Are You More Likely To Hit The Fairway With A Driver Or 3-Wood? Here's What The Data Says...

For many golfers, when the driver is misbehaving or when facing a tight fairway, hitting a 3-wood off the tee instead seems like a sensible option. Using a fairway wood should provide a good combination of distance with a tighter dispersion. That's the theory, but does it play out in reality? 

Well, yes, according to Arccos data, but the results aren't exactly resounding. In fact, across handicaps ranging from 0-20, you are less than 1% more likely to hit the fairway with a 3-wood as you are with a driver, while the average loss of distance is 12 yards. It doesn't seem like a worthy trade-off, does it? Let's delve deeper into some of the specifics...

0-5 handicappers

As you can see, the data obtained from scratch handicappers is incredibly similar. Delving deeper, players find 2.4% more fairways with a 3-wood than they do with a driver, with the biggest percentage change coming in the category of tee shots under 30 yards from the middle of the fairway. This happens 4% more with a 3-wood for scratch golfers, which is still a small gain for the 15 yards of distance you're giving up.

Moving onto 5-handicappers and the dispersion is even smaller. When it comes to fairways hit, a 3-wood is 1.3% more likely to put a 5-handicapper on the short grass compared to the big stick. That rises to 3.3% for tee shots under 30 yards from the middle of the fairway, whereas the average loss of distance is 14 yards. 

10-15 handicappers

While it might be expected the performance differences would grow working up through the handicap ranges, the opposite is actually true. A 10-handicapper is only 0.7% more likely to find the fairway with a 3-wood than with a driver, and a 15-handicapper is actually 0.3% less likely to find the fairway with what is considered the 'safer' of the two clubs.

As is the case above, dispersion is tighter with the 3-wood but it is only marginal, while the average loss of distance is 13 and 11 yards for 10- and 15-handicappers respectively. 

20-handicappers

Once again, there are no surprises in this category. The percentage differences are minuscule, with 20-handicappers actually 0.8% more likely to find the fairway when hitting a driver. Distance from the middle of the fairway is a fraction smaller on average with a 3-wood but is that enough to justify the loss of 10 yards?

All handicaps

So, what about when you put all this together? Well, as you can see in the graphic above, the average gain in fairways hit for golfers opting to put their trust in a 3-wood is 0.9%. For context, say there are 14 chances per round (assuming most courses have four par-3s), that equates to finding one extra fairway every eight rounds. For that, you're giving up 12 yards per shot.

Of course, each individual case is different, but it's worth taking this information into consideration and perhaps thinking deeper about what the greater sacrifice is...

Here's a breakdown of the data in its entirety: 

Final thoughts

There's no denying that across the board, the 3-wood is the safer club in terms of keeping the ball in play. But it's marginal. There are many reasons why this might be the case like bigger-headed drivers instilling more confidence at address or perhaps a bias towards getting fitted for drivers versus buying fairway woods off the rack.

Regardless of the reason, if you feel like you fall into this category, a change of strategy might be sensible. Instead of automatically reaching for the club that's next in line, perhaps it would be wiser to consider another option like one of the best driving irons instead. Food for thought!