why so many tee boxes

[Bill926]

So I was at the range Saturday morning, and from where I was at I had a good view of the first tee.  This course happens to have 5 sets of tee's.  The first hole is a par 5 and if you play the yellow (the first inside the back tee's about 6500 yards) you need to carry your tee shot about 120 yards over water, with the driving range to the right and OB left.  Out of all of the groups that chose to play the yellow, half didn't clear the water and the other half put it in the range.  You can drive 50 yards to the next set and the water and range are almost out of play.It just got me wondering why is there a need for 5 sets of tee's, or even two sets that are over 6500 yards on a normal public golf course?

I know in tournament play your tees are based on handicap, but I always question whether there could be a different way.  If I can shoot an average of 85 at 6000 yards, doesn't mean I want to start playing 6500 and shoot 95, my drives aren't going to start going further because I moved back.  What ever happened to the "tee it forward" thing from a few years ago?   

[newtogolf]

Five sets seems high unless the course is really long.  I usually see four, 2 mens tees, ladies tee and senior tee.  

[SavvySwede]

I've played a course with six sets. Probably one too many but I really don't see the issue as long as people choose the right one for their skill set. Biggest issue I have is that the course designers don't bother extending the cart paths to the back tees and you have to waste time hiking back to find them.

1. 7101y
2. 6623y
3. 6429y
4. 6066y
5. 5638y
6. 5038y

[DaveP043]

Just now, SavvySwede said:

 Biggest issue I have is that the course designers don't bother extending the cart paths to the back tees and you have to waste time hiking back to find them.

That's never a problem with me, I usually don't play those back tees!  

 

35 minutes ago, Bill926 said:

.It just got me wondering why is there a need for 5 sets of tee's, or even two sets that are over 6500 yards on a normal public golf course?

This isn't an issue with the course itself, I think its good to have appropriate tees for all levels of ability.  The bigger problem, and I don't know that it'll ever go away, is the egos of the players who want to play a long course, whether it fits their skill level or not.  Hand in hand with that issue are the "go-along" guys, who don't want to make a stand about playing appropriate tees, and so trudge along to the back tees with their ego-driven buddy.

[Missouri Swede]

3 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

Biggest issue I have is that the course designers don't bother extending the cart paths to the back tees and you have to waste time hiking back to find them.

I wish that were my problem!  (Guess I'll keep working until it is ... )  

[Fourputt]

43 minutes ago, Bill926 said:

So I was at the range Saturday morning, and from where I was at I had a good view of the first tee.  This course happens to have 5 sets of tee's.  The first hole is a par 5 and if you play the yellow (the first inside the back tee's about 6500 yards) you need to carry your tee shot about 120 yards over water, with the driving range to the right and OB left.  Out of all of the groups that chose to play the yellow, half didn't clear the water and the other half put it in the range.  You can drive 50 yards to the next set and the water and range are almost out of play.It just got me wondering why is there a need for 5 sets of tee's, or even two sets that are over 6500 yards on a normal public golf course?

I know in tournament play your tees are based on handicap, but I always question whether there could be a different way.  If I can shoot an average of 85 at 6000 yards, doesn't mean I want to start playing 6500 and shoot 95, my drives aren't going to start going further because I moved back.  What ever happened to the "tee it forward" thing from a few years ago?   

Because choice is a good thing.  At most courses with only 3 sets, even the shortest tees are not really positioned to be fair for women or seniors.  When there is only 10-15 yards between the tees, men playing from the middle tee have a huge advantage over the forward tees for the simple reason that the players who choose those mid tees are usually 40 or 50 yards longer with the driver than than the women or seniors teeing only 15 yards ahead.  

Offering 4 or 5 sets gives every level of player the opportunity to play the tees that best suit his game and to be competitive with a buddy who correctly plays a different set.  My home course has 4 tees, from 6920 to 5362.  I play several courses with 4 or 5 tees and I like being able to choose from a wide selection.

[DeadMan]

Yeah, most courses don't have a tee that is appropriate for women in the first place, so more tees are good for that. The negative is the extra course maintenance that comes with the tee boxes. I see a lot of courses around here have combo tees, where half the time you'd be on the back tees and half the time on the middle tees, for example. I really like that, because it gives more choice without he extra maintenance.

[boogielicious]

34 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Because choice is a good thing.  At most courses with only 3 sets, even the shortest tees are not really positioned to be fair for women or seniors.  When there is only 10-15 yards between the tees, men playing from the middle tee have a huge advantage over the forward tees for the simple reason that the players who choose those mid tees are usually 40 or 50 yards longer with the driver than than the women or seniors teeing only 15 yards ahead.  

