- 05/07/2025
Which are the best fairway woods on the market in 2025 and what are the particular models that will suit your needs on the course? Our club expert tester Sam De'Ath has tested everything on the market and broken each sector down to really help narrow your search should you be looking to upgrade this year.
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00:00In this bag are the best fairway mode models released this year. Now I'm going
00:04to put them head-to-head to determine which model deserves a place in your
00:08bag depending on what type of golfer you are.
00:30Now I'm going to start with the looks because I think that's a really important place to
00:35start when it comes to choosing a golf club. Having the right looks both in your hand and
00:41something that you like down at a dress is really important to inspire confidence and help you
00:45execute your golf shots. So to start with we're going to talk about the Strixen ZXI. Now I think
00:52looks absolutely spectacular. It's kind of got this gloss tone on the bottom here and that highlighted
00:59with some red accents and the kind of matte black finish around the rest of the head.
01:03I think really gives this golf club some shelf appeal and a really strong presence. It's got
01:09a two-stepped crown which I think may divide opinion but it's something that I'm actually
01:13quite a fan of. I kind of like this banner strip across the top. I feel like it frames the ball
01:18quite well and that's really important for a lineman. The top of the crown as well has this
01:24matte carbon fiber finish which in the sunlight looks absolutely spectacular. It's a slightly more
01:30compact head and it's kind of triangular so it's not as symmetrical as some of the other heads on the
01:36market but I think this is a great place to start when it comes to kicking off the looks for golf clubs.
01:41Now we're going to move into the Cobra DS Adapt LS head. Now there are multiple heads in the Cobra DS
01:50Adapt range but I think this one just stands out a bit. Yes it's the more compact head again it's kind
01:55of got this triangular finish similar to the Strixen and that isn't actually normally of my preference.
02:01I normally like something a bit more rounded but I think this head just looks absolutely spectacular.
02:06Again sticking with the matte black carbon crown as well again looks brilliant when the sun shines
02:12but on the underside I think this club just has some serious shelf appeal. Now it does have this QR code
02:20etched in here just below the adjustable hosel and the reason behind that is the Future Fit 33 system
02:26that Cobra have implemented in this year range. Yes there are 33 hosel settings that you can put this
02:31club on it's slightly overwhelming and so this QR code helps you realize which setting is going to be
02:37best for you and suit your game. I personally think it's a bit of an eyesore but the rest of the club
02:41makes up for it. You've got the two portable weights at the front and one at the rear in order to bring the
02:46CG forward and again the gloss and satin tones of this club really help it stand out. It looks premium
02:53and that stealthed outlook is something I really like but if I was pushed to pick one fairway wood that I
02:58think looks absolutely mega it would be the tailor-made QI35 Tor head. This thing is just
03:05spectacular this chromium carbon finish across the crown here looks absolutely spectacular even on a
03:11slightly more cloudy day but especially in the sunlight it just really shines. It's kind of got
03:16a sim 2 like look to the crown although this time we don't have the banner strip across the top
03:22the infinity head runs all the way over to the face and looks amazing. There is a silver line
03:28etched across the top of the face which I think helps with alignment but overall I think this
03:33head and the whole QI35 range to be honest look absolutely insane.
03:42So the first club I want to talk about when it comes to sound and feel may come as a little
03:46surprise. Now this is the tall edge exotic C725 and I'm just going to clip a few away here and
03:54hopefully you'll be able to pick up on the powerful thud like sound that this makes through impact.
04:01Now it does have a carbon crown which I think really enhances and takes away the vibrations
04:07made on this club through impact.
04:12It really sounds like a crack of the whip it's it's powerful it sounds fast and like I said at 250
04:20pound I think this this club just offers so much bang for your buck. Now the next club that I want
04:26to move on to when it comes to sound and feel is the Titleist GT. Now there's a new proprietary crown
04:32and face design in this club and Titleist do a really good job at refining their golf clubs.
04:38Now this is the GT2 model there are two models the GT2 and GT3 but I just think the GT2 sounds and
04:44feels absolutely amazing even on mishits and the slightly larger head and slightly more washed crown
04:51really help give you a confidence inspiring look behind the ball as well. Let's clip this one away
04:55if you get good understanding here. Again it's slightly louder I would say than the Tor Edge but
05:05if I was pushed to pick a model for the best sound and feel it would have to be the Shrixen ZXI.
05:11This thing just feels fast off the face and that's replicated by the extremely fast full speed and
05:16generous distance that this club offers. It's a slightly more loud sound than some of the other models
05:23on the market. It sounds slightly more lively than the TaylorMade QI35 range and the Callaway Elite
05:29range and despite having a carbon crown the rest of the head is made from titanium construction so
05:34it offers that higher frequency that that higher pitch sound through impact. I'll clip one away here
05:41and hopefully you'll be able to pick up on that as well.
