Best Disc Golf Fairway Drivers for 2024
Disc golf drivers can be broken down into two categories: Distance drivers and fairway drivers (also called ‘control drivers’). For longer shots most disc golfers reach for their distance drivers. For more controlled or technical shots, control drivers are the go-to type of driver. They have slightly slower speeds, more narrow rims, and are easier to throw at a speed that will allow shaping your shot.
Top Selling Fairway Drivers
Much like our Best Putters of 2024 and Best Distance Drivers of 2024, this week we will look at the Best Fairway Drivers of 2024. We’ll look at the top selling molds, the most popular brands, and the highest rated discs. Let’s start by checking out the top 50 according to Infinite Discs sales:
Infinite Discs took the top three spots on the list, rounded out with the third-place Centurion. One place in front of the Centurion is the popular understable fairway driver, the Sphinx. Taking the top spot by a sizable margin is the Infinite Discs Dynasty. The Dynasty represents over 6% of all fairway drivers sold, and is coming up on its two-year birthday (Approved Jan. 2022). It is a signature disc for a couple touring pros. Both Eric Oakley and Maria Oliva throw the speed 9 Dynasty.
Top Dynasty Plastics
Checking out the Dynasty sales we see that nearly one in four discs sold was in Signature Halo S-Blend. That is Eric Oakley’s signature disc. The second-most popular plastic is the more overstable C-Blend Glow. Third and fourth were close, with Signature Swirly S-Blend and C-Blend taking about 9 percent of the sales each.
Top Fairway Driver Brands
Although Infinite’s mold took all three spots of the podium, there were two other brands that had more discs in the top 50. Once again, Innova and Discraft are number’s one and two for the most molds, and combined they have 20 percent of the molds in the top 50. Innova is in first with a whopping 13 molds, nearly doubling Discraft’s seven molds. Infinite has 6 molds. Smaller brands such as Dino Discs and Finish Line joined Doomsday, Dynamic Discs, and Kastaplast, all having one mold in the top 50.
Highest Rated Fairway Drivers
Shifting from the best disc golf fairway drivers based on sales, we look at the highest rated fairway molds. Infinite Discs allows customers to rate individual discs and products to help other disc golfers see how other people feel about discs and accessories. If you would like to contribute YOUR reviews you can earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards.
A quick check of the highest rated fairway drivers and we see that the Infinite Discs Sphinx is the highest rated with 4.89 out of five stars. The second place Centurion is just a tick behind the Sphinx with 4.88. Taking third place for the highest rated fairway driver is the first mold from Thought Space Athletics, the Mantra. It has an average rating of 4.86. It’s easy to see why these three sell so many discs. Based on the reviews, people really love them!
Highest Rated Overstable Fairway Drive
Our website has two different classifications of Overstable. The “Overstable” classification is used for slightly overstable discs, while the “Very Overstable” classification is used for the real meat hooks of disc golf, those discs that are overstable for players of all abilities.
The highest-rated overstable fairway driver is a mold that has been part of the disc golf scene for a couple of decades. That mold is the Innova TeeBird. It tops the list with a rating of 4.76 out of five stars. Just behind the TeeBird is the second-place Discraft Raptor, with an average rating of 4.75. Discraft also holds third place with its slightly overstable Undertaker. The speed 9 Undertaker is rated 4.73
Highest Rated Stable Fairway Driver
Fairway drivers that have minimal high-speed turn and fade are considered ‘stable’. These discs can be shaped to suit the needs of a particular situation. The mold with the highest rating in this category is the Infinite Discs Centurion. The speed 7 Centurion has a little bit of turn at high speed, and a relatively mild fade at the end of its flight. It has an Infinite rating of 4.88, making it one of the higher rated discs of any category. In second place for fairway drivers is the Discmania Essence, rated at 4.79. A couple tenths behind the Essence is the Innova TL3. The TL3 is a faster version of the TL, which is a less overstable version of the TeeBird. It has an rating of 4.59
Highest Rated Understable Fairway Driver
Sometimes you need a bit more turn on your throws in order to either shape the shot you want, or keep turning over until you get a roller. In other words, you need something understable. Here is a list of some of the highest-rated molds that have a bit more understability in their flight.
Sitting at the top of the list as the highest rated and top selling understable fairway driver is Infinite Discs’ Sphinx. It is a flippy speed 9 disc that can definitely give you some turn in your flight. The Sphinx is rated at a whopping 4.89 out of five stars. Second place is another speed 9 mold, TSA’s Mantra. It is rated at 4.86. In third place with a pretty high rating is the Axiom Insanity. The Insanity is rated 4.71.
What are Your Favorite Fairway Drivers?
Let us know your favorites!
Those are our lists of the top fairway drivers with sales and ratings data. Let’s add to the data by hearing from YOU! Please answer one or more of the following questions:
1 – What is your favorite fairway driver?
2 – What is your favorite over/understable fairway driver?
3 – What do you think will be the best fairway driver for next year?
Let us know if the comments below.
We selected five random commenters and gave them an Infinite Gift Card. Congrats to the winners:
Drew H – Is favorite fairway driver is a TSA Votum. He likes its reliability.