Offering 4 or 5 sets gives every level of player the opportunity to play the tees that best suit his game and to be competitive with a buddy who correctly plays a different set.  My home course has 4 tees, from 6920 to 5362.  I play several courses with 4 or 5 tees and I like being able to choose from a wide selection.

I see this a lot when I play with my wife. Her drives max out at 130, but the tees are only 10-20 ahead of mine. On some par 3 holes she is using driver and I am using 7 iron. Some courses are starting to add new tee boxes, so the mind set may be changing.

[jamo]

37 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Because choice is a good thing.  At most courses with only 3 sets, even the shortest tees are not really positioned to be fair for women or seniors.  When there is only 10-15 yards between the tees, men playing from the middle tee have a huge advantage over the forward tees for the simple reason that the players who choose those mid tees are usually 40 or 50 yards longer with the driver than than the women or seniors teeing only 15 yards ahead.  

Offering 4 or 5 sets gives every level of player the opportunity to play the tees that best suit his game and to be competitive with a buddy who correctly plays a different set.  My home course has 4 tees, from 6920 to 5362.  I play several courses with 4 or 5 tees and I like being able to choose from a wide selection.

I think I'm pretty much here. What's the problem with having more tees? What's the downside?

[Fourputt]

Just now, jamo said:

I think I'm pretty much here. What's the problem with having more tees? What's the downside?

Absolutely nothing.  I found myself questioning why the OP would find it odd or unusual.

[Dave2512]

IME a high number of tee choices is good. Tends to discourage male golfers from taking on too much course without feeling like they are on the kiddie tees.

Two courses I play at have 5 sets of tees rated for men.

• 7676 yds 75.5/144 par 72
• 7404 yds 74.3/140
• 6897 yds 71.9/132
• 6617 yds 70.7/128
• 6230 yds 68.7/118

This course has a handicap recommendation for each tee.

• 7435 yds 74.7/131 par 72 handicap range 0-4
• 6950 yds 72.3/128 range 5-11                          
• 6589 yds 70.9/125 range 12-17
• 6032 yds 67.7/115 range 18-30
• 5305 yds 65.7/112 range 31+

[Golfingdad]

40 minutes ago, Dave2512 said:

IME a high number of tee choices is good. Tends to discourage male golfers from taking on too much course without feeling like they are on the kiddie tees.

Two courses I play at have 5 sets of tees rated for men.

• 7676 yds 75.5/144 par 72
• 7404 yds 74.3/140
• 6897 yds 71.9/132
• 6617 yds 70.7/128
• 6230 yds 68.7/118

This course has a handicap recommendation for each tee.

• 7435 yds 74.7/131 par 72 handicap range 0-4
• 6950 yds 72.3/128 range 5-11                          
• 6589 yds 70.9/125 range 12-17
• 6032 yds 67.7/115 range 18-30
• 5305 yds 65.7/112 range 31+

I agree.  My home course actually has 6 sets of tees, 4 rated for men, ranging from 73.8/136/7003 yds down to 67.8/119/5797 yds, and two rated for women at 70.7/129/5130 yds and 60.1/100/4105 yds. (That front set is also designed for kids).

When I play with my dad, I will play either the 7003 or the 6580 tees and he'll usually play the 5797 tees.  When I take my son, I'll play the same, and he'll play the 4105 tees.

The extra sets of tees, IMO, are most helpful for those men like my dad who would be stuck playing the whites on a more traditional type course with 3 sets of tees.  At his advanced age, the whites are usually too long for him.

---

One other thing:  If I was a member of a course to the point where I played all of my golf there because it was "free," then I would really appreciate the choices.  I feel like I'd get bored after awhile of playing the exact same course all of the time so it would be nice to mix it up and try all of the different tees.  I know of a lot of courses that not only have 5 or 6 sets of tees but they also offer "combo" sets in between each of those.  I'd ran the gamut on my home course for variation.

[bkuehn1952]

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

... I see a lot of courses around here have combo tees, where half the time you'd be on the back tees and half the time on the middle tees, for example. I really like that, because it gives more choice without the extra maintenance.

Agree 100%.  By mixing & matching a course can create 5-6 different length courses with only 2-3 physical tee boxes.  Our state rating organization will rate all the sets of tees so one can easily pick their own poison. 

