50 Words or Less
The TaylorMade M3 fairway wood has meaningful adjustment to complement above average forgiveness. A favorite on Tour but also playable for regular golfers.
Introduction
What’s one thing that Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Jason Day, and John Rahm all agree on? For all of them, their fairway wood of choice for 2018 is the TaylorMade M3. I recently had the opportunity to test one to see if it works as well for mortals as it does for the pros.
Looks
It’s unsurprising that so many of TaylorMade’s Tour staff plays the M3: it looks great at address. The head is fairly compact by modern standards and has a round, symmetrical shape. The M3 appears even smaller at address thanks to the two-tone crown.
One of the biggest factors in having confidence in a fairway wood is the face height. Tall faces look great on the tee, but can be scary from the turf. The M3 hits that sweet spot where you can feel confident in any situation.
Sound & Feel
Just like the M3 Rescue, the M3 fairway wood produces an impact sound that’s devoid of metallic “tinks” and instead has a solid “crack.” It’s more similar to a wooden baseball bat than your typical high-pitched fairway wood. While it’s not what I expect from a fairway wood, it is extremely satisfying.
Also like it’s hybrid counterpart, the M3 fairway wood has spectacular feedback. Both the sound and the sensation you get in your hands will change noticeably as you move from the center of the face to less desirable areas that we all find from time to time.
Performance
Regular readers know that for me, I have two “musts” for a fairway wood. It must elevate the ball easily and it must perform on thin strikes. The M3 fairway wood passed both tests in my first range session. My good strikes were launched on a high (for me), flat trajectory, and my thin shots still got airborne with good distance.
After a few swings with the weight in the stock position, I had to indulge my curiosity about the effects of the slider. The sliding weight in the M3 fairway wood is 29 grams, and it produces a huge change in the feel of the club. Of course, feel isn’t all that changes: your ball flight will, too. When you combine the sliding weight with the 12-position Loft Sleeve, you have enough adjustability to tame a wild hook (or slice) or take one side completely out of play.
When I got the M3 fairway wood onto the launch monitor, I got to see exactly how much the Speed Pocket helped those strikes low on the face. If my best shots were launching between 12 and 14 degrees, thin shots were still around 10 as opposed to dropping to 7 or 8. This, plus the saving in ball speed, equals a huge boost in carry distance.
Conclusion
While I can’t claim that the M3 fairway wood turned my long game into that of Tiger or Rory, it did give me great results from my best swings and very good results from my poor swings. If you want a fairway wood that will allow you to dial in your ball flight without sacrificing forgiveness, the TaylorMade M3 is calling your name.
Buy the TaylorMade M3 Fairway Wood HERE
TaylorMade M3 Fairway Wood Price and Specs
TaylorMade M3 Fairway Wood Specs and Price
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TaylorMade M3 Fairway Wood LM Data
Matt Saternus
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Was this off the deck or a tee? That’s border line too low of spin to use into a green but wow that is really long.
Zach,
All our FW numbers are off the deck.
-Matt
Hey Matt I love the site. You and the rest of the team do an awesome job. I would love to compare the M3 to the new cbx line of fairways and hybrids from tour edge. I hear they are being well received on the champions tour. Any chance you will be doing a review?
Mike,
Thank you!
We have requested the CBX from Tour Edge, but have not received one yet. If you would go on social media and let them know you want to see a review, that would certainly help.
Best,
Matt
Matt,
How did the m3 compare to the rogue fairway. You had such great reviews of it.
Thanks
Tim,
I think they’re two of the best FWs this year. The Rogue went in the bag for me because of the forgiveness and ease of launch, but I could have easily gone the other way.
Best,
Matt
Hey Matt. Love this site. Read all the reviews. My fairway woods are M2. I’m gonna upgrade to either M3 or M4. I like the adjustability options. My driver is an M1 and I love it. Total fairway finder from 270-280 yards. It’s 9.5 cranked up to 11.5 with the weight in draw bias and height middle of the track. My question is about forgiveness. Is the forgiveness level of the M4 that much better than the M3? I’m a 7 HC if that means anything, and my misses tend to be thin and/or right. Is the M4 more of a game improvement club? I’m concerned the M3 is a pro’s club. Where I live there isn’t many options to test clubs. Thanks for any input
Jeremy,
The forgiveness of the M3 depends largely on where you position the weights. It’s noticeably less forgiving when you push the weights forward. With the weight back, it’s similar to the M4.
Best,
Matt
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Can you tell me the biggest difference in the 2017 M1 3wood and the 2018 M3 3wood. I like the compact size of of both but the M3 looks a little bit smaller.(I could be wrong) I am still playing my old R9 but want to upgrade this year so what would you recommend. I ask because there is not any shops that have M1 fairways in stock anymore to compare.
thanks for your input..
Jon,
Unfortunately I did not review that M1, so I don’t have any firsthand comparisons to offer.
Best,
Matt
I recently demoed the M5 and was impressed. I just cannot wrap my head around paying $400 for a fairway wood. I am not sure if you have tested the M5 or not, but wanted to see what you thought about and pro or con going with the M3 ($230) or the M5 ($400) fairway wood.
Chris,
I haven’t tested the M5 yet, but I would be very surprised if it outperformed the M3 by almost 2:1. That said, if I were in the market for a 3W I’d test them head to head to see if one is a better fit to the level that might warrant that extra money.
Best,
Matt
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