Sole Shape & Turf Interaction
Divot pattern from real mats and, weather permitting, real turf, watched before any component is discussed.
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Fairway Wood Fitting
Sheet 02 on the rack. A fairway wood lives or dies on turf contact, so this session weighs sole shape as heavily as loft and length.
The Problem
Tee-Box Numbers Lie About Off-The-Deck Performance
A fairway wood that flies great off a tee can chunk or top off turf.
Most fairway wood demos happen off a tee or a mat, which flatters almost any sole design. The real test is a tight lie on real turf, and Spokane fairways run firm for most of the season, which means a wide, rounded sole that glides through impact matters more here than it might in a region with soft, forgiving turf year-round.
A narrow, sharp-leading-edge sole is easier to work and control for a steep, descending strike, but it punishes a shallow attack angle by digging instead of sliding. We watch turf interaction directly — divot depth and location relative to the ball — before recommending a sole profile, not after.
What Gets Measured
First
Second
Third
Sole, Loft Gapping, Length
Loft Gapping
Set relative to your driver and your longest hybrid or iron, so there is no dead zone or overlap between the three.
Length & Shaft
Matched to the same tempo and weight logic used in a driver fitting, adjusted down for the shorter shaft and lower swingweight target typical of fairway metals.
Common Finding
The Three-Wood That Never Gets Used
A large share of bags we audit carry a three-wood that sits in the bag untouched because it overlaps almost entirely with the driver in yardage and with a five-wood or hybrid in trajectory. When that shows up on a full bag audit, the fix is usually not a better three-wood — it is re-gapping the whole 1-through-5-wood range around whichever two or three clubs the golfer actually trusts off the deck.
This is one of the clearest arguments for a full bag session over a single-category fitting: a fairway wood fitted in isolation can measure perfectly and still be the wrong club for the bag it goes into.
Compare all six categories →
Fairway Wood Sheet — Sample
No. 5518
Loft, as built16.5°
Sole widthMid, rounded leading edge
Shaft weight70g
Playing length43.0 in
SwingweightD2
Gap to driver6.0°
Gapping numbers are what keep this club from duplicating the driver or the next club down.