Which tee box do you play from??

[Augusta Hacker]

Just curious as to what others do. I normally shoot in the low 90's except for the occasional melt down round. Earlier this year I switched from the whites to the blues and my scores actually dropped a few strokes. Not sure why but they did. My typical driver is around 280 and up to 300+ if I make good contact and get after it.

Should I go back to the whites to get my scores lower or continue on the blues?

[sonicblue]

Distance off the tee is just one consideration. Often, back tees have completely different angles to the fairway which can require shotshaping and/or have severe penalties. For example, the white tees may be a straight 250 to the fairway, while the blues require a 280-yd fade, with OB trees sticking out or such.

Look at the yardage differences by hole. Some courses may do nothing more than scoot the back tees 20 yards farther back on each hole, and it may not matter. On the other hand, they may have many holes similar, but add 50-60 yards to the par 5's and 30-40 yards to the par 3's. As a baseline, though, a 20-handicap shouldn't be playing from the back tees, so start from the whites and if you really know the course and know the back tee changes, then pursue.

In general, I play from the back tees, unless the card specifically says it's for <5 or "permission required." I won't step forward and actually subject myself to the hardest tees on a course that stipulates that, but such courses usually also have a challenging blue tee, and then white.

EDIT: as Norm says below, there is an "appropriate tee" for each player. Playing from too far back doesn't make you "challenge yourself," it can be irresponsible.

[Norm66]

I play from the middle, or men's tees (white usually). I don't see the point in being macho and moving to the blues until I'm looking to make the game harder which isn't yet believe me. Not saying you fit in this category, but I've seen too many hacks playing from the blue & black tees just holding up the rest of us who play from the appropriate tees.

[kfowler]

Even though I'm fairly long off the tee, I typically try to play from the whites. My iron play and short game is really not good enough to play from the tips. A lot of times I'll play from the tees in between the whites and tips if the course has them. It really depends on length overall. If the whites are 5800 and blues are 6200, I'll play from the blues. Anything longer than 6200 and I stick to the whites.

[brdweb]

I'll keep playing from the whites until I feel that my game is good enough to warrant anything else. At this point, that could be awhile :)

[TarDawg]

As I've stated in a couple of threads I play from the whites because I believe until you can constistanly breaking 100 that is where you should play. once you can break 90's constantly i think that's when you move back from the blues etc...

[Harold]

Unless it's a course I play frequently or it's a nine hole course I plan on playing more than one go-around it's all whites. Why?
1) I want every yard I am legally allowed to take. I'm out for the fun. If I want to work I will spend more time on the job.
2) Course setup. As explained earlier the back tees may be angled differently or the course design from the tips to the white tees forces shot shaping. If you have problems shaping on purpose than you will experience far more issues from the back. Also, a good course designer puts in those little subtleties that actually helps golfers _if_ they are playing from the correct tees for their distance. Stuff like a slightly wider fairway 175-200 yards out from the whites or a clear(er) approach on that par 3.
3) If you really have a white tee game but are playing from the tips, you must have a good medium to long iron/hybrid game to play well from the back. It's not just 20 or 50 yards difference. That could be several clubs difference on your second shot and is likely tougher. Players who belong on the back tees generally wind up in the same area as me off their tee shots. Those that belong on the whites quite frequently are at least as far back as the separation between the tee boxes. It's not a coincidence.

I'm a singles local municipality golfer so I have seen quite a few different golfers with varying skills over the years. Truth is most golfers I have played with who play from the tips can't shoot past 200-220 yards on a good drive and 3/4 of the ones who can have lousy long games that go with a mediocre short game and putting. Only a handful of golfers I have played with played from the correct tees for their skills. I may not have a great game myself but I do know one when I see it. Of course if you are having fun playing from the back when you really should be playing from another tee box that's your choice. As long as it is fun. It's what it's all about. Just make sure to keep up with the group ahead of you and don't stall the ones behind.

[niblick]

i play from the whites unless it's a really short course (< 6000 yards).

[wolverine318]

It depends, in my league we play from whichever tees are closes to 6600 yards for the course. When I play with my standard non league group we play from the tips, assuming they are in a decent shape to play from. As some courses around here dont keep them up (for courses with 5 or 6 sets of tees)

[TourSpoon]

I try to pick the tees that are 6500-6700 yards. For most courses this is not the tips but the next set of tees. Occasionally I will play all the way back if the course is not over 7000 yards.

[CurtisBen]

I normally play one up from the tips. Sometimes I will play the tips just not betting.

[Jeepthrills]

I usually let the people I'm playing with dictate where we play from. My Sunday regulars usually shoot high 40's to low 50's for nine. With them we play whites. When I played with my father-in-law, who would often shoot at or near par, before his neck and back surgeries we would play blues. With my brother we got to the back or one in from the back, as the group we do our golf trip with plays back there. I have found that with the exception of the longest and toughest layouts that more score does not change drastically when I move back. I am long enough that a few hundred yards over 18 holes is not a major issue. Of course when you get out there to 7000+ yards, all bets are off.

[Finn07]

Usually always from the tips, but if i am playing with guys from work ill play from the whites.

[g-funk13]

Does anyone ever play the shortest ladies tees with only irons? Me and dad used to do that, and it was great for the long and mid irons!

[WhiteSoxFan]

First and foremost you should play whatever tees you feel comfortable playing or whatever tees you want to play. Now, if you are in way over your head and it's going to result in slow play that affects the groups behind you, you should move up.

Second, I think the majority of people who responded to this thread have focused too much on yardage and not enough on course rating and slope.

The first thing I look at when choosing tees is the rating and slope. Right now I'm shooting for something close to 70.0 / 120-125. If that's the tips, that's what I play. If the closest to that is two up from the tips, that's what I play. Now, I also generally shoot for ~6500 yds, so I don't ignore that, but I base it more on the rating and slope than the yardage. I am using that rating / slope because where my league is played is 69.8 / 124. It's challenging both trouble and yardage-wise, but it's fair and I don't feel like I'm in over my head.

For example, if I play a course where the white tees are 69.5 / 130 and 5900 yards, and the blues are 71.0 / 135 and 6300 yds. I'm playing the whites for sure. It's obviously a tough course with lots of trouble, I don't need the extra yardage complicating things.

Here in Colorado, we have so many different colors of tees it's ridiculous - white, blue, green, gold, black. So, it's hard to just say - "I play the whites". Depending on the course I could play 2 up from the tips or the tips - it all depends on the rating and slope (and yardage a little). All that being said, more often than not I play one tee up from the tips, whatever color that may be.

[lamebums]

I shoot for the 6500 yard range or so, regardless of which tee box it actually is. I'd like to have at least one par 4 drivable in one shot, and at least one par five in two. And no 200+ par 3's. If I'm playing with other people I'll just play the same tees they do (usually the whites).

[phillygolfer]

Blues most of the times

[Shindig]

I play from the white tees. The one exception was when I played Trilogy La Quinta, where the white tees are 5500 yards and the gold are 6000 and were closer (in rating and slope) to what the whites would be at most courses I play. In retrospect, I should have stuck to the whites for that round :)

Before I broke 100, I was considering playing from the red tees, but they weren't rated for men and I wanted to establish a handicap. When I find myself shooting in the mid-80s or better consistently from the white tees, I'll play a round or two from the blue tees and see what happens. Until then, I'll play the white tees, regardless of distance. At my "home course", that's 6600 yards. At other courses I've played, it varies from 5900 to 6600 yards.

Does anyone ever play the shortest ladies tees with only irons? Me and dad used to do that, and it was great for the long and mid irons!

No, but I'm going to consider that at some point.