Best Fairway Woods Models Tested

With so many fairway wood models on the market, it can be really challenging to find the right one for you. But I’ve tested 16 models from 9 different brands, analysing performance, feel, looks to find out which one’s right for your game. Right Sam? So I’ve come to join you here on the 7th hole, Dessertes course, Santo de Sera Incredible Views in Madeira. We recommend it if you are planning a golf trip, but we’re talking about the looks of these failures and it’s very important with a failure that you get one that you like the look of down behind the ball because they can be quite intimidating, especially off the deck, tight lies. You want something that’s going to give you a lot of confidence. Which ones have really stood out to you in terms of the looks? Well, the first one I’d like to highlight is the Mizuno STG. Now I’m a better player. I’m a more confident ball striker and so having a smaller, more compact head behind the ball is something that I look for. This is a, like I said, a more compact head. It’s a more pear shaped head than some of the others we’ve seen released this year, but the simle alignment on top, the gloss black crown, it’s really classic. It’s really simple and it’s it’s one that I think looks great. I agree. I think lots of lots of lots going on with Mizuno. They’re making some really good metal woods at the moment, especially in drivers. They’ve had a win on tour recently and it’s got the adjustable huzzle and everything. So yeah, for the better player, I agree looks really nice, but not everyone is a better player. So who’s watching this video? If you want something that’s going to give you a bit more confidence, maybe a bit more forgiveness, bit more meat behind the ball, Is there one that really stands out? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The tailor made Qi 10. Now this is one that isn’t necessarily built for hire handicappers. This this is one that will appeal to the masses. This is just gone in the bag of Rory McIlroy this season, so he’s actually opted for this over the tour model. It is a slightly larger head. It’s actually got a shallow face though, so it looks really easy to launch off the deck. It’s much more symmetrical than the Mizuno, much more rounded that again the carbon Infinity crown on the top goes all the way to the end and then they’ve touched on this laser etch treatment on top. The silver lining really helps you square that face up to your target agree I think very user friendly option I think left for that one but I mean I’m looking at all the favourites here they’re all relatively similar apart from this one here which is really standing out to me and I think it stood out to you as well. Talk about your your favorite overall for Yeah, so if you were to walk into a golf store, this is definitely the one that you’re going to walk straight up to and pick up to inspect and that is the Callaway Paradigm. AI Max. Yeah, I agree. There we go. Looks amazing. So this is named AI smoke and that’s pretty obvious. It’s because of the crushed carbon on the sole. It’s given this smoky effect, black and grey kind of tones to it. It looks great. Behind the ball they’ve gone for the carbon crown with the satin grey banner on top. Again, a really symmetrical looking head, but the face lines on it really help with alignment and this is just one that I think everyone will love. There we go. Plenty to enjoy with the fairwoods, lots of variety on offer, but those are our three favourites, right? So we’re moving on to feel now. I think it’s important that Fairwood feels good off the face and in your hands. And there’s a few that have really stood out to you because I know one of them is the Ping G430. We’re going to start, We’ll talk to us about why you like the feel of this particular model. Yeah, so this one carries on from last year. So Ping work on a biannual basis. So this one came out the start of 2023, but it’s still one of the best feeling models on the market now. The titanium face just feels super hot, super springy, and that’s relevant to wherever you strike it. And that’s what everyone loves about a Ping. They’re known for their forgiveness. This is the Max model. They do have the LST model as well, which is a slightly hotter, Oh my God, incredible like produce driver, basically very low ball flight, very low spinning. But this one just feels great no matter where you hit it on the face. Come on then, let’s see what we’ve got. This beautiful one down there, you know, first thing of the day. So it’s probably going to come off the bottom, which is a really good test for this club. And you know, first thing of the day you’re going to want a pink club, don’t you? Something a bit more forgiving. Absolutely. Let’s see. Beautiful. It’s still got a little bit of a tinny sound to it, but I’m guessing it feels pretty stable. Absolutely, Yeah. Well, it’s the tinny sound that’s synonymous with ping, you know, when you’ve hit a ping and that, but that’s relevant to the feel as well. It feels great off the face, very easy to hit, right. Let’s move on to another one, which I think you liked in terms of the the feel. Believe it was this one, which is the cobra, Dark Cobra, Dark Speed X. Talk us about that one. Yeah. So this is one of three models released this year. So you’ve got the Dark Speed X, the Dark Speed Max, and the Dark Speed LS. This is the, I guess, the standard model of the range. This is the one that will benefit most players. And the reason why I love the feel of this is because it feels so hot off the face. They do have hot face technology in there. They’ve got this power bridge system which really helps boost ball speeds as well. It’s really forgiving. It sounds good. I’ve always thought cobra sounds sometimes more on the tinny side of things. They’re a louder sound, which is an acquired taste. I’m someone who prefers a more muted sound. But just the feel off the face of this, especially when struck out the middle is just next to another. Let’s let’s see it in action then. Yeah. I mean, how good does that sound? Really Hear that reverberating around the trees? Yeah, there’s a lot of presence on that photo. Yeah, very good. Awesome. But it’s not your favorite. It’s not my favorite. There’s one that really stood out to you which one was that and that is the PXG Black Ops brand new brand new here for 2024. Now the last PXG Fairway would I hit was the O 211 and they they’re slightly different fairway woods in terms of where they come into the market more of an entry level that exactly and this one is ultra premium premium materials. This, this face is actually 12, 1/2% thinner than the previous generation which has helped provide flexion in the face fast the ball speeds and that’s something you really notice when you strike this. The carbon crown on top actually mutes the sound quite a lot as well which produces that more thud like sound. We pinched into hear that compared to the ping, wouldn’t it? Let’s see if we can hear that. OK yeah, it’s a little