What are the best fairway woods in golf?

That question is more difficult to answer than other club categories, such as drivers and irons, because of all the different ways golfers use their fairway woods. Some players prefer to use fairway woods off the tee almost exclusively to help them find more fairways, while others need to hit their fairway woods into par 4’s and par 5’s to improve their scoring chances. Other golfers use them for both purposes, which further complicates things.

As a result, we’ve separated this year’s list of best fairway woods into three different categories. The golfers who are looking to maximize the distance they can hit their fairway woods should look closely at our “Distance-First” category, which includes our picks for the five longest fairway woods in golf. Those who lean heavily on their fairway woods for approach shots will want to pay special attention to our “Forgiveness-First” category, which list models that tend to fly higher and a little straighter than others. Finally, golfers who want fairway woods that are long, straight and playable from a variety of lies should look into our “Balanced-Performance” category.

It should be noted that unlike our Gear Trials: Best Drivers list, we’ve group certain models together such as Callaway’s X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, Tour Edge Exotics’ XCG7 and XCG7 Beta and Titleist’s 913F and 913F.d. While the design of these fairway woods are slightly different, they are seen by our team and fitters more as different fitting options than different clubs entirely, as they produce slightly different launch conditions that help golfers dial in the best possible fairway woods for their game.

Click here to read 2014 Gear Trials: Best Drivers, our list of the best drivers in golf for 2014.

Who votes?

Now for the toughest question we had to answer: How do we create such a list?

In the past, we relied on both the feedback of our equipment editors and an elite panel of custom fitters located across North America. For this year’s list, we decided we needed another component: mass player testing of every major manufacturer’s fairway woods performed by fitters at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti, Mich. Those fitters spent eight days with 33 different testers of various ability levels evaluating a total of 27 different fairway woods. Each fairway wood was tested with its stock stiff-flex shaft and had as close to 15 degrees of loft as possible. The data was then normalized by the team at Miles of Golf in order to rank each fairway woods’ launch, spin and smash factor.

After the data was collected, we surveyed our five other top custom fitters located across North America — Carl’s Golfland, Modern Golf, Morton Golf and two other custom fitters who chose to remain anonymous on the top performing fairway woods heads in each category.

The scoring process

Unlike in year’s past, this year’s scores were entirely based on the performance of each fairway wood, removing the subjective categories of looks, sound and feel from the equation. What was left was the votes of our custom fitters (60 percent of a fairway wood’s score), the results of our mass player test (30 percent of a fairway wood’s score) and the votes of our staff members (10 percent of a fairway wood’s score).

Now that we’ve added up the scores, we present to you our list of the absolute best fairway woods in golf. We consider each of these fairway woods to be a winner, which is why they’re listed in alphabetical order (Note: You can click the images of each fairway wood to enlarge the text).

Distance

Listed in alphabetic order

Looking for the most possible distance from your fairway wood? Look no further than this list, which includes two titanium-faced fairway woods (Adams XTD Ti and Tour Edge Exotics’ XCG7 Beta), as well as five of the fastest steel fairway woods that our club fitters have ever tested in Callaway’s X2 Hot, Callaway’s X2 Hot Pro, TaylorMade’s SLDR and TaylorMade’s SLDR S and Tour Edge Exotics’ XCG7.

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: Adams’ XTD Ti fairway woods use a variety of constructions to help golfers get the most possible distance from the company’s largest-profile fairway wood.

The driver of their performance are the clubs’ titanium faces, which are wedged between Adams’ two Cut-Thru slots. They’re located on the sole and crown of the clubs, which creates a spring-like effect that is right on the USGA’s legal limit. The company’s progressive face thickness also helps ball speeds remain close to the legal limit across the entirety of the clubface.

The XTD Ti fairway woods are available in lofts of 13.5, 15 and 18 degrees, and include a 12-position adjustable hosel that allows golfers to change the loft and face angle by as much as 1.5 degrees in 0.5-degree increments.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/205151/review-adams-xtd-ti-fairway-wood/”]Read our review of the XTD Ti[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FXLEUHA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FXLEUHA&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20″]Buy XTD Ti[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: In head-to-head testing, the Callaway X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro give golfers some of the best combinations of distance and forgiveness of any fairway wood on this list, which is why you’ll find it listed in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance. The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, along with TaylorMade’s SLDR S, are the only fairway woods in Gear Trials to receive that honor.

