USING A FAIRWAY WOOD OFF THE TEE? CHECK THESE TWO THINGS FIRST Adjust your ball position and tee height for optimisation The versatility and ease of use of the newest fairway woods make them a popular – and wise – choice if get- ting the ball in play is more important than maxing out your distance with a driver. The thing to remember, how- ever, is that these clubs are designed to get the ball up in the air when it’s resting on the ground. Knowing that, you have to make a couple of adjustments if you’re going with a 5-wood or similar off the tee. The first is to check your ball position. The big mistake is to play it like you’re swinging a driver. If you address the ball up by the heel of your lead foot, you make it much harder to catch it on the centre of the face. Instead, play it a couple of ball-widths behind your lead heel like I am ( below ). The other issue is tee height. Fairway woods have a shallow face to promote a higher flight, so if your tee is too high, you risk contact towards the top of the club, and you will pop up your shot. Adjust your tee so just a sliver of the ball is above the clubface. These adjustments will prompt a level or slightly downward angle into the ball, and you
MIZUNO Mizuno Pro 245 R31 000
GOLD
OVERALL RATING ★★★★ ½
• This hollow-body iron’s face and neck are grain-flow forged from
4135 chromoly steel through the 8-iron.
PERFORMANCE ★★★★ ½ INNOVATION ★★★★ ½ LOOK / SOUND / FEEL ★★★★ ½
• Internal tungsten
weighting through the 7-iron is 46.4 grams as opposed to 30 grams in last year’s version. This provides more stability on mis-hits. • A new method of laser welding suspends the tungsten in the head, allowing the face to flex on shots struck low. • The copper underlay delivers a smooth feel. • Top 5 in Performance, low-handicaps • Specs: 7-iron: 30 degrees; PW: 43 degrees
‘It looks like a craftsman spent a
lot of time getting the aesthetics just right. The sensation and sound at impact were on the velvety side, an absolute pleasure.’ – 13-HANDICAP
will catch it clean – rewarding your prudent choice to keep the driver in the bag. – Megan Padua Buzza, Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, Buzza Golf Coaching, Frisco, Texas
AESTHETICS
Plain
Elaborate
ACOUSTICS
Quieter
Louder
SENSORY
Softer
Firmer
LAUNCH
Lower
Higher
FORGIVENESS
Least
Most
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 85
HOT LIST 2025
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