05:44And so it's slightly louder than the Tor Edge it sounds much more similar to the Cobra DS Adapt
05:53range or the Ping G440 but for me the Shrixen ZXI takes the spoils when it comes to sound and feel.
06:05Now forgiveness is a key aspect when it comes to thinking about what fairway wood you're going to
06:09choose and here at Golf Monthly in 2025 we have come up with a new way to measure forgiveness.
06:15We're going to take the furthest hit shot minus the shortest hit shot, the furthest left hit shot
06:21minus the furthest right hit shot and divide them by two. It's not as complicated as it sounds.
06:26There are three models that were absolute standouts when it came to forgiveness and in third place as it
06:32were was the TaylorMade QI35 core. Now interestingly this wasn't the max model and I don't know if that's
06:38just because for me the max model I got quite a lot of variance between my furthest hit shot and
06:42my shortest hit shot due to the high spin rate and the fact that that model really just isn't built
06:46for me. But the QI35 core model was excellent in producing consistent results. Then we move on to
06:53the Callaway Elite X. Now this is the most forgiving model in the range. It produced a nice high ball flight
06:59with plenty of time in the air and the dispersion was much tighter on this model. Now there was one
07:05standout when it came to performance and as you may have guessed it is the Ping G440 Max. This thing
07:12was absolutely exceptional when it came to front to back dispersion as well as side to side dispersion.
07:18It was really really tight. It performed well out of a multitude of lies from the rough off the tee and
07:23the fairway and particularly on mishit shots. Whenever I hit one slightly out the toe or out the hill I really
07:29didn't see much fluctuation in distance and for that reason the Ping G440 I'm crowning the most forgiving
07:35fairway wood of 2025. Now apologies for interrupting the video but if you're enjoying the video so far
07:43make sure you hit the like button and subscribe to Golf Monthly's YouTube channel and of course if you
07:47like any of the products you've seen in today's video make sure you check out the description box
07:51below for all the links to the best prices for these models in your area. So as you can see by the
07:58simply stunning backdrop behind me I am at the beautiful La Hacienda Links golf course here in Spain
08:04but the data collection for my performance section of this video started back at Foresight Sports
08:08headquarters in Guildford so let's nip back there and see how I went about collecting the data for
08:13this video now one of the further ways I have standardized my testing this year is by using the
08:32same shaft and thanks to over the top golf we got these universal adapters which meant I could use
08:38the same shaft throughout all the fairway wood models. So the shaft I use is the Fujikura Ventus
08:43Black 7x and I find by using this shaft with this universal fit system I really isolate the head
08:50performance and standardize our testing it provides really reliable data and that way I'm not relying on
08:56shafts that aren't custom fit for me. As you can see we're now back at the beautiful La Hacienda Links
09:04golf course here is the data that I collected during my testing session at Foresight Sports feel free to
09:10pause this right now and have a look at the data make your own comparisons but we're going to kick off
09:14the performance section with the highest launching fairway woods and which ones are easier to hit off the deck.
09:19So one of the first fairway woods that I noticed had exceptional launch was the Mizuno ST Max fairway wood.
09:30Now this is a carry-on model from last year but I found it to be absolutely exceptional when hitting
09:36particularly of tight lies and the fairway. There's a speed bevel here at the bottom of the face which
09:42really helps the face sit flush to the ground and inspires confidence and gets that ball launching
09:47up in the air. It's one that feels amazing and you see nice high towering ball flights. Now the next
09:54fairway wood I want to talk about is the Callaway Elite X. It's the most forgiving fairway wood in the
09:59Callaway Elite range. The thermo forged carbon fiber crown helps reduce weight and it has helped the CG be
10:07placed lower and further back in the head to increase launch. I saw an average launch of 11.9 which is
10:12really high had good spin and therefore produced a really high towering ball flight but the model
10:18that stood out to me was the TaylorMade QI35. Now this is the core model not the Max model but for
10:25some reason this just worked best for me. It produced an average of 12 degrees of launch and that combined
10:31with a spin rate of 3200 rpm meant that I saw a high towering ball flight that stayed in the air for
10:38such a long time and it actually meant that I could hold greens when I was playing into them on par fives
10:43so if you're a slightly shorter hitter and you hit your fairway woods into greens a lot this is a club
10:47that you should check out. Having an alternative club you can hit off the tee is very important
10:53especially in competitive golf and it has helped me through many rounds when the big stick is
10:58misbehaving. You're going to want a club that provides plenty of distance so that you don't make the
11:03hole play exceptionally long but also you want something that's very accurate hence why you're not hitting
11:07driver in the first place. Okay now this is the first option you should consider when it comes to
11:22an alternative club off the tee that is the Cobra DS Adapt X fairway wood. It's a mid-size profile head
11:29and it will inspire confidence to those that need it behind the ball but it still provides plenty of
11:35power I was averaging around 156 mile per hour ball speed and that's just when hitting it off the deck
11:40when hitting it off the tee you're likely to see a touch faster ball speed but the next model you
11:46should really consider is the Wilson Dynapower Carbon. I found this model is a great way of getting your
11:54hole off to a good start. I found that the predecessor to this model lacked a little oomph but this one
12:00certainly doesn't it provides a really high penetrating ball flight that will get your hole
12:05off to a nice start and give you a better chance at hitting more greens in regulation from that.
