Best Disc Golf Fairway Drivers of 2020
Fairway drivers are arguably the workhorse of the disc golf world. With their slower speeds, the can be handled, shaped, and used by beginners and professionals alike. Their stability range gives us the opportunity to shape shots and avoid obstacles. They are slightly more forgiving than distance driver and require less power to throw, fairway, or ‘control’ can more easily be used for technical shots. So, which is the most popular control driver? Let’s find out.
As usual, we will look at our sales records to see which control driver molds have sold the most this year. Then, we will look at the ratings that readers have contributed, including the star rating and the number of reviews. Then we will turn thing over to you to vote! We will give you a chance to vote on your favorite control driver, whether it’s on our list or not.
Best Disc Golf Fairway Drivers
| Sales Rank | Star Rating | Fan Vote | Average | |
| Innova Teebird | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Innova Firebird | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2.3 |
| Discraft Undertaker | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4.7 |
| Innova Thunderbird | 6 | 2 | 6 | 4.7 |
| Innova Valkyrie | 3 | 9 | 4 | 5.3 |
Taking first in both the ratings and fan vote, the Teebird wins the title of the Best Fairway Driver. This mold has been around for a long time and has proven it’s worth. With a flight rating of 7, 5, 0, 2 the Teebird has won the admiration of many voters. Noe C. said that the Teebird is “Great out of the gate and gets better with age”. Click the link above to get yours!
The Evolution of Disc Golf Discs
For those of us relatively new to the sport, from our perspective the distance drivers that we know and love today have always been a part of the game. Ask a seasoned veteran what ‘high speed’ discs they threw in the nineties and they might reel off a list of molds you’ve never heard of, including molds from Wham-O. The discs we call ‘fairway drivers’ were the ‘high-speed drivers of yesteryear. Fairway drivers were the discs used to cover a lot of ground.
For this blog, we will define control drivers as discs with a speed of 6 through 9. As was mentioned in the blog about the best drivers, speed 9 discs are the ‘tweeners, with some people and manufacturers calling them high speed, and some control drivers.
Top Fairway Driver sales for 2020
Let’s start by checking out the best fairway driver in terms of sales. Here is a chart of our sales for fairway drivers for 2020. Innova holds a big chunk of the category, and takes the first four places.
Here is a list of the top 20 molds according to our sales data:
| 2020 Sales Rank | Disc Mold |
| 1 | Innova Firebird |
| 2 | Innova Teebird |
| 3 | Innova Valkyrie |
| 4 | Innova Leopard |
| 5 | Discraft Undertaker |
| 6 | Innova Thunderbird |
| 7 | Discraft Heat |
| 8 | Discraft Anax |
| 9 | Innova Leopard3 |
| 10 | Innova Roadrunner |
| 11 | Innova TeeBird3 |
| 12 | Innova Sidewinder |
| 13 | Infinite Discs Sphinx |
| 14 | Discmania FD |
| 15 | Discraft Raptor |
| 16 | Latitude 64 Diamond |
| 17 | Latitude 64 River |
| 18 | Discraft Stalker |
| 19 | Latitude 64 Explorer |
| 20 | MVP Volt |
The popular overstable mold, the Firebird, leads the way. In second is the straight-flying Teebird. In third and fourth spot are the Valkyrie and Leopard. These last two are very popular discs in starter packs, although starter pack sales were not included in this blog.
