How do you know which tees to play from?

[Shindig]

I think it depends more on the individual distances on each hole. For me when you do 36 x 5i distance I get 7200. I would not feel comfortable playing from this distance as any course that goes out to 7200 yards is going to be extremely difficult and Im sure that there would be a couple of holes that a just too long for me. However when you divide 7200 by 18 you get 400, this is the average length of each hole. 400 yards Im comfortable with, but not a course that is 7200 yards.

Well, if the total yardage is 7200 yards, I'm going to bet that the par-5s aren't 480 yards as they are for me when I play 6300. They're probably in the 530+ range. If your par-4s average a little under 400 yards, and your par-3s average 170 ish, and your par-5s 530 ish, you can get close to 7200 without (likely) taking you out of your comfort range on any given hole.

Of course, I don't mind a 400 yard par-4 now and then, but I'd be upset with 18 of them in a row.

There are probably barely a dozen guys on this forum that could tackle those 400 yard par 3s, but just imagine all those par-5 eagle putts!

Double eagle putts for some of us!

("us" doesn't include me in this case)

[melchior]

Me being the crappy golfer I am; if there's 3 teeboxes; the middle one is for me; 4 means the 2nd farthest but 5 I'm in the middle.

[double_j]

I think it depends more on the individual distances on each hole. For me when you do 36 x 5i distance I get 7200. I would not feel comfortable playing from this distance as any course that goes out to 7200 yards is going to be extremely difficult and Im sure that there would be a couple of holes that a just too long for me. However when you divide 7200 by 18 you get 400, this is the average length of each hole. 400 yards Im comfortable with, but not a course that is 7200 yards.

You can repeatably hit a 200 yard 5 iron and don't feel comfortable playing a 7200 yard course? Why? Most of the people I play with who have this kind of reliable distance tend to hit all of their clubs long (driver 270+, 140 PWs, etc.) and don't have a problem with the longer set ups.

Think about it, even on a monster 450 yard par 4, you only need 3 wood off the tee and a 5 iron approach. And if you're fairly reliable with a driver, you could make it so your approach is no more than a 7 or 8 iron. On another note, I'd modify the 5 iron X 36 approach since my result (6480) seems fairly short compared to what I'm used to. It probably makes sense to take this result and add 100 yards for each par 5 (4 on my home course). This would put my 'sweet spot' yardage at not quite 6900 yards which seems reasonable.

[rkim291968]

I play at 6200 - 6500 yard tee.  It fits my drive distance.   I will readily play shorter tee to go along with rest of the group.   But I will not likely to play anything around and/or over 7000 yards regardless of what rest of my group does.

[wils5150]

i think the distance you hit the ball is a factor but I think your skill level is just as important. I see guys everyday that hit there drives 270 but can't break 100. they shouldn't be playing from the tips. they should be playing a shorter tee.

[BuckeyeNut]

I can't personally relate to the theories........if a player hits driver/5-iron XX far, play from XX tee. etc, etc. etc...  A player simply needs to know their comfort zone, and they will once they've been around the block a few times.

I never look at individual holes on the card when playing a course for the first time.   I don't care how the yardage is divided up.  I look at the overall course yardage and CR....and that's it. pretty simple.  I look at those 2 things, and I immediately know which tees I want to play.  Yes, I look at slope too, but I don't choose tees based on it.

[Strandly]

I just play the 'blue' tees if I'm alone, with a group I play whatever they're playing as long as it's not the woman tees.

[David in FL]

I just play the 'blue' tees if I'm alone, with a group I play whatever they're playing as long as it's not the woman tees.

The color of the tee markers is irrelevant because it's not standardized.  The blues on one course may be the tips, they may be the two-up tees on another.

I can't personally relate to the theories........if a player hits driver/5-iron XX far, play from XX tee. etc, etc. etc...  A player simply needs to know their comfort zone, and they will once they've been around the block a few times.

I never look at individual holes on the card when playing a course for the first time.   I don't care how the yardage is divided up.  I look at the overall course yardage and CR....and that's it. pretty simple.  I look at those 2 things, and I immediately know which tees I want to play.  Yes, I look at slope too, but I don't choose tees based on it.

I agree that you can't simply apply some silly model, especially for better golfers.

I disagree on the importance of how the yardage is divided up though.  For my skill level, I'm a relatively short hitter.  My "comfort level" is generally in the 6,600 yard range, but I can play much longer courses, as long as most of the additional yardage is in the par-5's and even, within reason, the par-3's, I can play to 7,000 yards.  When there are a bunch of par-4's over 450 yds though, I'm gonna get my butt kicked hitting hybrids and even an occasional 3-wood for approach shots all day.  That gets old in a hurry......

As to CR, I never use that as an excuse to move up a set of tees, but if the CR appears to be unusually low for the tees I'm considering, it may push me back a set.  You've got to take par into consideration when looking at the CR though.  A par 73 course (5 par-5's) at 6,800+ yards and a CR of 73.5 is a much easier course than a par 71 course at 6,600 yards and the same 73.5 course rating!

[Harmonious]

The color of the tee markers is irrelevant because it's not standardized.  The blues on one course may be the tips, they may be the two-up tees on another.

I agree that you can't simply apply some silly model, especially for better golfers.

I disagree on the importance of how the yardage is divided up though.  For my skill level, I'm a relatively short hitter.  My "comfort level" is generally in the 6,600 yard range, but I can play much longer courses, as long as most of the additional yardage is in the par-5's and even, within reason, the par-3's, I can play to 7,000 yards.  When there are a bunch of par-4's over 450 yds though, I'm gonna get my butt kicked hitting hybrids and even an occasional 3-wood for approach shots all day.  That gets old in a hurry......

