Inside the game of golf, there are a surprising number of different types of clubs golfers use. While this can seem bizarre to non-golfers, this ignores some of the many nuances of the game of golf. One such nuances is the terrain where the ball is launched from. After all, there is quite a bit of different terrain in even an ordinary golf course, and hitting on the grass is a different experience from knocking a ball off the tee. One particular element of a golf course requiring a specialized club is the fairway.
The fairway is the advantageous area between the starting point of the tee box and the end point of the putting green where it ends. Inside the fairway, grass is cut evenly and shortly and usually of a smoother, less difficult to navigate strain of grass than the rough surrounding it. While a driver is the club that kicks off a golf hole, before the mid-point where irons are used and beginning where a driver is used, there are fairway woods. These are a type of golf club intended to hit the ball quite far, if not as far as a driver, while still be able to comfortably handle the grass that is more unforgiving and hindering than simply perching a ball on a tee.
Fairway woods are golf clubs built to handle shots from the fairway. Despite their name, they are not actually made of wood. The name is a holdover from an earlier era of golf that persists due to old traditions and ease of nomenclature. In actuality, a fairway wood’s head is made of metal like the drivers for increased lifespan of the club and improved power to hit the ball. Though long, they are shorter than the truly lengthy drivers in a golf bag. Additionally, sometimes a good wood can replace a driver.
Some golfers do prefer a 3-wood for driving on low par, shorter holes. This is because the prime appeal of a fairway wood is that it offers more accuracy than a driver. This is at the cost of having less driving range, so a short hole where the range of a driver is not entirely needed may see that a fairway wood is an ideal choice if a golfer is particularly skilled with these types of club.
Woods tend to fall in certain statistical types. A 1-wood generally works in much the same way as a driver, with an 8 to 11 degree of loft and a range of 230 to 250 yards with a good accuracy. 2-woods to 4-woods tends to have very good accuracy, but different woods have different degrees of loft ranging from 11 to 18 degrees, as well as distances starting at 200 yards and moving all the way up to 240 yards. A number of companies make golf clubs like this and some particularly dedicated golfers get customized clubs intended to give them the best shots of their life. While other clubs will be more useful in other situations, on the fairway, these are the absolute top pick.
