The 6 Best & Easiest Fairway Woods for Beginners [2023]

Fairway woods are the second longest of all the golf clubs in your bag. They are designed to maximize long-range play distance between the tee box and the deck.

Many amateurs find it easier to launch off the green with the 3 and 5 woods than with a driver. I created a list of the top fairway woods for beginners.

This post will show you how to launch the longest fairway woods. They are both easy to launch and very forgiving. These options will help you get your ball to the air, keep it straight, and increase your overall distance.

For those golfers who just need a quick recommendation, these are our top picks:

What to Look For in Good Fairway Woods for Beginners

Ball Speed

High handicap golfers tend towards swinging on the slower side of the spectrum. This makes it difficult to generate sufficient clubhead speed and ball speed for a powerful launch. You’ll find that a fairway wood with a high-strength stainless steel face is a suitable option for ball velocity aid.

A fairway wood with a wider sweet spot and a flexible face is also a good choice. They help you maintain speed when hitting off-center.

Clean Turf Interaction

Your woods must provide smooth turf interaction to allow your clubhead to glide through the grass and strike the ball cleanly from any position. Inefficient interaction with turf could result in your clubhead sticking to the turf, reducing your swing speed as well as the quality of your strike.

Mid – Low Spin

You need to reduce your spin off the clubface to optimize distance, or you’ll balloon your strikes. For high handicappers who have a tendency to produce excess spin at impact, fairway woods with medium to low spin are the best.

High Launch

Amateurs face another challenge: the inability of getting their golf ball to fly consistently. If the ball doesn’t fly, you won’t be able to produce any distance and you will have to endure many hours on the course. You want a fairway club with a low centre of gravity (CG), to produce high-flying shots as well as increased carry distance.

Straight Ball Flight

Accuracy is another area where most golfers struggle. To keep you in play, I recommend choosing a wood that encourages straighter flight. Because it reduces the fear of right miss, draw bias profiles are very popular among higher handicappers.

The golf club’s profile resists slice side spin, allowing for straighter shots and keeping you out of trouble. A fairway wood that can be adjusted is one way to achieve straighter ball flight. You can adjust the clubface loft and lie to achieve your desired launch.

Maximum Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the final feature you should consider. You need to be patient and kind as a novice in order to keep your lines straight and long. You’ll find that woods with an expanded sweet spot, oversized club head, and flexible face offer the most forgiveness.

A larger head increases stability and moment-of-inertia (MOI), to keep your clubhead in contact. The wider sweet spot also maintains ball speed and reduces spin from mishits, resulting in straighter results. A flexible clubface also increases spring at impact, which helps retain velocity on strikes lower off the clubface.

6 Best Fairway Woods For Beginners

1. Callaway Rogue ST Max D

The Callaway Rogue ST MaxThis innovative fairway wood is packed with the most recent advancements in golf technology. This wood is the best choice for high handicappers who want high forgiveness, high launch, and high ball speed.

The angle of the clubface is the key difference between the ST Max D, and its siblings. It is designed to prevent slice golf shots and provides a draw bias that improves accuracy.

An A.I. Jailbreak System, an A.I. designed system, improves stability at impact and maximizes clubface flexibility to accelerate velocity. Its core feature, a 27-gram tungsten speed cart, positions the CG low for low spin and accelerated ball speed.

A.I is featured in the C300 maraging face to provide the expected ball velocity, spin and high launch.  The clubface is extremely durable and flexible, producing high speed and consistent spin.

Lofts

3-wood	5-wood	7-wood
16°	19°	22°

Pros

• Combats slices for better long-game accuracy
• Encourages a high level of launch
• Maximum forgiveness
• Rapid ball speed across all clubfaces
• Moderate spin

Cons

• Expensive
• Hook shots can be made worse by a draw bias profile

2.TaylorMade Stealth

A 3D carbon crown reduces the weight of the club by repositioning it in the heel. The angle encouraged a draw bias shot, which mitigated the impact of slices off tee.

The Stealth has an advanced laser alignment aid that helps golfers see where the clubface is pointing. The V-Steel sole performed well, producing a smooth strike from the fairway and rough.

The Twist Face design is also a good choice for beginners, as it has spin on off-center strikes. Because the clubface generates straighter shots, it keeps you in play. The classic TaylorMade Thru Slot speed pocket, which enhances flexibility on low-face strikes and generates high ball velocity, provides a high launch on all strikes.