As to CR, I never use that as an excuse to move up a set of tees, but if the CR appears to be unusually low for the tees I'm considering, it may push me back a set.  You've got to take par into consideration when looking at the CR though.  A par 73 course (5 par-5's) at 6,800+ yards and a CR of 73.5 is a much easier course than a par 71 course at 6,600 yards and the same 73.5 course rating!

This is a great response. ^ ^ ^  Know your game, take a look at all things: total yardage, rating and slope, then decide which tees you want to play.  If it's a course you are familiar with, switch up the tees you play so you have different looks from the tee, different yardages for your approaches. If it's a new course, use David in FL's approach.

I'll be playing a new course on Friday while on a road trip. Although I could play from the tips, I'll probably play up one set because I don't want to get beat up for just a casual round.

Haven't read through all the responses, so this may have already been said: The PGA recommends that if you want to closely emulate the clubs that a tour pro would use when playing a course, take your normal 5-iron yardage and multiply it by 36. If it's 170 yards then you would play at about 6200 yards.

[JCRuzanski]

I just started playing a month ago, regardless of length I play from the forward mens tees. Makes no sense to me to play further back if I'm not breaking 90 on a regular basis.

[MEfree]

David is right about not ignoring par and I also think that tee box matters (i.e. tip, middle, forward)- If you play the middle box at your home course, you probably don't want to play the tips elsewhere even if the yardage seems about the same (unless you know the course is really easy).

i.e. I play a course that is 5900/66.8/117 from the tips (at an elevation of 9 K, so it plays even shorter).  Many would just look at the yardage/CR/slope and figure that they would be fine from the tips, even if they are a bogey golfer.  However, it is a par 69 and has a number of holes that intimidate most bogey golfers:

3- 218 yards with about a 170 yard carry over water with hazard right and long and OOB left.  It is a very big green, but all a bogey golfer sees is where not to hit it.

4- 441 yards with hazard left off the tee and OOB & hazard right.  There is protective netting right of the tee, so you either have to hit it straight or start it towards the hazard and work the ball left to right.

5- Only 339, but with a hazard immediately in front of and to the left of the tee that extends the entire left side and behind the green.  The back tee box makes it appear that you have to carry the ball farther than you do and water right can also come into play for a right handed slice.

6- Only 494 par 5, but again, water in front of the tee box (maybe a 160 yard carry from the tips depending on wind) as well as OOB left and more water right.  Landing area is adequate, but bad shots will find the trouble and this is what bad golfers see.

10- 192 yards over water (~160 yard carry) with OOB right, long and left.

11- 553 with OOB right and left

16- 438 with a 225 forced carry over the hazard and OOB right.  Usually plays into the wind.

18- 415 with OOB right and forest left.  No fairway is visible from the tips and it is truly a narrow driving hole that plays tighter the shorter you hit it.

My point is that while 5900/66.8/117 might seem like a decent set up for a bogey golfer, the tips are not really the tees that most bogey golfers enjoy playing.  Many of the tougher holes I mentioned are much less intimidating from one box forward (5500/64.8/113).  I made the mistake of having a 17 handicap friend play with me from the tips and don't think he broke 100- it didn't take long for him to complain about us playing the tips- I won't be making that mistake again.

[Strandly]

The color of the tee markers is irrelevant because it's not standardized.  The blues on one course may be the tips, they may be the two-up tees on another.

I know, which is why I used the ' to imply it wasn't exact.  In this area the blue tees are generally the first set of tees in from the tips.

[Otis32]

I play on one course every year, carved out of a forest in the Cascades, Elkhorn Valley Golf Club. If you miss a fairway there, and they're more generous than most, don't even bother looking for the ball. It's 6,242 yards from the blues, which are rated 71.0/131. The whites are 5,628, rated 68.9/117. I always play from the whites and work hard to shoot my handicap.

I agree that the "Rule of 36" doesn't seem to have much practical merit on either side of the equation. By that math I should be playing courses north of 7000 Yds which at my handicap would be an ugly proposition.

[dfreuter415]

The PGA and USGA have a program, "Tee it Forward."  This chart is a guideline to help golfers align their average driving distance with the course length best suited to their abilities.

http://www.pga.com/pga-and-usga-step-new-sets-tees-in-nationwide-tee-it-forward-initiative

Driver Distance	Recommended 18-Hole Yardages
275	6,700-6,900
250	6,200-6,400
225	5,800-6,000
200	5,200-5,400
175	4,400-4,600
150	3,500-3,700
125	2,800-3,000
100	2,100-2,300

[David in FL]

[TABLE] [TR] [TH] [SIZE=16px]Driver[/SIZE] [SIZE=16px]Distance[/SIZE] [/TH] [TH] [SIZE=16px]Recommended[/SIZE] [SIZE=16px]18-Hole Yardages[/SIZE] [/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]275[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]6,700-6,900[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]250[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]6,200-6,400[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]225[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]5,800-6,000[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]200[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]5,200-5,400[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]175[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]4,400-4,600[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]150[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]3,500-3,700[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]125[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]2,800-3,000[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [SIZE=16px]100[/SIZE] [/TD] [TD] [SIZE=16px]2,100-2,300[/SIZE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/quote] It should be noted, those are real distances.....the standard Internet multiple should be applied in determining individual results. ;-)

[MS256]

Driver

Distance

Recommended

18-Hole Yardages

275

6,700-6,900

250

6,200-6,400

225

5,800-6,000

200

5,200-5,400

175

4,400-4,600

150

3,500-3,700

125

2,800-3,000

100

2,100-2,300

[/quote]

It should be noted, those are real distances.....the standard Internet multiple should be applied in determining individual results.

You mean all of those guys aren't really averaging 325 yards with the driver? Whew! That makes me feel better.