Are you playing the correct tees?

[9wood]

Below is a useful chart found at pga.com to help golfers select the proper tee boxes based on their drive ability

 

Edited April 2, 2016 by 9wood

[paininthenuts]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

Below is a useful chart found at pga.com to help golfers select the proper tee boxes based on their drive ability

 

My course is 6880 off of the yellows, so does this mean I should be able to average a drive of 275 yards, because I can't, and come to think of it, nobody else at my club can either !!

[SavvySwede]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

1. Yes I play the correct tees.
2. Does it bother anyone that there are sizable gaps in the course yardages?
3. Could someone add a poll?

[Dave2512]

Yes and no. My average driving distance is poor not because I am maxed out but I have a swing flaw that wreaks havoc on my drives. I average just 236 from the tee but a typical day is 10ish drivers with a best to worst range of 200-300. My SS is 105-110.

My home course is a little short for me even on bad driving days because I am a strong iron player, I play the tips there. I am okay up to 7000 yards and if I could sort out my driving I'd be good beyond that but I wouldn't want to do it often. I have an instructor ready to go just waiting to heal from injury. I played at 6900 yards at my previous home and I'd play there more if it wasn't so busy but I also moved closer to the course I play now.

[mcanadiens]

If people actually followed this sort of thing closely, the par-3 course would be jammed solid and everything else half empty. At best I hit 230, so roughly half the courses in my city would be eliminated for me.

 

[9wood]

30 minutes ago, paininthenuts said:

My course is 6880 off of the yellows, so does this mean I should be able to average a drive of 275 yards, because I can't, and come to think of it, nobody else at my club can either !!

I don't know your drive distance but from looking at your HC, it looks like you're doing quite well

24 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

2. Does it bother anyone that there are sizable gaps in the course yardages?
 

I guess we just have to read between the lines and do the math

[Dave2512]

Problem with these charts is golfers tend to be generous when evaluating their game. Most over estimate driving average. It would be tougher to determine but your average approach distance on par 4's is a better indicator of how well you drive it. The guy that has a bunch of 175-200 yd approach shots but cranks one drive a round out to 275 probably isn't being realistic about their capability. Most chase their happy accident outlier shots.

[David in FL]

4 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

If people actually followed this sort of thing closely, the par-3 course would be jammed solid and everything else half empty. At best I hit 230, so roughly half the courses in my city would be eliminated for me.

 

I'll bet anything you like, that half the courses in your city aren't over 6,100 yards from the most forward set of tees.  It just means that you would be playing a more forward set of tees.  

However, I've always believed that simplicity aside, driver distance alone isn't necessarily the best judge of playability for most golfers.  A course that gets a lot of its length in longer par-3's and 5's can still be very playable for people of modest length.  I tend to look at the par-4's.  If there are more than one or two that a golfer cannot reach with a good (not heroic best ever) drive and a 5-iron, that set of tees is probably inappropriate.  As an example, a solid drive for me is in the 240ish range.  My 5-iron is 180.  If I see more than 2 par-4's over 420 or so, I should probably move up a set of tees.  Using these guidelines, there are courses with 6,700 yard tees that I can play comfortably, but I can also identify a course with 6,200 yard tees with which I'm likely to struggle.

[Valleygolfer]

According to this I should play the 6700+ course. Usually play an average 6300 course. I do have shorter shots in and generally out drive people I play with by more than 15 yards, however I don't usually score better with changing the length. I have played the tips and the average golfer tees. All this does is lower my cap due to slope and difficulty of the course but not with improved play necessarily so I stick to the "white tees" generally for speed of play and assessment.

[BrofessionalGolfer]

Rule of thumb I learned from an old timer once:

White Tees: average score 95+

Blue Tees: average score 85-94

Tips: average score 84 and lower

 

Everyone is different, but if you are unsure, this is a good place to start. Course plays a factor as well, but this rule of thumb is most useful for your local course.

[No Mulligans]

I thought the purpose of teeing it forward was to make golf more fun and increase pace of play. 

Tee it wherever you want as long as you're keeping pace.

[9wood]

32 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

I thought the purpose of teeing it forward was to make golf more fun and increase pace of play. 

Tee it wherever you want as long as you're keeping pace.

