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Titleist TSR fairway woods

Best Fairway Woods 2024

The best of the best! We roundup the best fairway woods that have been released for the 2024 season.

 

Fairway woods are an important part of any golfer’s bag, and choosing the right one can make a significant impact on your game.

In 2024, there are several top brands to consider when searching for the best fairway wood. We’ll be taking a closer look at the top fairway woods of 2024 from some of the most trusted brands in the industry, including Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, Cobra, and Titleist. Each of these fairway woods is designed with unique features to help you achieve distance, accuracy, and overall performance on the course.


Best Golf Fairway Woods 2024


Callaway Fairway Woods 2024

Callaway have already made their mark on 2024 with their new Paradym Ai Smoke range, all their clubs have seriously impressed our reviews team.

The name comes from the word ‘Paradigm’ which has a few meanings. Callaway’s take is “a set of ideas or way of looking at something” a name that signifies thinking outside the box. And, Ai is one of Callaway’s superpowers when designing new equipment.

The all-new Ai Smart Face uses swing dynamics data from thousands of real golfers to make the supercomputer Ai technology even more accurate. Swing speed, club delivery and face orientation just before impact have been fed into the computer to give it more information on how golfers present the golf club at impact and how clubs needs to perform to boost the performance of real golfers.

Currently, players using this range includes Jon Rahm, Min Woo Lee and Minjee Lee.

Callaway Fairway Woods: NCG Favourite

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fairway Wood

4.5 star review
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fairway Wood Review

Reviewed by Gillon Fabbroni

Callaway is utilising their Ai technology, which this year uses data from real-world golfers. They use advanced machine learning to produce sweet spots around the face and claim the max produces a consistent and neutral ball flight.

Jumping straight to the data, my carry and overall distance was a little behind my current 3 wood but this was almost certainly shaft-dependent as I was testing this with the supplied stock stiff shaft. Off the deck, it was confidence-inspiring and relatively consistent. Off the tee, being easier to launch it became more consistent and distance wise was pretty much equal to my current 3-wood. The flight was decent, if somewhat lowish. With a different shaft, it would have been higher.

Callaway, it seems to me, is describing this as the go-to three-wood, and I would agree with this. It will appeal to a wide range of handicaps. The head is a modern, classic shape. It has an adjustable hosel and therefore should give options for many golfers. I think this is definitely a great three-wood.

PROS

  • Great looks
  • Wide appeal
  • Forgiving across the face

CONS

  • None


RRP: £379

Shafts: Project X Cypher 2.0 40 G (LGT) D2 & 50G (LGT, REG) D2
MCA Tensei AV Blue 60 G (REG STF) D3 & 70 G (STF, X-STF ) D4

Right-handed Lofts: 15°, 16.5°, 18°, 21°, 24°, 27° & 20°

Left-handed Lofts: 15°, 18° & 21°

More information: Callaway website


TaylorMade Fairway Woods 2024

TaylorMade have produced a plethora of high-quality fairway woods over the years. They have consistently delivered some of the most innovative designs that the golf industry has ever seen.

TaylorMade has launched their new Qi10 range for 2024, featuring three new fairway woods. TaylorMade engineers used iterative computer simulations to determine the shape and thickness of each area to properly maximise the COR area around where golfers are most likely to impact the ball with each fairway model. 

The game’s very best choose TaylorMade as their preferred fairway wood, including the likes of Tiger Woods, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda.

TaylorMade Fairway Woods: NCG Favourite

TaylorMade Qi10 Max Fairway Wood 

4.5 star review
TaylorMade Qi10: Everything you need to know!

Reviewed by Gillon Fabbroni

The Qi10 Max is their most forgiving model in this new range. There is no adjustable hosel, which gives it a sleeker look and allows the freedom to optimise the weight distribution and lower the centre of gravity to deliver longer distances.

The infinity crown, made from carbon, also contributes to this, and TaylorMade says this is the highest MOI fairway wood they have produced. This very low CG makes it easy to launch, giving an extremely high launch that is optimised for carry distance. Other features are the Thru-Slot speed pocket to optimise ball speed on low-face hits and twist-face technology to straighten those less-than-perfect strikes.

The Qi10 Max has a slightly shallower head and a bigger 200cc head to help with confidence off the deck and tee.

