What tees do you hit from? Is it based on your handicap or superego or peer pressure?

[bplewis24]

Stogies' info is an illustration of why people like myself don't agree that "anybody who can't shoot under 80 should play the whites," or something that is strictly handicap-based.  According to Stogies' chart I would qualify for the last or 2nd-to-last set of tees, depending on how well I'm hitting my driver that day.  But based on handicap, I would be playing from the middle tees.

Brandon

[Grndslmhttr3]

I like hitting from the backs, because I like hitting longer clubs. A lot of the time (for me) there isn't a huge amount of difference, anyway.

[Paradox]

tees should be based on distance, not score.  If a person can move up tees and score better, they were just playing tees too long for them.

Moving up tees is not going to make that guy hitting his ball 3 fairways over every tee shot suddenly hit it straight.  I guarantee he'll still be topping balls down the fairway, hitting fat shots, blading chips across the green, 4 putting or whatever else.(high handicap won't benefit from a different tee, they'll just be hitting into different trouble)

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Paradox

tees should be based on distance, not score.  If a person can move up tees and score better, they were just playing tees too long for them.

Can you clarify that? I can shoot 72 from 7000 yards and I'll shoot 68 from 6300 yards. I was playing tees too long for me shooting even par?

[anthony]

Originally Posted by Paradox

tees should be based on distance, not score.  If a person can move up tees and score better, they were just playing tees too long for them.

I disagree. It should be based on your handicap, not driving distance. Personally, I wouldn't consider shooting from the blue's (assuming blue's are the last tee box) unless my handicap was under a 5. I play with a couple of scratch golfers and I'm willing to bet I would still get my ass handed to me if I shot from the ladies tees and they shot from the blue's.

Also, I find in a lot of situations not only are the blue tee's further away, but the tee shot is more difficult. For instance, the white tee boxes may have a straight shot to the fairway where the blue's have a grove of trees to one side that require you to shape your shot.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by anthony

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradox

tees should be based on distance, not score.  If a person can move up tees and score better, they were just playing tees too long for them.

I disagree. It should be based on your handicap, not driving distance. Personally, I wouldn't consider shooting from the blue's (assuming blue's are the last tee box) unless my handicap was under a 5. I play with a couple of scratch golfers and I'm willing to bet I would still get my ass handed to me if I shot from the ladies tees and they shot from the blue's.

Also, I find in a lot of situations not only are the blue tee's further away, but the tee shot is more difficult. For instance, the white tee boxes may have a straight shot to the fairway where the blue's have a grove of trees to one side that require you to shape your shot.

That's exactly why I usually find the tee shots from the tips EASIER.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by anthony

Also, I find in a lot of situations not only are the blue tee's further away, but the tee shot is more difficult. For instance, the white tee boxes may have a straight shot to the fairway where the blue's have a grove of trees to one side that require you to shape your shot.

I find the opposite to be true as much, if not more of the time.  In my Club men play from the White tees.  I hit 3w or 3i off par 4 tees more often (combined) than driver simply because the fairway either narrows at the point my driver landing area would be or because it may bring an additional hazard into play.  The opportunity to be 120 yards out as opposed to 150 yards out isn't worth it for me.

Just checked my scorecard from the recent tourney this Saturday, and I only hit driver on 2 of the 10 par 4s (and only 3 of the 4 par 5s).  On the one par 5, I hit 3w to within 205 of the green (any further would bring trees along the right side of the fairway into play).  Of course I promptly hooked my 4i approach into the water just short of the green.

Brandon

[rustyredcab]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

... because the fairway either narrows at the point my driver landing area would be or because it may bring an additional hazard into play.  The opportunity to be 120 yards out as opposed to 150 yards out isn't worth it for me.