I play from the whites and can't recall holding anyone up, but I do see a whole lot of people playing from the tips who hold people up, including me. In my area, there are just too many people playing from the tips without demonstrating the ability. Those are the people who should be paying attention to the chart in the OP

[DrvFrShow]

Yes, I'm playing from the correct tees. I'm a woman and over 60. I'll pick the one that suits how I'm hitting the ball on a given day. The chart is a guideline. Here's how to use it: say for example if you can drive the ball 240 yds, but your average drive is 212 (don't forget that you mishit the ball about 2/3 of the time), you should probably play from 5400 yds - 5700 yd tees if they have them. These are the senior tees, and could be the forward tees on some courses. If not, the 5000 - 5400 yd tees.

If you average 225 to 249 yds off the tee, you should play the white tees which are usually 5800 to 6200 yds. depending upon the course.

> 250 play the blues.

If for example you only hit a 210 yd average drive and the shortest tees on the course are 6000,  you might want to consider playing a different course. You will struggle on that course.

[JonMA1]

2 hours ago, David in FL said:

I tend to look at the par-4's.  If there are more than one or two that a golfer cannot reach with a good (not heroic best ever) drive and a 5-iron, that set of tees is probably inappropriate.  As an example, a solid drive for me is in the 240ish range.  My 5-iron is 180.  If I see more than 2 par-4's over 420 or so, I should probably move up a set of tees.  Using these guidelines, there are courses with 6,700 yard tees that I can play comfortably, but I can also identify a course with 6,200 yard tees with which I'm likely to struggle.

I read an article recently where it suggested you play tees that will enable you to drive between 60 to 70% of the distance of the par 4's of that particular course. 

For example, if you consistently drive the ball 240 yards, that would 60% of a 400yd par 4, or almost 70% of a 350yd par 4.

The idea is that you look at the par 4's of the course to decide which tees will allow you to do this as opposed to the total length of the course.

Of course none of this matters if...

3 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

Problem with these charts is golfers tend to be generous when evaluating their game. Most over estimate driving average. It would be tougher to determine but your average approach distance on par 4's is a better indicator of how well you drive it. The guy that has a bunch of 175-200 yd approach shots but cranks one drive a round out to 275 probably isn't being realistic about their capability. Most chase their happy accident outlier shots.

Which often the case. I've been guilty of this.

---

While I have no business playing anything longer than 6000 yards, I personally enjoy longer par 3 holes. I don't mind a shorter par 3 to a tight green, but I also like the >170 yard par 3's where you have a little wiggle room for the inevitable miss.

When if comes down to it, even a shorter course provides plenty of challenge to my game. But on an uncrowded course, there is nothing wrong with occasionally playing from longer tees as long as you know what to expect, IMO.

All courses are different and there's nothing wrong with that. A course near my home is really an oddball. A couple of the par 5's play like par 4's and vice versa. The par 3's play at 145, 170, 181, 199 and 129 yards from the middle tees (5437yds par 71). It's the only course I've ever broken 90 on.

Edited April 2, 2016 by JonMA1

[Dave2512]

Yeah courses can be quirky especially par 71 and 70. My home course is par 71 6500 yds so just looking at the yardage not real intimidating. But it feels longer than that and it has two sub 340 yard par 4's, one is 292 on the card. Three par 3's are 180-188-210, none shorter than 160 and it's a quick way to pile up strokes. On a bad ball striking day I actually lay up on the 210 yard par 3, bogey is a good score on that one.

 

[mcanadiens]

3 hours ago, David in FL said:

I'll bet anything you like, that half the courses in your city aren't over 6,100 yards from the most forward set of tees.  It just means that you would be playing a more forward set of tees.  

I suppose there is some exaggeration involved there. Dayton's scorecards indicate "red" tees and there are red tee markers thrown down in the middle of the rough. Technically its the most forward set of tees. ... I've never seen anyone play off them.

[Lihu]

5 hours ago, 9wood said:

Below is a useful chart found at pga.com to help golfers select the proper tee boxes based on their drive ability

 

Yes. Or shorter.

My rule of thumb for maximum distance is average of the two:

28 times driver average

36 times 5i average 

Note that average includes weak shots.

[Lihu]

5 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

My course is 6880 off of the yellows, so does this mean I should be able to average a drive of 275 yards, because I can't, and come to think of it, nobody else at my club can either !!

Yes, to play 6900 yards it's better to be able to drive 275, which is not as uncommon as you think.

Plenty of golfers can play our 7200 yard tees effectively, but then there are yahoos like me who try them on occasion so we can laugh at ourselves.