Unsurprisingly, less-than-perfect strikes were not disastrous, and this is a reassuringly forgiving club. Both distance and direction were helped by the forgiving technology. Off the tee, I gained about 5 yards, which is what I would have expected.

PROS

  • Clean looks
  • Wide appeal
  • Very Forgiving
  • Great off the deck and tee

CONS

  • Some may perceive the lack of adjustability as a negative

RELATED: Read our full TaylorMade Qi10 Max Fairway Wood Review


RRP: £309

Shafts: Fujikura Speeder NX TCS 50 (S, R, A)

Lofts: 16°, 19°, & 22°

More information: TaylorMade Website


Ping Fairway Woods 2024

Ping fairway woods are used by some of the best golfers in the world, and for a good reason.

Staffers include Tony Finau, Harris English, Cameron Champ and Corey Conners – all of whom are already gaming Ping’s latest G430 models.

Ping’s new roster of market-leading fairway woods includes the Ping G430 Max and Ping G430 SFT, each with their own unique characteristics that will suit every golfer’s needs.

In case you haven’t read up on Ping’s latest innovations, we’ve got everything you need to know about the Ping G430 line and why they might just be the brand’s best line-up yet.

Ping Fairway Woods: NCG Favourite

Ping G430 Max Fairway Wood

4.5 star review

Reviewed by Tom Irwin

As with the driver the acoustics are hugely improved here. Ping say it is down to that carbon crown. Regardless of the reason they sound so sweet. This is a massive tick in the box for me as in recent years this has been a negative for Ping versus some of the other manufacturers who have nailed their acoustics. This is well and truly put to bed throughout the G430 range of metals.

The head in the Ping G430 max fairway wood is adjustable by a significant 1.5 degrees. The 3-wood on test is 16 degrees and I can crank that to 14.5. I think this is really advantageous in a 3-wood where, depending on course or conditions, I can see myself using this functionality. There is nothing worse than never taking your fairway out of your bag on a windy links for fear of losing it in a cross wind. This would allow you to knock the loft down on such a day and bring the club back into play.

As with the driver the fairways feature Ping’s ‘Spinsistency’ technology. This reduces loft low on the face. I like this, as my bad shot tends to be thin and it helps me maintain ball speeds from less than perfect strikes. I think the data demonstrates this tech and is possibly another reason I have always been drawn to Ping fairway woods.

PROS

  • Really versatile
  • Super forgiving
  • Massively improved acoustics
  • Consistent spin rates

CONS

  • Not the longest fairway on test


RRP: £350

Lofts: 3 (15), 5 (19) 7 (22)

Shafts: ALTA CB Black 55 / 65 / 70 or ALTA QUICK 35 /75 or Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome 65 / 75 / 85 or Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65 / 75 or Project x HZDRUS Smoke Red RDX 50 / 60 / 70 or Mitsubusi KAI’Li White 60 / 70

More information: Ping website


Cobra Fairway Woods 2024

Cobra had great sucess with last years AeroJet range and for 2024 they certainly haven’t held back with their newest range of equipment, Cobra Darkspeed.

The new Darkspeed Metalwoods range features three new fairway woods, aiming to cater for every golfer.

This range of performance-packed and high quality woods rank as some of the best around, and are used by the likes of Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson on tour. 

Cobra Fairway Woods: NCG Favourite

Cobra Darkspeed Max Fairway Wood

4.5 star review
Cobra Darkspeed Max Fairway Wood Review

Reviewed by Gillon Fabbroni 

The Darkspeed Max is their most forgiving club. The club has been designed to give a high draw-biased flight. It has an adjustable weight system for fine-tuning forgiveness and flight. The Darkspeed Max uses the Cobra PWR-BRIDGE and PWRSHELL H.O.T face technology which is being used across the board in this range.

The club behind the golf ball looks great and has a lovely shape that I found very easy to square up. Despite its draw bias it did not look that way at all. This is a huge plus in my book as I do not like a club face that is anything other than square. The off-centre hits were, as would be expected with the technology, pretty forgiving, and the ball still had a higher launching ball flight and there was not a great amount of distance loss compared to fairway woods of days gone by.