Yes, the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are long, but they’re also extremely high-launching and low-spinning, a testament to their extremely thin, heat-treated 455 Carpenter steel Hyper Speed Face Cups that are welded to their 17-4 stainless steel bodies. The company’s internal standing wave, a shelf inside the club head that moves weight low and forward, along with the clubs’ compact profile and Warbird sole design, also serve to lower the fairway woods’ center of gravity (CG) to make these clubs playable from the tee, fairway and even lies in the rough.

The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are not adjustable, but they’re offered in 10 different lofts and two distinct head shapes to make fitting a breeze. For golfers who use their fairway woods primarily off the tee, Callaway also offers its “Deep” fairway woods, which have a taller, or deeper face for more forgiveness on shots hit high and low on the club head. The Deep fairway woods are offered in three lofts: a 2Deep (12.5 degrees), 3Deep (14.5 degrees) and 5Deep (18.5 degrees).

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/166887/review-callaway-x2-hot-x2-hot-pro-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PGNY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PGNY&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=N2LX3ZTTQTYMTBHK”]Buy X2 Hot[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PRN8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PRN8&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=JXB5Y7FZIKHLUY57″]Buy X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97Q04I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97Q04I&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=HNCBCDLGQAJPU6P2″]Buy X2 Hot Deep[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: For most golfers, TaylorMade’s SLDR fairway woods are the lowest spinning fairway woods on the market, helping those with mid-to-high swing speeds get maximum distance from their fairway woods.

Like TaylorMade’s SLDR driver, these stainless steel fairway woods have a center of gravity that is low and forward to reduce spin. The result is that most golfers will need to loft up at least one model (from 15 to 17 degrees or 17 to 19 degrees, for example) to achieve maximum carry distance. The SLDR fairway woods also have the company’s updated Speed Pocket, a handlebar-shaped slot on the front of the club’s sole that improves the fairway wood’s spring-like effect and increases energy transfer on off-center hits.

Unlike the SLDR S fairway woods, the SLDR fairway woods are adjustable up to 1.5 degrees up or down in loft in 0.5-degree increments, allowing golfers to dial in their desired trajectory, face angle and lie. They’re offered in five lofts: 14 (TS), 15 (3W), 17 (3W HL) 19 (5W) and 21 (5W HL), as well as a TP version with the same lofts that includes a heavier, stiffer Fujikura Motore Speeder Tour Spec 8.3 shaft.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/150516/review-taylormade-sldr-fairway-woods-and-hybrids/”]Read our review of SLDR[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G2M7KT4/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G2M7KT4&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=XM2ZYFPMWRMBDQPR”]Buy SLDR[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G2M6AZY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G2M6AZY&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=YZCM2IWSJWQDDPVO”]Buy SLDR TP[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: TaylorMade’s SLDR S fairway woods are a lot like the company’s JetSpeed models, which were launched in November 2013. While their performance is very much the same — a good thing, because the JetSpeeds were great performers — the SLDR S fairway woods have shorter shaft lengths, lighter shafts and lighter head weights that make them more playable for most golfers.

Like SLDR, the SLDR S fairway woods have the company’s Speed Pocket, as handlebar-shaped slot on the front of their soles that gives the clubs livier faces and more consistent ball speeds on off-center hits. The SLDR S, however, have shallower faces, which makes them easier to hit off lies in the fairway and rough. Their low, forward CG will also necessitate that golfers to “loft up” about two degrees from previous models.

Along with Callaway’s X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, the SLDR S are the only fairway woods in our test to earn a spot in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance.

