Sub 70 949X Fairway Wood

I know I’ve mentioned it on this site before, but if this is your first time reading about Sub 70 Golf here, I want to provide a quick refresher. Sub 70 is a direct-to-consumer golf equipment (and now apparel) brand out of Sycamore, Illinois that has established themselves as one of the best values in global golf equipment. One of Sub 70’s principle ethos is to only add or replace equipment in their lineup if they feel they’re significantly improving on a design or introducing a totally new option. Well, folks, the Sub 70 949X fairway wood is here, and shocking, it’s pretty good. The updated 949X delivers an improved take on a fairway wood for players ranging from single digit to mid-teen handicaps looking for adjustability and forgiveness.

The Looks

One area where Sub 70 deserves a ton of credit is in their ability to create contemporary looking equipment while keeping it simple. The 949X’s shape is a traditional pear shape and the sole has a tastefully modern look with Sub 70’s signature minimalist black and white branding. At address, the 949X fairway wood has a moderate footprint with a medium face depth. That face blends nicely into the topline for an extremely clean look over the ball.

Nothing beats a good carbon fiber crown on a wood, does it? I love how it looks. By using carbon fiber on the crown, Sub 70 is able to save weight in the top of the club and reposition it to more ideal locations throughout the club head. In the case of the 949X fairway wood, the weight is in the sole for a lower center of gravity (CG) making it easier to launch the ball in the air. In theory, this should make it easier to hit the ball further.

How Does it Feel?

Sub 70 used a thin 455 carpenter steel for the face of the 949X fairway wood. Given the use of the thinner steel, and the cup face design, I expected your typical metallic “trampoline” feel. What I experienced was a satisfyingly firm and powerful feel. With its generous sweet spot, I’d get solid distance and reliable feedback as long as I didn’t have an extreme miss. Feedback is precise and there’s an assertive pop off of the face.

Generally speaking, the CG is low and deep on the Sub 70 949X fairway wood. However, the adjustable sole weights allow you to slightly tune it to influence the ball flight. I’ll discuss that more later, but this also influences the club’s balance, and therefore feel. With the heavier weight in the rear position, the 949X feels smooth and evenly balanced. With a heavier weight in the heel position, the club still had good balance but felt faster to me. Though my club speed data didn’t exactly reflect a major difference, it just felt faster. It was almost like the draw bias “slotted” the club faster in my downswing. I don’t know how scientific that is, I’m perfectly willing to accept this is all subjective to my own hands.

How Does it Sound?

Matching the feel of the Sub 70 949X fairway wood, the sound is solid and tight. By “tight”, I mean the sound matches the pop mentioned in the prior section, but there isn’t an overly boastful boom obnoxiously announcing your presence to the golf course. It’s forceful, to the point, and a firm “whack”. At more moderate swing speeds, the sound takes on a more muted “tick”.

On-Course Performance

My biggest takeaway from testing the Sub 70 949X fairway wood was how incredibly easy and automatic it was to hit. Sub 70 designed this club to be appealing to a wide range of players as something that’s easy to get launching in the air, locked on target, and controllable. The 949X hit all of those marks for me both off the tee and off the deck. There’s no fighting it to get launched and carrying in the air. More importantly, hitting targets was like I had radar lock with the club. Control was effortless and I was confident in keeping the ball on any line I chose.

There are a handful of different ways to adjust the 949X fairway wood. First is the adjustable shaft adapter/hosel. This allows you to increase or decrease the loft up to 1º as well as adjust face and lie angles. In addition to loft and lie, the sole weights will modify the club’s CG to influence flight characteristics. By placing a heavier weight in the heel position, the club will have a draw bias. With a heavier weight in the rear position, the ball will launch easier and straighter. Sub 70 includes additional weights so you can tinker with swingweight and how significant the flight bias will be. From my experience, these adjustments work and can really make a huge difference when correctly dialed in for your swing.

Final Thoughts – Sub 70 949X Fairway Wood

“Still classy and understated, this is a club that everyone can play.” That’s how Sub 70 describes the 949X fairway wood and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Frankly, I think that one sentence really captures this entire review perfectly. The 949X is easy to hit and reliable, which is about all anyone can ask for in a fairway wood. If you’re a better player that likes to work a fairway wood both directions or up and down, you’ll have no problems there. Or if you’re a higher handicap that’s just looking for a fairway wood that gets up in the air and goes straight, the 949X gets that job done too. It really is a super versatile fairway wood that will actually appeal to a wide audience. On top of that, prices start at $169 making it accessible to more golfers as well.

Stock Sub 70 949X Fairway Wood Specs

Previous Next