Although, once again, Innova and Discraft have the most molds represented, in this category there are three other companies with a mold on the list: Discmania, Latitude 64, and Infinite Discs. One of those three, Discmania, has the FD mold on the list. That molds was PDGA approved in 2011 and has had time to gain a fan base. The other two companies, represented by the Explorer and the Sphinx, are much newer molds, getting approved in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Rating Rankings
And here is the top 10 by ratings and reviews:
| Rank | Disc Mold | Star Rating | # of 2020 Reviews | Weighted score |
| 1 | Innova Teebird | 4.78 | 42 | 5.02 |
| 2 | Innova Thunderbird | 4.66 | 43 | 4.92 |
| 3 | Infinite Discs Sphinx | 4.9 | 22 | 4.86 |
| 4 | Innova Firebird | 4.64 | 38 | 4.83 |
| 5 | Latitude 64 Explorer | 4.83 | 22 | 4.79 |
| 6 | Discraft Undertaker | 4.77 | 25 | 4.77 |
| 7 | Discmania FD | 4.73 | 20 | 4.66 |
| 8 | Discraft Raptor | 4.76 | 16 | 4.63 |
| 9 | Innova Valkyrie | 4.52 | 31 | 4.61 |
| 10 | Innova TeeBird3 | 4.74 | 14 | 4.58 |
How Old Is The Mold
Although discs in the 6-9 speed range have been around since the early years of disc golf, there have been many discs that have been discontinued or fallen out of favor in the disc golf world. The list above contains discs whose approval date spans over two decades. From the ‘old school’ Innova Teebird, Leopard, Firebird, and Valkyrie, to the freshly minted Anax. The oldest discs on the list were approved in 1999 and 2000, with the newest member of the group getting approved in 2019. The average approval date is about 2011, the same year the Discmania FD was approved by the PDGA for sanctioned play.
Here is a list of the PDGA approval years:
| Innova Teebird | 1999 |
| Innova Leopard | 1999 |
| Innova Firebird | 2000 |
| Innova Valkyrie | 2000 |
| Innova Roadrunner | 2005 |
| Discmania FD | 2011 |
| Innova Thunderbird | 2014 |
| Discraft Heat | 2014 |
| Discraft Undertaker | 2016 |
| Latitude 64 Explorer | 2017 |
| Innova Leopard3 | 2017 |
| Innova Teebird3 | 2017 |
| Discraft Raptor | 2018 |
| Infinite Discs Sphinx | 2018 |
| Discraft Anax | 2019 |
2020 VS Last 8 Years
Out of curiosity, I pulled up the all-time sales for the discs on the list to see how the current year sales for the best fairway drivers compared with the sales for each mold since Infinite began in 2012. Here is the all-time top ten fairway drivers, compared with the top ten for 2020:
| All-Time Sales Rank | Mold | 2020 Sales Rank | Disc Mold | |
| 1 | Innova Firebird | 1 | Innova Firebird | |
| 2 | Innova Teebird | 2 | Innova Teebird | |
| 3 | Innova Thunderbird | 3 | Innova Valkyrie | |
| 4 | Innova Valkyrie | 4 | Innova Leopard | |
| 5 | Innova Leopard | 5 | Discraft Undertaker | |
| 6 | Discmania FD | 6 | Innova Thunderbird | |
| 7 | Innova Leopard3 | 7 | Discraft Heat | |
| 8 | Innova Roadrunner | 8 | Discraft Anax | |
| 9 | Innova Teebird3 | 9 | Innova Leopard3 | |
| 10 | Discraft Undertaker | 10 | Innova Roadrunner |
Averaging Sales With Age of Disc
Many of the molds on the top control driver list didn’t even exist when Infinite opened its doors. The older molds have had a lot more time to get accepted by disc golfers. That makes the newer mold’s place on the list a little more impressive. In an attempt to account for the age of the best control drivers, I took their total sales and divided it by the number of years that the mold has been around to get a sort-of average number of discs sold per year of existence.
