A wood (also called a driver) is a type of club used in the sport of golf. Woods are used to hit the ball farther (greater distances) than any other type of golf club.

Woods are so called because, traditionally, they had a club head that was made from hardwood, generally persimmon but modern clubs have heads made from metal, for example titanium, or composite materials, such as carbon fiber. Some golf enthusiasts refer to these as "metals" or "metal woods" but this change in terminology is not strictly necessary, because while the material has changed, the style and intended use has not. The change to stronger materials has allowed the design of the modern woods to incorporate significantly larger heads than in the past. Because of the increase in club head size, in 2004 the USGA created a new stipulation for the size of the club head. The legal maximum (by the rules of golf) of a wood is 460 cc (28.1 cu in).

Woods are numbered in ascending order with the driver, or 1-wood, which is designed to hit the ball the greatest distance, having the longest length and lowest loft, typically between 7 and 13 degrees. However there is no industry standard and some overlap occurs. With the typical loft of a 2-wood being 12-13° a 1-wood and 2-wood could have the same loft. Other differences in club design, such as head size, face roll, weight distribution, lie angle, or club length, could also differentiate a 12° 1-wood intended for tee shots and a 12° 2-wood intended for fairway shots. Most club manufacturers’ matched sets include 1-3-5 numbered woods. Even numbers are less common with modern clubs. The number of the club is mainly a reference for the player to easily identify the clubs. Other identifiers have been utilized such as strong and plus to differentiate various lofts within a line of clubs.

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers (which are strong in tension) embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in tree roots or in other plants such as shrubs.^{[citation needed]} In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up for themselves. It also mediates the transfer of water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber.

The earth contains about one trillion tonnes of wood, which grows at a rate of 10 billion tonnes per year. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy. In 1991, approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction.

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players (or golfers) use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.

It is one of the few ball games that does not require a standardized playing area. Instead, the game is played on golf "courses", each of which features a unique design, although courses typically consist of either nine or 18 holes. Golf is defined, in the rules of golf, as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules."

Golf competition is generally played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known simply as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes during a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play.