Before hybrid clubs became popular among amateur and professional golfers, the fairway wood was the popular choice of club almost every golfer carried in their golf bag.
The fairway wood is a great utility club for replacing the hard-to-hit 2 iron and 3 iron clubs. It is also a great option for tee shots when you need control and don’t trust the driver.
In this guide we will be reviewing the best fairway wood golf clubs for seniors.
As your body ages, you’ll begin noticing a decrease in your swing speed and power, thus your golf shots will not travel as far as they used to.
Many senior golfers will rely heavily on their fairway wood for distance to get them to the green. Picking out the right fairway wood will be key to your success. Let’s dive deeper into our review of the best fairway woods for seniors.
Why a Fairway Wood is a Must for Seniors
The fairway wood will become a very important club for seniors to help you maintain your length on the golf course and still reach greens in regulation.
For most seniors, you’ll likely want to include multiple woods in the bag to serve different types of shots. Higher lofted woods can help you hit out of the rough as well as help you hit straighter shots from the fairways to the green.
We also recommend increasing the loft on your driver to help you maintain maximum distance off the tee as long as possible.
A good combination of a high lofted driver, multiple fairway woods, and multiple hybrids should serve you well in helping you maintain distance in your 60’s, 70’s, and 80s.
Here is a recommended club set for a senior golfer:
- Driver with at least 11 to 14 degrees of loft
- 3-Wood (15 to 17 degrees of loft)
- 5-Wood (19 to 21 degrees of loft)
- 4-Hybrid (replaces your 4 iron, 23-25 degrees loft)
- 5-Hybrid (replaces your 5 iron, 27 degrees loft)
- 6-Hybrid (replaces your 6 iron, 29-31 degrees loft)
With that being said, let’s jump into our review now of the best golf fairway woods for seniors. This list considers a variety of options from best wood for distance to forgiveness to price.
Top Fairway Woods to Buy for Seniors
Callaway Rogue ST MAX
The Callaway Rogue ST Max fairway wood is one of the market leaders for many reasons. To start, Callaway created its jailbreak technology which stiffens the crown and sole of the club to create more speed and make the sweet spot even larger!
Additionally, they have added the hyper speed face cup which is extremely fast by itself but Jailbreak technology makes it even faster. The face cup is designed to produce more ball speed on both center hits and off-center hits.
Callaway also added internal standing wave technology to their Rogue Woods just like they did to their irons. What this tech does is it positions the center of gravity low and forward to promote a combination of high launch and low spin, which are the perfect ingredients for a longer golf shot.
The next great feature you’ll find in the Callaway Rogue Fairway Woods is the Triaxial Carbon Crown. This composite material is lighter and stronger than steel.
As a result, Callaway is able to position the crown on the outside perimeter to improve forgiveness of the club, helping you hit straighter off center golf shots.
The Callaway Rogue Wood is offered in a variety of shaft, weight, and loft options making it easy for seniors to get fitted to suit your swing tendencies and needs.
Overall, this is one of the best fairway woods for seniors looking for forgiveness and will help you maximize distance with a slowing swing speed due to aging.
Check out the ST Max fairway wood on Amazon
Cobra Air X Fairway Wood
This fairway wood was redesigned to include a lighter head and grip, which will help senior golfers gain a few miles per hour on their swings and increase distance.
How did they manage to lighten the clubhead without affecting performance? Cobra installed their new lightweight carbon crown material into the fairway wood’s clubhead and then included both back and heel weights to give stability.
Golfers are reporting more accuracy thanks to the offset hosel design which helps reduce or even eliminate slices for golfers battling an open club face at impact.
This club comes adjustable so you can change to a draw or fade bias as needed to suite your swing.
Cobra King F6 Fairway Wood
Another great option for seniors is the Cobra King F6. The main feature you’ll love about the club is the adjustable plate that shifts the center of gravity from the front or back.
This works great depending on the type of golf course you’re playing.
For senior golfers playing Florida golf courses that are firm with lots of roll out, you’ll benefit from setting the CG to the front. This will produce a low golf shot with more roll.
If you’re playing Northern U.S. style golf courses where the grounds are softer, then setting the CG back will give you more height on your shots as well as more forgiveness.
Other features we like:
- Cobra’s innovative speed channel improves your overall ball speed
- The My Fly Smartpad gives you even more versatility and allows you to make adjustments to the loft.
- Different weight options and you can select the one that works best with your swing.
- Several shaft flexes to choose form depending on your swing speed needs. If your losing speed with age, you can digress down from a stiff shaft to shafts that have more flex.
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TaylorMade M4 Fairway Wood
Another great fairway wood option for seniors to buy is the M4 Fairway Wood made by TaylorMade.
This fairway wood delivers high ball speeds helping you maximize your distance off the tee while also delivering straighter golf shots to help you split fairways down the middle.
TaylorMade designed this club with a new “Speed Pocket” design and internal cone technology which increases forgiveness and increases the sweet spot on the club’s face.
The M4 fairway wood has been designed with split internal weights that increase forgiveness and promote more ball speed across the face.
Geocoustic technology utilizes an intricate blend of geometric and acoustical engineering to give the M4 fairway versatile playability and superior feel.
With its generous head size, this is a friendlier fairway wood.
The thinner steel section in front of the carbon crown is now silver which gives it a calmer look at address as well as offering the face contrast to aid alignment.
