Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood Review
Is New Always Better? The Next Round Golf Battle Of The 3-Woods
Next Round Golf sells used clubs varying from a few months old to over a decade old. One of the great debates in golf: Is New always better? If we believed every marketing ploy of the golf industry we’d all be hitting 400 yard drives and making a 1-putt on every green. Yet year after year, even with brand new clubs in the bag we don’t really seem to score that much better or hit the ball that much further. Why? Is it because new clubs aren’t any better or is there some other factor?
The Next Round Golf Challenge is a series of articles tackling that debate through on-course testing and range results paired with launch monitor data. You can follow these tests over the next few months to see if new is always better? Next Round Golf was able to provide 5+ year old clubs to compare to the newest technology on the market. We hit as similar as specs as possible, in this case using the same shaft in both heads.
This is the official Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood Review.
The 3-Woods
The Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood test contenders were a Titleist GT2 13.5* 3-Wood vs Titleist 915 Fd 13.5* 3-Wood. I used the same Oban Kioyshi shaft in A1 setting in both heads which I was fit for by Titleist. The specs of these heads are pretty similar. The GT2 head is slightly bigger, but otherwise these 2 clubs came in very similar in terms of specs and details. The age difference between these 2 clubs is almost 10 years. The cost difference between these 2 clubs is $250 +/- depending on condition.
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The Challenge
The Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood test was designed to see if new is always better? I went to the local range, set up my launch monitor and hit 5 shots with one head, then hit 5 shots with the other. Then I rotated back and forth between the 2 heads off a tee, off the turf, and hit over 50 shots between the two heads. I also spent some time with these 2 heads in the iGR Carl’s Place Simulator in a controlled environment to compile even more data. I rotated which club I hit first and last, when I was fresh and when I was tired.
Observations
Is New Always Better? I noticed numerous similarities between these 2 heads. Even though they are 10 years apart in age, Titleist sticks to their designs, sounds, looks and feel year in and year out. The Titleist 915 Fd was a little more compact and the alignment aid was certainly more pronounced at address. On center strikes there was little difference in flight pattern, in distance, or in performance. The data below proves how similar these 2 clubs perform. The biggest takeaway is in forgiveness. The average smash factor, dispersion and overall distance increase with the newer head. However on center strikes I could hit the 10 year old 3-wood just as far as the brand new one.
The Next Round Golf Challenge Data
Data from Flightscope MEVO Gen2 Launch Monitor
| Titleist GT2 3-Wood 13.5* | Titleist 915 Fd 13.5* | |
| Spin | 3255 rpms | 3121 rpms |
| Launch Angle | 12.5* | 12.0* |
| Dispersion | 4.4 yds | 4.6 yds |
| Club Head Speed | 98.8 | 98.9 |
| Ball Speed | 130.4 | 126.6 |
| Smash Factor | 1.32 | 1.28 |
| Carry Distance | 230.5 | 224.1 |
| Total Distance | 242.8 | 239.8 |
Conclusion
The Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood proves that you don’t need to replace your clubs every year. If you have a 10 year old club that you love, you aren’t give up significant distance or performance. However, if you need more forgiveness or the absolute best clubs possible in the bag; new does offer some benefits on average. This all comes at a price, so if you want to get really good performance without the cost of new clubs, check out the used club selection at Next Round Golf.
Is New Always Better? Better, yes; but the gap is pretty small so don’t be afraid to consider used clubs to fill your golf bag in 2026. The Next Round Golf Challenge 3-Wood shows even 10 year old clubs can keep up with brand new ones.
More information here: Next Round Golf Website
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