bit of a metallic sound to it, but it’s a metallic, it’s a metallic sound, but it’s it’s an improvement on previous generations and that’s something I really picked up upon. There you go. Those are our three favourites in the field category, right? So we’re moving on to the all important performance. Remember, if you do like this video, make sure you keep the like button and subscribe to the Golf Monthly YouTube channel. Well, let’s flash up the data on the screen. Because, Sam, you’ve tested all these fellow woods indoors on a launch monitor with premium golf balls. So you know exactly how they compare, how they perform. So which ones really stood out to you in terms of the performance that you got on the launch monitor? Yeah. So I think the first one that stood out to me was the TaylorMade Qi 10 tour. Now, the reason this stood out is mainly because of the tech that’s been implemented in it. Now it’s something we did see in the self too with this track system that really helps dial in a certain ball flight in terms of your height. You then have the adjustable huzzle as well. But the smaller more compact head made it really easy to work the ball and that’s something I particularly like to do. So depending on the dog leg of the hole, I like to shape it one way or the other. And again coming into par fives, this is super helpful, being able to launch the ball in certain windows. So for that reason, this one I really like. Yeah. I think with that lowest spinning head, you’ve probably got a lot of distance out of this one as well. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So that was up there with one of the longest that we tested this year. So I actually averaged about 262 yards of distance on launch monitor alongside this one alongside this one. This was actually the longest. So the title is TSR Three Now. Again, this is a carryover model from last year, but still performs excellently. It feels amazing off the face. Again, you’ve got short track system on the bottom and they’re sure fit Hozel, which allows you to dial in multiple different ball flights or fight against a certain ball flight but produce really good distance. It beat the Qi 10 tour by a yard in my testing, so there’s not much between them. We’re splitting hairs, but this one performs excellently. Yeah. I think movable weight, an underrated characteristic. Info was, as you say, being able to dial in that ball flying, get some versatility out of the club is really important. Obviously you get that with this and the tailor made, that’s that’s a big plus point for those two. Any others that really stood out for performance, yeah, so well, my winner of the performance category, and it’s a slightly different model compared to the two we’ve just talked about. They’re very much aimed at the more confident ball striker, the better player. This one, it has to be said, is aimed at the higher handicapper, one looking for more forgiveness. The Callaway paradigm AI Smoke Max D There it is. It’s a long name, but it’s a it’s a surprise pick. Talk us through. It’s a surprise pick. And so the reason behind my choice is you still get the adjustable huzzle. It’s a draw bias head. Now upon testing I’m someone who draws the ball. Naturally it did turn my drawers into hooks, which I can’t really complain about because that’s exactly what it’s designed to do. It’s designed to promote that draw by a shape fight against a slice. And this is somewhat, this is a club that someone who fades the ball or overslices the ball will love. Yeah, But also you get a lot of height out of this club, which I think is a really underrated area of performance. You know, you’re attacking long path forwards, path fives. If the greens are quite firm, you want it to stop relatively quickly. But this is going to give you the height that you need to do that. Absolutely. And that’s one of the reasons why it won this category off the fairway. Striking the fairway would off the fairway is one of the hardest skills in golf. This achieved an apex average of 116 feet, which is stupidly high, but it meant that hitting into par fours or long par fives, you can hold the green even in the summer. OK, so there you have it. That was kind of the comparative performance of all the fair was not much in it from kind of shortest to longest. There’s a lot of nuance there, but hopefully we’ve picked out some areas that will get you thinking about which one might suit your game the best. OK, so the last category, Sam, is value for money. I think every golfer wants a bit more bang for their buck. And we’ve got a couple here that really stood out to you in a particular area. I’ve got one, you’ve got one. Which one have you got and why? Please? So I have the Shrixin ZX Mark 2 model. Now this retailed at 249 lbs but was released at the start of last year. So a carry on product that you can probably get even cheaper than that. Now. Small compact looking heads produce a low penetrifable flight. OK, let’s see. Well, yeah, I think performed pretty well in testing and that kind of flatter ball flights really going to help someone who maybe spins up there. They was a bit too much. Yeah, absolutely ideal for someone who plays in the wind or on links courses and at that price point, a superb product. OK. And at the other end of the spectrum, I think we’ve got this Wilson Dyna Power which comes in a bit lower and offers slightly different performance. Is that right? Yeah it’s a slightly different performance characteristics, very easy to launch off the fairway, off the fairway which is you know it’s a hard thing to do. But retailing at 220 lbs, again a carry on product from last year, so you can probably pick this up even cheaper, get even more bang for your buck. If you can get a fairway wood for around £200 then definitely let’s see it then because as you say it’s it’s maybe not going to give you the distance of some of the others. In this test we’ve dug off you a little bit more height, so if you do tend to hit the ball quite low and you want to get more bit more stopping power into greens and save a bit of money, that Wilson could be a good option. Now I hope you really enjoyed this video and it’s giving you a really good insight as to the best fairy was in 2024 and which one will suit your game the best. But now it’s time for me to pick my top three. In 3rd place I’m choosing the PXG Black Ops Fairway word. It’s made major strides on last year’s model, it provides really good performance, fastball speeds, feels great off the face. In second place, I’ve cheated a little. Here I’ve gone for a tied 2nd between the tightest TSR three offering superb performance, plenty of adjustability and the Tailor made Qi 10 tour which falls in a similar category. Loads of adjustment, easy to flight down, movable in the wind. Ideal for the better player, but when it comes to a winner there was a stand out. It looks superb on the shelf, will look superb in your bag, feels amazing off the face and is easy to control. That’s the Callaway paradigm. AI Smoke Max.