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Blue, White, Red, or Some Other Color?


RetiredOldMan
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It's a beautiful morning and all of us are Seniors. I mean the youngest is 62 years old. 

We get ready to Tee Off and everyone wants to play the White Tee Markers. The course is a well kept, nice and clean. It has a Par/Slope Rating on each of the tee markers. 

There are no Senior Tees designated as such. My golfing buddies say, "Red is for the  Women." Men's tees are White and Champion tees are Blue. 

So we play the Whites, maintain our masculinity, and suffer from extra strokes because we can't drive the ball off the tee as far as the younger players. In some ways, it is frustrating, but it is really sweet when I beat a younger player because I consistently stay in the fairway, while he hits his 300+ yard out of bounds. 

But what is correct to play according to the current rules?

What age is considered a Senior?

If the course has no "Senior Designated Tees", then do the Men play the White only?

Can Seniors legally play the Red Tees, or Ladies tees? 

Who came up with this rule or procedure? (We need to find him and integrate him/her. 😄 )

I honestly like playing from the Whites. It is part masculinity and part pride, but unless I have designated "Senior Tees", then I prefer to play the whites. 

Okay, your comments and smart remarks will be noted. 

Retired Old Man 

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I thought golf should be played by course distance and not tee box color/age. And there are ways to calculate that, such as drive x 28 or avg. 5i x36 - then find the tee box that has the yardage closest to that number.

To me, golf should be fun and somewhat challenging but I don’t want to struggle at all. I also find it a very humbling game and I have to leave my ego at home or it will smack me in the face...

Some courses have hybrid tees (between forward and standard) for the inbetween players.

 

Edited by FlyingAce
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There’s no such thing as “senior” tees except by tradition at most courses.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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There aren't any rules on which tee box you have to play. If you're going to enter the score for your handicap, you want to play a tee box that is rated. Sometimes, the most forward tees aren't rated for men.

This thread is exactly why courses shouldn't use the blue/white/red system of tee markers. You should be playing whatever tees make the game the most fun for you - color or distance be damned. So many people just default to blue tees or white tees even when other tees would be more appropriate. For example, at my home course, most people should be playing the white tees. It's a fairly difficult course, and if you can't drive it well, the blue tees are tough. But every guy under the age of 50 plays from the blue tees, shoots 110+, and takes forever. I hate that the tee color pushes people do this.

Personally, I look at the course rating and slope when I decide which tee box to play. My Goldilocks zone is having the course rating right around par, with the slope between 120 and 135ish. I'd prefer to be lower than those numbers than higher. Especially if it's my first time playing a course. I don't need to beat my brains out. I play golf for fun, after all.

Edited by DeadMan
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-- Daniel

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When I was a kid I played with "action figures".  My dad used to drink "lite beer".

Lite beer was a brilliant marketing term designed to get football-watching, backyard-grilling, beerbelly dads to buy diet beer. It worked and has continued to work exceptionally well.  Action figures, let's face it, are dolls for boys without the word "doll".  It's the same thing with a different name.

The blue, white, and red tees are what they appear to be, not what the name tells you.  Play the tees that challenge you to get on the green in 1, 2, 3 strokes and let you use a wide variety of clubs in your bag so that you have maximum fun.  You are paying to play there.

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Play whichever tees are appropriate for your ability, regardless of age or gender.

 

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In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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I never let the color of the tee box determine which tee to play.  I like to play 6800 yds, so sometimes it means I combine blue/black or blue/white tee boxes.  Lots of courses here started listing yardages based on combination of tee boxes in order to allow play based on yardage (or more appropriately handicap).

Don

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 It's the sort of thing that clubs will have their own rules for.  My men's association let's you move up to the "senior tees" at 60 and the women's tees at 80.

Outside of some sort of competition, you can and should do whatever you want.

As soon as my season is over, I'll play the senior tees on the longer of the courses more often than I'll play from the whites. In the dead of winter, I'll go clear up to the front of the tee box.

 

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Short hitting seniors in my area will use the the shorter, red tees. 

I can't remember ever seeing a sign designating red tees for women. 

Our "supper senior" league of male players use the red tees. 

I have heard of some younger, more talented women groups playing from the whites.

Me being a "seasoned" senior, I play from the whites, and sometimes closer depending on the course length, snd how my hdcp relates to it. Other times I will play from the tips just because..... 

I also believe that on some courses, it doesn't matter which tees a player uses. I have been on quite a few courses where the 3-4 tee markers were so close together, ther was no real advantage to using one over the other. 

 

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A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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In STL District and the STL Metro Amateur's and our Club, guidelines are set for Senior Play / Distance course setup.
I imagine they have guidelines for Championship Events.

When these events are at our club, the tee markers are moved to various locations and they play one of the par 5's as a par 4.

2 hours ago, RetiredOldMan said:

But what is correct to play according to the current rules?

It's all up to the event committee, whether it's a Championship or everyday play with friends.
Many small groups can set there own distance in weekly games, it can be for younger guys or older guys.

Johnny Rocket - Let's Rock and Roll and play some golf !!!