For this list, the advantage goes to the much-hyped newer molds that might have short term boosts in sales, but that might fade after time. However, the fact that one of the oldest discs on the top sales list made this list shows the popularity of the Firebird.
| Rank of Sales Divided by Age | Mold | Year Made |
| 1 | Discraft Anax | 2019 |
| 2 | Innova Leopard3 | 2017 |
| 3 | Innova Thunderbird | 2014 |
| 4 | Innova Teebird3 | 2017 |
| 5 | Infinite Discs Sphinx | 2018 |
| 6 | Discraft Undertaker | 2016 |
| 7 | Discraft Raptor | 2018 |
| 8 | Latitude 64 Explorer | 2017 |
| 9 | Discmania FD | 2011 |
| 10 | Innova Firebird | 2000 |
Voting Results: Top Fairway Drivers
What amazing results for the best fairway driver of 2020! There were far and away more different molds chosen as people’s favorite than any other class of disc so far. A whopping 80 different molds received votes! The molds represented all of the larger manufacturers, and many smaller ones. One prototype mold even made the top five. We also received more total votes for this category than any other so far. Let’s jump into the results!
| Rank | Mold | Percentage of Votes |
| 1 | Innova Teebird | 8.6% |
| 2 | Innova Firebird | 8.1% |
| 3 | Discraft Undertaker | 6.5% |
| 4 | Innova Valkyrie | 5.4% |
| 5 | AGL Locust | 4.3% |
| 6 | Innova Thunderbird | 3.8% |
| Latitude 64 River | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Dynamic Discs Explorer | 3.6% |
| 8 | Infinite Discs Sphinx | 3.4% |
| 9 | Discmania FD | 3.2% |
| Innova Leopard3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Innova Eagle | 2.5% |
| Innova Sidewinder | 2.5% | |
| 11 | AGL Sycamore | 2.3% |
| 12 | Innova Leopard | 2.0% |
| 13 | Axiom Crave | 1.8% |
| Discraft Heat | 1.8% | |
| MVP Volt | 1.8% | |
| 14 | Dynamic Discs Escape | 1.6% |
| Innova Teebird3 | 1.6% | |
| Dynamic Discs Getaway | 1.6% |
Voting Highlights
In some close voting the Teebird just edged out the Firebird as the favorite disc among voters. Many voters explained their choice for the Teebird:
- Bryant V: I throw forehand 90% of the time and it is my most predictable disc. I can get it to go wherever I want it to go especially right to left.
- David P: Does everything I need it to!
- Colby: Best disc there is. Period.
Most of the top molds on the list also made the list for the top sales of 2020. A couple of notable exceptions are Above Ground Level’s Locust and Sycamore. The Sycamore has a flight rating that is slightly less overstable than a Teebird. While the prototype Locust sports a flight rating of 9, 4, -1, 3. The Locust even broke the top 5 for votes tallied. The disc was released as a prototype, but Infinite has ordered the disc and they will be available soon. Many voters heaped praise on the disc.
- David D: The Locust from AGL Discs has been an absolute go to disc. Since getting my first one it has opened up my game so much. Definitely a disc that will always be in my bag.
Although Innova made up nearly have of the top voted molds, there was a total of nine different manufacturers that made the top 20 list. Quite a diverse bit of voting. In addition to the high number of different molds that were selected as people’s top choice, 56 molds received multiple votes.
As promised, we randomly selected a winner for the $50 gift card, and the winner is Drew P!
Let Us Know Your Favorite Fairway Driver
Now it’s your turn to let us know about your favorite fairway driver. Even if your disc didn’t make the list, let us know what it is, and why it is the best disc for you. Only comments with explanations of “why” will be eligible for the gift card. We will add the votes to our criteria for selecting the best fairway driver for 2020. This blog post will be updated next week with the final list of the top molds.
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.
FD is the fairway driver I have used most often. I play mainly wooded courses and it works great for hyzer flips. I’ve mainly used S line FD’s but the C-line FD’s are great for holding the line you throw them on.
Oooh I have a few favourite ones here. And some that aren’t listed too. If I have to pick a favourite right now, it would be my Opto Air Maul, simply because as a beginner, striving for distance is important to me, and the Maul just goes and goes, further than my GStar Leopard3 and my Starlite Valkyrie. I also find the Maul to be pretty straight too. So in my fickle little mind, the Maul wins for me at the moment.
