Well, I think first we should clear up why we are only testing 3 Woods and not 3’s and 5’s. The reason is simple, why group them? Some golfers hit a 3 wood and don’t hit a 5; some hit a 5 and not a 3, so we wanted to test them differently. Got a problem with that? Talk to Paul (just kidding).
The 3 Wood is such an interesting club for so many reasons. Depending on skill level and personal preference, most golfers consider the use of this club for a wide variety of shots. Although the brand junkies will disagree, it seems that most golfers are not as concerned with the brand of the 3 wood as they are with other categories.
High Handicappers often use it when their Driver isn’t working off the tee (although most 3 woods are not designed to be hit off a tee, so I’ve learned). Others use it for a hopeful, yet low percentage shot to reach the green in 2 on a par 5. So distance seems to be a big deal for 3 woods, along with the obvious forgiveness. Low Handicappers are usually concerned with feel, ball flight and accuracy, although everyone seems to want more distance. In my humble opinion, Senior’s are mostly concerned with distance, but the look and feel of a club are close behind. Accuracy is also an important consideration. For shots that they previously hit with their long irons, they now use a hybrid. Some of their older friends are replacing their hybrids with fairway woods…
Women are more concerned with the look (and weight) of the club initially, but want performance (distance) and feel too. For them, this club is hit more times in an average 18 than men. It appears to be inconsequential to them what club someone else is hitting.
Prior to the Rankmarkers testing and rating the clubs, the anticipation of trying the new products from almost 27 choices was incredible. (click here for a list).
“It’s like a standing on the first tee of a course you’ve always wanted to play, you just feel excited and breathe it in” said one of the Rankmarkers waiting to hit.
We honestly don’t know many golfers who aren’t very interested in what’s new, or what the latest and greatest products are. Many club makers gave us product that isn’t even on the market yet! We all love brand new stuff!
It was another amazing test. The Rankmarkers lined up and we had perfect weather in January for them. Paul and I never get tired of hearing golfers talk about trying the new clubs. Numerous testers were very pleasantly surprised with the experience. The “AHA” factor as Paul so eloquently puts. (click here to read Paul’s article).
Unlike the wedge test, we had different shaft flexes for the testers to choose from. We had Stiff, Regular, Senior’s and Women’s. Some shafts were categorized as Lite/Light and even Medium Lite (for either Women or Seniors presumably).
In a recent radio interview, I commented that there is obviously some benefit to the massive sums of money that the “biggies” spend on R&D. In this month’s test, it seems to have paid off for the number one and two categories respectively.
That being said, our methodology proves that not all of the clubs that the majors make match their advertising claims (you may notice there are no club manufactures ads on the site anymore). There were some very interesting comments about clubs from companies you may have never heard of! This was especially true in the “Overall Winner” category. The 3rd Place club was preferred and recommended over 25 other options! Although relatively well know in another county, we were happy to invite them into the winners circle here in our wonderful USA.
Kudos again to Brad Booth, PGA Head Professional and John Ortega, PGA Director of Instruction at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club for all their help. Carolyn Tashiro, our Manager of National Testing also worked tirelessly in preparation, during and post testing, thanks!
By adding 18 new test categories (including Women’s), we feel like we really improved our ability to share with you (without any influence from the manufacturers) how regular golfers really feel about the clubs. We appreciate your trust and recognize the responsibility in producing unbiased reporting of what our testers say. Once again we heard so many wonderful compliments about the way the test was conducted and the overall experience. A most enjoyable time was had by all.
We simply wish to provide valuable information to all golfers, whether new to the game or seasoned low handicapper. Of particular note, we do find a huge void in the “performance” aspect of the women’s clubs though. Manufacturers must make more of an effort to improve the performance of women’s clubs as well as the look and feel etc.
Thanks for visiting and keep coming back!
Andrew Birnbaum, CEO
Paul McCormack, COO
Polar Weighting
Aerodynamic Body Design
VFT Technology
Fusion Technology