The SLDR S is available in several high lofted models to accommodate golfers with slower clubhead speeds. Those lofts include: 15 (3W), 17 (3W HL), 19 (5W), 21 (5W HL) and 23 (7W). Unlike the SLDR fairway woods, a TP version is not currently available.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/207735/taylormade-unveils-new-sldr-s-woods-and-irons/”]Read our story on the SLDR S line[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JR52H64/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JR52H64&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=UJWHXCHFWILZV3CC”]Buy SLDR S[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: Tour Edge Exotics is known as a leader in fairway wood performance, and the company’s new XCG7 and XCG7 Beta fairway woods are a testament to the company’s commitment to that reputation.

The XCG7 is a shallow-faced fairway wood with a lengthened heel-to-toe profile to improve the performance of golfers who tend to mis-hit shots on the heel and toe. The club’s denser, 465 forged maraging steel cup face offers ball speeds right at the USGA’s limit, and the faces are combo brazed to their steel bodies, saving precious grams of weight that the company moves low and deep in the head in the form of tetrahedral weight pads for increased forgiveness.

The XCG7 Beta is designed for better players who prefer a smaller footprint and fairway woods with deeper faces. They have forged titanium cup faces that, like the XCG7, are combo braised to the clubs’ steel body. Unlike the XCG7, the XCG7 Beta has its tetrahedral weight pads moved farther forward in the club head, raising their CG for a more penetrating trajectory.

Both models have Exotics’ “Power Grid” behind the sweet spot, which functions like an accordion at impact to increase spring-like effect. The XCG7 is available in lofts of 13, 15, 16.5, 18 and 21 degrees, while the XCG7 Beta fairway woods are offered in lofts of 11.5, 13, 15, 16.5 and 18 degrees.

Golfers looking for an even lower-spinning Exotics fairway wood might consider the CB Pro, which has a smaller, more workable profile and comes stock with Fujikura’s Speeder 757 shaft.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/169645/review-tour-edge-exotics-xcg7-xcg7-beta-and-cb-pro-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the XCG7 and XCG7 Beta[/button] [button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FNL0W5O/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FNL0W5O&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=PO5XCXJFXJH272ZD”]Buy the XCG7[/button]

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FNL0KIS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FNL0KIS&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=SRWQVOLYK4FVUJOA”]Buy the XCG7 Beta[/button][/colored_box]

Forgiveness

Listed in alphabetic order

Golfers most often go into a driver fitting looking for every extra yard they can get their hands on, but with fairway woods, that’s not always the case. Whether you’re looking for the straightest fairway wood you can get your hands on, or a sole shape that allows you to hit your fairway woods from nasty lies and still reach the green, this list of golf’s most forgiving fairway woods has something for you.

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: The Tight Lies proved to be the easiest fairway wood to elevate of any club in the test thanks to their extremely low face height, which makes hitting these clubs from just about any lie a breeze.

The Tight Lies have a shape that’s similar to the original Tight Lies fairway woods that put Adams on the map 18 years ago, but the new models fly considerably longer thanks to the company’s Cut-Thru slots, which were added to the sole and crown of the clubs to improve their Characteristic Time (CT) score to 220, twice that of the originals.

The Tight Lies are offered in lofts of 14, 16, 19 and 22 degrees, and come stock with Mitsubishi Rayon’s Bassara Eagle, a 55-to-60-gram shaft that’s designed to boost swing speed and launch. Golfers looking for a lower-spinning option might consider the Tight Lies Tour fairway wood.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/136533/adams-tight-lies-and-tight-lies-tour-editor-review/”]Read our review of the Tight Lies[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EC74IUA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00EC74IUA&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20″]Buy Tight Lies[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: In head-to-head testing, the Callaway X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro give golfers some of the best combinations of distance and forgiveness of any fairway wood on this list, which is why you’ll find it listed in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance. The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, along with TaylorMade’s SLDR S, are the only fairway woods in Gear Trials to receive that honor.

Yes, the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are long, but they’re also extremely high-launching and low-spinning, a testament to their extremely thin, heat-treated 455 Carpenter steel Hyper Speed Face Cups that are welded to their 17-4 stainless steel bodies. The company’s internal standing wave, a shelf inside the club head that moves weight low and forward, along with the clubs’ compact profile and Warbird sole design, also serve to lower the fairway woods’ center of gravity (CG) to make these clubs playable from the tee, fairway and even lies in the rough.