Brandon

That is almost certainly what the course designer had in mind. It also indicates that those are the correct tees. One other way to know you are playing the wrong tees is when your driver is never able to reach the trouble or always flies over it. That is one reason I like my group playing farther up. The shorter hitters now have decisions to make because they can reach bunkers that are there to be reached from the tee. Our course has six sets of tees. The design allows you to find a set of tees that make the course play as he planned. As the longest hitter in my group, there are only a few times when I can simply fly the trouble that others now worry about -- and the designer planned. Most of the trouble is layered to be in play for a wade range of distances so the first bunker is in play for my buddies but I cannot clear them all. Much more fun game when we all need to think instead of the short guys just bombing away with no hope of reaching the intended dangerous landing area.

And as a guy who moved up 400 yards last year, I'd say that while I still hit many of the same irons into the green because I choose a shorter club off the tee, those shorter clubs off the tee are much more accurate. Therefore, she on the first hole I tee off with a 3-hybrid verses a 5-iron I hope and expect to have the same second shot. Sure, the well played shot with each club from their respective tees will leave a simple 8-iron. But, I'm going to be in a good place on the fairway much more often if I hit 5-iron than if I hit 3-hybrid. So to say it doesn't matter much which tees I play because I can get there no matter the tees I play, is not exactly true for me.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by rustyredcab

That is almost certainly what the course designer had in mind. It also indicates that those are the correct tees.

The trouble I'm referring to is nearer the green, not the fairway hazards.  I would be clearing the fairway hazards by a decent margin.

Example:

Hole 7 typically plays 400+ from the blues, and this weekend was playing about 375 from the whites.  A water hazard guards the left side of the green and starts about 100 yards short of the green.  The fairway bunkers are about 140 yards from the green.  Driver for me from the whites means the bunkers aren't even in play, but because the hole is slightly downhill and also downwind that day, the water could be if I got a hold of one.

Brandon

[LuciusWooding]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

The trouble I'm referring to is nearer the green, not the fairway hazards.  I would be clearing the fairway hazards by a decent margin.

Example:

Hole 7 typically plays 400+ from the blues, and this weekend was playing about 375 from the whites.  A water hazard guards the left side of the green and starts about 100 yards short of the green.  The fairway bunkers are about 140 yards from the green.  Driver for me from the whites means the bunkers aren't even in play, but because the hole is slightly downhill and also downwind that day, the water could be if I got a hold of one.

Brandon

I was looking at a tour of TPC Sawgrass, with yardages from each tee to various points. They had a box in the fairway representing the proper landing area used by most players, and it wasn't too hard to hit as far as width. However, trying to go farther was ill-advised. The fairway on most holes pinched in half, and also shaped off to the side. Not only was a carry or major shot shaping required to hit the target, it also punished drives hit too far. In fact, I could get into more trouble on that course hitting from the forward tees than from the back, especially since the punishment for too deep a shot was worse than coming up short. At about 285, the fairway ends in most cases. I can safely say I'd have to either blast a 3w or hit a driver and pray it checks up, especially in the florida heat.  If I was hitting from another set of tees, I'd have to hit a 6 iron to have a safe tee shot, or play for a 7 yard wide, snaking fairway.

The course would kick my rear end, even on a good day. And forget about the greens. But playing from the back would allow me to hit drivers a fair amount of the time, and I really don't have the option from a shorter set. As a result, I'd have a hard time scoring, and I wouldn't get the benefit of the higher rated tees on my handicap.

Sawgrass isn't my favorite design, but it really makes the strategy quite clear, unlike courses with wind that need to be more open; Links courses are usually accommodating to different distances since the wind could be +-20mph and make the same player hit his tee shot in a 40+ yard spread.

[jshots]

Is it fair if you take a 5 handicap 60 year old who drives 220 and pair him up with a 5 handicap 25 year old who drives over 300 and make them play the same set of tees. Of course not.

Tees in my opinion are almost like a second handicap but it should be considered separately from the handicap that applies to your score. They should allow someone to play competitively and not have to worry about how strong they are and how far they can hit the ball. It is one of the things that allows Golfers of all strengths and skill levels to play together and to be able to enjoy competition.

