Playing from 6,000 Yards

[JonMA1]

Most of the guys I play with seem "locked in"to the tees they regularly play...

I get bored at my club playing the same tees every time....but when I suggest playing the shorter tees (5600)

for a change...their response is "ï'm not a sissy!"....then if I suggest the longest tees (6500) their response is

""no way"".

I can go over my average round at my club in my head typing this and on the par 4's for the approach I 75% of the

time use 1) 6i 2) 5i 6) 6i 7) 5h 9) 5i 12) 3h 14) 3h 16) 6i 17 7i  18 5h. Gets pretty monotonous.

I advocate changing up tees. Good 9 hole courses use different sets of tees to change the character of holes. I can

do that too ...round to round.

Agreed. That's kind of the reason I play a different set of tees - whether that's back or forward from what I normally do - just to break up the monotony. It may be the same course, but it plays so differently.

I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but I'll sometimes alternate tees in the same round so long as I'm not holding anyone up. I really enjoy playing longer par 3's, so I may play from the tips just on those.

[rcwkent]

Agreed. That's kind of the reason I play a different set of tees - whether that's back or forward from what I normally do - just to break up the monotony. It may be the same course, but it plays so differently.

I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but I'll sometimes alternate tees in the same round so long as I'm not holding anyone up. I really enjoy playing longer par 3's, so I may play from the tips just on those.

On the fourth of July our club has a red, white, blue tournamnet  where 6 holes are played from back tees, 6 from middle and 6 from ladies. Lots of fun with so many driving for the greens from the reds!   Course plays soooo different that way!

Maybe I'll suggest your idea to my friends!

[Grumpter]

Originally Posted by rcwkent

I get bored at my club playing the same tees every time....but when I suggest playing the shorter tees (5600)

for a change...their response is "ï'm not a sissy!"....then if I suggest the longest tees (6500) their response is

""no way"".

Some courses have been offering a mixed set of tees which is nice. So you would play about half of the holes from the forward tees and half from the further back tees. I really wish with the technology today that they would just rate each hole individually. You could really get a nice mix that way and an ever changing mix.

[Dave2512]

Definitely an advocate for combo tees. Usually a good mix of challenges and takes trouble out of play on a few very difficult holes.

[vangator]

There's nothing wrong with playing forward tees.  I'd rather see mid-high HC players playing forward......than playing back.   Don't be "That group" with limited ability playing from yardages you have no business playing.   With all things considered, providing you play fast enough and keep pace with who you are following, it doesn't matter.   Play from wherever the heck you want........if you keep up.

I agree. I hate seeing high handicappers hitting from the back tees and holding up the whole course. I can't tell you how many times I see guys dribble their tee shots repeatedly from the back tees. The back tees at my course mainly just adds yardage. However a couple do change the strategy for the hole. The 18th hole normally plays 380 and I cut the dogleg leaving ~100 yards to the hole. From the back tees it is 440, but I can't go anywhere near the dog leg. I play it down the opposite side, often leaving as much as 200 into the green (more into the wind). The hole completely changes into a manly par 4.

[Dave2512]

Was paired with two of them last weekend. One guy told me his swing speed was 115 and they waited, and waited and waited for every short par 4 to clear and thought they were getting to all the par 5's in two. Both had horrid swings, every was wrong starting with the grip, and hit big high weak shots that looked like they went far but dropped dead. A couple times they were 10-15 yards near me if they didn't blow it. Most shots from anywhere on the course were bad being they both had weird flippy impact positions.

By the end of the day they'd sort of thrown in the towel. I shot 79 neither broke a 100. Crazing thing was they mentioned they play the back tees at every course no matter how long. Two are courses I play often and the tips there are 7500+. I can't imagine how they scored there if they can't break 100 from 6500. I play two up from the back at both courses and it's still tough.

[Lastpick]

I am 65 years old and like to play no shorter than 6000, but 6200-6500 is preferred.  We are at about 3200 ft in elevation.  Recently played Jug Mountain in Idaho at about 6700 yards.  Reason was that the course from this set of tees was really interesting and different than the forward tees.  Great fun, but I shot 95, 92 and 86 from this length.

