If you are hitting up on the ball with the driver, the effective loft is greater than that. Hitting down/level with the 13.5 may not launch as well. Nothing wrong with putting an independent driver into the time out corner. If you don't already have a 13.5, you might find your maximum distance at 18/16.5/15 degrees and a tighter pattern than with driver. 20 yards shorter in the fairway always beats hitting from under a stand of trees.

Could see a boost in accuracy playing 3 wood off the tee. Getting your driver functional could be a great excuse for some lessons, though

I would go with the D2 head which is larger and more forgiving and you can get adjust the loft up to 13.5 on the driver, from a 12* loft. I sometimes use the new Titleist hybrids off the tee and they work extremely well on the fairway and in the rough. The 915h, which would be a good choice comes in an 18* degree loft can be de-lofted to a 17.25* and they are long and accurate. The 816h1 is their newest and hottest but the lowest they come in is a 19* but can be lowered to a 18*. I would recommended being fitted for them. They have some great options on their standard shafts. I am not a particularly long hitter either. My drives are in the 235-250 range, but of course I guess that is appropriate for my age, 69.

I TOOK THE APPROACH OF TAKING THE DRIVER OUT OF MY BAG FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON...AND CRANKING MY FW ALL THE WAY DOWN. IT DID WONDERS FOR MY GAME BY REMOVING THE PRESSURE OF CONSTANTLY DEALING WITH NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE 2ND SHOTS. LAST YEAR PUT A BRAND-NEW DRIVER BACK IN MY BAG TO USE BASICALLY USE ON WIDE-OPEN FAIRWAYS. BY THE END OF THE SEASON I WAS DRIVING PRETTY WELL.

For me personally, the driver is even easier to hit than the wood, but every person has his on swing...

Have you ever tought about an Utility iron of the deck? recently I hit the 712U 2 iron of a friend and was not too much shorter than a wood, but more consistant and with a huge roll!

I had a similar problem until I cut my 915 D2 down to 44.25", swapped the 9 gram weight for the 14 gram weight, changed my setting to B4 my loft went from 10.5 to 12 and a flatter lie. My index dropped from 8.1 to 5.8 in 2 months. I didn't lose any distance either! No longer do I fear the big stick!

Another option is a shorter and/or heavier shaft in the D2. I put a fairway shaft in my driver head and find more fairways with minimal loss of distance. The shorter shaft and heavier weight can help you improve center contact. You can change the weight on the head to fine tune swingweight if necessary.

Have you considered shortening your driver. A simple process that can also be easily reversed if you don't like it.
Trimming off the butt end has almost no effect on the flex cpm's, as it has only 1/4th the effect of tip trimming. Thus, negligible.
It would change the swingweight about 2.5 to 3 points per half inch.
If you are a do it yourselfer, you can handle it easily if you know how.
If not, a golf shop can very easily do it, and they can make it any length you want.
If experimenting, you can just add lead tape to the clubhead to get the right swingweight that you like.
If you want the driver to go back to the original length, a golf shop can put on a graphite shaft extender to make the shaft what it was originally, just like new as long as you didn't take off more than two inches. Two inches should be the maximum amount of experimentation, though I'd recommend starting with less.
Each time one trims the shaft, it requires removing the grip. so you would have to get a new one each time.
If you want to then make it permanent and you don't like the look of the lead tape on the back or bottom of your clubhead, the golf shop can do that for you too by tip weighting your shaft accordingly to get the swingweight that you like, and you could then remove the lead tape.
Many studies have found that average golfers would do far better with a 44" driver length. If you are a single digit handicapper, maybe 44.5" might suit you. A three wood is probably around 43.5".
These lengths can always be altered, though you'd need a new grip put on each time.
By doing this, you still have all the forgiveness of your 460cc driver clubhead, but you've just made it shorter so you can control it better and get center hits and better swingpath more often.
Any major golf shop should be able to easily do these things for you at a very reasonable fee, far far less than buying a new club.

Hi Gerry S., Keep the D2. You will figure the rest out. That is a great club.
Play Well,
Steve S.

Have you had your driver fitted? I had a very similar problem with my game: FW, irons, wedges, were all decent, but driver was problematic. Turns out my set-up was entirely wrong for the swing I have. After fitting I game a 915D2, 12 degrees Aldila Rogue XS. I'm a much better diver with a predictable miss. Perhaps you are having the same difficulties.

Strong 3 wood, definitely. The 3 wood has the spoon effect on bad swings so you'll keep it in play more often. I did it, giving up maybe 15 yards on the tee, but saving a few strokes a round. I am also low single digit handicap.

There is no reason not to hit a FW if it keeps you in the short grass and you don't lose too much distance. It's true that the big question is "how many", not "how".

Gerry,

I had issues with the driver also but did well with my 3w. After reading an article that talked tour pros's shortening their driver shafts I gave it a try and found it made a world of difference. I have now shortened my last two drivers and have become very consistent with it. I have 1" taken off of the butt (handle) end and seem to hit the ball farther because I hit it in the middle more often. I play a 913D2 9.5.

I would go with the higher lofted driver.with a larger hitting area it is more forgiving.i have days when I struggle with my 915D2,that's when I go up to the tee box with my 15 degree 915F 3 wood and stripe em down the middle.after a few holes try the driver again.good luck and keep hitting em

I too struggled with driver, started using a 13* 3 wood off the tee with good results, many more shots in the fairway with not much loss in distance. Now smoking the driver with 1 1/4" shorter shaft (44 1/4"). I keep the 3 wood in the bag for rounds when the driver misbehaves.

I'm not an instructor, but you didn't state what/where your miss is. Is it a consistent miss, say high right, or does your miss vary? If you have a consistent or "normal" miss, maybe a fitting session to fine tune your driver is in order. Hope you get it sorted.

I used to have a Hate/Hate relationships with my driver! My D3 with a Rogue X-Stiff shaft no longer has me running from my Driver and I am a 13.1 index. A High lofted D2, with the right shaft, might be the answer?

I'm going to make the assumption that your inconsistency is just with your driver.
First, make sure that your driver shaft is appropriate for your club head speed and your swing tempo. Poorly matched shaft flex can induce inconsistency. Next, use impact tape to determine the quality of contact on the face of the club. Inconsistent face contact is the single biggest cause of inconsistent shots. A driver is the longest club in your bag. The longer the shaft, the harder it is to control. Try choking up an inch of two. Also, make sure you tee the ball at a height that will give you consistent (vertical) center face contact.
The hosel settings are used to fine tune the trajectory (and possibly get more distance). But resist making hosel adjustments until you start being more consistent. For now, keep it set at A1. FYI - you'll probably need access to a club fitter/launce monitor to properly evaluate the effect of hosel adjustments.
Good luck.

Once was an advocate of low loft drivers, but as my swing speed has slowed down with age, loft has become important. The problem with most adjustable drivers is when you increase loft you close the face and that doesn't work for me. I have a 13.5* three wood that goes almost as far as my driver, but I can't put the driver in the closet, so I have been experimenting with demo drivers in 12*+ and then lowering the loft to 11* or so. This opens the club face for me and has given me the loft I want for carry and it has improved my accuracy. I also tried putting a driver shaft in my 3 wood.