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The only 3 things that matter when playing golf are:

1) Etiquette 

2) Playing no longer than the course 'designated time" to compete 18 holes.

3) Having fun.

If some hack chop shoots 110 in well under 4 hours...that's ok in my books.....as long as they can keep pace.

I like to challenge myself and play tees a bit longer as long as I'm able...I'm 58 now...and assuming in the future I'm still capable of playing golf....I know there will come a day that I will play from the forward tees without hesitation.

4 hours ago, FlyingAce said:

I thought golf should be played by course distance and not tee box color/age. And there are ways to calculate that, such as drive x 28 or avg. 5i x36 - then find the tee box that has the yardage closest to that number.

 

 

Using the above metrics....my sweet spot is 6300-6400 yards...but during the summer I like to play up to 6600-6700 yards for the challenge.

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37 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

The only 3 things that matter when playing golf are:

1) Etiquette 

2) Playing no longer than the course 'designated time" to compete 18 holes.

3) Having fun.

If some hack chop shoots 110 in well under 4 hours...that's ok in my books.....as long as they can keep pace.

I like to challenge myself and play tees a bit longer as long as I'm able...I'm 58 now...and assuming in the future I'm still capable of playing golf....I know there will come a day that I will play from the forward tees without hesitation.

Using the above metrics....my sweet spot is 6300-6400 yards...but during the summer I like to play up to 6600-6700 yards for the challenge.

Unless you are in competition PLAY THE TEES YOU WANT.

I am going to be moving up to the forward tees to shoot under par trying to break a plateau in my scoring. It is not about labels, it is about fun.

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7 hours ago, David in FL said:

Play whichever tees are appropriate for your ability, regardless of age or gender.

 

In competition play everyone plays from the same tees. This means that many players can't reach par 4s in 2 or par 3s in 1 or par 5s in 3.

That's what handicaps account for.

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1 hour ago, leftybutnotPM said:

In competition play everyone plays from the same tees. This means that many players can't reach par 4s in 2 or par 3s in 1 or par 5s in 3.

That's what handicaps account for.

I don’t understand what that has to do with the subject of this thread...

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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I try not to have the tee markers clash with my shoes and bag.  That can be difficult if the club uses eccentric color schemes...mauve, gold, aquamarine,  but one makes do.  As the old saying goes...when life gives you lemons...you don't have to buy lemons for a while.

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Cleveland Hi-Bore driver, Maltby 5 wood, Maltby hybrid, Maltby irons and wedges (23 to 50) Vokey 59/07, Cleveland Niblick (LH-42), and a Maltby mallet putter.                                                                                                                                                 "When the going gets tough...it's tough to get going."

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You should play the tees that allow you reach the green in regulation.  You can also mix and match.

I personally don’t see a lot of pride and masculinity in needing 3 shots to reach the green on a par 4.  Although hitting a green with driver and fairway is rewarding... on those rare occasions I pull it off.

There is also little triumph in beating a poor player.  Seems pretty hollow to me.

Only thing missing is an Old Guys Rule t-shirt.

John

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11 hours ago, RetiredOldMan said:

But what is correct to play according to the current rules?

What age is considered a Senior?

If the course has no "Senior Designated Tees", then do the Men play the White only?

Can Seniors legally play the Red Tees, or Ladies tees? 

Who came up with this rule or procedure? (We need to find him and integrate him/her. 😄 )

Age does not determine the tee(s) you play.👴 USGA "Play It Forward" charts give the yardage of the course you should play based on your average driver distance. You can mix and match tee boxes to arrive at your suggested course distance. @iacas posted more thorough charts of various yardages, but I can't find it. Some courses have holes where I play whites, and others where I play reds, all marked on the scorecard. But I always check to see if the ultimate course yardage is at or a little more than my suggested yardage. Best, -Marv

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DRIVER: Cleveland 588 Altitude ( Matrix Radix Sv Graphite, A) IRONS: Mizuno JPX-800 HD Irons & 3,4,5 JPX Fli-Hi (Grafalloy Prolaunch Blue Graphite, R); WEDGES: (Carried as needed) Artisan Golf 46, 50, 53, 56 low bounce, 56 high bounce; PUTTER: Mizuno TP Mills 9

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I can appreciate your pain, "Retired". We seniors possess a great gift, the gift of fooling ourselves! 

My buddy thought he was still hitting the ball 260-270 off the tee. On a 400 yard par 4 I asked him how long he thought he hit his drive. He responded as usual, 260-270. I then asked him why he had 180 into the green! That would mean he hit his drive 220! 

I had to pester him for years with info like this to get him to move up to the next set of tees! But there is a rub! many of the older courses around here were designed with Blue, White, and Red tees only. What do they do when they need to install a set of gold tees?! What they usually do in cram them in right behind the red tees. I don't like that! I can still hit it much farther than most women amateurs in my area. When we scramble the ladies for drinks, they will gripe like hell about that, and I can't blame them. 

I don't care if we senior men have a proper tee box, just give us a closely mown area that is fairly level where we can tee off, that is about 75-100 yards behind the ladies, and we're good to go! 

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Note: This thread is 1603 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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