12:12The performance was really solid it's a kind of it is a more smaller kind of compact looking head
12:18I would say but it sounds great and feels great through impact.
12:21Straight down the middle there straight off the tee and just to top it off the gloss carbon crown looks
12:32absolutely spectacular. Now the last model I want to talk about when it comes to performance off the tee
12:38is the Callaway Elite Triple Diamond. Now as a fast ball speed and swing speed player I thought this
12:45might actually help me off the fairway but I actually found it quite difficult to hit off the fairway such as
12:50it's low launch and penetrating ball flight. I didn't quite see the launch I wanted however
12:55the performance came with this club when I teed the ball up. I found it absolutely immense
13:01when teeing the ball up. I was seeing a really fast flat ball flight which is something I like
13:07and especially as an alternative club to driver off the tee that's kind of what you're looking for
13:11to maximize distance. Let's give one a hit here see if we can hit the fairway
13:20A nice flat fading ball flight has put me in the fairway and gives me a great chance at making par
13:30or even maybe a birdie. If you're looking for more distance and an absolute rocket off the tee
13:37then there are no better fairway woods than these three models right here. Now the first model I want
13:43to talk about is the Callaway Elite Fairway Wood. Now this may surprise you because the triple diamond
13:48variant of this model is the lower launching and lower spinning model that ultimately should
13:53produce more distance but I found the slightly higher launch and spin actually gave me more carry
13:58and therefore more total distance with this model. The looks divided opinion but I think you can't argue
14:04with the ball speed on offer from this fairway wood. It produced the third longest carry out of all
14:10the models that I tested at 258 yards and so is a viable option when it comes to wanting more
14:16distance with your fairway woods. Now the second model that I found to be an absolute rocket was
14:22the Titleist GT2. Generational technology these models have been refined and they definitely produce
14:29some fast ball speeds. 262 yards of carry on average I found with the GT2 slightly longer than the GT3 but
14:37there really wasn't much in it. Their center of gravity has been lowered and brought slightly further
14:43forward in this mid-sized head and that really helps produce high launch with low spin for maximum distance.
14:55When it comes to distance there was only one winner and that was the Shrixen ZXI fairway wood.
15:01It produced 264 yards on average of carry and pushed the 280 yard mark when it came to total distance.
15:08That was due to the combination of a slightly lower spinning ball flight but also with the high
15:14launch. It did come in slightly flat so if you're looking for something to hold greens then this may
15:21not be the fairway wood model for you but if you're just looking to maximize distance then the Shrixen ZXI
15:26fairway wood is definitely the way to go. Okay so if you are someone who is constantly missing the fairway,
15:34you find yourself playing from the rough frequently, you're going to want a fairway wood that either
15:39advances the ball down the hole on say longer par fours or fives or something that you can hit out
15:44the rough to greens and is still going to pop up in the air and produce a nice high launch. Now there
15:48are two models that stood out for me in particular, the first of those is the TaylorMade QI35. It was the
15:54highest launching model upon test as you've seen from the data table but the sleek compact head really meant
16:02that I could sweep through the rough and it popped the ball up producing a lovely high ball flight.
16:06There was generous amounts of spin in there as well so it stayed in the air and produced a bit more
16:10spin out the rough when obviously naturally that just knocked a bit of spin off. So for that reason
16:14I really liked this head when playing from the rough but there was one model that stood out in particular
16:20and that was the Ping G440. Now the triangular kind of smaller head than we've seen in the past
16:26seemed to just cut through the rough really really well. It's actually a slightly taller face
16:31than the previous G430 model but I found that this really helped when in the rough. I felt like
16:37the bottom of the head could get through the rough and I was actually finding the middle of the face
16:42more often when hitting out the rough. It produced good launch and coming out of a kind of trodden down
16:49lie in the rough I found that it produced a nice high ball flight that would still stop on the greens.
17:01Pretty good there. Hopefully that would stop on the green and it has given you a good understanding
17:06as to which fairway wood you should use if you find yourself playing from the rough more often than not.
17:16So I hope you enjoyed this video and found it really useful. You've got a good understanding of
17:20which fairway wood may suit your game the best. If I had to pick an overall favourite it would be the
17:25Shrixen ZXI fairway wood. The combination of its premium looks and aesthetics as well as its powerful
17:31performance led it to earning a spot in my bag for the 2025 season.
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