Jump to content
Note: This thread is 1552 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!

Determining Which Tees to Play  

49 members have voted

  1. 1. At a new course, how do you typically determine which tees you'll play? Which factor is most dominant most often?

    • Yardage (adjusted for par if necessary)
      40
    • Rating/Slope
      4
    • Peer Pressure (what others are playing)
      1
    • Something Else
      4


Recommended Posts

  • Administrator

I typically look at the yardage and par. Anything 6700 to 7200 fits. If it's really, really soft, even 6500 can be a good challenge.

  • Like 1

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator

Yardage. I look for 6100-6400. 6500 usually has par 4s that require long approach shots. 

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I look at yardage in conjunction with course rating. On most courses, if possible, I tend to play 6600-7200 yards. 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I would say yardage, for the most part. If it is a course we haven't played before, our group generally lands in the 6500-6800 range. Conditions can also play a factor. We have played in some nasty wind on some course that are on the water that definitely would have changed our tee selection in hindsight.

Justin

Driver: :callaway: Rogue Draw 11* Evenflow Blue 65 X

Fairway Wood: :callaway: Epic Flash 5 Wood 18* Tensei Blue AV 75 X
Irons: :titleist: AP3 4-PW Project X 6.5   |   Wedges: :callaway: MD4 50*/56*/60*
Putter: :odyssey: O-Works Tank #1
                                                                       

My Swing

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator

All three are factors, but if I had to pick one, it’s predominantly yardage. It doesn’t take much to convince me to move forward or back one set of tees.

Bill

β€œBy three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I will use a combination or yardage, rating/slope, and then the par 3s if I am caught between tees. I like to play between 6000 and 6500 with a slope in the mid to upper 120s. Most of the tournaments I play are around 6250. If I have never played a course before, I play shorter tees. Also, if all my buddies want to play a different set of tees, I'll go there as well (sometimes forward, sometimes back).

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator

I first look at yardage, sometimes in coordination with par.  I'll also check out Course Rating, since short yardage combined with a higher CR often seems to indicate a number of forced lay-ups which effectively make holes play longer than their actual yardage would indicate.  Conditions may also impact my choice, really soft conditions (like Sunday at Royal New Kent) will make a course play much longer.  My preferred yardage range is something like 6200 to 6600 yards.

This brings to mind the increasing trend for courses to offer blended tees, developing ratings for a combination of tees of "different colors".  Its a nice way to offer intermediate course distances without building new sets of tees.

  • Like 1

Dave

:callaway: Rogue SubZero Driver

:titleist: 915F 15 Fairway, 816 H1 19 Hybrid, AP2 4 iron to PW, Vokey 52, 56, and 60 wedges, ProV1 balls 
:ping: G5i putter, B60 version
 :ping:Hoofer Bag, complete with Newport Cup logo
:footjoy::true_linkswear:, and Ashworth shoes

the only thing wrong with this car is the nut behind the wheel.

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
  On 11/13/2020 at 5:49 PM, DaveP043 said:

This brings to mind the increasing trend for courses to offer blended tees, developing ratings for a combination of tees of "different colors".  Its a nice way to offer intermediate course distances without building new sets of tees.

Expand  

Agree. Love the blended tees at courses that have them.

I made a set of blended tees for Natalie at Whispering Woods so she could play it at about 5700 yards.

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I look at the length of the longest par 3 holes and par 4 holes for the set of tees. Maybe allow for 1 or 2 outliers, but I'll want to be able to have a shot (distance-wise) for GIR on well-struck shots on most holes.

Of course, there is that par 3 at my home course that I can almost never hit (uphill a little, usually into 20 mph wind) ...

Craig
What's in the :ogio: Silencer bag (on the :clicgear: cart)
Driver: :callaway: Razr Fit 10.5Β°  
5 Wood: :tmade: Burner  
Hybrid: :cobra: Baffler DWS 20Β°
Irons: :ping: G400 
Wedge: :ping: Glide 2.0 54Β° ES grind 
Putter: :heavyputter:  midweight CX2
:aimpoint:,  :bushnell: Tour V4

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

My ideal is 6400 yards...but during the year will play courses ranging from 6100-6600 yards.

If I'm playing a casual rd and playing a course that I play often.....I'll play maybe up to 3 different tee blocks during the rd so I can maximize the chances of playing all the clubs in my bag.


Usually yardage.  If I can't figure it out from that, rating/slope.  If I'm totally lost, I'll ask at check-in which tees they suggest for someone of my handicap. 

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Another hybrid in here too.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

(edited)

I’ll usually look at yardage and rating/slope. My ideal range for each of those is between 6000 to 6300 (but I’ll occasionally go in the neighborhood of 6600) and 120 to 130. For example, my home course is 6063 yards and 69.5/123 from the white tees.

A course we played a few weeks ago, UNC Finley, was 6163 yards and 70.4/130 from the blue tees where we ended up playing from. My other options were the gold/blue combo (6444 and 71.6/134) or the blue/white (5886 and 68.7/127). I thought about playing the gold tees (6781 and 72.9/134), but quickly dismissed the thought.

