Rise of the 7-Wood

About this time last year, I started to see an influx of threads and posts on the MyGolfSpy Forum about 7-woods. Most of these threads asked if members were using them and, if so, which ones and, most importantly, why?

Whether it was because of noticing these threads or being in search of a club to fill that spot in my bag, to me it seemed the topic of 7-woods was popping up everywhere. I even noted that more PGA Tour players were putting 7-woods into play. This led me to several key questions: Are more golfers gaming 7-woods? What clubs are they replacing 7-woods with? And what is making the 7-wood such a special club?

Finding Answers

A quick Google search on the topic highlights many articles suggesting that, yes, more golfers are using 7-woods. There was even a Reddit thread from a few months ago asking why it is so hard to find a used 7-wood to purchase. There was also a publication that had (as of October 2022) suggested that more than 25 percent of pros use a 7-wood.

Shot Scope Data

However, I wanted more concrete evidence of this apparent growing trend. The first place I went was Shot Scope. As MyGolfSpy’s official on-course data partner, they have more data than I would ever know what to do with.

I got a quick response back and was a little surprised at the numbers. According to Shot Scope, here is a breakdown of 7-wood users across various handicaps:

• 1-10 handicaps: 5% carry a 7-wood
• 10-15 handicaps: 7% carry a 7-wood
• 16+ handicaps: 10% carry a 7-wood

Forum Data

Not bad but a lot lower than I had expected. My next stop was our MGS Forum. With a large worldwide membership, we surely could get a decent sample size of who is using a 7-wood.

We posted a simple survey that asked four core questions:

1. Do you use a 7-wood?
2. What club did it replace?
3. Why do you enjoy playing a 7-wood if you do?
4. What is the biggest strength of your 7-wood compared to the club it replaced?

The answers may surprise you but they are much more indicative of what my gut was telling me about their usage. At the time of writing this, we have 428 responses to our poll questions. Here are the results.

Wow, that is a lot of 7-woods being put in play by Forum members. What clubs are they replacing, if any?

I wouldn’t say this is too surprising, given lofts on irons and for some comparable distances with hybrids or even long irons, but I think it speaks to another important aspect of 7-woods which I’ll touch on in the next graph.

We all know long irons are not the easiest clubs to hit. They just aren’t, because the longer shaft and smaller club head make consistency a challenge. A 7-wood makes it generally easier to get the ball up in the air and it is inherently more forgiving than a long iron or even a hybrid.

For the final question, I expected similar responses but it was still a key piece to the puzzle.

Very similar numbers across the board, which makes sense. If those are the reasons golfers enjoy playing a 7-wood, they are likely to be the areas they have improved the most compared to the golf clubs they had potentially been struggling with.

What Makes A 7-Wood Special?

What does this data all mean? How can we summarize these findings to determine why 7-woods are making it into the bags of more and more golfers?

Going through the responses in the thread (of which there are a lot), there are more running themes among posters: 7-woods are just easier to hit. They offer enough versatility that golfers can use them in a variety of conditions and situations but, given how a 7-wood is constructed, they are just flat-out more user-friendly.

Golfers with slower swing speeds noted improved distance due to a “hotter face” than a traditional iron. Golfers with higher swing speeds who are using a 7-wood said they fly higher and thus give a steeper descent angle into greens. They may not spin quite as much as an iron but the other factors mean it still has plenty of stopping power.

What Other Factors Have Led To This Trend?

Now some of this is my own thoughts and feelings given all that I have read and researched. This is what I have found and where I feel golfers benefit from 7-woods.

With the trend to stronger lofts in irons, there is less need for many golfers to carry a 4-iron. Often the distance gap between a 5-iron and 4-iron is negligible and the key difference is height. This is often where hybrids are beneficial but so are 7-woods. They offer similar lofts (21 degrees) to many 4-irons but are able to produce the proper height, increased ball speed and, therefore, distances to create proper club gapping.

Of course, for better or worse, professional golf trends leak into our amateur golf lives so when high-profile players put certain clubs into the bag, it seems to have a ripple effect with golfers around the world. Just look at the mini-drivers we are starting to see. The same goes for driving irons around the time of The Open.

With the way many courses are set up and how firm green conditions can be at the highest level, a 7-wood can be a real weapon. Many golfers see this and go to their local shop to try one and get hooked, which leads me to my last point.

My Personal Experience

I bought a 7-wood about eight years ago. Tried it for a few rounds and it then collected dust for the next seven years. After putting it aside I tried hybrids, driving irons and had settled on a PING G410 CROSSOVER 4 iron for that spot in my bag. Then last year after some early struggles, I pulled the 7-wood back out to give it another run but wanted to give it a better trial. The end result has been it becoming a go-to club for certain situations and I can’t see myself going back to an alternative club. It is easy to hit, forgiving, great in varied situations and, most importantly, consistent.

This exact sentiment has been expressed countless times on the Forum. It is a core reason why we have seen a rise of 7-woods in golfers’ bags.

The 7-wood’s versatility, along with its performance benefits versus other options, makes it an attractive choice for many golfers. I believe that, based on the responses of our Forum members, the 7-wood is less of a trendy choice such as a mini driver and more of a useful addition to a typical golfer’s bag.