Experiment #1: 2012 Forward Tees
This is the first in what will become an ongoing series of "experiments." In the future, we may have "experiments" that have you guys, the "experimenters" or "Sand Trap Scientists" or whatever the heck we call this in the end, doing things like playing one round of golf where you commit to making no swings at more than 75% power, or playing with three clubs, or trying to do different kinds of things (some may not even be on the golf course, but could be at a practice session, etc.).
Members who participate in this will get a fun little badge beneath their posts:
The goal of this experiment is to play two rounds from the most forward tees you can play on your course, each using a different style of play, and see what happens. You'll all be asked to form a hypothesis in the form of predicting your two scores and then you'll write some notes on how the experiment went in the end.
The background for this is that golfers typically over-estimate how well they'll score from shorter tees, largely because of some misconceptions about the relative strengths and weaknesses of their game. And yet, playing from shorter tees is a time-honored tactic for some of the game's better college and even PGA Tour players, because it helps them get comfortable with going low. If you're struggling to break 80, perhaps shooting a couple of 73s from some forward tees will be all that you need to be comfortable the next time you're six over with three to play. Or shooting 64 will help you stop backing up when you get a few under par from your regular tees.
Schedule of Events
By now many of you will have chosen the course on which you'll conduct your experiment. If you haven't, do so now.
August 15 - 31 - This is the signup period. Post in this thread (answer the questions below). If you haven't played yet from the regular tees on the course you're going to play, do so during this time.
September 1 - 15 - Play two rounds from the same set of forward tees. Details are below, but this is when you'll play the rounds.
September 16 - 20 - Post your data in the thread we'll set up for that.
September 30 - We'll present our final "findings" with some nice charts and graphs.
Conducting the Experiment
Data Form
Please select this text and paste it into the editor, then answer the questions asked to the best of your ability. See the second post for an example.
Course Name:
Course Website:
Course Style:
Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope:
Regular Tee Average Score:
Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope:
Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round):
For "Course Style" please just describe the course in a few words, like "open" or "wooded" or "desert" or "links" or "penal" or however you'd like. Just keep it to a sentence or so, with as little as one word to describe it.
If you'd like to look up the course ratings, go here: http://ncrdb.usga.org/NCRDB/ .
That's it.
On September 1, we'll launch the "Results" thread and ask you to quote your "Data Form" above and share with us your actual results.
Note on calculating course ratings and slope for short tees that aren't rated for men:
If your forward tees aren't rated for play by men (most aren't), then apply this simple formula to calculate the rating and slope.
http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Handicap-System-Manual/Rule-05/
Click to Calculate Ratings for Unrated Tees (Click to show)
• Locate the nearest set of rated tees for the appropriate gender;
• Determine the yardage difference between the set of tees being played and the rated set of tees;
• Using the following table, find the range that includes the yardage difference;
Add the resulting table values if the unrated tees are longer than the rated tees, or subtract the resulting values if the unrated tees are shorter than the rated tees.
This method may also be used if a player plays a combination of tees. The player first determines the total yardage played then applies the above procedure.
P.S. If you're not sure you can convince your buddies to let you play from the forward tees, have them join this forum and join the experiment!
