i have no interest in "teeing it forward" - Page 2

Not confused, referring to the 6200y course you mentioned. It sounds quirky.

Sounds like your goals are a little different than most. There is a reason the short clubs are referred to as scoring clubs and there's a reason good players want them in their hands as often as possible.

I was strongly encouraged to use the championship tees, once.

I would never do it again. First of all, it's not just the distance at my courses that change. There's usually more obstacles, like an extra lake, you need to shoot over or some really awkward double dogleg.

My playing courses are all in the 5500 to 6500 yard range, and you can play some of them from 7200 to 7600 yards.

However, I think that these tees are for the 0 handicappers or better. I drive just far enough to be able to use them, but the second shot is usually with a long iron or hybrid that you also have to hit really well. So, it seems like instead of one good tee shot, you need two good shots in a row. This is why I think these tees are reserved for the scratch players.

We are roughly the same handicap, and I probably would score about 96 at 7400 yards, now. I say this because, when I really played badly, I got 104. For me, it's just not fun. I feel way over my head.

Here there is a local course that requires permission from the head pro to play the back tees.

Even not so good players like those in our hands

Playing to a 20, from the tips... and playing in just over 2 hours. Where's the enjoyment in that? I certainly wouldn't WANT to play that style of Golf. I would assume that is why you're at a 20. I've played in about the same time and shot 76 at shorter length courses. I wonder what it's like taking at least one extra shot per hole in the same time. I would think that if you took an extra minute here and there to assess the shot, you wouldn't be a 20 much longer. Just my opinion of course.

Kind of like the guy who was asking what ball he should play because he loses 6 balls a round. Take time to improve and you wouldn't have to buy so many. think about the shots and that 20 could be a 10. 10 strokes at the cost of 10-15 minutes a round is a cheap price to pay, IMO.

 

For me, beating my head against the wall and playing from the wrong tees are about equally lacking in fun.  I've always found golf to be plenty of challenge without unnecessarily making it harder.  I get a lot more satisfaction shooting 80's (with an occasional foray into the 70's) from the mid tees at about 6500 yards.  That's where I have fun.  Add 500 yards and it becomes a chore.  But then, I've never been a long hitter, usually driving right around 240 yards now, and only about 260 yards 20 odd years ago, so 6500 suits my game.  On my home course I can play the back tees with a couple of strokes added to the score, or at least could before I hit my 60's, but that's just because I know the course so well.  On a strange course, 7000 yards was (and still is) sheer torture.

I think it's interesting there are some who don't think it wouldn't be interesting to maybe even play a round or two from tees more forward. Maybe it's a bit easier for me to go about doing it because I'm not a long-ball hitter, so for me it can make for a nice change of pace to play a round where I get some more short irons into greens. But I'm still surprised that a person might not think, "What would happen if I shortened the course? How different would it play from what I'm used to?"

 

For me at least, a round of golf from almost any set of tees would be enjoyable, because I've really come to enjoy the idea of thinking my way around a course and trying to wring the most out of my game that I can. There's a challenge there from any set of tees at the course I most often play. The challenges may differ some, but there are still challenges and plenty of fun in all kinds of shots -- whether it's trying to hit a hybrid or wood into a green, or fiddling with one of those fussy half-wedges from 40 to 50 yards, or trying to run a chip across an undulating green. The expanse of shots in golf is huge and it seems like the more you can enjoy the challenges of all types, the more open the game becomes to you. The game doesn't have to be about playing the longest possible shot every time, or the shortest one, or about seeing how fast one can race around the course from the tips or from the most forward. The game can be about a series of shots that all play off one another, but that you have to hit each one as a separate act.

 

For me, that's the beauty of the game -- the chance for me to walk around a course in about 3 hours if I'm on my own, or longer if the course is filled up. Playing each shot as each one comes up. I don't think this game is purely about distance. There's so much more to it than that.

 

Alright, so there is your answer.  You don't care what anyone else thinks and you are going to do what you want to do, which is perfectly fine.  If you can justify your decisions then that is all that matters.  Game over. 

IMO the golf course is NOT where you practice. If you want to practice long iron shots and chipping, you might try being a "range guy" a couple of times and see how it goes. It's not really about someone being a better golfer just because they play from the tips. I understand you feel the need to challenge yourself but do not think that playing from the white tees is something to be frowned upon. 

I'm not a range guy either.  I hate hitting balls on the range.  I do enjoy practicing my short game to a certain extent.  I also have spent many mornings in the past playing a local par 3 (holes from 80 yards to 200 yards, bunkers and water hazards and rough) course to work on irons and greenside play.  Otherwise I have always just played, and learned from doing it.  

 

Unlike Tuffluck though, I played from the middle tees for most of my life.  In my Men's club, only the first flight plays from the back tees in competitions.  I played competition for 22 years from the middle tee,  so I play my casual golf from the same place where I play in tournaments.  Anything else would be counterproductive.   I have no interest in carrying an artificially inflated handicap.

Our range has grass to hit from and I also play the par 3 course for practice but I am just saying that there are other ways to practice long irons and chipping. Chipping should be a gimme because of practice greens at the "real course." I spend 30 minutes or so chipping and putting before every round but that is just me. I also try to go to the range once a week to practice.

1. IMO, it isn't the set of tees a player uses that slows play, but rather a host of other factors. As I've said in previous posts, when my wife played her first round of golf, she shot 145 and we finished in 3 hours. Hopefully the OP doesn't slow things down playing back, but we've all seen the groups playing from the tips that not only hit poor shots, but they also do the little things that make their round slow.

2. This is true for so many people and they just don't realize it or they allow their ego to dictate which tees they play. I play from two sets of tees depending on the group I'm playing with, and we often have people join us who will say something like, "I usually play from x, but I'll play with you guys today." After watching a few 'crossovers' (singles that have played with me in both groups), the shorter hitters and the higher handicappers seem, for the most part, to have more fun playing up. Not true for everyone, but......

Man, play from the tees where you have the most fun! We are all so very lucky to be able to get out and play golf. We're here for too short a period of time to be unnecessarily frustrated with anything in our lives, much less with something that's supposed to entertain us.

The practice on the course idea seems flawed. Nobody not even the best of the best hit every FIR and GIR. There will be plenty of opportunities for a 20 HC to play shots of every variety regardless of what tee they play from. Not to mention practice means to train by repeated exercises. 18 holes of golf isn't an efficient way to ingrain habits that would lead to consistency. I don't know about the way others play but it's not often I touch every club in my bag during a round. If the goal is to score as low as possible it will take more practice than 18 holes can offer.

 

By the same token, hitting 200 balls to a chipping green from the same lie doesn't lead to using one's imagination.  The myriad of lies and situations one finds oneself in on the course makes for leaning to see and use different setups and shot types.  I feel that imagination is one of the most important tools in my game.  The more you practice it, the more useful it is when it counts, and it is one of those things which is very difficult to practice anyplace but on the course when a score is on the line.  

 

Both types of practice are necessary for a competent short game.  Practice off the course for stroke execution, then take that stroke to the course in casual rounds and learn from experience when to use what type of shot.  I've "chipped" with a 6I from  50 yards to a frozen winter green.  I've "chipped" from under a tree through a 6" window under the branches with a driver off hardpan through rough from 10 yards.  Both shots were necessary at the time, were in fact the only practical shot from those situations.  I'd have been unlikely to even consider those shots but for having honed my imagination by trying different things.

Yes some types of shots can not be "practiced" but you still should get a reputation of swing efficiency. Try different lies from chipping in onto a practice green. Make a game out of it and consistently do it... your game will improve.