Hitting fairway woods properly is arguably one of the hardest things to learn in the game of golf – and the most satisfying when done right.
They can be some of the most versatile clubs in any golfer’s arsenal, but it’s not always easy to find one that suits your game and your swing.
So, when you find clubs that work for you and make one of the most difficult parts of golf easier, it can feel like a cheat code. When golfers find the right one for them, they rarely part with them - it’s no wonder many pros have old woods in the bag for years without updating them.
Best golf fairway woods at a glance
There are all kinds of options available, and they’re probably some of the most versatile types of clubs in the bag. Whether players want a strong option off the tee as a back-up to driver, or something easier to hit off the deck and pop the ball up in the air, something to get you out of trouble in the rough or even as clubs for bumping the ball around the greens, there are plenty of great options.
How we tested
We took samples out for our usual rounds at our local course and on a number of weekend trips and golf tours throughout the golf season.
We also tested them out extensively at the range and recorded carry numbers, ball flight and spin rates. Numbers were important for testing, but we placed the most emphasis on feel and clubs that made us feel confident hitting them off the tee and off the fairway – and focused on finding clubs that would appeal to all manner of players, from weekend warriors to scratch and below.
These are our picks for the best fairway woods on the market right now.
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Srixon ZXi Fairway Wood
Best: overall
It’s been a great year for Srixon. They’re known by many for making some of the best value golf balls on the market, and by purists for their excellent irons. The ZX irons are some of the best clubs players can buy in 2025, in fact, and this year they’ve really upped the standard of their woods, too.
Aesthetically, the ZXi is a clear step up for Srixon compared to previous fairway wood models. There’s a sleek, understated carbon top and a nice glossy sole that combine to create one of the best-looking we tried.
There’s an awful lot of good stuff going on under the hood, too. The big addition this time round is the Srixon-exclusive Iflex face technology, which is designed to produce greater energy transfer into the ball, boosting club speed by creating a thinner middle and adding more thickness to the heel and toe. The work has clearly paid off, as we saw results which offered a great mix of ball speed and forgiveness across a number of rounds and practice sessions.
Players who hit down on their fairway woods will find a lot to like with the deep face, and we instantly got on well with it from the first moment of testing. The ZXi fairway wood is our pick for the best new model on the market this year, and definitely the best that Srixon has produced to date. It’s hot off the face and offers good distance - useful as a second option off the tee for when the driver is misbehaving, but it’s still easy to launch off the deck for those longer par 5s. In many ways, it’s a fantastic allrounder which will suit different types of players of different ability levels.
It’s the kind of club that will find its way into players' bags and stay there for a long time, and our pick of the best all-round option available in 2025.
Buy now £299.00, American Golf
Takomo IGNIS Fairway Wood
Best for: value for money/direct to consumer option
Takomo keep on stepping up their game. The Finnish brand has gone big on the YouTube golf marketing to get their name out there – and thankfully, the products have the quality to back up all the buzz.
They've become known for their affordable irons, and in more recent times they've branched out into clubs further up the bag. Given the IGNIS fairway wood is their first step into the world of woods, it’s a remarkably assured product which comes with a luxury feel and solid performance to rival some of the big boys.
The IGNIS pops up high and is easy to launch and might appeal more to players looking for woods to hit into greens, rather than off the tee. They're excellent options at a lower price point, and the carbon crown was one of the most pleasing behind the ball we tested. In fact, there are some people who would be pleasantly surprised by the quality of finishing and feel offered from a direct-to-consumer brand like this.
The obvious drawbacks that come with direct-to-consumer brands - there's no option to get custom fit for them. However, we were really impressed with the adaptability. The IGNIS woods offer a lot of different options for players looking to tweak ball flight and club profile, with a weight set and adjustable sleeve to help players get dialled in.
It also came with one of the nicer headcovers, too, and you can’t argue with the price compared to other models.
Buy now £259.00, Takomo
TaylorMade Qi35 Fairway
Best for: best sounding and best looking
TaylorMade is arguably the brand most synonymous with woods in the industry. The previous model, the Qi10 is a gem, and has found its way into plenty of tour players’ bags - even a handful not directly contracted to TaylorMade. The new model picks off where the Qi10 left off.