The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are not adjustable, but they’re offered in 10 different lofts and two distinct head shapes to make fitting a breeze. For golfers who use their fairway woods primarily off the tee, Callaway also offers its “Deep” fairway woods, which have a taller, or deeper face for more forgiveness on shots hit high and low on the club head. The Deep fairway woods are offered in three lofts: a 2Deep (12.5 degrees), 3Deep (14.5 degrees) and 5Deep (18.5 degrees).

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/166887/review-callaway-x2-hot-x2-hot-pro-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PGNY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PGNY&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=N2LX3ZTTQTYMTBHK”]Buy X2 Hot[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PRN8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PRN8&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=JXB5Y7FZIKHLUY57″]Buy X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97Q04I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97Q04I&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=HNCBCDLGQAJPU6P2″]Buy X2 Hot Deep[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: Cobra’s Bio Cell is one of our panel’s favorite fairway woods on this list, thanks to its impressive blend of ball speed and forgiveness, as well as its ease to fit.

Like Cobra’s Bio Cell driver, the Bio Cell fairway woods have a neutral CG that maintains the clubs’ moment of inertia (MOI), a measure of a clubs forgiveness, and also drives the center of gravity low in the head to raise launch and lower spin. The clubs also have a high-strength steel face insert and Cobra’s forged E9 Bio Cell face technology, an elliptical design that improve performance on shots struck not just in the center of the face, but also on shots hit low on the heel and high on the toe as well, where most golfers mis-hit their shots.

Maybe most important to the success of the Bio Cell fairway woods are their MyFly8 adjustable hosels, which allow golfers to tweak the loft of the clubs as much as 4 degrees in 0.5-degree increments and provides three “draw” settings that make the fairway woods more upright at address. Cobra’s SmartPad holds all of this adjustability together, allowing the clubs to sit relatively square at address regardless of the loft and lie settings.

The Bio Cell fairway woods are offered in two models: a 3-4 fairway that adjusts from 13-to-16 degrees and a 5-7 fairway that adjusts from 17-to-20 degrees. Golfers looking for a smaller, more workable option with stronger lofts might consider Cobra’s Bio Cell+ fairway woods.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/204123/review-bio-cell-and-bio-cell-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the Bio Cell[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUD3E6I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00GUD3E6I&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20″]Buy Bio Cell[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: While the G25 fairway woods were released all the way back in January 2013, they remain one of the best performing fairway woods on a list dominated by 2014 models.

Ping’s recipe for success, which it also used for its G25 drivers, is to move the CG of the clubs as low and as far back in the club head as possible, creating the most forgiving fairway woods in golf. That’s the opposite of TaylorMade’s low-and-forward philosophy on CG, and it allows golfers to play lower-lofted fairway woods than they might in other company’s models and still retain a high launch angle.

While the G25’s can’t be called low-spinning fairway woods — they’re actually one of the highest-spinning models on this list — their high MOI keeps spin and ball speed more consistent on mishits, creating longer shots regardless of where they’re hit on the face. The G25 fairway woods are available in lofts of 15 (3W), 16.5 (4W), 18 (5W) and 21 (7W) degrees.

Golfers looking for a more penetrating trajectory than the G25 can offer might look into the company’s new i25 fairway woods, which are designed with a slightly more forward CG position to reduce spin.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/110054/ping-g25-fairway-woods-and-hybrids-editor-review/”]Read our review of the G25 fairway woods[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: TaylorMade’s SLDR S fairway woods are a lot like the company’s JetSpeed models, which were launched in November 2013. While their performance is very much the same — a good thing, because the JetSpeeds were great performers — the SLDR S fairway woods have shorter shaft lengths, lighter shafts and lighter head weights that make them more playable for most golfers.

Like SLDR, the SLDR S fairway woods have the company’s Speed Pocket, as handlebar-shaped slot on the front of their soles that gives the clubs livier faces and more consistent ball speeds on off-center hits. The SLDR S, however, have shallower faces, which makes them easier to hit off lies in the fairway and rough. Their low, forward CG will also necessitate that golfers to “loft up” about two degrees from previous models.