Because I find the Opto Air a bit slippery in the wet weather though, the Maul is sometimes benched, being replaced at times by the reliable Starlite Valkyrie and the GStar Leopard3, as overall they give me good distance and are consistently straight, and are good in all weather. I know the Sting has the same flight numbers as the Leopard3, but I don’t throw it quite as far, so because anything I can throw to get some kind of distance is important to me, the Sting doesn’t always get a ride in the bag, but it does earn its place at times when I know I need a straight disc, because if it’s possible, it seems to fly straighter than the Leopard3.
Venturing further, my Starlite Roadrunner follows the pack, as it gives me good distance too, but sometimes turns a bit more than I want it to, so that doesn’t always make the journey to the course.
I’m surprised that the Sidewinder wasn’t mentioned, but I guess the Roadrunner is pretty similar. I find that my light weight I-blend Sphinx goes just as far as my Starlite Sidewinder, and perhaps a little straighter, so I rate the Sphinx higher than the Sidewinder.
I’m also loving that my DX Archangel goes pretty straight and fairly far, only starting to throw it more recently, just to learn to throw something a bit different to the Starlite I own. Yes I do love Starlite!
Finally, the little old Mongoose gets a rating for me, as surprisingly, I can manage to throw that one a semi decent distance, just not quite as far as the ones above. I like that I can manage to throw this disc a decent distance and it’s not a light weight disc.
For me, it’s about trying to get some distance, and I find that understable discs are easier to do that, but when I have to throw a more stable disc, it tends to be the Thunderbird.
I can’t wait to ramble on next week about the mid ranges too. Thanks Infinite, this was fun for me to write, probably too much rambling though!
TL3
The MVP Amp is probably my most thrown disc of all time, though my (now lost) Pro Leopard is pretty close.
Color glow fd, hands down. It does everything you need a fairway driver to do.
The Kastaplast Kaxe Z and cousin Kaxe are the two best fairway drivers I throw. I discovered them early this year and they’ve replaced almost everything else. A close runner-up is the Exodus!
Been loving the Discmania Instinct. I bag a newer Instinct as an overstable compliment to my beat in Teebird.
I love the Innova Star Teebird
Valkyrie gets my vote by far.
The star teebird by far. Its actually the only fairway driver I carry on a normal basis because of its reliability and precision
Ptoton Axiom crave and s blend infinite sphinx
The VIP Stag is my go to. I can hyzerflip a new one, get a nice S, and still have it fade. Even my noodle arm can get it out over 300ft. Now we have VIP-X Stags too! This guy doesn’t care about the wind. My beat Stag will hold anny, but finish flat. So good. I love Stag. Stag is life.
Drew Gibson signature Z Xtreme because it will not turn over when thrown on anhyzer into a 100 mph head wind
Innova Leopard3. I bag a light DX and medium weight G-Star and Champion. It’s the first disc I could bomb and remains one of my more versatile fairway drivers.
Axiom insanity in prism plastic.For my arm speed has a little bit of turn when thrown flat and decent amount of fade. Great for those holes where you need to get past a tree or through a gap and then Hook left to get near the basket while also going the distance
My River is very very handy for straight hyzer flips, long turnovers, and powered down approaches.
I have a westside discs northman that my buddies and I got in a misprint pack years ago. At this point it is fairly beat in and understable but it was the first fairway driver that I could throw and just watch it glide. It was a great disc to start with and now is turning into a turnover disc for me.
The firebird flies the same every time I throw it, forehand or backhand.
I have to go with my Innova factory Pro Teebird. Just love that darn disc. Runner up goes to my Opto River.
The Valkyrie is my pick for the best fairway driver. The DX version helped me transition from a beginner player to an intermediate player. As this disc got more beat-in, I noticed its tendencies to naturally hold a turnover line more. The slower speed but confident feeling in my hand allowed me to rip it far and accurate. It is currently my farthest thrown disc (444 ft massive downhill hyzer flip). It’s also my go-to for hitting long turnover gaps.