In today’s Blog, we will look at the main differences between hybrids and fairway woods.

While cleaning up my basement earlier this winter I discovered a few 1/2/3 irons that I had hung on to over the years and even have practiced with from time to time. As the years go by I’m so thankful that I grew up in the hybrid era and didn’t have to worry about hitting those long iron blades! We have been fortunate during most of the 21st century to have many options to replace our harder-to-hit longer irons. Even though iron construction is miles ahead of older technology, we all find a certain number iron in our bags where we don’t feel confident anymore. For some that is a 4 for others, it can be a 6.

Over the years there has been an increase not only in higher lofted hybrids but also higher lofted fairways. This has bled even into the PGA Tour where most players are carrying at least a 5-wood but many a 7-wood or higher. The advantages in height, distance, versatility, and consistency far outweigh that of the same lofted iron.

As with our other topics so far I decided to see what the main differences would be between the hybrids and fairways of the same lofts. As always insert here the disclaimer about human error however this was an extremely close test.

20* Hybrid 20* Fairway 24* Hybrid 24* Fairway 27* Hybrid 27* Fairway

Launch angle 12.8* 16.0* 15.6* 18.4* 17.3* 20.8*

Spin 2818 3392 3400 4116 3962 5016

Height 52’ 67’ 65’ 78’ 69’ 87’

Carry 175y 170y 162y 159y 147y 145y

Total 200y 190y 185y 175y 165y 160y

Landing Angle 29.3* 36.4* 35.9* 41.8* 36.9* 46*

Let’s dive into this data a little deeper. What you will notice right away is the hybrid will generally launch a bit lower, have more ball speed, and spin lower than the same lofted fairway wood. Why is that? If we look at the construction of the two clubs we will typically see hybrids being shorter front to back which tends to move the center of gravity (CG) closer to the face and higher towards the crown of the club. When we look at a lofted fairway wood it is longer front to back, which squishes the clubhead and allows the CG to be lower and further back. This is why fairways woods typically launch higher and spin more.

So what can we do with this information?

If we are searching for softer landing approaches into the greens - try some lofted fairways. If you are looking for a long iron replacement to hit the ball as far as you can off the green perhaps try a hybrid. Again this is a general rule and you may actually launch the clubs opposite to what is expected.

We are equipped with many demo options in a higher lofted hybrid/fairway so please don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule a fitting or to demo some alternative options.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog on Irons,

Adam