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Playing From the Wrong (Too Long) Tees?


SirMilton
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Some course have gold or blue (championship) tees, then white (men's) tees and then red (women and senior's) tees.

At what age is it appropriate for a man to use the women/senior tees?

The pros consider themselves seniors at age 50 (like AARP). Some say 55, some say 60, some say 65, and at 70 no one would fault a guy from hitting from the red tees.

What is your belief?

I'm 59 and still hitting from the blue tees, but using a lot of fairway wooods to hit get my GIR.

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Tough to answer and it should depend on the person. I frequently play with a 66 year old ex-collegiate wrestler whom I've seen hit it 275-290 off the tee. Many of the holes at the course we play would give him 50-80 yds advantage from the reds(clearly he doesn't need it).

I suspect most people his age are NOT in the shape he is in, thus, may NEED to hit from the reds.

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I think it's not about age it's about your game. You should play the distance that give your game a challenge not by your age. Many course are starting to call the tee's forward or back tees not women,men or champion.

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I think it's not about age it's about your game. You should play the distance that give your game a challenge not by your age. Many course are starting to call the tee's forward or back tees not women,men or champion.

Exactly my sentiments!

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I agree its not your age but your ability on the golf course.

I think some girls should hit from the men tees and too many males play from the blue tees when they should be on the whites, especially if you see divots around the blue tee boxes.

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It's not age or gender, it's game. If you're long enough to play the men's, or the tips, then go for it. If not, then play where you can handle it.

I play the mid (white) on my home course at 6500 yards, and that is right for me still at 61. I'm long enough to play the blues (6950 yards) there, but I just don't enjoy playing every hole under pressure. When I do that, the only thing I get to use my short irons for is chipping... not recommended for good scoring.

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I think some girls should hit from the men tees and too many males play from the blue tees when they should be on the whites, especially if you see divots around the blue tee boxes.

I've seen way too many short hitters hit from the blue thinking it's more macho to do so. Idiots.

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I'm not going to cast a vote.. I think you should be at least 50-55.. but, it's more about ability I think. No matter what your age, you should play the tees that when you hit a decent tee shot, it leaves you with a fair shot to the green. If you're on a 420 yard par 4 from the back, and the Sr. Tees let you play it at 370.. then it's ok if you're only hitting a 200-220 yard drive, because you're playing the hole as it was intended to be played..

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I think it's not about age it's about your game. You should play the distance that give your game a challenge not by your age. Many course are starting to call the tee's forward or back tees not women,men or champion.

Agreed. If you can't reach the fairway from the tees you're hitting from, odds are you should move up. Conversely if you've reduced it to drive, pitch, putt, then you need to go back a set of tees.

I normally play the white tees (~70 percent of the time) but sometimes I'll go back to the blues. Or I'll hit from the red's if I want to work on my iron game. It's all about personal preference.
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Anything longer than a 5 iron is usually a mis-hit for me. My 5 iron goes 175 yards. This means that my best score on par 4's is bogey.

I am over 55. Should I continue to play from the white tees on the par 4's, or move up to the red tees so that I can reach the green ?
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Some course have gold or blue (championship) tees, then white (men's) tees and then red (women and senior's) tees.

In your case I might hit the whites. If you're hitting more fairway woods/hybrids into greens than irons, it's time to move up a tee.

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I play often with a member that's 74 years old and really gets it out there on his drives and fairway woods. He has no business playing from the senior tees, and some of his regular "senior" weekly group cry fowl.

He'll shoot his age from the senior tees. From the whites, 80-ish. And he'll play from the back tees, too, if he hooks up with us young whippersnappers.

He just enjoys playing the game.

Whenever I play with a "senior" that bombs a drive and has a great round going, I usually make a complimentary comment such as "you got NO business playing from those tees."

Whatever tees, is good by me's (respect thy elders).

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At my small town country club there are usually just two tee areas on all holes. The back tee area usually has the blue tees about 5 yards behind the whites, but on about half the holes, the blues and whites are the exact same. The reds always offer about a 10% reduction in yardage on the hole and always reduce the angles of doglegs.

Only two holes have separate blue tee areas (both par 3s) and they are where the blue tee can also have extra elevation, which tends to reduce the yardage difference, but retains the additional accuracy requirement of the longer yardage shot.

