Lee Trevino was one of the first pros to reap the benefits of high-lofted fairway woods. Getty Images Do a quick search for 7-woods on GOLF.com and you’re bound to find a few articles proclaiming it as the club du jour.
I can’t recall exactly when high-lofted fairway woods started taking off in the professional ranks, but I do remember Bubba Watson and several of his colleagues opting for a 7-wood at the 2015 Players Championship, where it made sense to have a club that could extract the ball from the rough, with a towering launch to boot. In recent years, the 7-wood has gone from a niche club to an offering every manufacturer has in their arsenal . It’s ubiquitous.
Whether you want to believe it or not, mass acceptance amongst pros made it cool for recreational golfers — particularly those with a single-digit handicap — to carry something with 21-plus degrees of loft, instead of a long iron or hybrid. But is this really a trend that started gaining traction only in the past five to 10 years? I attempted to find out. Seeking out the origin behind a club’s rise to popularity can take you down some fun paths.
In this particular case, I happened upon a story from the GOLF Magazine’s digital archives (InsideGOLF has access to 600-plus issues ) that all but confirms Lee Trevino helped popularize the club in some form or fashion. In the 1980s, traditional long irons remained a common sight at the top of the set. Blended offerings featuring forgiving long irons and wor.