Best Fairway Woods for High Handicappers 2024
Getting a fairway wood off the ground can be a struggle, but when you have the most forgiving fairway models of 2024, it becomes much easier.
Tested at – https://www.golf-it.com/
We put this year’s latest 2024 models from Callaway, Cobra, PXG and TaylorMade head-to-head to see which one is best for your game!
Our Gear Editor James Tait tested the fairway woods at the Golf It! Glasgow Trackman simulator to give us all the data.
0:00 Intro
0:45 The Tech
4:57 Testing
8:42 Trackman Data
13:11 James’ Opinion
#mostforgivingfairwaywoods2024 #fairwaywoods #golf #callaway #taylormade #pxg #cobragolf
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Video shot on location at Golf it!, Glasgow, Home | Golf It (golf-it.com)
A lot of brands have been going after forgiveness in 2024 so today I have four brand new Fairways from this year which are going to be perfect if you’re looking for forgiveness now if you’re a mid to high handicapper that struggles to hit fairy woods whether it’s getting
The ball in the air hitting it straighter or just having that more forgiveness because you Mish hit it off the center of the face a lot of the time we have four options here today that are going to be perfect we have the pxg Black Ops we have the Callaway AI smoke
Max D we also have the qi1 Max and the Cobra dark Speed Max now these are all very different in Tech and look and to be honest they all have something a little bit different to offer so we’re going to dive in and find out just how
They all differ okay so first up we have the Callaway AI smoke Max D fairy now this is Callaway’s most forgiving Fairway model it’s also their highest launching model as well it looks great it’s very clean and you’ve got the carbon chassis at the bottom which has
Saved 24 G of weight so you’ve got 12 of that which has been put forward right here and then 12 which is been kind of placed at the rear now on top of that you have the brand new AI smart face which we’ve seen in the drivers and as
You probably know from the reviews that were done already it is very forgiven across the whole face with those mini kind of uh sweet spots dotted around so if you do Mish hit the ball you’re going to see a lot more straighter longer and higher flighted shots as well just
Because there’s so much forgiveness across the face okay up next we have the Cobra dark Speed Max now this is firstly a really nice looking Club especially with it being all black cobra kind of stepped away from their the brighter colors that you may have seen in the
Past but we have some familiar technology shall we say which we’ve seen in the Aero jet in previous generation so we have the power bridge waiting we have the the power shell insert we have the hot face and then you have the adjustable weighting which you can play
Around with that draw byas setting as well so the hot face is going to give you forgiveness across the whole face so no matter where you hit it you’re still going to see great distance and great speed as well off that and with the PO shell insert it’s just going to add to
That forgiveness and making sure there’s no energy lost when coming off the face really cool with a power bridge waiting at the front as well again which just going to give you more distance so what cobra have done this year they’ve kind of really kind of doubled down on that
Distance and speed package with the Cobra dark speed up next is the QI 10 Max now just like Qi 10 Max driver which is tailor made’s most forgiving driver today the qi1 max Fairway is tailor made’s most forgiving Fairway today as well 200 cc head it has the same similar
Tech traits as the driver does we have the Infinity Crown we have the little kind of White Strip that sits between the face and the crown as well so it just makes it easier to align we have the twist face technology in there so if
You do have those M hits you’re going to see a lot straighter bul lights and higher bu lights and longer distance as well now you’ve also got the speed pocket on the bottom so if you hit it low in the face again your speeds and distances are going to be maintained
Overall what you have is a fairway that’s going to give you the most forgiveness and best distances possible in this 200cc head up next we have the pxg Black Ops now this Fairway is really interesting as it’s one of two options that you can get in the Fairway so as
You can see with you know the likes of Cobra Callaway and ta made you usually have kind of three Fairway options there’s only two and this is the most forgiving one from pxg in the Black Ops what I like about this is it’s slightly different than the other ones that it’s
Not as shallow uh in the head and the face a little bit more squarer kind of almost a little bit similar to uh a hybrid if I’m really honest now you’ve got the carbon crown and then you’ve got all this adjustability on the bottom as well which you can change around and
Make it as high in Moi Fairway as possible giving you great stability especially on those M hits across the face which is then going to give you great distance and also straight shots as well now new to this Fairway Wood is the high strength stainless steel face
Which is going to give you not only a great feel but it’s going to give you great speed and great distance as well now what you’re going to find is the internal rib design is going to give you great stiffness and support with those ball speeds as well and then you combine
That with the adjustable weighting you’ve got great Moi you’re going to see great speeds great distance it’s going to be easy to hit especially on those M hits okay so it’s time to jump on the Trap man get some numbers and up first we’re going to be hitting the callway AI
Smoke Max D fairway I love the little Chevron at the top which marks the middle of the face I used to have a Callaway steel head Fairway which I used to love um but it’s got a very similar shape but it looks great feels great in
The hands quite excited to see what it sounds and feels like as well now with a draw by driver I will see it go a little the left like that for example but it feels great it’s very crisp off the face sounds great too and
Not going to lie that is a pretty nice shot all right so up next is the Cobra dark Speed Max now it’s the only matte finish Fairway we have today so it does stand out and I do like the way this looks at a dress already maybe a little low in the face
Oh how nice is that nice little fade down the middle like and sub now please thank you very much that is really easy look at the height as well really easy to get in the air I did hit it a little low in the face but the speeds the ball speeds been
