The Fallacy Of Gold Tees

[DennisMiller]

I guess gold tees forward of the so called member's white tees are a recent thing for players in my age group... (70 yrs old)

Has anyone actually benefited from playing gold tees?  I tried them on 4 different courses around the Miami area, but found while the course was shorter, in most cases, I still had to play the same shots into greens. In other words, I still had to play short of the same hazards that I did from white tees. Instead of hitting driver, I might have had to hit a 3 wood or a hybrid. I've never found one case when I could effectively hit my tee shot over the hazard I used to play short of.

I've gone back to playing the white tees...

Anyone else?

Edited August 4, 2019 by DennisMiller

[chilepepper]

I play tees based on total yardages not color. GHIN takes care of the rest

Edited August 4, 2019 by chilepepper

[Vinsk]

Colors are inconsistent across the country. My course goes from longest to shortest:

Black-Gold-Silver-White-Red. I play golf mostly and occasionally Black.

I agree with @chilepepper.

[dennyjones]

Most of the course around me are only Blue/White/Red.   If a course has senior tees, it's usually an after thought and close to the distance from the red tees.  

[geo63]

After reading this and other threads I am going to play the gold for the first time on Tuesday. 

From 6813 71.8 119 to

5235 63.9  104. 

[DennisMiller]

8 hours ago, geo63 said:

After reading this and other threads I am going to play the gold for the first time on Tuesday.

Enjoy your game, but as you play, see if those forward tees are just stuck there, or whether the course is designed well enough to let you actually have shorter shots into the greens. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

[CharlieB]

I heard someone say that you should play the tees that you have a chance to hit GIR from. I play the gold tees, but I still cannot get there. I only hit my driver 160-170 yards. I play my driver, 4W, 3-4-5HB and a wedge close to the green.

 

[DennisMiller]

14 minutes ago, CharlieB said:

I heard someone say that you should play the tees that you have a chance to hit GIR from.

That's exactly what I heard long ago. That said, there will always be situations where as our games deteriorate with age, or as youngsters we haven't developed well enough yet, there will be a couple holes we simply can't reach.

An example... The 4th hole at Killian Greens is about 390 yards, a dogleg par 4 that goes uphill the last 200 yards to a small green. It's the #1 handicap hole on the course.

The difference between the white tees and gold tees is usually 10-15 yards at the most. Regardless which I play, if I hit my typical 200-220 yard drive, I'm still hitting the ball into the beginning of the hill, leaving myself a 3 wood or 3 hybrid at best. That's not to mention a good drive puts me into an uncomfortable uphill lie. IMHO, a properly placed forward tee should be about 50 yards ahead.

My whole point of this is, I'm seeing too many courses who have done nothing but drop a couple different colored tees in the ground without accommodating any thoughts about actually helping a golfer be left with a shorter shot into a green.

I just wondered if it was all over...

Edited August 5, 2019 by DennisMiller

[amished]

Even with Gold tees (or whatever color), there will still be challenging holes/shots; it's the overall length that should change in a significant manner.  While you might have that 400 yard par 4 that you will struggle with, you might also have a 110 yard par 3 instead of a 160 yard shot.  

As is, when I go to a new course, if they have multiple tees I'll pick one based off of distance and who I'm playing with.  There are certain friends that I'll take a step back and play up to/around 7000 yards, and there are more that I'll step forward and be fine at the 5900 yard range.  Both will have their challenges, and it's less about score on those days (for me) than it is the company.  No matter where I'm golfing from, I'm going to try to score my best and if my best is close to 100 that day, so be it.

[mcanadiens]

Being a high-handicap 42 y-o, I have to play white/regular tees in any sort of competition. As soon as the club championship is over with, I move up for any casual round.

Particularly on the longer of my club's two courses, it really does make a difference for me. Just the 10 to 15 yards closer is what gets me from a dodgy 4-iron approach shot to a 5I or even 6I shot that I'm much more comfortable and confident with. I'd guess that on average, I'll do 3 to 5 strokes better when I play up.

