Stina Who!?

[Greg]

The tees you play from are relative, if its a short course the longest tees may be just as short as the shortest tees on a longer, more difficult course. You should look at the total yardage on the scorecard and decide which tees you should play. That being said, no guy should ever play from the closest tees and better female players shouldnt either as they are much shorter than other tees, Ive seen some par 5's that are 150 yards shorter so much so that on a local course its a free drop if you're hitting from the long tees and the ball lands on the red tee box. I usually play from the white tees at most courses as thats usually the 2nd longest set of tees as the next closest set is usually the senior tees and then the ladies tees or red tees. Most of the courses around here are between 6000 and 6500 yards from the 2nd longest set of tees and many times the longest tees arent much farther, but the shorter tees are many times under 5500 yards. Im not a real long hitter but many of the womens tees make most of the par 4's under 300 yards for example, and many of the par 5's 400 or less. If I were to play from those and score well I couldnt feel real good about myself, would feel like i cheated and I think most better female players would too, as the longer hitting ones would be able to nearly drive the greens and easily reach par 5's in 2, with any short game at all, would have great chances at birdie on every hole and could easily short par at least. Golf is supposed to be a challenge, playing easy yardages doesnt necessarily guarantee great scores but makes the accomplishment somewhat diminished, just like beating someone who is not nearly as good or experienced as you, its expected. Everyone should play at their own level and that includes what total yardage you play from. If you improve, then move to the longer tees.

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

The tees have yardages and slope ratings. These are the only factors that should ever determine where anyone belongs. They're colored so we can tell them apart. If it were to strictly differentiate by sex/age they would be shaped like boobs, big and small c*cks, and maybe prescription bottles to designate seniors.

At nicer courses (especially resorts) the starter will often ask if you've played there before then proceed to give you round numbers for what each set of tees plays to and then when you decide he'll watch you to see that you're not just a pompous ass that's gonna slow play down. He doesn't say' "Black tees are great men, blues are good men, white are men,...etc"

We played once in college right in front of the women's golf team. We were'nt even a golf school, but those girls can play. I'd never talk down on women golfing just because they're women after watching these girls play the same tees I did and carve the course apart. What century is it again?

[msd3075]

No, they were designed for women, because men had this preconceived notion that women couldn't hit the ball long.

No, they are referred to as the "ladies tees" because it's an excuse for crappy golfers not to have to play them ("I'm not playing from the damn ladies tees!!!").

Outside of courses that have the "ladies tees" nomenclature grandfathered into the tee markers/scorecard/yardage books, no courses refer to them anymore because it doesn't make sense to call them that. It's not like the back tee boxes have urinals and the front tees have tampon dispensors.

[plugged]

Tees are color coded, the shortest yardage is designed for the ladies. Of course anyone can choose to play from any tee, but if you are playing from the front tees you are playing from the ladies tee. When I am older I will still play from the white tees because I am a man and the white tees are for the short hitting men. I played with a couple 30 somethings guys the other day and they hit from the blues, I ask them jokingly if they did that to get their money's worth and they answered "we pull our pants all the way up"; I liked that. Truth is truth, the front tees are the ladies tees, PC or no.

Thank you. Finally someone who tells it like it is.

Frankly, if your problem is you can't keep the ball in play at all, then red tees vs. black tees ain't going to make a whole lot of difference. The ladies tees were designed for ladies because 98% of them hit the ball far shorter than any man. If a really good female player wants to hit from the blue tees or even the black tees and they have the distance for it, I say great. Wouldn't bother me one bit. As a man, I am going to hit from either the white, blue, or black tees until I can't make a decent distance anymore. Frankly, I don't care which tees you use as long as you maintain pace of play.

[dragonflyin]

Just to play the devil’s advocate here a little, FHopper does have a valid point in that Stina is arguing from the idealist position, rather than what’s actually occurring out on the course. What I mean is that women tend to play from the forward tees no matter their skill level. Guys will almost never be caught dead playing from the forward tees no matter how much they suck. So yes, I don’t like the terms women’s tees as opposed to forward tees either, but it does fit the general description of what’s going on in the real world. Perhaps relabeling the name of the tees to match ability or handicap will slowly erode this outdated mindset, but women who are good need to step up (or back) to the white, blue, or black tees. Men who are short hitters or are inconsistent players need to swallow their pride and play the forward tees.

[RemyM]

...but there is no reason to change the name of the tees. How would that work with handicaps? I am ignorant about handicaps, do people say 18/red?

Some of us feel you're ignorant about more then just handicaps, but I digress. You handicap is based on your score and the course rating and slope of the tee you recorded it from. It doesn't matter what color the tee markers are, as long as they have a course rating for your gender. Once you have your handicap index you convert it to a course handicap for that round based on the slope rating of the tees you are going to play. As courses are being re-rated more sets of tees are being rated for both genders. We have 3 sets of tees at my course and last fall the course was re-rated for women and all 3 sets of tees now have women's ratings and slopes. When the men's ratings are redone we will have them rate all 3 sets of tees for men (only 2 sets are currently rated).