You can choose from 5 different lofts which allows you to fill in the distance gaps in your bag if you want to replace irons with woods to increase your distances.
The M4 is an older model of fairway wood from TaylorMade so it should be cost affordable. Its technology makes it a great choice for seniors as it’s one of the easier fairway woods to hit from the TaylorMade club line up.
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What to Look for When Buying a New Fairway Wood
First and foremost, you want a club that feels comfortable swinging and gives you confidence mentally. This will help you achieve the best results on the golf course and allow you to hit some great golf shots.
As far as specs here are 5 things to consider:
- Loft
- Shaft flex
- Adjustability
- Forgiveness
- Price
Loft:
Fairway woods come in a variety of lofts with the lowest loft falling near the 13 degree mark and running as high as 19 or 21 degrees of loft. This is marked usually by the number on the wood.
For example, a 3 wood might be 13 or 15 degrees depending on the manufacturer and then you can go up from there to a 5 wood, 7 wood, and sometimes a 9 wood if they make it.
Loft, in simple terms, is the angle the club face is slanted so that the ball can run up the face and pop into the air, achieving a high trajectory.
Higher lofted clubs can launch the golf ball higher into the air so if you struggle to hit the ball high, consider buying a fairway wood with extra loft rather than trying to change your swing.
More loft can also help shots fly straighter and be more forgiving, which is why we tend to hit short irons (9 iron, 8 iron) straighter than we hit a driver (less loft).
Shaft Flex:
Shaft flex is another key feature to consider when buying a new fairway wood. The shaft flexes during the golf swing to help the club generate speed as it whips through the hitting zone.
But too much flex can be a negative, costing you distance and accuracy. Therefore, we recommend picking out a shaft flex that is best suited for your swing speed.
Faster swinging golfers should aim for a more stiff shaft where as beginners and women with slower swing speeds can benefit from a regular flex or women/senior flex shaft.
Forgiveness:
New technology allows fairway wood manufacturers to move around the weight distribution in the club head so that it acts more forgiving on golf shots.
You’ll see some fairway woods advertising a feature called MOI (moment of inertia) which helps keep the club face from twisting to keep the golf ball straighter during flight.
Clubs with more forgiveness tend to be made for beginners and are usually cheaper as well but the downside is you sacrifice distance. Getting the ball in play should be your main goal anyway, so sacrificing some distance for extra forgiveness isn’t a bad thing.
Adjustability:
Adjustable fairway woods allow you to change the loft of the club if you decide you need to hit the ball on a higher trajectory or lower if you’re hitting too high. It also let’s you adjust the face angle to promote a more shut face or more open face depending on your swing.
If you tend to slice, you can adjust the fairway wood to a more draw bias face position and loft so that you counter the slice and hit straighter golf shots.
But we still recommend seeking out golf instruction to fix your swing faults as opposed to trying to rely on an adjustable club face, which may not cure the problem at all.
Price:
Our last tip on buying a budget fairway wood is being cautious of the price and marketing gimmicks. If you set out to buy a budget fairway wood, realize that there are a lot of solid low-priced clubs that will give great performance.
Be careful getting sucked into the marketing tactics of golf club manufacturers trying to sell you the newest, tour level, most expensive fairway woods.
Fairway Wood Design History
Fairway woods used by golfers today are much different than the older versions used 30+ years ago.
One of the major differences is that modern woods contain steel or titanium which is a much lighter material allowing you to generate much faster clubhead speed.
Additionally, modern fairway woods have weight balancing designs which help you control the club for more accurate golf shots and better distance. This is one reason you may notice you hit your fairway woods straighter than the driver.
But you pay for it by sacrificing some distance, which I’m sure you’re okay with if it means hitting the next shot from fairway instead of thick rough.
How Much Do Fairway Woods Cost Today?
When shopping for fairway woods, most today cost between $120 to $200 with the average price of a fairway wood falling around $160.
You can of course find used fairway wood clubs for cheaper, but another trick when buying a fairway wood for a senior is to shop for previous year’s models to get discounted pricing.
For example, the current year’s version of fairway wood might be charging you $220 but if you go back to a few years ago you may find prices have dropped to $160.
Do Seniors Get Discounts on Fairway Woods?
Unfortunately, no. Seniors do not get discounts on fairway wood pricing at golf retail stores. Stores will usually run sales when the manufacturer is offering a sale or if competitors are offering sales.
What Matters Most for Seniors When Buying a New Wood?
Since seniors tend to produce slower golf swings, they’re going to need to make up for this lost speed (and distance) by going for a more lofted club. Extra loft will help you launch the ball higher and gain additional distance.
3 woods will naturally have about 15 degrees of loft but an adjustable 3 wood can add additional 1-2 degrees of loft depending on the settings you use.
Which Shaft Is Best for Seniors?
When picking out a new 3-wood, you’ll want to consider the stiffness of the shaft as well as the weight of the shaft. Seniors are best suited to use a less stiff shaft that accommodates a slower, less violent golf swing speed.
This is usually a regular flex or senior flex. Yep! They make shaft flex specifically for seniors!
Weight is also important and shafts are measured in grams. A lighter weight shaft can help you swing faster and easier than a heavier shaft but it’s still a smart idea to get fitted for the proper shaft when buying a new fairway wood.
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