Kevin M – Tops on his fairway list is the Latitude 64 Explorer
James V – He likes both the Birdie Strike and the Discmania FD
Morgan L – A disc golfer after my own heart, chooses the Infinite Discs Sphinx
Matt Y – He is bagging the Discmania FD
Find out about current giveaways HERE
Ted Hegemann
Ted is the Chief Writer at Infinite Discs. He is responsible for the State of Disc Golf Survey articles and most of the "best discs" posts. Ted runs all kinds of local disc golf leagues and tournaments and tournaments in Northern Utah.
Favorite: Champion Valkyrie
OS: Firebird
US: Pipeline
Best: Firebird
Favorite overall FD: Hard to pick, really, but for a general purpose FD, I might go with the Infinite Discs Centurion (mine’s in I-Blend) as it’s got middle-of-the-road stability so it can be tweaked more readily for the full gamut of scenarios and wind conditions. It gives me good straight-forward distance not too far off from my best distance drivers. I-Blend seems to give a good combination of grip and durability. Honorable mention to Viking Cosmos.
Favorite overstable FD: Innova Thunderbird (G-Star). It gives me plenty of straight forward distance before finishing with a reliable fade. Even better into the wind as it yields better s-curve flights. Grippy and durable.
Favorite understable FD: Yikun View (Phoenix blend) because it works well both for my wife’s slower throws, as well as giving me some really good results with hyzer flips, s-curving around obstacles then fading back toward the basket. The Phoenix plastic feels great and holds up well with use.
Best (selling?) FD in 2024: Infinite Discs Dynasty. This is pretty close to the Centurion, but I slightly prefer the latter; however, from last year’s sales it appears that more people must prefer the faster Dynasty, so I’ll guess it will remain so next year.
I tried a servo for the first time this year and have loved it! It has a reliable flight pattern and is versatile. It will hold a hyzer line when needed but will flex nicely when thrown flat. It is very controllable. I have been surprised at how much I like throwing it.
Good to see pretty much all of my fairways on this list!
Mantra
Dynasty
Votum
River
Raptor
Favorite – MF C-Line FD
OS – Raptor
US – S-Line Sphinx
I suspect Eagle’s upcoming fairway from MVP will be dominant this year, Mantra, Dynasty will continue to sell well
Favorite: Champion Leopard 3
OS: thunderbird
US: Ascend by Streamline
Best: Cicada
Favorite: Axiom Crave
OS – TSA Votum
US – Centurion
Best – Crave
That disc is a lazer beam and always sold out at my local shop. I have 2 but I want… no NEED more.
Favorite – Teebird – Great control and just the right amount of distance with the right amount of fade.
Over stable – Firebird – My go to for longer forehand approach shots or flex shots through the woods. Reliable fade that helps with distance control.
Under stable – Essence – This thing glides for days. Perfect for straight shots in the woods especially for moderate to slower arm speeds. Very workable.
For the future I would like to check out the new Cicada from Discraft.
Favorite: Firebird – probably the most used discs in my bag. Light weight star for distance and heavier champion for placement shots or shaping. They can do almost everything.
OS: Teebird – a shot shaping machine and completely reliable
US: Sphinx – I blend. This is one of the best IMO
Honorable mention:
Stable: JLS
OS: Stork
US: Blackout
Favorite overall has been the Servo.
Favorite understable has been the insanity
Favorite overstable is the Terra.
I am hopefully for a new Eagle fairway to drop this year
1 – Fav FD? Insanity
2 – Fav OS/US? Raptor/Heat
3 – Best FD of next year? Maybe a MVP Eagle release?
Crave was a work horse for me last year.
Gonna go with the centurion this season.
Favorite- Currently its the Kristofer Hivju Sidewinder
Favorite OS/US- Firbird & Mantra
Next year’s best Fairway Driver – Crave
I throw all these discs and recommend all of them!
1. Favorite is the Hawkeye from Innova. Dead straight with a little fade at the end
2. Favorite OS is the MVP Volt for nice FH shots
2.1 Favorite US is the Doomsday Discs Blackout, especially in Biohazard plastic
3. Whatever Simon/Eagle come out with this year
Should clarify, #3 may not necessarily be the best thrower, but I think it will be a best seller
River was definitely my most used, then probably Explorer. But just started throwing some Infinite, and the Sphinx and Exodus are definitely going into my bag.
Favorite: Millennium Draco
US : Axiom Crave
OS : Millennium Draco
My pick for 2024: Axiom fireball or whatever eagle throws!
Best Fairway for me is definitely the Axiom Insanity. Especially after getting the R2 eclipse one in the new 2024 PDGA renewal offers, I’ve owned three of them, lost one, and immediately replaced it.
Favorite: insanity
Over/under: dynasty
Top seller: dynasty
Favorite Fairway: Star TL3
Overstable Fairway: Z Raptor
Understable Fairway: Zeta’s Moon (S Line CD1)
Best Fairway next year: Champ Eagle
The Mint Phoenix in Eternal plastic is my favorite. While the Eternal plastic is translucent, it feels more like an opaque premium plastic and is unbelievably reliable for shorter holes and even a lot of utility situations/approaches that require very creative lines.
Fav: Centurion
OS: Teebird
US: Underworld
2024: yet to be released MVP mold/or signature MVP
I threw the maverick and evader a ton last year. I hope this year that the centurion can ride the line in the middle for me.