Should these new ‘super hybrids’ replace your fairway woods?
A trusty fairway wood has many benefits. It can stand in for driver off the tee on wayward days and help you reach par 5s in two. It can even help you get up and down from light rough and tightly mown aprons around greens. But not everyone can hit a fairway wood off the deck, and many older golfers struggle to generate the speed to launch them high enough to stop their balls on greens. If this is you, you might benefit from putting a ‘super hybrid’ in the bag instead – a club that looks and feels like a hybrid, but provides the distance and power of a fairway wood.
Callaway has released a new highperformance Apex Utility Wood, which is getting a lot of love out on the pro tours.
Built with feedback from Phil Mickelson, it is billed as a multi-purpose club that better players can rely on from the tee, fairway or rough.
Then there’s the new Cleveland Launcher XL Hy-wood, which features an MOI of 2,961 g-cm² – the most ever in a Cleveland hybrid. It also has three rails on the sole, which help keep the clubface straight regardless of lie quality, and a ‘Hibore Crown Step’ that lowers the centre of gravity and increases launch.
Finally, there’s the Titleist TSI1, a totally new shape for the brand that is large, playable and 20g lighter than a standard hybrid. It comes in lofts closer to traditional long-irons, ranging from 20º to 29º, but due to its design and larger head profile, we consider the lowest-lofted models a suitable replacement for a 4- or 5-wood.
These super hybrids are a realistic alternative to carrying fairway woods and offer great versatility, closing the distance gap between drivers and longirons. As with all golf clubs, it’s highly personal and subjective, so test them out first, but the rise of the super hybrid increases the options for more golfers.