Along with Callaway’s X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, the SLDR S are the only fairway woods in our test to earn a spot in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance.

The SLDR S is available in several high lofted models to accommodate golfers with slower clubhead speeds. Those lofts include: 15 (3W), 17 (3W HL), 19 (5W), 21 (5W HL) and 23 (7W). Unlike the SLDR fairway woods, a TP version is not currently available.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/207735/taylormade-unveils-new-sldr-s-woods-and-irons/”]Read our story on the SLDR S line[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JR52H64/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JR52H64&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=UJWHXCHFWILZV3CC”]Buy SLDR S[/button][/colored_box]

Balanced Performance

Listed in alphabetic order

The Balanced Performance category was created to be the Holy Grail of best fairway wood lists, listing the clubs that have the best combination of jaw-dropping distance and precision. We hold the clubs on this list to the highest standards of ball speed, launch and spin conditions and playability. That’s while you’ll find two of the longest fairway woods on our list (Callaway’s X2 Hot/X2 Hot Pro and TaylorMade’s SLDR S) two of the most forgiving designs (Cobra’s Bio Cell and Ping’s G25) as well as Titleist’s 913F/913F.d, which is a perfect example of a fairway wood that is long, accurate and playable from a variety of surfaces.

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: In head-to-head testing, the Callaway X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro give golfers some of the best combinations of distance and forgiveness of any fairway wood on this list, which is why you’ll find it listed in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance. The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, along with TaylorMade’s SLDR S, are the only fairway woods in Gear Trials to receive that honor.

Yes, the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are long, but they’re also extremely high-launching and low-spinning, a testament to their extremely thin, heat-treated 455 Carpenter steel Hyper Speed Face Cups that are welded to their 17-4 stainless steel bodies. The company’s internal standing wave, a shelf inside the club head that moves weight low and forward, along with the clubs’ compact profile and Warbird sole design, also serve to lower the fairway woods’ center of gravity (CG) to make these clubs playable from the tee, fairway and even lies in the rough.

The X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro are not adjustable, but they’re offered in 10 different lofts and two distinct head shapes to make fitting a breeze. For golfers who use their fairway woods primarily off the tee, Callaway also offers its “Deep” fairway woods, which have a taller, or deeper face for more forgiveness on shots hit high and low on the club head. The Deep fairway woods are offered in three lofts: a 2Deep (12.5 degrees), 3Deep (14.5 degrees) and 5Deep (18.5 degrees).

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/166887/review-callaway-x2-hot-x2-hot-pro-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PGNY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PGNY&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=N2LX3ZTTQTYMTBHK”]Buy X2 Hot[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97PRN8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97PRN8&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=JXB5Y7FZIKHLUY57″]Buy X2 Hot Pro[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G97Q04I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G97Q04I&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=HNCBCDLGQAJPU6P2″]Buy X2 Hot Deep[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: Cobra’s Bio Cell is one of our panel’s favorite fairway woods on this list, thanks to its impressive blend of ball speed and forgiveness, as well as its ease to fit.

Like Cobra’s Bio Cell driver, the Bio Cell fairway woods have a neutral CG that maintains the clubs’ moment of inertia (MOI), a measure of a clubs forgiveness, and also drives the center of gravity low in the head to raise launch and lower spin. The clubs also have a high-strength steel face insert and Cobra’s forged E9 Bio Cell face technology, an elliptical design that improve performance on shots struck not just in the center of the face, but also on shots hit low on the heel and high on the toe as well, where most golfers mis-hit their shots.

Maybe most important to the success of the Bio Cell fairway woods are their MyFly8 adjustable hosels, which allow golfers to tweak the loft of the clubs as much as 4 degrees in 0.5-degree increments and provides three “draw” settings that make the fairway woods more upright at address. Cobra’s SmartPad holds all of this adjustability together, allowing the clubs to sit relatively square at address regardless of the loft and lie settings.

