Selecting the correct tee

[Dave2512]

Really doesn't matter if it's the tips or what color more about the distance. My former home course is short tips are just 6412. My current home course the tips are 7435. To play from the 6400 there would mean moving up 4 tees from the tips. Yet I rarely see men up there, it's the least used box and there is another in front of that rated for men.

[tefunk]

Although distance is a major factor to consider, it shouldn't always be the deciding factor. Some courses aren't really that much longer from the tips then the other tees. The difficulty of the shot is what makes the back tees more difficult (on the types of courses I'm referring to). For instance, maybe a 140 yard Par 3 is protected by water from the front and left side of the green at the blue tee. Then the back tee is maybe 150, but now three sides of the green are protected by water, with only one safe miss, due to the back tee being 15-20 yards left of the blue tee, providing a tougher angle. Neither is a long shot by any means, but there is a different level of difficulty. So one should take the course layout itself into consideration, not just distance.

[Dave2512]

Some courses aren't really that much longer from the tips then the other tees.

The only time I ever see this is if the course is short from any tees. Here in CO the difference between the tips and the shortest men's tees could be as much as 2000 yards. We have some holes at the home course where the markers at the tips and the markers for the whites are more than a hundred yards apart. And there are another set of men's tees in front of those, the reds actually have a men's rating as well.

[iacas]

That's true @tefunk , as anyone that's seen Whispering Woods can attest to that. It's a good example of what you said.

[NJpatbee]

As a rule of thumb, I look for tees between 5800 and 6200 for my 18 HCP and 62 year old swing.   But, as others have stated, the true difficulty is not just distance, but the layout and variety of the individual holes.  I enjoy one of the courses I play because of the variety of lengths and types of difficulties.  For example, from the middle tees, there is a par 5 that is 475 uphill and plays more like 550.  It is preceded by a 295 yard par 4 where position is everything or else your are in sand, and another 405 yard par 4 will follow.  The course will benefit bombers on a few holes and also favor acccuracy on others - most of my clubs get used at least once during a round.  And the total length is 5611 from the middle tees.

I have the distance to reach most of the greens in regulations and use that fact as an indicator that I am playing form the correct tees for my game.  I have played with bombers that hit from the tips (6002 yards) and started out by complaining that the course is too short, only to watch them get destroyed because of the many difficulties on the course that are not distance related.

I have fairly good confidence in the tee ratings for my handicap.  I usually look for the whites (middle tees) and they are typically a match.  In the case where the middle tees are much over 6300 (e.g. some of the longer resort courses built in the 90's), I will move up.