If you are shopping for a new fairway wood, gaining distance is probably at the top of your list of requirements. As great as accuracy and forgiveness are, we all want distance.
Our 2024 test of the best fairway woods considered the distance, accuracy and forgiveness of 29 fairway wood models. The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond was the longest and the Takomo IGNIS was the shortest. Here’s what you should know about the longest versus shortest fairway woods.
Distance
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond was the best fairway wood for distance. Of the 29 fairway woods we tested, the Paradym Ai Smoke also earned the top spot for overall best fairway wood of 2024.
In our fairway wood testing, we put an equal emphasis on distance and accuracy. With a fairway wood, you need to be able to get the ball close to your target but the extra yards help. The Ai Smoke Triple Diamond gives you playable shot outcomes that are much closer to the target than other fairway woods.
The Takomo IGNIS finished 29th overall for distance.
Accuracy
Typically speaking, as we see distance increase, accuracy decreases. With the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond this is not what we found in testing. In fact, the Triple Diamond is the second-best fairway wood for accuracy.
The Takomo IGNIS was 19th for accuracy. While its distance performance was a bit worse than the accuracy performance, the Takomo still finished in the bottom half of the test for accuracy.
Forgiveness
When we measure forgiveness in fairway woods, we look at how consistently the club can produce similar shot outcomes. The Takomo IGNIS is more consistent than the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond is a low-spin fairway wood that will likely benefit golfers who have some consistency. The Takomo IGNIS’s top-10 forgiveness ranking was easily its best performance metric in the test.
Value
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Fairway wood has come down in price slightly since it was released. It now retails for $299, about $40 more than the Takomo. For the extra performance, the Triple Diamond is the better buy.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond was subjectively the best fairway wood in the test. Golfers rated it the fairway wood they are most likely to purchase based on looks, sound and feel.
The bottom line
Some of these “longest versus shortest” or “most accurate versus least accurate” write-ups make it difficult for us to guide you in one direction or another. Sometimes, a club is long but it’s difficult to control. Other times, we see improved accuracy but loss of distance.
In the case of the longest versus shortest fairway wood, that’s not the issue we ran into.
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond is the better investment. You’ll get a lot more distance, plenty of accuracy and forgiveness you can live with. Even if you are not a low-handicap golfer, the Triple Diamond fairway wood is worth considering. The only golferswho should consider avoiding the Callaway are the low-spin players.
Callaway versus Takomo: Which is right for you?
Who’s it For?
✅ Players who need distance: The best fairway wood for distance of the 29 fairway woods we tested in 2024.
✅ Golfers who like accuracy: The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond finished second overall for accuracy.
Who’s it not for?
❌ Anyone who needs consistency: Forgiveness is typically lost when distance is added. The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond is not the most consistent fairway wood.
❌ Players with low spin rates: You’ll need to generate some spin in your long game if you want the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond to work for you.
Who’s it For?
✅ Golfers who want more forgiveness: The Takomo IGNIS finished ninth overall for forgiveness. It is a consistent club despite being shorter and less accurate than the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond.
Who’s it not for?
❌Players looking for distance: The shortest fairway wood of the 2024 Best Fairway Wood testing. If you need more distance, try a different club.
❌ Golfers who want accuracy: The Takomo IGNIS finished 19th overall for accuracy. It’s not a great choice if you want to save strokes.
League Golfer
1 year ago
I went back to the 2024 Fairway wood testing article. There is no place where they tell the actual difference in distance achieved (carry distance and/or carry and roll out) so are we looking at five yards difference, or eight, or thirteen, or what (!) for the average golfer or the test group of golfers average? Come on Mygolfspy, you must have the stats, so please share them. Are they so close, like five yards from longest wood to shortest wood, or something, that many of us wouldn’t really care? Is that why you don’t give us the average difference?