The Bio Cell fairway woods are offered in two models: a 3-4 fairway that adjusts from 13-to-16 degrees and a 5-7 fairway that adjusts from 17-to-20 degrees. Golfers looking for a smaller, more workable option with stronger lofts might consider Cobra’s Bio Cell+ fairway woods.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/204123/review-bio-cell-and-bio-cell-fairway-woods/”]Read our review of the Bio Cell[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUD3E6I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00GUD3E6I&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20″]Buy Bio Cell[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: While the G25 fairway woods were released all the way back in January 2013, they remain one of the best performing fairway woods on a list dominated by 2014 models.

Ping’s recipe for success, which it also used for its G25 drivers and fairway woods, is to move the CG of the clubs as low and as far back in the club head as possible, creating the most forgiving fairway woods in golf. That’s the opposite of TaylorMade’s low-and-forward philosophy on CG, and it allows golfers to play lower-lofted fairway woods than they might in other company’s models and still retain a high launch angle.

While the G25’s can’t be called low-spinning fairway woods — they’re actually one of the highest-spinning models on this list — their high MOI keeps spin and ball speed more consistent on mishits, creating longer shots regardless of where they’re hit on the face. The G25 fairway woods are available in lofts of 15 (3W), 16.5 (4W), 18 (5W) and 21 (7W) degrees.

Golfers looking for a more penetrating trajectory than the G25 can offer might look into the company’s new i25 fairway woods, which are designed with a slightly more forward CG position to reduce spin.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/110054/ping-g25-fairway-woods-and-hybrids-editor-review/”]Read our review of the G25 fairway woods[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: TaylorMade’s SLDR S fairway woods are a lot like the company’s JetSpeed models, which were launched in November 2013. While their performance is very much the same — a good thing, because the JetSpeeds were great performers — the SLDR S fairway woods have shorter shaft lengths, lighter shafts and lighter head weights that make them more playable for most golfers.

Like SLDR, the SLDR S fairway woods have the company’s Speed Pocket, as handlebar-shaped slot on the front of their soles that gives the clubs livier faces and more consistent ball speeds on off-center hits. The SLDR S, however, have shallower faces, which makes them easier to hit off lies in the fairway and rough. Their low, forward CG will also necessitate that golfers to “loft up” about two degrees from previous models.

Along with Callaway’s X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro, the SLDR S are the only fairway woods in our test to earn a spot in all three of our categories: Distance-First, Forgiveness-First and Balanced Performance.

The SLDR S is available in several high lofted models to accommodate golfers with slower clubhead speeds. Those lofts include: 15 (3W), 17 (3W HL), 19 (5W), 21 (5W HL) and 23 (7W). Unlike the SLDR fairway woods, a TP version is not currently available.

[button color=”red” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/207735/taylormade-unveils-new-sldr-s-woods-and-irons/”]Read our story on the SLDR S line[/button][button color=”red” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JR52H64/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JR52H64&linkCode=as2&tag=golfwrxcom-20&linkId=UJWHXCHFWILZV3CC”]Buy SLDR S[/button][/colored_box]

[colored_box color=”white”]Tech Talk: Titleist’s 913F and 913F.d have been a top choice of our club fitters since their release in February 2013, and epitomize what many golfers are looking for from their fairway woods. They have a medium launch and spin, and offer enough forgiveness to keep mishits tracking toward their target.

Like Cobra’s Bio Cell, the 913F has a neutral CG positioned low in the head that retains the fairway woods’ MOI and improves performance on shots from the ground. The 913F.d offers similar performance with a slightly more forward CG that lowers spin. Both models have Titleist SureFit hosel, which adjusts loft, lie and face angle as much as 1.5 degrees in 0.75 degree increments.

The 913F is offered in lofts of 13.5, 15, 17, 19 and 21 degrees. The 913F.d comes in lots of 13.5, 15 and 18 degrees. Both models come stock with premium shafts made by Aldila and Mitsubishi Rayon, as well as many more premium shafts that are available for an upcharge.[/colored_box]

Click here to read 2014 Gear Trials: Best Drivers, our list of the best drivers in golf for 2014.