Fairway woods are very interesting clubs. They can seem very simple to hit at times. Other times, it’s hard to even imagine a good golf shot ever coming from such a low lofted club.

Note: all links and pictures in this article will take you to the respective fairway woods on eBay (definitely the best website to buy golf clubs).

Some are designed to be used primarily off the tee; these are the ones with very curved faces and curved club soles. Other fairway woods seem to perform much better off the deck compared to the average fairway wood. A lot of that is determined by the sole design. It’s a bit hard to explain, but some fairway woods have a larger hitting area on the sole, leading to a wider and much more accessible club face across the entire club.

If you are looking for the easiest fairway wood to hit off the deck, you came to the right place. I’ve tried a good number of three woods over the past 6 or 7 years; many at demo days, others at my local club, and some first hand that I have bought. One thing that I always consider is how easy it appears a shot would be from the deck (AKA not on a tee) or in the fairway. If the club’s sole is very curved and doesn’t have a large hitting area on the bottom of the club face, it’s a no go for me. I’ve found that Callaway 3 woods are the easiest for me to hit solid shots off the deck with a three wood or any other fairway wood. As you can read about here in GolfWRX (popular golf forum), many other people would agree.

So let’s talk about what you can do to end your struggles with fairway woods without a tee.

1. Practice them more often. I went through the same realization. I was tired of mishitting my three wood, yet I hardly ever practiced it off the deck on the range. My advice to you, if it is really impacting your scores, is to hit a three wood off the deck on every other shot on the range. For example, after warming up, you might hit: driver, three wood off deck, wedge, 3W off deck, 5 iron, 3W off deck, etc. Trust me, it will make you much more comfortable over the ball after you hit some solid ones on the range.
2. Pick a three wood better designed for being hit off the deck/fairway. In the rest of this article, we are going to be talking about the three woods best designed to be hit off the deck, as opposed to those that excel more off the tee.

Most of these picks are coming from a combination of the GolfWRX article and form my personal experience with examining fairway woods that have soles better designed to be hit from the ground.

The Cheapest Fairway Wood that Is Great Off the Deck: Adams Tight Lies

From the article linked above, Adams Tight Lies fairway woods were by far one of the most mentioned fairway wood for being easiest to hit from the fairway. I’ve hit this club many times and I completely agree that it is a great club from every lie. In just about every way that I can think of, this is probably the exact club that you are looking for. Great launch angles, great design, great feel to it. Can’t ask for anything else really.

Just a great club for being hit from the ground really, as it is specifically designed to be hit from all different types of terrains and lies. If you struggle hitting your 3 wood from the deck, this is the cheapest option that I would consider without buying a crappy club. I know many of you were probably hoping for a club that would cost under $50, but that’s just not reasonable in my opinion, as you’ll end up in the off brands and lower end brands that aren’t reliable.

Characteristics that will help:

• large impact area low on the face
• higher ball speeds and height from the ghost slot technology
• less turf interaction due to “tri level sole” —> less likely to chunk

The Best Value Fairway Wood off the Ground: Callaway XR 16

Nearly all of Callaway’s three woods are built with a similar sole and club face design. From the start, I have always noticed that they have large hitting areas on the bottom part of the club faces. That’s why I currently play the Callaway Razr Fit Fairway Wood. And that’s why I’ll probably be gaming some model of Callaway fairway woods for the rest of my life.

If you want the absolute best bang for your buck, the Callaway XR 16 fairway wood is the club for you. It’s the best mix between price, distance, and forgiveness from the deck. If you want to save even more money, consider picking up a slightly older model three wood from Callaway. Like I mentioned before, they are all made just about the same way.

Why it will improve your fairway wood game:

• hyper speed face up for lower spinning shots and larger sweet spots
• low center of gravity for higher launch angles
• large hitting area on bottom of club face

The Overall Easiest Fairway Wood to Hit Off the Deck: Callaway Rogue

The Callaway Rogue Fairway Wood, although not mentioned in the GolfWRX forum due to it being a new release, seems that is is an absolute PERFECT match for hitting solid fairway woods off the deck. With this being the first time that jailbreak technology has been incorporated into a wood, this club could be the absolute best at getting the ball airborne quicker and improving forgiveness across the entire face .

Callaway’s class design with a wide sole + large hitting area on bottom of the face + jailbreak technology + low COG = tons of forgiveness and high balls flights off the deck

It will cost a little more than the other two options, but I think it is definitely worth it if you have the money. Otherwise, just get an older model Callaway wood that has a similarly wider club face.

Why it’s the easiest to hit off the deck:

• wider sole than other brands for increased forgiveness
• huge sweet spot compared to other woods
• thin, hot club face for higher ball speeds
• jailbreak technology for more speed and forgiveness across the face