Equipment

Review: Nickent 4DX Fairway Wood

Background
Today I’ll be taking a look at the Nickent Golf 4DX Fairway Wood. The version I have tested is a #4 Fairway Wood with 17* of loft and a UST V2 Stiff Flex shaft. Let’s start off with the details from Nickent Golf:

The new 4DX Fairway Wood from Nickent Golf utilizes brazing technology, a new innovation that allows a manufacturer to fuse steel and Titanium without using epoxy.

Super thin .4 mm Titanium crown is fused witha stainless steel body by a unique and patented brazing technology.

By replacing the crown with their super thin titanium technology, and because the Titanium weighs 5 times less than a steel crown, Nickent was able to significantly raise the MOI and make the face have a larger sweet spot.

The addition of the Titanium crown allowed Nickent to add in their XW Inserts, which have become the driving technology behind nearly every Nickent product in the 2007 line. The XW Inserts provide 16 grams of weight to be adjusted in 2-gram increments by the manufacturer for directional control and swing weight purposes, without relying on bulky screws that add a harsh feel at impact.

5 different lofts. I played a 17* #4 Fairway Wood, fitted with a UST V2 Stiff Flex shaft.

Look and Feel
Again, as with the 4DX Driver and Hybrids, the 4DX Fairway Wood has a very classic looking shape from address. The sole of the club also features those cool green inserts and the tungsten plugs in the back. I really do love the look of these clubs, along with their sparkling green club head covers. If you like the look of the 4DX IW Hybrids or 4DX Driver, obviously you’ll also love the look of their fairway woods. There is nothing flashy to look at while at address. Just that little N alignment aid, and the classic black shape. Awesome stuff.

At 177cc (for the #4) and 190cc (for the #3), the club isn’t that enormous. Large enough to inspire some confidence off the tee, and not too large that you feel as if you’re swinging your driver off the fairway. I’m not sure how some people are able to hit a Callaway X-Hot Fairway wood off the deck. Those things are bigger than drivers of 4 or 5 years ago. 177cc in the #4, I can live with that.

The feel off the club face is quite solid. Similar to the 4DX IW, but quite different than the 4DX Driver. I liked it, you really felt as if the ball was exploding off the club face. It’s pretty easy to tell where on the club face you have hit the ball. No need to slap impact tape on this club face.

Performance
Off the tee, put a good swing on this club, and it’s money. With the V2 shaft, the trajectory is nice and low->mid and very penetrating. It gets up there a bit, and hangs for a while, eventually dropping and rolling out quite a ways. I was hitting this #4 (17*) perhaps 10-15 yards further than the Nickent 4DX IW in 17*, mostly due to the lower trajectory and longer roll. Carry distance wise, the two seemed pretty similar. Off the tee, strangely enough, I’d say I am still more comfortable with the IW. The shorter shaft may help with this. I generally hit a nice little draw with the IW. With the FW, I was mostly just hitting very straight, boring shots. Definitely not a bad thing. I have played with the IW a lot longer, and have a lot more confidence with it. Given some time, and a build up of confidence, the added yardage of the FW would certainly be nice to have.

Of the deck, on the other hand, I really do like the 4DX FW. The IW, in the 17* configuration, is a tough one to hit consistently (the #3 on the other hand is a dream off the fairway). The 4DX FW gets up in the air quick, and launches nearly as far as it does off the tee. It’s relatively easy to work if you’re looking to do that, but put a decent swing on the ball, and it generally likes to go straight. The trajectory is still nice and penetrating, with mid height. Great stuff.

Out of the rough, or a fairway bunker. I don’t even bother. I tried a few times, had some success, had some big failures. But hey, why bother trying when you have a hybrid that was designed for such circumstances. Just take out that 17 or 20* hybrid, and you’re good to go. You probably aren’t going for two many greens in two from a fairway bunker anyway.

Conclusion
I was very opposed to fairway woods there for a while. Having gone through a Callaway X FW, Nike Sasquatch, TM r5 and my old Callaway Steelhead…all of which are collecting dust now….it was nice to give a 17* fairway wood a try. I can’t say right now if I’d change my setup to include the 4DX FW permanently, but I certainly consider it at times. A 4DX Driver, 4DX FW (#4) and 4DX IW (#3) combo at the top might provide me with a lot of distance off the tee, accuracy off the tee, and confidence out of tough lies. Given the performance of the 4DX IW #2 vs the 4DX FW #4, I may certainly change to that bag setup.

• Find Nickent 4DX Fairway Woods on Ebay – $120-$199
• Nickent 4DX Fairway Woods at GolfSmith – $199

Be sure to check out our reviews of the Nickent 4DX T-Spec Driver and the 4DX IW Hybrids while you are here.

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