mitigates ball-speed loss on mis-hits) that is significantly higher. The success of those using a 7-wood is undeni- able. At the Ryder Cup, six players used 7-woods. Tour players have had one in play the week they won. Players aren’t simply using 7-woods; they’re flourishing with them. Johnson had a 21-degree TaylorMade SIM Max 7-wood in the bag when he won the 2020 Masters at Augusta National and had a perfectly logical reason for why one of the longest hitters on tour used such a club. “I looked at a 5-wood, but it kept going too far,” Johnson says. “The 7-wood goes 255 to 260 with the height I need. It fit a specific yardage gap. I put it in play in the middle of 2020, and it’s been in the bag since. The 7-wood gives me a little more ammunition to bring one in high and soft on the greens.” Playability is one reason for an uptick in 7-wood usage, but advance- ments in golf-club and golf- ball technology also have played a role. Tour-calibre balls continue down a path of less spin. Although this is good for driver distance, it isn’t always good when trying to hold a green from long range. “High launch, low spin” has become almost as much a part of golf lexi- con as “fore,” but the reality is that golfers with slow to average swing speeds often benefit from more spin to help keep the ball in the air and enhance carry distance. The 7-wood has other technological advantages over a hybrid or a long iron. The larger size provides a larger – and likely springier – hitting area and room for a low and deep centre of gravity that can boost dy- namic loft. The longer shaft should generate additional clubhead speed, and the bulge and roll on the face
(104cm) instead of 42. We then use the hosel adjust- ment and put it in the big minus or small minus loft setting. For all intents and purposes, we’re building a 6-wood in loft and a 9-wood in length.” Still, convincing players to switch to a 7-wood isn’t necessarily easy. Oates says Niemann, who played a hybrid as an amateur and then as a professional, was difficult to persuade. But then in 2020, the tour played back-to-back weeks at Muirfield Village. After playing the first week in the Workday Charity Open, Niemann came to Oates before the Memorial seek- ing a higher-lofted hybrid because he couldn’t hold the firm greens from 250 yards out – a shot needed because of Muirfield Village’s four par 5s. “I told him he needed a 7-wood, and he looked at me like I had three heads,” Oates says. “He’s like, ‘I am not playing a 7-wood’ be- cause he was afraid the ball would go too high. But we convinced him to hit it, and he loved it, and now it’s not even course dependent. He plays it every week.” The 7-wood has other important advantages. It’s better than a hybrid or util- ity iron from the rough. With its longer shaft, the 7-wood launches higher and spins more. That’s vital because playing out of the rough reduces launch and spin. It’s also more forgiv- ing. When golfers talk about how forgiving hybrids are, they are comparing them to the corresponding iron, not a 7-wood. A 7-wood head is considerably larger than a hybrid, making it much more forgiving with a moment of inertia (which increases stability and
USE IT LIKE A CHIPPER “If you hate tight-lie chip shots, you’ll love your 7-wood as an alternative,” says Nafus, director of instruction at Roxiticus GC in New Jersey. “Choke down almost to the shaft (above), then do everything else like you would with your putter – from grip to ball position to stroke. When you hit the ball, it will come off with a bit of loft and then run out like a putt. It’s a perfect shot for chasing it to a back pin.”
44 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MAY 2024
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