Callaway X Black Fairway Wood
In the past when you bought a full standard set of golf clubs, they give you a driver and putter, 3-9 irons, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge and two fairway woods - a no. 3 and a no. 5. With the advent of the golf hybrid, few people use the 3-4 irons today. Many also struggled with the fairway wood especially the no. 3 as it is almost as long as a driver at 43 inches and a loft of 15 degrees and most of the times we use an iron swing.
While it is true that mostly the golf swing is the same for every club, the longer clubs require a wider arc and therefore somewhat flatter just before impact opposed to the iron swing with a sharper angle of attack onto the ball to compress it. Is the fairway wood dead?
The Callaway RAZR X Black
The key technologies are down to the large stainless steel head with Callaway's VFT face technology which creates faster ball speeds across the face. They use a heat treatment method to achieve an ultra-thin, shallow and low profile face which in turns makes it easier to hit from a greater variety of lies.
You must agree that it is probably the best looking fairway woods around. As it is a no. 3 fairway wood is already harder to hit very well all the time so you do not want to fight with your own equipment as the game of golf is hard enough and when selecting one, choose one that is as forgiving as you can find and is suitable for mid to high handicappers. An oversize head can look or feel clumsy but it gives you greater confidence and stability like a feel of power and might but if you want a smaller club head, you will need the skills it demands. Golf is frustrating enough without having to fight with your clubs!
Some brands has stronger loft for their woods such that a no. 4 at 16 degrees is a good option considering that the usual no. 3 is at 15 degrees but this one here is at 15 degrees.
Surprisingly, with a club head of 170cc, it has slightly lower trajectory than most and it felt a wee bit heavy for the hands. For all golf clubs, the truth is that the easier you swing them, the better your shots in terms of distance and direction and this club seems to accentuate this aspect. It produces the sweetest sound when you catch it in the centre.
Somehow, Callaway has been making oversize woods before and the previous Big Bertha was well really big and almost like the size of your old driver. This one has been smartly designed and actually look very appealing. While it is appealing, forgiving and having the potential to be a great performer, it seems to have a built in draw bias which can be a good thing but not everyone may appreciate.
Some of us are naturally better wood players than irons and vice versa and I know of many who have dispensed off their fairway wood, no longer carrying one around. The fairway wood can be an important aspect of your game if you use it as your second driver when faced with a tight fairway. Depending on how you want to play your par 5 - a driver tee off with 2 iron shots or when you have the confidence or need to go for two or put it very near with a fairway wood. Also a good substitute on short par 4s and most importantly long par 3s which are 200m or more.
In the meantime, I didn't know until someone told me that the faces of my friends and I came out in a magazine. We were there testing golf equipment. Please stop looking at the ladies, we were at the bottom left side.
Golf as in life, play as it lies.
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