One course near me has a huge yardage gap between the blues and whites. The blues are 6400 on the dot (71.3/135), and the whites are 5755 (68.3/124). I don’t wanna play 6400 on a course I’ve never played unless I have to, but my dad doesn’t want me playing from 5800 yards, although we often do in high school matches. But the kicker is that there is no blue/white combo tee, which kinda sucks.

Edited by dagolfer18

WITB:
Woods: Cleveland Launcher (Driver, 17 degree, 22 degree)
Irons: Titleist T200 (4-PW)
Wedges: Callaway Jaws (50/54/60)
Putter: Odyssey White Hot

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

5,900 to 6,300 dependent on the conditions.  Today was 42 degrees, cloudy with a 20 mph wind.  We played at 5,900 and it was nice.  Often, when I know a course, I "blend" the yardages to around 6,000-6,100.

 

Brian Kuehn

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator

Nobody has chosen B or C?

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
  On 11/13/2020 at 8:16 PM, iacas said:

Nobody has chosen B or C?

Expand  

If I'm selecting just one, as the poll requires, its yardage.  I mentioned that I look at the ratings as additional info, but its secondary.  I'm comfortable playing from different tees within the group, so I don't often feel pressure to play a set of tees that I wouldn't normally select.  

Dave

:callaway: Rogue SubZero Driver

:titleist: 915F 15 Fairway, 816 H1 19 Hybrid, AP2 4 iron to PW, Vokey 52, 56, and 60 wedges, ProV1 balls 
:ping: G5i putter, B60 version
 :ping:Hoofer Bag, complete with Newport Cup logo
:footjoy::true_linkswear:, and Ashworth shoes

the only thing wrong with this car is the nut behind the wheel.

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

If I'm playing with buddies, it's typically a combination of A, B and C.  I'd usually go with yardage and lean towards the 6600-6800 range, then peek at rating/slope to make sure it doesn't stand way out, then if my buddies really want longer or shorter for whatever reason, I'm always fine with that.  I'm not going to go golfing with friends and insist on playing blue tees while they're all playing white.

If I'm playing with my son, dad or father-in-law, 3 people who will 100% not be playing the same tee as me, then I go by yardage.  This is also the situation where I might be more inclined to challenge myself with a little longer set of tees since we're already playing different sets anyway.

 

  • Like 1
Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Im shocked to see I'm the only person (so far) who chooses tees based on rating/slope since its literally a measure of how difficult the course plays from those tees.

Maybe its because I have a higher handicap, so I'm more sensitive to slope by definition.  I'd imagine if i was closer to scratch i'd be more interested in the difference between rating and par.  But in either case, I see rating and slope as a more appropriate measure of which tees to play than distance.  (Though the responses to this poll clearly show I'm in the minute minority on that.)

Ideal rating/slope for me to enjoy a round while also being challenged is usually around 71.5/125.  There are courses around me where I can find around those numbers anywhere between 6200 yards as well as 6700 yards.  

My 2 favorite courses play at 6650 yards 72.2/133 and 6770 yards 71.8/125.  At that distance and difficulty, I feel like my score is within my control, not the course's.  I recently played 6700 yards at 73/144 with a group of 3 other golfers much better than me, and wanted to give up the game by the end of the round.  There just wasn't anywhere to hide on that course for someone with my game.  Playing that course from 6200 yards at 70.2/135 would have been more appropriate, but not because I can't handle 6700 yards of distance.  Its because I can't handle 6700 yards at that difficulty.  There is another course around me that plays at 6200 at 68/113 from the longest tees.  That one actually stopped being fun to play after I got better at this game over the summer.

Obviously, when comparing different tees on the same course, there is a strong correlation between distance and rating/slope.  A course never plays easier at a longer distance.  But I wonder how many people are missing the point when comparing distances across different courses, and not choosing the most appropriate tees.  Not all 6500 yards courses are the same. 

I also wonder, although not necessarily about the people who would regularly post on this site, how many people don't really understand the purpose of slope/rating and how it can affect your round.  My high school buddies just choose based on white or blue.  And that's it.  The ones who struggle to break 100 want to play the whites, the ones with a bit more confidence play the blues.  They don't give a single thought to distance, rating, or slope.  Mostly because they don't know why those numbers are even on the scorecard.

 

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
  On 11/13/2020 at 9:49 PM, bweiss711 said:

Im shocked to see I'm the only person (so far) who chooses tees based on rating/slope since its literally a measure of how difficult the course plays from those tees.

Expand  

Since 90%+ of the rating/slope is yardage… people who look at the yardage are almost doing the same thing.

  On 11/13/2020 at 9:49 PM, bweiss711 said:

Maybe its because I have a higher handicap, so I'm more sensitive to slope by definition.

Expand  

Maybe, but… yardage = rating/slope, mostly.

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 1552 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!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    PlayBetter
    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FitForGolf
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-20%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack/FitForGolf, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Popular Now

  • Posts

Γ—
Γ—
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...