A driver is the club you use when you want to get the most distance (in theory) when you tee off. It has the least amount of loft (10 desgree is common) on the club and has the longest shaft (35" is common) so you can swing it fast and the ball should go far. However, it's precisely because of these features that it's difficult to hit for many players. So they end up hitting their tee shot crooked or make poor contact (they don't hit the ball in the middle of the club) and lose considerable distance and accuracy.
Other clubs, like a 3 wood (14 degrees) or a 5 wood (18 degrees) or a 7 wood (22 degrees) sacrifice distance but you are more likely to make good contact off the tee (because of a shorter shaft and more loft on the face) which results in a ball that's more likely to be in a playable spot, but not as far down the hole as a perfectly hit driver. But they give you more tolerance for a not perfectly well struck ball. They are more "forgiving".
Think of golf clubs this way - each one a golfer may carry is a tool designed to give the player an advantage when doing a certain thing. Some clubs are designed to put a lot of spin on the ball and go a shorter distance because that would be ideal for that kind of shot the club is made for. The driver is a tool designed to hit the ball as far as you can. But if you can't utilize the tool and benefit from the advantages it gives you, it's not so useful.
The less hard you hit the ball, the more loft you need to maximize your distance (because of air resistance). So more loft helps both because the shorter shaft of a wood vs a driver (which makes it easier to make good contact) limits how hard you can hit the ball, and also because amateur golfers can't hit it as hard as a pro would (and if you try to hit it as hard as possible, you're more likely to make poor contact).
I guess I should say that poor contact isn't penalized as harshly. Also the club is easier to control due to it having a shorter shaft and the loft makes it easier to launch the ball.
Other clubs, like a 3 wood (14 degrees) or a 5 wood (18 degrees) or a 7 wood (22 degrees) sacrifice distance but you are more likely to make good contact off the tee (because of a shorter shaft and more loft on the face) which results in a ball that's more likely to be in a playable spot, but not as far down the hole as a perfectly hit driver. But they give you more tolerance for a not perfectly well struck ball. They are more "forgiving".
Think of golf clubs this way - each one a golfer may carry is a tool designed to give the player an advantage when doing a certain thing. Some clubs are designed to put a lot of spin on the ball and go a shorter distance because that would be ideal for that kind of shot the club is made for. The driver is a tool designed to hit the ball as far as you can. But if you can't utilize the tool and benefit from the advantages it gives you, it's not so useful.