My vote is 60 for the reds. Overall fitness, flexibility, vision, coordination, timing and stamina start going downhill fast at about age 50.

Yet, I understand the pros choosing 50 as I know that even the best pro at age 50+ cannot compete with a 30 year old pro. Skill and experience just cannot overcome the benefits of youth.

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  • 12 years later...

Where I play the White Tees are best suited for my game and for most Members. I play at Pinehurst and the yardage for White tees for courses 2, 4, 6 and 8 are 6,307 yds, 6428 yds, 6,180 yds and 6,311 yds respectively.  For the Blue tees the yardage is 6,961 yds, 6,961 yds, 6,634 yds and 6,964 yards respectively.  All  Gold Tees (Championship tees) are closed except for major competition events.

So my question is why do people play the wrong tees?  On any given day at any course we see people who should be playing a forward tee than the one they are playing.  Wouldn’t the game be more enjoyable if you could shoot a lower score potentially?  I would bet we all see golfers of all ages, beginners or experienced playing the wrong tees.  What’s a better score, an 86 from the Blues or a 76 from the Whites?  Playing a 2nd shot from 150 or hitting from 200 out?  A putt for birdie or a putt for bogey or worse?
 

I remember playing Harbor Towne at Hilton Head. We had a fore caddy who asked all of us our HDCPs on the 1st tee. We were going to play the Blues initially but based on our replies he suggested the White tees.  If you’ve played there before you know the fairways are tight.  Long story short, we played the White Tees and we were glad we did.

I’ve played with many guests at Pinehurst who play the tips (perhaps for the experience?) who would have a better time play one tee box up.  At any course the length is not the challenge, bunkers, the rough, greens etc. all play into your experience.

i know it’s personal preference overall, but wouldn’t you rather shoot 3 over par versus 15?  

What are your thoughts?

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I've been fighting this problem since 2009 at my present course.  It is a very challenging course, and when it opened, the shortest "Mens'" tee was 6300 yards, sloped 130.  Our typical golfer is over 60-years old, as we are a resort course in a tourist area.

Around six years ago, I played the course in my mind, and "moved forward" on holes where my drive was not making it to the appropriate approach shot.  I came up with a Combo Tee of 5877 yards, sloped 128.  "Whites" at the other local course where I'm a member just happens to be 5794, sloped 122, so our Combo is right for the area.

Some holes are still a little too long for our typical golfer, but our older member groups, for some of whom distance is not a problem, play the Combo tee, primarily because it makes for a funner/quicker round.

But, I can't get management/owners to just make it a White tee.  Instead, it's confusing, because you have to look at the card to see what color to play as you head to the next hole.  Just make it White dammit, I'll even spray-paint the tee markers.

Actually, I'm looking forward to playing the forward tee when it's safe to be out and about again.  5323/123.

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I just had the thought that longer hitters are able to play shorter tees because they can hit shorter clubs, but shorter hitters can't play longer tees because they're already hitting it as far as they can.

Plus, us anyone can find doing a bit of searching here, the topic that was my primary concern when I first came here was Pace of Play, and watching group after group head over to the first tee, and watching their drives, I quickly saw that Playing Too Much Course, Getting Their Money's Worth, Seeing it All . . . was the main reason for our 5-6 hour rounds.

I believe that Y chromosome has a lot to do with it.

Edited by Cartboy
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Hybrid tees are actually great for many courses. Most of the Pinehurst courses have Hybrid tees, both White/Blue and White/Green. White/Blue is a bit longer than the White tees and the White/Green also more yards than Green and they are played frequently.  

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22 minutes ago, Sandy Lie said:

Hybrid tees are actually great for many courses. Most of the Pinehurst courses have Hybrid tees, both White/Blue and White/Green. White/Blue is a bit longer than the White tees and the White/Green also more yards than Green and they are played frequently.  

The hybrids are a really good idea. I would really like to play a bit longer than the white tee yardages you posted, but the 6900 would probably not be too much fun. The blacks at my course are 7000, and I will play them once in awhile, but if I'm not playing at my best, and if the course is not firm, it's pretty tough. I usually play from our blue tees at 6700, but I sometimes play with a gangsome that plays a blue/white hybrid, and it's a lot of fun.

Edited by Sandy Divot
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Note: This thread is 1142 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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