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by mcanadiens

[geo63]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:53 AM, DennisMiller said:

Enjoy your game, but as you play, see if those forward tees are just stuck there, or whether the course is designed well enough to let you actually have shorter shots into the greens. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

Played the gold today. I actually enjoyed it.  I did make a few mistakes on club selection for my second shot on a couple 4's but that wasn't unexpected. Still used a heaven wood for my second shot on 5's. GIR is possible on every hole.  I did not see anyplace that they just put the tee anywhere. It seemed well planned to me. 

[p1n9183]

On 8/4/2019 at 6:52 PM, dennyjones said:

Most of the course around me are only Blue/White/Red.   If a course has senior tees, it's usually an after thought and close to the distance from the red tees.  

Same. The short hitters in my clubs benefits from this senior tees.
There are 2 holes in my club that you have a creek 100 yards away from the white tees and just 50 yards from the senior and red tees. Short hitters playing from the white tees when they are clever they lay up in the rough short of the creek and then hit the 2nd shot over it, the not so clever ones hit their ball into the creek more often than not.
The ones that tee up from the seniors tees can easily carry the same creek with their first shot.

[DennisMiller]

I'm glad to hear some of you enjoy courses with a better design that fits forward tees.

As we played yesterday morning, I tried to keep up a conversation about this thread on every tee. We pretty much agreed there was only one hole where the gold tee was advantageous to people our ages. It turns the 195 yard 17th hole into a 150 yard hole.

Everything else is pretty much just stuck in the ground 10 yards or so ahead of the white tees.

[burr]

On 8/5/2019 at 6:53 AM, DennisMiller said:

Enjoy your game, but as you play, see if those forward tees are just stuck there, or whether the course is designed well enough to let you actually have shorter shots into the greens. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

Golds are the seniors here and I've started playing them as I qualifyby age to be a senior.  At my course and those around here that I'll play, golds are generally set at the most forward position of the whites, usually 10 or so yards closer, maybe 15.  But the main advantage I enjoy on the golds is the shorter yardages on the par 3s, making my almost impossible 190ish yarder down to a comfortable 7iron or 6 iron, a more enjoyable playable distance in my bag.  It makes for me the chances to ace one a lot more possible nowaday, and to be honest, since I can't seem to cut lots of strokes off my score, those 4 holes on the card are my most highly anticipated for the round.  

[geo63]

3 hours ago, DennisMiller said:

I'm glad to hear some of you enjoy courses with a better design that fits forward tees.

As we played yesterday morning, I tried to keep up a conversation about this thread on every tee. We pretty much agreed there was only one hole where the gold tee was advantageous to people our ages. It turns the 195 yard 17th hole into a 150 yard hole.

Everything else is pretty much just stuck in the ground 10 yards or so ahead of the white tees.

On the course I played today the gold average 47 yards closer than the white. 19 yards closer than the red. They are separate tee boxes. On a side note I just received an email that one of our courses has the gold tees finished and will be rerated in 2 weeks. 

[saevel25]

On 8/4/2019 at 12:47 PM, DennisMiller said:

Has anyone actually benefited from playing gold tees?  I tried them on 4 different courses around the Miami area, but found while the course was shorter, in most cases, I still had to play the same shots into greens. In other words, I still had to play short of the same hazards that I did from white tees. 

I feel like that is a unique case to your area. In Ohio, you can see a tangible difference in tee selection. We don’t have courses with a lot of required tee shot landing area.

[FlyingAce]

At my home course, I usually play the forward tee and once in a while will move back to the whites. The difference between them are generally between 10-30yds. I notice a bigger difference in some par 3s where forward is 135yds (5h) v. white at 180yds (3w). Then there is this uphill par 3 that’s 180yds forward and 210yds white and I will need my driver to get near the green. 

My husband usually plays white but will move forward once in a while. He said even though distance is shorter, he does not find it any easier to play the forward tees. He still end up with the same score. The challenge for him is not distance but precision of his shots. 

[tehuti]

I recently heard of the “red, white and blue” game.

- Play par 5s from red

- Play par 4s from white

- Play par 3s from blue

At 61 and a 20+ handicap I know when a course is too long for me. I usually play white tees, but  I may start doing the rwb method when playing alone. I generally try to play under 6,000 yards.