Very impressive more of an aerodynamic kind of story to this head and you can kind of see that with the club speed there as well up next tailor maid’s most forgiving Fairway today the QI 10 Max 200 cc bigger head shallow long one thing I
Like I I do like the infinity Crown I think that’s a really nice touch that Taylor Made I’ve done this year looks very clean that works God look at the height on that now one thing I will say is with the qi1 max The Loft is slightly Higher by a degree
So it’s at 16 so you will see straight away a slightly higher flight but I mean that’s just gone in the air with you know just with with ease and the speed as well coming off that face is just nuts feels effortless really easy to hit
Really nice okay so up next we have pxg Black Ops I like the way the carbon Crown just kind of separates itself from the little alignment Aid so you got a nice kind of like clear black strip the face is a little bit taller than obviously the other three that I’ve hit
So far which I can see so it’s a little bit more squarer fell fell off that straight down the middle so I actually lost my balance a little bit there and it’s gone pretty much straight down the middle the height of it really good now what I will say is this is a
Forwood that I have so it’s playing at 16.5 de obviously I’ve got fitted for this because it’s just that Gap that I need between my longer those kind of longer irons as well but just shows you how easy this is to get in the air a lot
Of fun to hit feels great sounds great comes off like a bullet what’s not to love okay so we’re going to hit five shots with each Fairway and then we’re going to do a big comparison at the end we’re going to talk about ball speed distance height spin dispersion and give
You all the data you need so before we dive into the numbers just want to say a big shout out and thank you to goit none of this would be possible without this lovely trapman simulator they have here and if you haven’t checked out you need
To check out when you’re in Glasgow so a big shout out and a thank you to them okay so here are the numbers and we’re going to start off with the Callaway AI smoke maxd now the maxd is this white circle that you can see here now you may
Think that oh they seem maybe a little bit far apart but if there’s one thing thing that they have in common is just look how consistent the distance is and that’s what I found with this the consistency and distance no matter where you hit it off the face was really very
Good the ball speeds are incredibly fast it’s really easy to get in the air as well the Height’s great I actually found it quite low spinning um which was which was interesting but because it’s so H High launching and needy to get in the air like the carry distance is is insane
And then you’re going to get that roll out as well with the distance but yeah the the new AI smart face is fantastic and with this being uh a draw byas head as well you know you I was going to find a couple that are going to be on the
Left but when I I try to obviously fight against it a little bit and hold the face a little bit more Square I did see a lot more kind of going down the middle as well but this is an amazing option if you want that faster ball speed and
Consistency and distance the AI smoke is is a great great option okay so up next is the Cobra dark Speed Max now this one as you can see is a yellow box now I actually struggled with this because I was just trying to fight fight it from
Going going left that just shows you how strong the draw bias is in in this head so if you are someone who does hit that big left to right shot you’re going to see this go right into the center so you’re going to hit straight or shot straight away
Now one thing I did notice was the ball speed now I got the fastest ball speeds out of the the Cobra dark speed which was really impressive to see and the height it was really easy to get in the air as well it did spin that little bit
More so if you are someone who needs to keep the ball in the air and get that little bit extra carry you’re going to see that with this and you’re going to get that roll out and you’re going to see some great distances as well so if
You’re looking for Speed and a little bit more distance the Cobra dark speed is going to be a great option up next is the tailor made Qi 10 Max now this is tailor made’s most forgiving Fairway today and for good reason and here’s why now in the blue
Circle this is the tailor made qi1 Max now there’s a couple on the left which is obviously me trying to fight from turning the face over and when I manag to keep it a little bit more Square you can just see how straight this is it’s very forgiving very stable you’ve got
Incredibly fast ball speeds it’s really easy to launch it’s incredibly easy to get in the air 133 ft spin is great as well and the carry and total yardage with that extra bit of roll is superb if you’re wanting something which is going to give you you know consistency
Straighter shots and something that’s really easy to launch and get in the air and with that twist face technology you’re going to see the Forgiveness you’re looking for as well all right so we have the pxg black tops very this felt great off the face and dispersion
Wise in consistency was very good as well I was kind of turning it over I was hitting a little right to left today but you can just see how consistent it is now the one thing I liked about it was it wasn’t the the necessarily the the highest launching but it was somewhere
In between really nice to look at very different in shape as well a little bit more kind of compact I would say in comparison to others but the ball speeds are brilliant as well along with your spin rates easy to launch and the carry distance and total yardage really very
Impressive as well obviously with the adjustable weighting in the tool heel and at the back as well you can really make this as stable and as high Moi as you like so it’s going to give you the most forgiveness and stability for yourself and your game as well and
That’s exactly what you see here is just great consistency stability easy to launch and great ball speed as well those four Fairway options are the most forgiving options that have come out in 2024 I mean as you can see very consistent very forgiving easy to launch but loads of different Tech across the
Range to kind of suit you and your needs of what you need in your G so hopefully you’ve got all the information you need to make the decision and go out get fitted for those Fairways I’ve been James from bunard see you next time