[onthehunt526]

This is slightly off topic, but still Erik and Mike might like this idea: Like I stated before 6,000 yards is a good length course for average players, there isn't a damn thing with it... Slightly off topic here: I don't like courses that have too many par-4 holes that are bunched together in length... Meaning if I play a course that has 10 par-4s I don't want to be playing 6 of them at 350-360 yards, don't want to be hitting Driver, wedge to every damn par-four, yes my home course is kind of like this... 345, 345, 350, 340, 330 on the front... 395, 380, 350, 355, 450 on the back... I'd like to see more courses where you get a variety of lengths in par-four holes... I mean like 3 or 4 less than 360, 3 or 4 between 360 and 420 and two or three longer ones... Back on topic: I know of a course that is almost exactly 6000 yards about 4 miles from me... (Hillendale in Ithaca...that's closer to 6100 with the new tee on 8)... But the twelve par 4s, line up like this... 307, 304, 412, 313, 338/426, 406, 338, 458, 432, 315, 332, 395... as you can see a variety of par-fours The four threes in order, 185, 139, 143, 176 The two fives 474, 548... Add that all up and its 6,004 yards or 6,092 yards and a par 70... It's a fun course, I played a 5800 yard, par 71 I had fun on with a couple guys from work... I believe that 5,800-6,200 is where most golfers would have more fun... Hell sometimes I'll play Newman from the whites twice to have more fun... I like to play in the 6,300 to 6,600 range... But I have no problem moving up if that's where my Golf buddies are playing from, most of which play at 6,000 yards or so...

[shanksalot]

Hey, i know i suck but im not a slow player. I can shoot a 140 and keep up with the guys in front of me thank u very much! Lol.

[Dave2512]

Slow play starts with people getting into trouble. Being in trouble closer to the green will eventually lead to better recovery chances and better scores.

[RGoosen]

You are right, slow play most of the time has nothing to do with the tees you are playing. Slow play usually has to do with not being ready to play when it is your turn. I play in a senior tournament once a week and it takes close to 5 to  5 1/2 hours to finish and we play from the senior tees at just under 6200 yards. If we played from the ladies tees it still would take that long.  Yuck.

This is a major reason I can't play tournament golf. I don't have the patience. The only reason I can handle the increased time it takes to play a round in a scramble is b/c it is in a more relaxed setting and by nature it is a social event. I would probably leave and be disqualified just to protest the round going past 4:15.

[Brakkus]

Most of mine are 6000-6500 that I play.It gives me legitimate shots at gir on most par 4 holes.I only have issues with holes right around 400 and above. That would be two pure longer clubs for me. Everything 390 and under is attackable. I'm sure I could still score well above 6500 but that would bring lay ups into play so a different game.

[Lihu]

When I asked how he deals with 470-500 yard par 4's his answer was he'll hit a 300 yard drive and a perfect 4 hybrid.

Sure, I do that all the time. . .followed by another approach shot. . . :-D

[Fairway_CY]

I started playing golf my freshman year in high school (forever ago)... and when we played matches, it was from tees that measured around 6400 yards.  In most cases, I'll find 1 or maybe 2 par 4 holes that play over 400 yards, but the majority are in the 340 - 380 range.  I always find myself struggling way more than usual when I wind up on a par 4 over 390 yards.  That means that, with an average drive, I'm going to have 170 - 220 left to the hole, depending on yardage and pin location.

If I have to hit anything higher than a 6 iron into a green... it's a crap shoot for me.

There was a course that I loved to play on back in New Jersey that measured 6354 from the blue tees and 5895 from the white tees.  I always played better from the blue tees than the white tees.

For me, it's about where I'll end up off the tee.  I always TRY to get myself in the 120 - 160 range for my approach because that's where I'm going to be hitting my most comfortable clubs.  On the white tees there, it meant hitting hybrids or my 3 wood off the tee.  Unless my swing is 'on'... I am far worse off hitting those clubs from the tee than my driver.

So... like others have said, play what's most comfortable to you.  I find myself struggling more on courses that measure under 6100 yards than I do on courses that measure around 6600 yards.  It's just a personal preference.

CY

[onthehunt526]

This is a major reason I can't play tournament golf. I don't have the patience. The only reason I can handle the increased time it takes to play a round in a scramble is b/c it is in a more relaxed setting and by nature it is a social event. I would probably leave and be disqualified just to protest the round going past 4:15.

My problem with tournament Golf... At Newman, they try to put foursomes with 8 minutes between tee times (because the sheet says has 8 minute tee times)... This year, I was on the committee for the Club Championship and the Ithaca City Championship, the club we did 12 three-somes the second day, the city we did 13 three-somes for the qualifying... For some reason. We were forced to do foursomes at match play... But every other third tee time I blacked out on the sheet... Slow play starts with slow players... These four Cornell kids, took 3 1/2 hours to play 9 holes, and I sent them off the Senior Tees.