Looks are subjective, but the Qi35 is the best looking model we tested out, with a sleek dark grey carbon that sits wonderfully behind the ball. Previous TaylorMade models incorporating carbon in their construction have offered plenty of colour (think blue on the Qi10 and bright red on the Stealth), but the look here is far more understated and will suit more players’ eyes. And yes, looks don’t directly translate into performance, but this thing looks so mean over the ball, it might just give you that extra confidence you need to send a bomb down the middle of the fairway.
It’s the best sounding, too. There’s a deep, solid crunch through impact, which adds even more satisfaction to hits out the middle. As ever with TaylorMade, you get the twist face technology which helps with forgiveness, and the Qi35 also comes with a speed pocket, designed to reduce spin on hits lower on the face.
The Qi35 might not offer the biggest upgrade on the previous model, but when the Qi10 quickly went down as a modern classic and a leader in the field, perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising. This is another excellent offering from TaylorMade.
Buy now £309.00, American Golf
Mizuno ST-Max 230 Fairway Wood
Best for: higher launching option
Not enough people talk about the looks of Mizuno drivers and woods, but the brand is definitely well known for fantastic build quality throughout its incredible irons range – and the same is definitely true in the ST-Max 230.
The St-Max 230 model, which first came out in 2024, marked a big step up in Mizuno’s woods range, not least in its aesthetics. It comes with a sleek, sophisticated head profile and understated blue detailing, as well as a gloss carbon crown and a ‘cortech chamber’ on the sole. It’s also one of the classier-looking clubs we tested, in our opinion, and its understated design means it won’t age in the bag like other, slightly flashier models might do.
It offers a really compact feel with a subdued sound off the face – if you’re after a real crack through impact, you might want to look elsewhere. It launches nice and high, making it ideal for hitting into greens and for a confidence-boosting option for people who want a bit of help getting the ball airborne. As a result, it’s one of the easier models to hit off fairway lies too.
It could be an ideal get-it-in-play club for lots of golfers, especially those who might need a touch of help getting the ball high in the air with a fairway wood. It feels reassuring, like you’re going to hit fairways, while offering good distance off the tee.
The ST-Max 230 comes with our pick of the best headcovers, too.
Buy now £179.00, The Golf Factory
Callaway Elyte Fairway Wood
Best for: Driver replacement option
The best for hitting off the tee in 2025? The Callaway Elyte could well be it, especially for better players.
After years of experimental design with the Paradigm and AI smoke series, the Elyte features something more like a classic modern fairway wood. The green detailing on the sole might not be for everyone, and while it’s subjective we’d argue there are better looking woods on the list, but it’s very long and will be an absolute weapon in the hands of plenty of players.
The headline in terms of tech in the latest Callaway model is the tungsten speed wave – which puts weight forward and promotes more ball speed, while the 35g weight also adds stability to shots that miss low on the face.
The Elyte is a lower spinning club, and there’s also other options within the range. There’s also the X, offering an easier to hit option with plenty of forgiveness for a wider range of players, and the Triple Diamond, which is low launching and produces a more penetrating ball flight. It’s a rocket, offering some of the highest ball speeds you’ll find in any fairway wood.
It’s worth considering that distance alone isn’t what everyone has a fairway wood in the bag for. It’s perhaps not as easy to launch for the majority of players as some of the other models we tried, but if your driver is misbehaving off the tee, this is the one we’d pick as the most obvious replacement - and one that could get you the closest in terms of speed and distance to your driver.
Buy now £309.00, American Golf
Ping G440 Max Golf Fairway Wood
Best for: Forgiveness
Recent Ping models including the G430 are some of the most forgiving drivers and fairway woods ever made. The G440 Max picks up where the previous model left off, while it’s worth noting that the more understated design will probably suit the eye of more players too.
It’s rugged, dependable, built like a brick out house and perhaps the most confidence inspiring club on the list – that’s largely due to its forgiveness, with Ping living up to its reputation here by providing plenty of tight dispersion on off-centre hits. It’s almost a cliché at this point to talk about Ping clubs offering forgiveness, given the brand’s reputation for producing some of the most user-friendly and well-built clubs around, but the same is very much true for the G440 Max.
The head is packed with tech, including the titanium face wrap, which brings more consistent feel across the face. The Max version is a pretty high-spinning club, which will suit a lot of players who might struggle to get their fairway woods in the air consistently. However, lower handicappers will likely be suited to the LST option, which is designed to offer lower spin and a more penetrating ball flight.
Buy now £319.00, American Golf
