours ago

on

Apr 8, 2024

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver.

From the seller: (@cg2g): “BRNR Mini Driver 13.5* with HZRDUS Gen 4 Black 70g X-Flex, Club has hit 5 balls on simulator, save some money on ordering new. $385 Shipped CONUS.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Whats in the Bag

Denny McCarthy WITB 2024 (April)

Published

20 hours ago

on

Apr 7, 2024

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  • Denny McCarthy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, C1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

5-wood: Titleist TS2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist 620 CB (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-08M), WedgeWorks Proto (60-L)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo N5
Grip: Scotty Cameron

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Denny McCarthy’s WITB here.

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