{"id":799729,"date":"2026-10-12T02:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T02:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799729\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T02:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T02:24:27","slug":"why-higher-lofted-fairway-woods-are-losing-their-stigma-national-club-golfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799729\/","title":{"rendered":"Why higher-lofted fairway woods are losing their stigma – National Club Golfer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are high-lofted fairway woods becoming an increasingly popular alternative to long irons and hybrids?<\/p>\n

In an era where we seem to have never-ending choice, are we finally willing to choose equipment based on performance rather than popularity?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there was there was a stigma attached to using a lofted fairway,\u201d reckons Srixon\u2019s product manager Joe Miller. <\/p>\n

He told the Your Golf podcast<\/a>: \u201cPeople were like, \u2018Oh, I can\u2019t use a 9-wood\u2019, but you see tour players using high-lofted (fairway woods).\u201d<\/p>\n

Where players may once have only been able to choose between long irons and hybrids, the emergency of 5, 7- and 9-woods has widened choice. <\/p>\n

Miller said the change is an attitude shift. Golfers are now leaning into clubs that can help with launch, distance and speed in a more effective way.<\/p>\n

He pointed to former world No. 1 Vijay Singh as a player prepared to use a high-lofted fairway wood because it gave him a performance advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he used to use a really high lofted fairway wood,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen I had a conversation with him about it, I asked him why he would use a club such as this. He said, \u2018Joe, when you\u2019re playing the US Open or the PGA, you can\u2019t stop it with spin. You have to stop it with descent angle, those greens are like concrete\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used one to great effect. I think he had one in the bag at Whistling Straits where he won (the 2004 PGA Championship), a period where he became pretty much one of the best golfers in the world, and he wasn\u2019t afraid to use a club that was fit for purpose. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t care what his peers said. He wanted to win a golf tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA look at the Srixon ZXi fairway wood in action | Source: Srixon<\/p>\n

Is the long iron becoming a thing of the past? <\/p>\n

Golf can be susceptible to trends and Miller believes they may have put off golfers using clubs that suit them. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe play golf in groups,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m absolutely convinced if golf was a solo sport, most golfers would use slightly different clubs. They wouldn\u2019t come under that peer pressure. We\u2019d see more lofted fairways, more hybrids and less irons.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s a game where you can be ridiculed at times. So it\u2019s about getting that happy medium between something that looks really good and works really well. There\u2019s a crossover and I truly believe our products achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an attitude than could be changing. If you look in the bags of all the top pros, you\u2019ll see more fairway woods than ever. It\u2019s showing in the decline of the long-iron.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiger (Woods) managed to keep the popularity of a 2-iron with that stinger he could hit. That popularity disappeared years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe popularity of the 3-iron has also effectively disappeared. The 4s gone, apart from those with high ball speeds and the 5 is pretty much on the way out as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally speaking, most people would benefit from their longest iron being a 5, and instead consider a utility iron or a hybrid.\u201d<\/p>\n

LISTEN TO OUT PODCAST<\/p>\n

NOW HAVE YOUR SAY<\/p>\n

What is the highest lofted fairway wood you have in the bag? Do you use hybrids and long irons too? Do you find it easier to launch the ball using a higher-lofted fairway wood than a long iron? Let us know in the comments or by getting in touch with us on X<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are high-lofted fairway woods becoming an increasingly popular alternative to long irons and hybrids? In an era where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-799729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}