A Quick Overview of Callaway Fairway Woods

What about Callaway Fairway Woods? Callaway's golf clubs are - and since the company's inception always have been - some of the most well regarded clubs among golfers. In fact, Callaway Golf, along with PING and TaylorMade, would probably be considered golf's "Big Three" by just about everyone.

The fairway woods by Callaway are no exception. That's one of the reasons highly successful golf professionals like Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els, among others, play them instead of some other brand. These pros know that when all that tournament money is on the line, their Callaway fairway woods will come through. From the beginning, Callaway has created fairway woods that have been on the cutting edge of golf club performance, utilizing highly sophisticated club designs, superb technologies and materials, and superior club-making craftsmanship. Callaway fairway woods can be more expensive than some of the other brands, but they're top-notch.

Callaway Golf has given birth to some of the most hallowed club names in the history of golf. The name "S2H2" was an early entry in the hit parade, making its debut in the 1980s, but that particular core design feature - the "short, straight, hollow hosel" - remains a staple design element of the company's drivers, fairway woods and irons even today.

Another name that reverberates in the hearts of golf lovers - "Big Bertha" - was first introduced to the public in 1991. As the first wide-body, stainless steel fairway woods on the market, the original Big Bertha fairway woods can in some ways be considered the forerunners of every fairway wood on the market today, regardless of brand.

Callaway has produced many other great lines of fairway woods, though. The "Big Bertha Heavenwood," launched in 1993, was known for being both easy to hit and forgiving. "Big Bertha War Bird" and "Great Big Bertha" woods quickly followed, and "Biggest Big Bertha," "Big Bertha Steelhead," "Great Big Bertha Hawk Eye" and "Hawk Eye VFT" fairway woods were not far behind. More recently, Callaway's "FT," "Fusion FT-3" and "X" series fairway woods joined the company's lineup. And today, of course, we have the "RAZR Hawk," "FT-iZ," "Big Bertha Diablo," "Diablo Edge" and "Diablo Octane" fairway woods to choose from.

It might sound like Callaway has made an awful lot of different fairway woods during its roughly 30-year history, and indeed it has. But there are other Callaway fairway woods I haven't even mentioned here. The sheer number of different clubs produced by this company is one of the reasons why our honest, unbiased reviews of Callaway fairway woods can be so helpful. Even if you think you want Callaway fairway woods, trying to find the right one on your own can be like trying to navigate your way through the Everglades in an airboat without a guide. It's possible, but tricky.

Another way our reviews can help you relates to the nature of fairway woods themselves. As their name implies, fairway woods are designed to be hit off the fairway, but they are also used frequently when the ball is in light rough. Many beginning golfers use a three-wood or five-wood off the tee instead of a driver, and although you may (emphasis on "may") lose distance by hitting three-wood instead of driver, you'll almost certainly increase your chances of hitting your drive accurately. That's why so many tour pros keep their drivers in the bag and hit three-wood off the tee when accuracy is at a premium, as it is when the fairway's landing zone is constricted by trees or bunkers on one or both sides. But, a three-wood, no matter which brand it is or how well it's made, may be the hardest club to hit off the fairway, and that's when it's most frequently used.

Different lines of Callaway fairway woods have different characteristics. Well, I guess that's obvious, or else they wouldn't be "different." What I'm trying to say is that a Callaway Diablo Octane fairway wood (for example) might be perfect for one golfer, but be absolutely wrong for the next. That second golfer might far prefer (for example) a Callaway RAZR Hawk or a PING i3 fairway wood. They're designed for different types of players.

Our reviews of Callaway fairway woods can help you navigate your way through the maze of available clubs so that you emerge with the right woods for you and your swing.

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