In summary, the Cobra Darkspeed Max is a fantastic-looking wood with loads of technology to make it their most forgiving and potentially easiest-to-hit fairway wood. The lofts are very tweakable and I would always recommend getting fitted properly. The lower lofted fairway woods can be hard to hit, and getting the correct combination of shaft and loft can pay real dividends

PROS

  • Gorgeous looks.
  • Forgiving
  • Performed well from tee and fairway
  • Extremely adjustable to get a great fit
  • Sits square despite draw bias

CONS

  • None


RRP: £279

Loft: 3W 15.5˚ (14°-17°), 5W 18.5˚ (17°-20°), 7W 21.5° (20°-23°)

Stock Shafts: UST MAMIYA LIN-Q M40X Red A, R and S Flexes.

More information: Cobra Website

Titleist Fairway Woods 2024

The brand’s latest TSR range of woods are designed to be the best for distance, whilst at the same time they also prove to be the most forgiving fairway woods that money can buy.

This line-up consists of the TSR1, TSR2, TSR2+ and TSR3 fairway woods – each with their own unique characteristics to suit different players’ demands.

Titleist Fairway Woods: NCG Favourite

Titleist TSR2 Fairway Wood

4.5 star review
Titleist TSR2+ fairway woods review

Reviewed by Hannah Holden

I’m not the biggest fan of fairway woods as I always feel they are going to be hard to launch. Straight away the ball flight I was getting on all my shots was excellent, even my mis-strikes had a really nice height on them. You can see across a range of strikes my launch angle stayed very consistent.

The club face was very efficient, I was getting great ball speeds and carry distances from my club head speed. My average carry distance came out at 213 yards, about 13 yards longer than my 5-wood which works really nicely in terms of gapping. It is easy to add or reduce loft with the adjustable hosel should you need to add or reduce some distance.

Compared to the TSR3, my off-centre strikes flew straighter, which is crucial for a larger section of club golfers. My spin also stayed high enough so the ball didn’t drop out of the air and lose crucial carry distance.

PROS

  • Larger more confidence inspiring shape
  • Fast ball speeds
  • Easy to launch

CONS

  • Bigger head isn’t as workable


RRP: £289 or £459 with premium shaft

Right handed lofts: 13.5°, 15.0°, 16.5°, 18.0°

Left handed lofts: 15.0°, 16.5° (13.5°& 18.0° Custom Only)

Titleist featured shafts: Hzrdus Red CB, Tensei AV Blue with XLink Tech, Hzrdus Black, Tensei 1K Black

Premium shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD UB, Tour AD DI, Tour AD IZ

More information: Titleist website


Best Fairway Woods 2024

Choosing the best fairway wood for your game can be a challenging task, especially with so many great options available from top brands like Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, Cobra, and Titleist.

With features like adjustable weighting, innovative face technologies, and superior ball speed, these fairway woods can help take your game to the next level in 2024. Consider your own skill level, swing speed, and preferred play style to determine which fairway wood is the right fit for you, and get ready to enjoy improved performance and greater confidence on the course.” 

How do we test fairway woods?

At National Club Golfer we are passionate about producing accurate and thorough reviews and make sure our testing process is rigorous so we get a good understanding of how each club performs.

Each fairway wood is hit with TP5 golf balls to allow us to collect launch monitor data with our in-house TrackMan and Flightscope. After this it is time to head out onto the golf course and test the clubs in practice and competition play. We do this across a variety of golf clubs in our base of Yorkshire.

What is important when buying a new fairway wood?

When buying a new fairway wood it is important to know what you want from that club to help you improve.

Most people are looking for more distance, each wood is optimised for different things. Depending on your swing and your impact conditions, you may not actually hit the model that is advertised as the longest, the furthest. So if you want more distance it is always worth giving different models a hit before you make a decision.

For most golfers, especially high handicappers, something that is more forgiving is going to yield the best performance. Most forgiving golf drivers have a slightly bigger club head with perimeter weighting for high MOI. They also have a center of gravity that is further back to help players get more height on their shots.

Do you want something that is draw bias? There are so many models out there to help with slice correction, it would be silly not to take a look if you see your ball disappearing into the right trees too often. A closed face and draw bias weighting can get you hitting straighter shots in no time at all.

Don’t forget about the shaft either. Getting the correct shaft can help dial in your spin, launch angle and can also give you some extra distance. Having a club fitting or trying different options with your local pro can really improve the performance of your new driver.

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