[Zeph]

In Norway we got five primary tee boxes:

Black - The longest tees. Very few courses has these.
White - Championship tees. More common than black, but not found everywhere.
Yellow - Men's tees. This is where almost all men tee off from, at any age. Most tournaments are held from these.
Blue - Not that common. Wikipedia says it's championship tees for women,
Red - Women's tees. Found on most courses. Also often used for juniors.

I've also seen green, which is even shorter than red and used for juniors or maybe the very young ones.

We don't pick tee boxes in Norway as much as you do in USA, so it's not much of a discussion on picking the proper ones. 99.99% of all rounds are played from yellow for men and red for women. Some senior men also play from reds, but most use yellow. I would encourage more to play from other tee boxes if their length suggest it's useful, but I think most will stick to the yellow ones. 

[Fourputt]

39 minutes ago, Zeph said:

In Norway we got five primary tee boxes:

Black - The longest tees. Very few courses has these.
White - Championship tees. More common than black, but not found everywhere.
Yellow - Men's tees. This is where almost all men tee off from, at any age. Most tournaments are held from these.
Blue - Not that common. Wikipedia says it's championship tees for women,
Red - Women's tees. Found on most courses. Also often used for juniors.

I've also seen green, which is even shorter than red and used for juniors or maybe the very young ones.

We don't pick tee boxes in Norway as much as you do in USA, so it's not much of a discussion on picking the proper ones. 99.99% of all rounds are played from yellow for men and red for women. Some senior men also play from reds, but most use yellow. I would encourage more to play from other tee boxes if their length suggest it's useful, but I think most will stick to the yellow ones. 

This is exactly why many courses in the US are getting away from the "Men's" and "Women's" tees and going to a more generic designation.  Because red has traditionally always been synonymous with "Women's", when my home course opened a 4th set of tees and then mixed them in so that all of the previous tee lengths changed, they eliminated Red tees completely so that men don't have to feel a stigma associated with playing a more forward tee.

Typical use, but no official designation, are: Black (6920) championship Men's tee; Blue (6578) regular Men's tee; White (6103) forward Men's and Championship Women's; and Gold (5362) regular Women's, Junior, Senior, and anyone else who wants to play them.  

The Men's club also uses a specified mix of the Blue and White, and Blue and Black for tournament tees for some of their competitions.

[pumaAttack]

I just hate how courses have gone away from the traditional "Black, Blue, White and Red" tee boxes.  Now courses have Gold, Bronze, Silver, Maroon... And they all look very similar on a scorecard or the tee marker.

[Bill926]

Probably the wrong forum to bring up this topic because everyone here knows what yardage they should play from.

33 minutes ago, Zeph said:

In Norway we got five primary tee boxes:

Black - The longest tees. Very few courses has these.
White - Championship tees. More common than black, but not found everywhere.
Yellow - Men's tees. This is where almost all men tee off from, at any age. Most tournaments are held from these.
Blue - Not that common. Wikipedia says it's championship tees for women,
Red - Women's tees. Found on most courses. Also often used for juniors.

This seems like a good example.  Since most groups are going to play from the same tee anyway you can have the men's tees that get moved around for variety day to day or whatever while keeping the yardage the same for the most part.  And then have the championship tee's next, well behind the men's.  If anything give more shorter options to the ladies, juniors or beginners.

[Golfingdad]

44 minutes ago, pumaAttack said:

I just hate how courses have gone away from the traditional "Black, Blue, White and Red" tee boxes.

I very much (respectfully ;)) disagree, and the reason is in @Fourputt's post that immediately precedes yours:

51 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

This is exactly why many courses in the US are getting away from the "Men's" and "Women's" tees and going to a more generic designation.  Because red has traditionally always been synonymous with "Women's", when my home course opened a 4th set of tees and then mixed them in so that all of the previous tee lengths changed, they eliminated Red tees completely so that men don't have to feel a stigma associated with playing a more forward tee.

Yes.  At courses that still just have blue, white, red, you will find way too many men playing white tees that are simply too long for them.  It's a very smart move to add more sets and specifically to make a point to make the red tees something that is clearly not the obvious ladies tees.

In fact, I think if I was creating a course from scratch, I might just flip everything backwards.  Tournament tees are red, next set up yellow, then white, then blue and then black.

Also, I wonder how much cost or effort is involved in rating a set of tees?  Because, if it was not totally uneconomical, I'd also make sure all tees were rated for both men and women.