When do you move back to the tips?

[rmgators]

It's going to be a while before I consider stepping back but I'm wondering if there are any "unwritten rules" or the like that some of you low handicappers followed when making your decision...Should you head back when your index is under 10? 5?

Also, would you vary what tees you play based on the course (for example, my current course is pretty open off the tees and only 6,800 from the tips so I could hit driver pretty much every hole and be okay even if I missed the fairway by quite a...hole or two)

[iacas]

It's going to be a while before I consider stepping back but I'm wondering if there are any "unwritten rules" or the like that some of you low handicappers followed when making your decision...Should you head back when your index is under 10? 5?

Yes to the second part.

For the first part, there's no real rule. If it's your home course, move back and forth when you want to see how you play from different things. Mostly, the design of the course will tell you if you should be back there or not. Fairway bunkers, for example, should be in play from the tee. If you're 40 yards short of them with a good drive, you're probably on the wrong tees. If you're flying them by 40 yards, same thing. If you shoot horribly from the back tees, you're probably not supposed to be back there. The more wide open a course, the more likely I am to add yardage. On a very tight course, I like 6600-6700 yards. On a wide open course, I can handle 7000. Of course, if the par is 70 and not 72, those numbers drop a hundred or two... Pace of play is the last concern. If you're taking a long time from the far back tees, move up. And there's nothing that says you can't switch mid-round. You may have to estimate your final score when you post for handicap purposes, or a bet may prevent you from doing it, but most of the time you can switch up without much thought if you're finding the back tees to be too much or the front ones too easy. P.S. The higher your handicap, the more you want to look at the slope rating instead of the course rating. The lower your handicap, the more you'll want to pay attention to the course rating.

[LarryK]

P.S. The higher your handicap, the more you want to look at the slope rating instead of the course rating. The lower your handicap, the more you'll want to pay attention to the course rating.

Why is that? I'm not understanding why one figure is more relevant to a specific handicap index.

[rmgators]

Why is that? I'm not understanding why one figure is more relevant to a specific handicap index.

It's my understanding that the Course rating was designed with the scratch golfer in mind, whereas the slope rating was designed with the "bogey golfer" in mind. There is a great article on here somewhere that deals with this, I'm sure iacas can provide the link.

[ragontona]

Not that I don't agree with all the handicap/slope rating/course rating logic, but I read this somewhere a long time ago, and found it still works.

The easiest rule of thumb for playing from the tips is this:

If you can't break 80 from the back tees, move up.

[rmgators]

Not that I don't agree with all the handicap/slope rating/course rating logic, but I read this somewhere a long time ago, and found it still works.

That seems like a pretty sound rule of thumb...course/slope rating plays a role in this too though -- some players may be able to break 80 from the tips on easier courses, but not on harder courses.

[ragontona]

That seems like a pretty sound rule of thumb...course/slope rating plays a role in this too though -- some players may be able to break 80 from the tips on easier courses, but not on harder courses.

This is true. Some courses actually suit me better from the tips, because playing up brings all kinds of trouble into play, even clubbing down off the tee.

But for the most part, the rule works out for everybody. Because honestly, there's nothing worse than getting stuck behind people shooting 95 from the tips.

[iacas]

The article about slope and course ratings can be found here . At least that's the one I think you meant...

Imagine two courses, each 6800 yards from the tips and par 72. One has a course rating of 75 with a slope of 100. The other is 69/140.

The first course plays hard for the scratch golfer, but isn't very painful to the bogey golfer. The second course is easy for the scratch golfer, but a real hard track for the bogey golfer.

It's easy to imagine circumstances that could lead to situations like this. Take the first one: maybe the course presents some difficult greens and a lot of hazards at 300 yards. Those kinds of things will really hurt the scratch golfer (75 course rating), but severity of greens doesn't matter as much to a bogey golfer, and hazards 300 yards off the tee aren't going to be in play for the bogey golfer either. So, the course may be a little easier than average for them, hence the 100 slope.

Now imagine a course with a lot of carries over water from the tee of 220 yards. No problem for the scratch golfer (69 course rating), but a helluva lot of problem for the bogey golfer (140 slope).

Make more sense now?

[LarryK]

Make more sense now?

A little bit.

It is certainly not hard to envision a course that goes 69/140 eating me for lunch. I can certainly believe that harder courses punish bogey golfers more than they punish scratch golfers. Got that! But it is harder for me to get my head around the fact that a scratch golfer might be more likely to shoot a higher score on a course with a slope of 115 than he would on a course with a slope of 140. That's where I'm still having a bit of trouble. It just doesn't seem logical. But I will take your word for it. One thing is for certain. I don't shoot at specific areas of the fairway, and I don't shoot at specific portions of the green. The writer definitely got that part right!

[flap]

Lefthanded logic say's if you have to hit a wood for your second shot onmost of the par 4's then you are playing the wrong tee's.

[Wood]

If you think you should be playing the back tees, then move. If you are uncomfortable back there, move back. Golf messes with one's head enough as it is without having to worry that you might be playing something more than you can handle.

[DDBowdoin]

Personally I look at the yardage and really don't pay attention to slope and rating. If a course is tight or open shouldn't really matter to me, If I'm staring a 7000 yd course I am going to play the tips even if I can't break 80 at that specific course because I know I have the ability to break 80... it just comes down to adjusting my game to handle the extra yardage... I don't know if I'm wrong here but I would be embarresed to tee off from the whites with my ability just because the course has a higher slope...

[wachesawgolfer]

If you can reach the greens in regulation from the tips on the 4s and 5s, you should play them.