[Paradox]

Well i was thinking more of people who aren't very good or consistent.  What I was getting at was that a guy who can't score well from one tee isn't likely to score well from a different tee.  Also..going from par to 4 under is not an indication of wrong tees.  I shouldn't have used score..but I was thinking of handicap.  A 20 handicap isn't gonna suddenly become accurate from the white tees because they are shorter was my only point.

Originally Posted by iacas

Can you clarify that? I can shoot 72 from 7000 yards and I'll shoot 68 from 6300 yards. I was playing tees too long for me shooting even par?

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by jshots

Is it fair if you take a 5 handicap 60 year old who drives 220 and pair him up with a 5 handicap 25 year old who drives over 300 and make them play the same set of tees. Of course not.

Tees in my opinion are almost like a second handicap but it should be considered separately from the handicap that applies to your score. They should allow someone to play competitively and not have to worry about how strong they are and how far they can hit the ball. It is one of the things that allows Golfers of all strengths and skill levels to play together and to be able to enjoy competition.

Unless I'm mistaken, a 5 handicap is a 5 handicap.  So, if the two players in your example played together on the same tee boxes, theoretically, they'd be "equal".

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by jshots

Is it fair if you take a 5 handicap 60 year old who drives 220 and pair him up with a 5 handicap 25 year old who drives over 300 and make them play the same set of tees. Of course not.

Tees in my opinion are almost like a second handicap but it should be considered separately from the handicap that applies to your score. They should allow someone to play competitively and not have to worry about how strong they are and how far they can hit the ball. It is one of the things that allows Golfers of all strengths and skill levels to play together and to be able to enjoy competition.

It's absolutely fair that they play the same set of tees!  No matter what set of tees they played to acquire that handicap, it has already been accounted for.  It's not like the 60 year shoots 77 from the whites and the 25 year old shoots 77 from the blacks and they end up with the same HDCP.  Different sets of tees have different ratings.

So, your opinion that tees are a second HDCP are wrong in that you are accounting for them twice.

Now, if the course in question happens to be one that requires a forced 230 yard carry on all the holes from those back tees, then obviously Mr. 60 is going to have a tough time of it.

But a 5 HDCP is a 5 HDCP all day long.

[Golfingdad]

To answer the original question:  I play from whatever tees the group I'm with is playing.  If I happen to play by myself I would play all the way back because usually my groups are playing the whites.

And, my opinion is that there are no "correct" set of tees for anybody.  You play whatever tees will make it the most fun for you.

[Derek02]

Originally Posted by Clambake

One pretty good rule of thumb is to take the distance you hit your 5 iron and multiply by 36, and then pick the set of tees that most closely matches that number.    For example, I hit 5i about 185 yards, so 185 x 36 = 6660.    Playing courses at the tees that gives me 6600-6700 yards almost always means a nice mix of different tee shots (some driver, some 3W, perhaps some 3H) and different approaches (some short, some mid-irons, and some long irons).  That makes it interesting.

Good rule of thumb!

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

And, my opinion is that there are no "correct" set of tees for anybody.  You play whatever tees will make it the most fun for you.

Agreed with one caveat; you (and your group) keep pace.  I've actually played behind a group of guys that hit the ball 3 or 4 times just to reach the green, but they kept pace with the group in front of them.  It was actually kind of funny because they couldn't hit a shot over 150 yards (at least, that's what it looked like to me--and, yes, they were playing from the back tees)  At first, I thought, "great, looks like I'll be napping between shots waiting for these guys".  I see them drive up to their shots and without hesitation grab a club and just whack the ball again.  By the time they were within range to actually reach the green, the group in front of them was just clearning off it.  They did this the whole day, it was amazing.  Also, probably the coolest thing about this group was that they were laughing the entire time.  It was one of the most refreshing things I've ever witnessed on a golf course.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Tomboys

Agreed with one caveat; you (and your group) keep pace.

Oh, absolutely.  Though I think the tees played have little to do with slow play ... as is shown on the one hand by your example.  And on the other hand, people who aren't ready when its their turn and who wait in the cart while their partners hit before even getting to their ball would do that even if they played the forward tees.  That 20 or 30 yards less on each hole ain't speeding them up any.