Our Fairway Metals
Unlike drivers, where the USGA has limited the "core" effect meaning that all drivers are more or less equal, that same limitation does not apply to fairway metals.
In the last three years two fairway metal models have stood out. The Tour Edge "Exotic" series of fairway metals have become the gold standard for "hot head" performance. Retailing at $399 (street price $299) – the Tour Edge fairway metals have become classics. For practically all players, they are "longer".
The same goes for the Wishon Golf Technology 919 fairway metal series. It has the same "hot" head. As a component line, Wishon fairway metals are available, custom fitted with a high performance shaft, for less than the Tour Edge Exotic line.
The downside of the "hot" heads is that they produce very low spin. For many players, that produces a "knuckling" effect. We have accepted returns at the Golf Lab who also felt that distance control from the hot heads was erratic.
For most players, a little extra distance from fairway metals is irrelevant. What is much more important is consistency.
Our experience is that most fairway metals are too long. For most players, the 3 metal is dangerous. For Golf Lab customers who are satisfied with their consistency, we routinely trim the length of their 3 metal to 42.5" and add enough head weight to compensate. Coincidentally, that configuration mirrors the way most PGA Tour players like their 3 metals set up.
Players also make a mistake by thinking that their fairway metals should be "matched". At the Golf Lab we help players think through how they use each club in their bag. For players who need to play a 3 metal off the tee, the choice should lean toward a "deep" face – assuring reliable contact off a tee. Just the opposite for a player who needs maximum distance from the fairway. For those players, hitting off of "tight’ lies, a shallow face will be more reliable.
If you pick a deep face 3 metal, you should probably choose a shallow face 5 metal.
A better choice for consistency is likely to be a higher loft fairway metal – perhaps 16* or 17*. That is a traditional 4 metal loft, but a higher loft frequently produces more distances than less loft. Pairing a 4 metal with a 7 metal allows more room in the bag for an extra wedge.
Other than the couple of models that have hot faces, fairway metals are pretty mundane. They are mostly stainless steel and unbelievably cheap to produce. Find a shape you like for the turf conditions you play. Test a variety of shapes and pick the one that fits your eye and is easy to hit.
Our Fairway Metal Shafts
The conventional wisdom says that once a player has found a shaft that he loves in his driver, the only "fitting" required for the fairway metals is to take the same shaft in a heavier weight, trim an inch off the tip and you’ve got your 3 metal shaft.
Do you need a 5 or 7 metal shaft? Just step up one more weight range, tip it an inch and you’re good to go. That’s the method employed by most custom club makers today.
he most recent thinking about fairway metal shafts goes against the conventional wisdom. Rather than matching driver shafts, the new method is to go with slightly heavier but untipped shafts with livelier tips. This new idea was first promoted by Gawain Robertson at ACCRA who noticed that Tour players rarely play the same shaft in their fairway metals as their driver.
ACCRA is responding to this new finding by releasing a new line of "RT" (responsive tip) shafts. If you’re interested in trying a low priced experiment, find an older Graphite Design YS 6 or 7.
On the other hand, we’ve satisfied a lot of players with high quality but inexpensive pullouts from Taylor Made TP drivers.