The Best Fairway Woods for Seniors (Golf Club Buying Guide)
Before hybrid clubs became popular among amateur and professional golfers, the fairway wood was the popular choice of club almost every golfer carried in their golf bag.
The fairway wood is a great utility club for replacing the hard-to-hit 2 iron and 3 iron clubs. It is also a great option for tee shots when you need control and don’t trust the driver.
In this guide we will be reviewing the best fairway wood golf clubs for seniors.
As your body ages, you’ll begin noticing a decrease in your swing speed and power, thus your golf shots will not travel as far as they used to.
Many senior golfers will rely heavily on their fairway wood for distance to get them to the green. Picking out the right fairway wood will be key to your success. Let’s dive deeper into our review of the best fairway woods for seniors.
Why a Fairway Wood is a Must for Seniors
The fairway wood will become a very important club for seniors to help you maintain your length on the golf course and still reach greens in regulation.
For most seniors, you’ll likely want to include multiple woods in the bag to serve different types of shots. Higher lofted woods can help you hit out of the rough as well as help you hit straighter shots from the fairways to the green.
We also recommend increasing the loft on your driver to help you maintain maximum distance off the tee as long as possible.
A good combination of a high lofted driver, multiple fairway woods, and multiple hybrids should serve you well in helping you maintain distance in your 60’s, 70’s, and 80s.
Here is a recommended club set for a senior golfer:
- Driver with at least 11 to 14 degrees of loft
- 3-Wood (15 to 17 degrees of loft)
- 5-Wood (19 to 21 degrees of loft)
- 4-Hybrid (replaces your 4 iron, 23-25 degrees loft)
- 5-Hybrid (replaces your 5 iron, 27 degrees loft)
- 6-Hybrid (replaces your 6 iron, 29-31 degrees loft)
With that being said, let’s jump into our review now of the best golf fairway woods for seniors. This list considers a variety of options from best wood for distance to forgiveness to price.
Top Fairway Woods to Buy for Seniors
Callaway Rogue ST MAX
The Callaway Rogue ST Max fairway wood is one of the market leaders for many reasons. To start, Callaway created its jailbreak technology which stiffens the crown and sole of the club to create more speed and make the sweet spot even larger!
Additionally, they have added the hyper speed face cup which is extremely fast by itself but Jailbreak technology makes it even faster. The face cup is designed to produce more ball speed on both center hits and off-center hits.
Callaway also added internal standing wave technology to their Rogue Woods just like they did to their irons. What this tech does is it positions the center of gravity low and forward to promote a combination of high launch and low spin, which are the perfect ingredients for a longer golf shot.
The next great feature you’ll find in the Callaway Rogue Fairway Woods is the Triaxial Carbon Crown. This composite material is lighter and stronger than steel.
As a result, Callaway is able to position the crown on the outside perimeter to improve forgiveness of the club, helping you hit straighter off center golf shots.
The Callaway Rogue Wood is offered in a variety of shaft, weight, and loft options making it easy for seniors to get fitted to suit your swing tendencies and needs.
Overall, this is one of the best fairway woods for seniors looking for forgiveness and will help you maximize distance with a slowing swing speed due to aging.
Check out the ST Max fairway wood on Amazon
Cobra King F6 Fairway Wood
Another great option for seniors is the Cobra King F6. The main feature you’ll love about the club is the adjustable plate that shifts the center of gravity from the front or back.
This works great depending on the type of golf course you’re playing.
For senior golfers playing Florida golf courses that are firm with lots of roll out, you’ll benefit from setting the CG to the front. This will produce a low golf shot with more roll.
If you’re playing Northern U.S. style golf courses where the grounds are softer, then setting the CG back will give you more height on your shots as well as more forgiveness.
Other features we like:
- Cobra’s innovative speed channel improves your overall ball speed
- The My Fly Smartpad gives you even more versatility and allows you to make adjustments to the loft.
- Different weight options and you can select the one that works best with your swing.
- Several shaft flexes to choose form depending on your swing speed needs. If your losing speed with age, you can digress down from a stiff shaft to shafts that have more flex.
Resource: Learn how to get better at golf using a practice plan with drills, worksheets, and videos
TaylorMade M4 Fairway Wood
Another great fairway wood option for seniors to buy is the M4 Fairway Wood made by TaylorMade.
This fairway wood delivers high ball speeds helping you maximize your distance off the tee while also delivering straighter golf shots to help you split fairways down the middle.
TaylorMade designed this club with a new “Speed Pocket” design and internal cone technology which increases forgiveness and increases the sweet spot on the club’s face.
The M4 fairway wood has been designed with split internal weights that increase forgiveness and promote more ball speed across the face.
Geocoustic technology utilizes an intricate blend of geometric and acoustical engineering to give the M4 fairway versatile playability and superior feel.
With its generous head size, this is a friendlier fairway wood.
The thinner steel section in front of the carbon crown is now silver which gives it a calmer look at address as well as offering the face contrast to aid alignment.
You can choose from 5 different lofts which allows you to fill in the distance gaps in your bag if you want to replace irons with woods to increase your distances.
The M4 is an older model of fairway wood from TaylorMade so it should be cost affordable. Its technology makes it a great choice for seniors as it’s one of the easier fairway woods to hit from the TaylorMade club line up.
Resource: Learn how to get better at golf using a practice plan with drills, worksheets, and videos
Fairway Wood Design History
Fairway woods used by golfers today are much different than the older versions used 30+ years ago.
One of the major differences is that modern woods contain steel or titanium which is a much lighter material allowing you to generate much faster clubhead speed.
Additionally, modern fairway woods have weight balancing designs which help you control the club for more accurate golf shots and better distance. This is one reason you may notice you hit your fairway woods straighter than the driver.
But you pay for it by sacrificing some distance, which I’m sure you’re okay with if it means hitting the next shot from fairway instead of thick rough.
How Much Do Fairway Woods Cost Today?
When shopping for fairway woods, most today cost between $120 to $200 with the average price of a fairway wood falling around $160.
You can of course find used fairway wood clubs for cheaper, but another trick when buying a fairway wood for a senior is to shop for previous year’s models to get discounted pricing.
For example, the current year’s version of fairway wood might be charging you $220 but if you go back to a few years ago you may find prices have dropped to $160.
Do Seniors Get Discounts on Fairway Woods?
Unfortunately, no. Seniors do not get discounts on fairway wood pricing at golf retail stores. Stores will usually run sales when the manufacturer is offering a sale or if competitors are offering sales.