[RemyM]

In my town:

I guess you'd really be confused if you ever get the chance to play at Shinecock Hills.

White: forward tees Green: middle tees Red: back tees

[cougar978]

A little off topic:

What's the over/under on the number of cats Stina owns in 20 years?

I'd say 7.

[Dormie]

We have five sets of tees at my course:
Grey (Tiger)
Blue (Tour)
White
Green (<-- me)
Red

I get it in the fairway, play fast, and could care less what people think. That's the current tee for my current game. Next season: white.

[FHopper]

I have not kept score through out most of my life so I only look at the layout on a score card. After reading some of the post I looked at my card from last week, (I actually wrote my score down and some drive distances). It would seem the course I have played off and on for over 45 years has made changes that should make many of you happy. From what I read, there is no ladies tee and the W must mean ladies and is rated from the whites.


sigh

[iacas]

What's wrong with some of you? Cripes.

She's a perfectly nice person. And calling them the "ladies tees" probably - and wrongly - prevents some men who belong on them from playing them.

What's wrong with calling them the "forward" tees or even the "red" (or whatever color they are) tees?

Heck, I plan to play from those tees at least once before the season's out. It's fun.

[msd3075]

Heck, I plan to play from those tees at least once before the season's out. It's fun.

If only more people would see it as "fun" instead of some form of castration.

[wubskis]

Heck, I plan to play from those tees at least once before the season's out. It's fun.

If only more people would see it as "fun" instead of some form of castration.

Oh boy, it ranks up there as one of my favourite things to do. It completely and utterly changes your game, especially on courses you frequent. Where you'd drive and think "ok, time for a 5i into the green" you'd be using a wedge.

If my course isn't busy (which happens a lot, there are days when it's barren) I'll happily play a load of balls off the forward tees (reds everywhere here) onto the green. It's amazing hitting a >50* wedge on a par 3 you normally have to 7i. On topic, I've never heard anyone in this country call them the "women's" tees. When I was a junior, we were instructed to play off the reds for sake of pace. Never did they say "play off the junior/women's tees." I played at a local course I'd never been to recently, and the pro, upon hearing it was our first time, said "If you want a challenge, play the yellows. If you want to take it easy, play the reds." I've known the tendency to call them "women's" and "men's" tees, but noone really speaks of it. I have honestly, hand on heart, never heard anyone speak of the tees as gender assignment. Now, I've never played any of the UK's "big" courses, but every course I've ever played had simply red/yellow/white. White are the championship tees, red/yellow are simply there for whoever chooses to play from them. I'll agree that if you took a survey and plotted statistics, you'd find that most women play from the reds and most men play from the yellows. But that doesn't mean they should.

[jamo]

What's wrong with calling them the "forward" tees or even the "red" (or whatever color they are) tees?

FINALLY! SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS!

i play in so many tournaments from the tips that i love the feeling on hitting 1/2 lob wedges to 5 feet for birdie. it is SO much fun.

[Greg]

I have not kept score through out most of my life so I only look at the layout on a score card. After reading some of the post I looked at my card from last week, (I actually wrote my score down and some drive distances). It would seem the course I have played off and on for over 45 years has made changes that should make many of you happy. From what I read, there is no ladies tee and the W must mean ladies and is rated from the whites.

It actually appears on the scorecard to me that the mens tees are the white and blue and the womens are the red, as it mentions men's handicaps at the top and the women's handicaps at the bottom where the distances from the red tees are, actually pretty obvious if you read it. On average, men do hit the ball farther and higher handicap female players should play from the red tees to keep up pace of play. Lower handicap and longer hitting womens players should move up to longer tees, as should better male players to the longer tees, all about ability and distance. If a female player can hit driver 300 yards, then play from the longest tees, but if she hits it 180, then play from the reds, same for the male players as some are unable to hit the ball very far due to physical limitations and such.

[cougar978]

What's wrong with some of you? Cripes.

We have two par 5's at my home course where we will sometimes play them off the front tees as par 4's - does that count?

[tjy355]

Tees are color coded, the shortest yardage is designed for the ladies. Of course anyone can choose to play from any tee, but if you are playing from the front tees you are playing from the ladies tee. When I am older I will still play from the white tees because I am a man and the white tees are for the short hitting men. I played with a couple 30 somethings guys the other day and they hit from the blues, I ask them jokingly if they did that to get their money's worth and they answered "we pull our pants all the way up"; I liked that. Truth is truth, the front tees are the ladies tees, PC or no.

"Kansas World View"

[max power]

We have two par 5's at my home course where we will sometimes play them off the front tees as par 4's - does that count?

Not a bad idea, have to try that one. Maybe turn an easier par 5 into a tricky par 4.