x

Revealed! Top 100 Courses You Can Play for 2024-25

Browse ranking here

4 rules for ripping a fairway wood

October 14, 2018

Ready to make some birdies? Top 100 Teacher Kellie Stenzel  shows you how to stick to the plan to stick more par 5s in two.

RULE NO. 1

Golfers used to play fairway woods up in their stance. With today’s ultra-tight fairways, you need to play the ball back or you’ll risk having the club bounce up into the ball. Not good.

RULE NO. 2

Take a healthy divot on your practice swing. (Sweeping the ball off the fairway doesn’t work with today’s clubhead designs.) Judge the divot’s position relative to your feet. When you go to take your stance, position the ball where the divot was.

Kellie Stenzel
Make more birdies by learning how to smash your fairway woods.

RULE NO. 3

Check that you’ve soled the club correctly, with the face square to the target line, before starting your backswing. Don’t use the topline as a guide—use the lowest scoring line on the face. It’s a more effective reference point.

RULE NO. 4

When it’s square, the clubface on a fairway wood may look open. It’s not. Trust it.