Lofts

3-wood	3 HL	5-wood	7-wood	9-wood
15°	16.5°	18°	21°	24°

Pros

• Available in multiple lofts
• Advanced laser alignment for a precise set up
• Outstanding turf interaction
• Optimal forgiveness
• Straighter results with combats off-center strikes

Cons

• It does not have an adjustable loft hosel
• High handicappers are likely to find it expensive

3. Cleveland Launcher XL Halo

The expanded clubhead is noticeable off the bat. This is good news from a forgiveness standpoint. The larger head provides aggressive MOI and low weighting to limit the effects of mishits and promote straighter results.

The Gliderail system worked well for me. It allowed my clubhead to fly through the grass and connect the ball easily. You will also appreciate the Rebound Frame, which promotes clubface flexibility and stability for exceptional ball speed and speed.

The frame’s flexible area increases velocity by increasing velocity on strikes across its face, ensuring a consistent launch. The rigid area, on the other hand, helps to limit spin and ensure maximum yardage. The Hibore Crown Step design will ensure a consistent high launch.

Lofts

3-wood	5-wood	7-wood
15°	18°	21°

Pros

• Super forgiving
• Encourages straighter shots
• Crisp turf interaction
• High launch
• Consistent ball speed & spin

Cons

• The large head is not attractive
• Minimal workability

4. PXG 0211

The HT 1770 Stainless Steel Face was the first thing that stood out to my attention. It worked well to increase speed for all shots. I was able to see that even heel and tip strikes gave me sufficient contact to achieve a satisfactory result.

PXG’s Railed Sole Geometry system was added to their site. This serves two purposes. It pushes the CG down and increases the MOI. It also promotes clean interaction between the grass and it.

Although I couldn’t see the next feature, I felt the difference on off-center strikes. Honeycomb TPE Insert dampened vibrations from mishits to protect my hands and provide a soft feel. It also produced a loud sound when struck out of the middle.

Lofts

3-wood	5-wood	7-wood
15°	18°	21°

Pros

• Moderately reasonable
• Amazing acoustics and feel
• High launching
• Optimal forgiveness
• Superb turf interaction

Cons

• The weights used to adjust precision-weighting technology are not included
• The stock grip provided very limited traction in wet conditions, according to me

5. Cobra Radspeed Draw

Cobra engineers fitted these fairway woods to a 16- and 7-gram RAD weight. To create a draw bias profile, the larger structure is used internally in the heel.

This fights sidespin, which aggravates a slice to promote accurate shots. To produce moderate spin, and high launch, the back is fitted with a lighter weighting system.

The CNC Milled clubface was next, which increased ball speed and length. Hollow Split Rails are used to support this feature. They provide 70% more flexibility for better turf interaction, ball speeds, and launch.

A thin carbon crown gives the clubface more flexibility, which allows for faster swing speed as well as powerful strike.

Lofts

3-wood	5-wood	7-wood
14.5°	18.5°	22.5°

Pros

• Promotes straighter shots
• Highly forgiving
• Explosive ball speed off the clubface
• For a higher launch, generates medium spin
• Crisp ground interation

Cons

• Some slower swingers may find the 3-wood loft too strong.
• If your rhythm and tempo don’t match, you can get drawn bias.

6. TaylorMade SIM 2 Max D

This 190cc clubhead features a strategically low CG setup to produce high-flying fairway shot wood shots. I noticed that I had the V-Steel sole design to thank for the low CG and the club’s clean ground interaction. It moved across the ground with minimal friction to produce a sweet strike.

TaylorMade chose a High Strength C300 clubface, which generates a rapid pace and has an expanded zone for consistent velocity. You will still be able to maintain ball speed even on off-center hits.

To the forgiveness of the SIM 2 Max DTwist Face technology is available as well as a Thru Slot Speed Pocket. The Twist Face technology uses corrective facial curvature to counter the effects of heel- and toe-mishits. Instead, it produces straighter flights for greater accuracy.

The Thru-Slot Speed Pocket increases the flexibility of your clubface for low-face strikes. You’ll notice that you still deliver elevated ball pace to get it airborne and traveling for ample carry distance.

TaylorMade also designed the SIM 2 Max D with an open clubface at contact, which reduces the impact of an open profile clubhead profile. This allows for straighter results.

Lofts

3-wood	5-wood	7-wood
16°	19°	22°

Pros

• Reduction in price from the original listing
• High launch
• Draw bias, helps boost your accuracy
• Maximum forgiveness
• Clean turf interaction

Cons

• Snap hooks can be created by the draw bias
• It is more costly than some newly released drivers.